Sometimes we just have fun...

Yesterday day was one of those days i will remember for a long time. A group of us ventured out of Cotonou to find a local resort called Castle del Papa about 45 km away. The journey was eventful as all journey off ship seem to be. It took us about an hour and a half to make the trip. Firstly we had to find our way out of the very busy, traffic filled streets of Cotonou onto the main highway towards Togo. After 5 round-a-bouts (traffic circles) surround by thousands of Zemijans (Get-me-there-fast Motorbike Taxis) we managed to hit open road. Norah Jones' song Million Bicycles in Bejing came to mind as i dodged the Millions of Zemijans in Benin! Once we came to the city of Quidah (wee-da), the voodoo capital of Benin, we didn't stop there, this time, but choose to turn towards to coat to find Castle del Papa. We only had to ask for direction once and make our way to this beautiful resort. We even had to pass through my first West African Toll Road which cost us 500 FC ($1). The road was great, very few potholes and i only had to stop 3 times for life stock crossing the road. I have never seen such creative ways to transport just about everything on the back of the motorbike. One day i will need to let someone else drive and i can just take photos of people of the back of zemijans with their wares.

We spent the day at the most beautiful pool on the beach. It was a day to relax and breath after a busy week. There was of cause the mandatory relay races and games of Marco Polo! (see photo above for the start of the underwater relay race!) At the moment there is a group of South Africans on board, who are all from Cape Town and all grew up in the Southern Suburbs around the same time. So needless to say we have many stories to tell and jokes to share - it feel a little like home. Even though we are all well into our thirties we have reverted back to our student days and are enjoying the moments away from the ship. We are all busy during the week, but manage to find time to relax and have a few adventures on the weekends. It is a real blessing to have a group of people to let your hair down with. We are even teaching fellow crew members a few Afrikaans phrases. It was a great day!