Ships log  #5

YEH – got a sleep in this morning !!  well sort of – after at least 4 other alarms went off at various times in my cabin their owners either getting up to go for a run before the sun got too hot – crazy people – or heading off for early breakfast before going to join an orphanage visit to help out or to other Mercy ministry (but more about that in another post - then finally mine at 8.30am so that I could get to breakfast by 9am – I am so institutionalized!!  But I also had my laundry slot at 10am so plenty of time to enjoy a quiet coffee in the lounge and read a UK gossip mag (yes we do have them here if someone was kind enough to bring them from home).  It was actually a welcome quiet time as lots of people have gone ashore to the market also this morning (Saturday).   I am on call today so need to stay ship bound but will head off to a local island tomorrow for some R+R and some body surfing J

Now just a few more pics from last weekend of roadside stalls full of local fruits and produce…. pineapples, mangoes, apples, coconuts, limes, oranges, figs, sweet grapefruit, unknown green leaves, cashew and peanuts, also papaya and watermelon just to name a few .  We are enjoying most of these fruits in the dining room and they all seem sweeter and larger than anything we would usually have at home …

Here is me enjoying a mango….  (photo to come)

 

…and the most yummy chewy omelet filled baguette I have ever had ….the bread was straight out of the oven !!

We ate at simple restaurants …

…serving meals in 1000’s of Guinea francs…

10,500 GF = US$1.50 (apprx NZ$1.80)

... usually with an interesting roadside outlook…

… and which included passing cars in transit to unknown destinations with live chickens atop the roof !!

Now more about mangoes… I saw a young boy (?8 yr)harvesting mangoes with a long bamboo pole with a knife attached to the end.  Here he is carrying the pole (adjacent to the house) which I would estimate to be 10m long…

…and here he is harvesting the mangoes with the pole reaching way up into the tree ( I would suggest magnifying your page to see how high up the pole is) …

.. and once again mangoes dripping from the tree !!

On arriving in Kindia township we visited one of the big markets which sold everything imaginaeable and edible !!  It was a truly crazy place with every piece of spare ground covered with wares or people – both sellers and buyers  - and then a car would try and drive thru - while much honking and shouting ensued  !!

…and much to our relief we found the material stalls with every pattern and colour available.

I also noticed some slightly dodgy scaffold and support structure which would make many a builder crinch with anticipation of an ACC claim.  This was however common place and to be found on substantial apartment blocks under construction.

And the final treat of the weekend was the visit to the Institute de Venemology !!

 This rambling array of mostly disused buildings was built probably around 1960 and was planned to house an exotic zoo.  It is now just home to several crazed monkeys , two very docile crocadiles, and multiple snakes !!

Beyond the left hand door there were dozens of preserved serpentines…

…latin names included..

 …but beyond the right hand door thee were the live ones !!  There were at least 3 cobras which the watchful guardians happily woke up for us with a brush of their brush on the cage…

…some beautiful skinny green ones… 

…and other random types, one of which insisted on hissing at us !!

 And such is life in wonderful west Africa – but today involves doing my washing  (YEH) then coffee break at Starbucks (Yes indeed – the only one in west Africa due to ist support of mercy Ships).  Have a great day to all my wonderful friends and family in NZ and around the world xox