Unlock the Heart of Africa

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SEVEN REASONS TO SET SAIL PAGE 20

DEALS, DEALS, DEALS: GRAB A BARGAIN

Take me to the river PAGE 14

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18 | cruise africa

Unlock the heart of Africa Cruise operators are gr adually demystifying the rich and colourful ports of a co ntinent that has been neglecte d for too long.

ByRoderick Eime “WHAT was that?” gasped Beatrix, grabbing my forearm tightly. We all heard it. Was it the sound of waves from the Atlantic Ocean crashing on the rocks outside or, as many of us thought, the ghostly whispers of long-departed slaves who once huddled in these squalid, pitch-black dungeons awaiting an uncertain fate?

Here in the underground holding cells at the now UNESCO World Heritage listed Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, we stand transfixed, listening to a kind of supernatural white noise that waxes and wanes in our subconscious. Our heartbeats quicken and our skin tingles at the realisation that, over the centuries, thousands of miserable souls shuffled through these rank corridors through the infamous “door of no return” on an endless journey of horror.

Africa has long been seen as a land of mystery by Westerners. A continent full of mind-boggling rites and rituals but, at the same time, holding a perverse attraction. Even a short stopover on the so-called “dark continent” can leave powerful impressions.

Native Africans, both black and white, from the relatively familiar-feeling cities of the south, find these wild shores of West Africa a whole new world. There’s black magic (juju) and witchcraft, customs and practices totally at odds with the relaxed European lifestyle, yet here we are totally spellbound.

Adventurous travel operators have offered overland trips for intrepid souls for some years, but regular commercial passenger cruises are a relatively new experience. Today, the world’s growing fleet of cruise ships, is gradually unlocking these mysterious ports-of-call, picking their way from Namibia to Congo and on to Sierra Leone and Senegal.

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The biggest, like QM2, might make just two or three stops, while the small and intensely inquisitive vessels like ours, more than a dozen. Next year, G Adventures will increase its calls to 19 and terminate in Marrakech, Morocco.

Aboard G Adventures’ sturdy MS Expedition are 100 curious passengers from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, Europe and Asia, all with a common fascination for these relatively little-known Atlantic shores where countries are slotted, Tetris-style, between Congo and Mauritania.

Think of places such as Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivorie, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Senegal – each with an enticing air of the unknown.

Over the course of three weeks, we will make landfall in a dozen

countries, explore bewildering markets and towns, while singing, dancing and eating with people many recall from pages of the National Geographic or Discovery Channel. It’s a proper adventure and a true expedition.

Well-credentialed lecturers, adventure guides and avid naturalists help us unravel the flora, fauna and ethnic complexity we encounter every day.

Back on the ship after each excursion, it is expedition-style comfort on a ship catering for up to 140 guests.

Africa is a land facing a multitude of environmental and humanitarian challenges and while it might seem that a motley troupe of floppy-hatted tourists in long socks and sandals buying trinkets would do little to alleviate the plight of the common people, think again. There are numerous

examples of how our visits benefit local communities.

“Apart from the obvious revenue benefits, well-managed tourism maintains the viability of local culture,” Baxter says.

“A lack of formats such as ours for local cultural display will obviously result in many stagnating and ultimately disappearing under the weight of modern influences.”

Today’s Nigeria is a case in point.

Our passage through the Gulf of Guinea is thankfully uneventful and there are ready smiles and waves for our tour buses.

While the great continent of Africa may be prone to outbreaks of civil strife and dictatorships, it is the ordinary people who form the fundamental character of each destination we visit.

The writer was a guest of G Adventures.

West Africa GETTING THERE Both Emirates and South African Airways (codeshare with Qantas) offer air links to Africa with regular connections to Australia.

CRUISING THERE G Adventures (formerly GAP) offers Cape Town to Marrakech over 32 nights in April 2014 with prices starting at $18499-a-person cruise only.

Ph 1300 796 618 or see gadventures.com