If you followed the blog I wrote in Benin, you might remember that I love to give my posts their own personal soundtrack. Just click play ^ and keep scrolling!
(This video won't play for me in Cameroon, but I'm trusting it will work on your end)
For this update I'm really excited to just share some experiences of the past month through photos and a couple stories.
Guys, August was packed. I mean, it feels like the ship is always buzzing with activity. During the days leading up to the sail, it only buzzed harder, working in unison for assure a smooth departure. Our wonderful I.S. department (what most people would call I.T.) were kind enough to velcro my computer to my desk, in case of unexpected "turbulence" (this is obviously not their first rodeo)... Cupboards and contents were secured, seasick medication was passed out like candy, and who knew that hoisting all the Toyota Land Cruisers up onto deck 8 would be such a graceful process? They used a container to bring each one up to the top one by one, then opened up the end and drove the car out before sending it back down for the next one. The process had me totally captivated, and I snapped lots of pictures!
Before we knew it, it was time to say adios to our little island home. Any crew who weren't hard at work making the ship "go" were gathered at the railings, waiting. After weeks of being stationary, it was exciting to look down and see the water churning vigorously below us as we slowly pulled away from the dock and out to sea...
The Port of Las Palmas shrank back and the blue water swelled, and the world suddenly felt way smaller and a whole lot bigger at the same time. Smaller because, for the next two weeks, we were confined to a metal box just 152 meters long and 23 meters wide. And bigger because, well, just look at it...
The Port of Las Palmas shrank back and the blue water swelled, and the world suddenly felt way smaller and a whole lot bigger at the same time. Smaller because, for the next two weeks, we were confined to a metal box just 152 meters long and 23 meters wide. And bigger because, well, just look at it...
It's perfectly possible to live happily for two weeks without leaving the ship, so long as your happiness is not too closely tied to your ability to walk in straight lines. Even using all my concentration, I never really managed that feat...
Ask a crew member what they loved about their sail, and they'll tell you all about about being rocked to sleep in their bed like a baby, a routine fire drill that ended in a dolphin sighting, throwing a dance party in Reception, and sipping their morning coffee from a hammock out on Deck 7. On Sundays, we carried guitars and drums out onto the bow for worship. And for many, including me, it was our first time crossing the equator, so they got everyone together in midship to celebrate!
Ask a crew member what they loved about their sail, and they'll tell you all about about being rocked to sleep in their bed like a baby, a routine fire drill that ended in a dolphin sighting, throwing a dance party in Reception, and sipping their morning coffee from a hammock out on Deck 7. On Sundays, we carried guitars and drums out onto the bow for worship. And for many, including me, it was our first time crossing the equator, so they got everyone together in midship to celebrate!
The night before arrival, I was standing out on Deck 7 watching the birds--Wait, birds? It sounds silly, but sailing so far off the coast, we hadn't seen any birds for at least the past week! Suddenly there were so many at once, and it was the confirmation we'd been waiting for. Cameroon is close!
The following day was gray and soggy and perfect.
We went from a whale sighting at breakfast (I missed them! Harrumph.) to being so tantalizingly close to the port that, just short of actually seeing it (blame the fog), we were surrounded by other ships who were also waiting to go in. As we entered the mouth of the Wouri River, where the Port of Douala is situated, a little boat called the Pilot came alongside the Africa Mercy to guide us in.
Above the sound of the motors, there was music. Crew members had toted their instruments and amps outside on deck 7 to play worship songs while others sang. But there was more music coming from the shore. It was still so, so faint, but we looked ahead and could see a particular section of the dock where a crowd of people was going completely bonkers. Welp, that must be us! We slowly got closer, until finally we passed the dock space and swung around to approach with our port side facing land. A waterfall of people standing on decks 7 and 8 moved from starboard to port side to keep sight of their companions on the dock, waving hands and flags and anything else they could as we got closer...
And closer...
And voilà! Welcome to Cameroon!
Here's the link to that Benin blog I mentioned, for anyone that's interested
Finally, go here for a blog post I have thoroughly enjoyed reading multiple times. The author has a hilarious sense of humour about ship life!
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