Because We Can

   Travel Day 116 - April 28, 2024 - 4,304 Steps Another perfect Linda day as concerns the sea conditions, though the afternoon brought the occasional sideways jolt that threatened to knock you off balance for a moment.  Kim's guest was Duncan, one the two historians currently onboard giving lectures, both of whom are really good. Duncan's talk today was on the slave trade. It was all about packing the maximum number of slave onboard the ship for the voyage across the Atlantic The Spanish and Portuguese began the slave trade, the British and Americans following their lead. But when Britain abolished slavery in 1833 they set about ending the slave trade for all nations, station a fleet of Royal Navy ships of the coast of West Africa. David followed Duncan on the World Stage and talked about what transpired in Europe that changed the world. The delusions of grandeur he inspired in the French people exist to this day. The conglomerations of Kingdoms, Duchy's, Bishopric's.

   Travel Day 115 - April 27, 2024 - 4,570 Steps Another nice day off the coast of Africa. No drab colors on the tugs here in Ghana. Our very excellent guide for our excursion to a Cacao farming village. Takoradi is the second largest port in Ghana and deals principally in exports with manganese and bauxite being the principal ones based on tonnage. A fishing village. The main method of preserving fish is by smoking. Ghana's people prefer to shop, not in larger supermarkets, but in the multitude of small shops found everywhere. Our guide explained the food is fresher in these shops and the other goods are of better quality and the shoppers know the owner who they are dealing with. It's easy when you know how. Cemetery. Most of the trash is platics. The platter does not go directly on the head. At the farming village we were welcomed with a ceremony. The village chief is in the white robe left of center. The welcoming ceremony involved a ritual with palm wine ( in the large jug)

   Travel Day 114 - April 26, 2024 - 4,892 Steps Calm seas and the moon was once again visible in the morning sky. On board ship it's not if you eat less you'll lose weight. It's if you eat less you won't gain as much. First ship I've seen in 4 days. Today we are going to stop at null island, the spot where the equator and the prime meridian cross. Getting close, when it reads 0 0 0, 0 0 0 we are there. Using the thrusters to position the ship direct on it. Really, really close. Linda's screen shot of her iPhone when we were exactly over it. Date and time when we were there. I tried to take a photo of her with her phone at the spot, but by the time I took the photo we had moved off it. That was the spot where north meets south and east meets west and tranquility reigns. Another day, another book. Liked this one also, a humorous mystery. Dropping the book off at the library and picking out another one, I took photos of the library. While it is not very large they