Dakar is the capital of Senegal in West Africa, also regarded as most spectacular city. Ninety Five % of the population is Islamic and home of the “Grande Mosque” marked by towering minaret. French is the official language of Senegal, but Wolof is widely spoken as a first or second language. Today our excursion took us to “Banda Reserve Safari” what a beautiful day we experienced.
With two more to go I am enjoying the sea day, mostly because the lectures are so informative and also Viking is taking every opportunity to throw a party. Today April seventeen we are reaching “Nul Island” marking Zero latitude and Zero longitude (0*N 0*E / 0*N 0*E/ 0;0) searching for the 12 ft Buoyed anchor with a 16,000 Ft chain to the bottom of the ocean and we celebrate with dining by the pool with fresh Oysters, Lobster and Beef, liquor, cocktails and wine is flowing dessert included pastries and Bananas Foster. Music and guest singer entertained us through the evening.
Walvis Bay translates in English mean “Whale Bay”. A deep harbor rich in plankton lured the whales. The port was valued by explorers making their way around the Cape of Good Hope. Occupied by the British in 1884 they incorporated it into their Cape Colony. The coast is adorned by golden dunes spilling over the Namib Desert that is rich in minerals including uranium. Because of our delay caused by stormy weather our 2 day in Namibia got cut to a half day, but our excursion staff managed to save that half day at the last hour with one excursion to save the day. They are great.
Our visit to Cape Town was a disappointment. Followed by a few days of very high winds and rain some of our excursion were changed, Mother Nature is in charge and we go with the flow. I was here with my wife Rose on April 8, 2007 with very nice weather and got to enjoy Table Mountain and Chapman’s Peak Drive, I might incorporate some of these older pictures. Anyway because of continued bad weather the Captain didn’t want to chance the extreme winds and rough sea around the Horn of Africa, so we got stuck there and the immigration would not let us of the ship to sightseeing. after a couple of days the weather got better and we cruised around the Horn during the night.
