Lome, Togo

Isaac, our tour leader, gave us the run-down on Togo before we arrived at his Ewe village. The best tour of the lot, it was organized by a woman from Carlsbad who spent hours on the internet screening tour companies until she unearthed one to take us to us to an authentic village, cost be damned. It was the first place we've been where people enjoyed having photos taken with us as we walked around the fields a bit and admired the pineapple growing everywhere...it's the main cash crop at the moment. 

The kids were adorable, the people performed their burial dance and we saw a voodoo priest, who did a lot of mojo with shells and basically told a fortune. Best part was the drumming. 

Front view of me and small boy. He was wearing Calvin Klein undershorts which were too big. He'd walk 5 steps and they'd fall down below his little butt, then he'd hitch them up. He held onto my hand for a while which meant he had to hitch with his elbow. Below see back view where the little boys are using my red camera to take this photo. 

The kids loved the camera and enjoyed taking our photos. sorry about my butt...a view I would normally delete but thank goodness for the loose African pants. 

A tale of two lions

When my husband was in graduate school at USC, he had a part time job at MGM. In a dark room, he spent hours copying clips of the MGM logo, Leo the Lion in full roar, while he studied in the beam of a small flash light. Later on in his movie career he was promoted to riding a bicycle around the lot delivering rush dailies. Leo is still being used to this day although digitally enhanced and his roar has been replaced with a tiger's roar. That's Hollywood for you.

In Botswana, we were on a game drive and stopped when our guide spotted a male lion eating in a thicket. Richard and Paul could see him, but I was, as usual, peering into the thick brush asking "What lion? Where is it?" Richard had just picked up his camera and had it spotted near the lion when he suddenly charged at us. He ran from out of the thicket and gave us an MGM roar...pure lion. I was terrified and thought we were toast. The lion ran up to 6 meters from us and then, thankfully, stopped short. Richard's photo caught him just before he turned and went back to his prey. 

The animals in the Chobe reserve are accustomed to the vehicles driving around and rarely bother with them. Just before our incident, we saw a self-driver...someone without a guide, out of his car very near the lion, probably trying to get a better photo. An idiot..dangerous for him and for the rest of us driving in the park as he clearly irritated the lion...you can see it in his eyes. 

For Christmas, I'm going to have a t-shirt made for Richard with the real charger from Chobe on the front and the MGM Leo on the back. 

Safari at Muchenje Lodge

A lilac breasted roller, I think. No shortage of birds along the Chobe River. 

Paul, our very fine guide, with our reflections in his glasses.

Thirty or more hippos were grazing at our lunch stop. 

Impala were everywhere...hundreds of babies were in sight.

This lion charged our vehicle. He was chawing on a water buffalo when we drove by.  He ran at us, stopped about 6 meters away and gave us a warning roar. Richard caught the look in his eyes. I was relieved when he turned and walked away. You can see his snout is bloody.

Victoria Falls Hotel

My new friend Tomato and me...Tomato was selling bracelets which few people would buy. He charmed the dollars out of our pockets.

Pressed flowers and other botanicals grace the walls of the sitting room in the venerable old hotel.

The breakfast buffet is splendid.

A beautiful African sky today.

The front lawn of the hotel.

Cartoons about British character line the halls.

Warthogs and Mongoose hang around on the hotel lawns......oh, and there's baboons all over the place.

Takarodi Ghana

Our van picked us up at the dock and swept us away to where we were to walk across the tree canopy on a swinging bridge. They neglected to tell us we would receive, free of extra charge, an African massage (their sobriquet for a bumpy, tooth rattling Van ride) for 2 1/2 hours. Once at the location, we were led up a series of slopes on an uneven slippery path with no handrails. I found the experience difficult and challenging however when I realized the 89 year old in our group was gaining on me, I "leaned forward" and made it to the top. Walking on a swinging rope bridge with an acoustic neuroma in charge of my gyroscope was thrilling to say the least. 

Feeling cheerful and exhilarated we were all chatting and laughing on our way back down when David (who looks remarkably like Jerry Springer) slipped and fell on the rocky path. His arm was badly skinned but fortunately we had a vascular surgeon in our midst who was able to patch him up temporarily using the van's first aid kit and bits and pieces the rest of us cobbled together from our bags and purses. 

On our way back to the ship we stopped at two infamous places where slaves were imprisoned while waiting for the slave ships from Portugal, Britain and the U.S. to pick them up and transport them around the world. Hundreds were crammed into small dark airless dungeons for weeks at a time. There was a specially horrible cell for women who fought back while being raped. Our little group of white tourists shuffled around the place, silent for the most part, listening and absorbing the horror of it all. Our black guide was polite but seemed marginally engaged. A plaque commemorating the visit of Barack and Michelle is wearing out and probably won't last much longer unless repaired or replaced, something that rarely happens in west Africa.  

African faces