Today marked an important milestone in the trip. Today we rounded the southwest corner of the Guinea region of Africa and started heading north.
For the last 2-weeks, since we left the cold Benguela current, the water temperature has been hovering around 30°C. Regardless of air temperature, when the ship is in a bath of hot water, it becomes difficult to cool down the vessel. This is especially true for a ship that is designed for the polar regions.
From Angola to Sierra Leone, you could notice the increased temperatures in all the public areas of the ship. Once we rounded Guinea-Bissau, however, the water temperature dropped dramatically. The sea temperature went from 30°C to 25°C. Everyone on board could tell when the water temperature dropped. It was a great feeling.
In addition to sailing in cooler waters, we are now also entering a very different part of Africa. The stretch from Angola to Sierra Leone was very green, more densely populated, with a Christian/Animist population. Now we are entering a drier region: the Sahel. Beyond that is the even drier Sahara Desert.
This is also the beginning of the last leg of the trip. We’ve now traveled about 3/4 of the total distance we will be sailing. From here we also only have 4 more stops before we arrive in Morocco: Gambia, Senegal, Western Sahara and the Canary Islands.
We’ve done so much, it seems like I’ve been on the ship much longer than 3 weeks. I’ve been trying to upload a few images from each country, but I have several hundred to upload once I get on land. I’m really proud of some of the photos I’ve taken the last 3-weeks. It is some of my best work ever, especially my photos of people.
Tomorrow we arrive in the Gambia, the smallest country on the physical continent of Africa.
Next Stop: Banjul, The Gambia