The morning started off nice enough coming into Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I was especially amused by the guys in the above photo flying not only their country’s flag, but the U.S. and Israel too.
We didn’t have an excursion at this port. They appeared to be “shopping” excursions. Instead, we opted to take the shuttle to a downtown hotel and then planned on walking a few blocks to view the stained glass windows at St Paul’s cathedral. The windows were of African animals and I thought that was original idea for the church. The architecture of the church was also very interesting looking. But, alas, the best laid plans! First of all, they changed the location of the shuttle bus drop off to a local artist’s market which was supposed to be a 20 minute ride away. The first shuttle was supposed to leave at 9 and Cyndi and Pat were going to go with us. I thought we’d be able to take a taxi from the market to the church.
At 8:30 we were told the shuttles were ready early so we made our way outside and queued up because the first two shuttle buses had already left. We were probably 4 of the first 20 people in line. Easy to do the math, a 20 minute ride to the market, 20 minutes back. We would have to wait at least half an hour for the buses to return.
In the meantime, the line is growing and growing and growing. After an hour of waiting and someone in line needed medical intervention, ship staff started bringing out chairs for us to sit on. Then they came out with water and cookies. We were told that there was an issue with the buses being held up at the port gate and IDs for everyone were being checked.
Eventually (after 2 hours, I guess that qualifies as eventually in Africa), we were told that they would hand out tender tickets so we could return to the ship and wait in comfort for the return of the shuttle buses. Just as that was begining, a shuttle bus returned and we were able to board the first one. Another issue that became apparent while waiting was that if anyone had an excursion booked with a NON-Holland tour, they were not allowed in the port area, and neither were taxis. Compound this with the fact that we weren’t allowed to “walk” out of the port area. That turned out to be a good thing because our drive OUT of the port area took 15 minutes. We couldn’t believe how big the port was.
So, if it took 15 minutes to get out of the port and the market was only supposed to be 20 minutes away, that means a 5 minute drive after we exit the port. But that’s too easy, right? It took us an additional 35 minutes to get to the market. When we pulled down the street and the bus stopped and opened the doors we looked out the windows and actually had to make a decision whether we were going to get off the bus or not.
We were in the middle of a very run down area with vendors on the street selling food – no artist’s market in sight and a crowded street. The first group that had been dropped off were wanting to get on the bus and return to the ship and pointed down the street to the entrance of the market. It was very primitive at best.
Waiting for shuttle buses:
Sights on the way to the market:
Yes, those are longhorns in the back of a truck:
The artist’s market
As you can see from these photos, it was very primitive. Some of the stalls had cement floors but most didn’t. There were rocks, tree roots, and broken glass littering the walkways. We spent less than an hour here before a new group arrived and we went in search of the shuttle bus to return to the ship. We didn’t come to Africa to shop! A taxi to the church was a long forgotten idea given the length of time to get here … and the absence of taxis.
After we returned, they continued calling tender tickets for the shuttle buses for the rest of the day. I think the last I heard was #24 and that was about 3pm. The last shuttle return was at 4pm.
Floating, living garbage off the side of the ship.
Jeff got another happy birthday song at dinner in the dining room.
We stopped to see Grace before we planned on going to see the magician on the main stage and she practically begged us to stay for the first couple of songs. I finally figured out that she had something up her sleeve. The band sang happy birthday to Jeff, and Grace brought out yet another birthday cake for Jeff! I’ve lost track on the “I don’t anyone singing to me” birthday serenades that Jeff received!
We were talking with Stuart and Sharon and heard a juicy story. When we had first boarded weeks and weeks ago we were told of a woman on board that was incorrigible. From the descriptions we heard it sounded like the lady that we had to deal with in the Falkland Islands that continuously complained about EVERYTHING but didn’t want anyone helping her. We never figured out who she was on this trip. Stuart had lunch in the Pinnacle and said there was a woman in there that was loud and dropping f-bombs to the staff. She then moved to the Ocean View bar continuing her tirade. Security showed up with body cams on. She was informed that she had reached her 3 drink limit for the day and was escorted away.
Fast forward to sail away and Stuart and Sharon were on their balcony. They watched as the Captain left the ship and approached a van on the pier. He opened the door and then turned around and motioned toward the ship. The woman was escorted off the ship, put in the van and flipped the Captain off before he closed the door. And then …. she was gone! Can you imagine being banned from the ship in Ivory Coast? I can’t!