African Textiles

We took a short detour to a small village near Kumasi. We got to see how they made the dyes from tree bark and had a chance to weave some fabric. Each stamp is carved out of a gourde and has a specific meaning.

Kumasi African Market

After 10 days at sea, we made it to Ghana, Africa. We docked in a town named Tema which wasn't far from Accra, the capital. Because of traffic though, the 15 mile drive took about an hour and 45 minutes. Brian and I spent a night in Accra at a little hotel on the beach. The day after I went on a short trip with a few friends. We drove north to a town named Kumasi. The pictures above are from the open-air market there, which is the largest in west Africa. It was really tough to get pictures because the people generally didn't like having their picture taken. Ghana is the poorest country we will be visiting on our voyage and I was told there are about 12,000-15,000 vendors at this market. It was for locals mostly and sold just about everything from beads and fabric to fish, meat and various produce.

The Amazon

Here are a couple other pictures from the trip. One picture is of our “eco-lodge”, thought there was nothing environmentally friendly about it. All the cabins had air conditioning and Brian and I alone went through 9 bottles of water in less than 24 hours. The picture of the water is called the “Meeting of the Waters”. This is where the Negro River's dark water and the Solimões River's muddy brown water come together to form the Amazonas River. For 3.7 miles, both rivers waters run side by side, without mixing. This is caused by the great difference between the water temperatures and current speeds. The lilies are the largest lilies in the world (so I am told), and some are up to 6 feet in diameter. And, if you want to see the cutest and best picture of monkeys, check out Brian’s blog. I wont even post my pictures because they can’t compete with Brian’s (www.happymediumstudios.blogspot.com). The monkeys were the best part of the trip!

Bye, Bye, Brazil

There is actually a movie called "Bye Bye Brazil" on t.v. right now, and we are leaving Brazil, so naturally I thought this was the most appropriate title. We are currently heading back up the Amazon River and making our way over to Ghana, Africa. The ship was docked in Manaus, Brazil for 4 days. Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas and is an industrial city. I would not recommend anyone to come to Manaus unless they are using it as an entry point for the Amazon, which is why most tourists come here.

I spent the first day walking around the city with a couple people from the ship. There was not a whole lot to do except for visiting a popular opera house and people watching.

On the second day, Brian and I went on a Semester At Sea field trip. The trip included several small excursions, one of which was to a rubber museum. Manaus was at the center of the Amazon Region’s rubber boom in the 19^th century until Brazil lost its monopoly on the product when the seeds of the rubber tree were smuggled out of the Amazon region. The museum gave a tour of a restored home of a large rubber baron, and showed us how rubber was made and shipped. First, they scratched a deep cut into the tree and attached a small cup to catch the white liquid. Once the liquid was collected, they slowly poured it over high heat and smoke until it turned solid. They then took these solid tubes and sold them abroad. Once a factory got it, they would melt it down again and then shape it into what ever they needed. It was pretty interesting because I had never known that rubber came from trees. Now it is all done in factories and they mostly use synthetic materials.