Abidjan, Ivory Coast

December 14^th, 2024

We arrived in the middle of the cargo port, so there were no facilities there for cruise ships.

We decided to take the ship’s tour to Banco Park.

At the start of the excursion, we had a tour of downtown Abidjan. I had heard it called the Paris of West Africa. Be that as it may, it didn’t look too Paris like from the bus, but maybe we didn’t see the best parts.

There were certainly some interesting buildings

And skyscrapers.

We didn’t get a good look at the Cathedral of St Paul from our side of the bus, but luckily one of our Australian friends was able to get a great photo. It looks like a very interesting building, but there was no time for sightseeing, we were headed for a hike in Banco National Park.

The park is situated within the boundaries of Abidjan. It is the only dense, primary tropical forest located in the heart of an urban area, other than the Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro.

It has an area of 34.74 square kilometers, so there must be loads of great hiking trails I had thought. After 2 weeks on a ship, I was really looking forward to clambering through the jungle.

 When we arrived at the park the first stop was at the restroom, which apparently left a lot to be desired. I didn’t give it a try.

Off we set along the waterlogged road.

I suppose that’s what you can expect in a tropical forest.

 What I didn’t expect is that we would be sharing the road with an endless stream of traffic.

Still, our park guide pointed out interesting plants

And trees along the way.

He did not speak English, so our tour guide, bravely clutching on to some toilet rolls, interpreted for him.

It was actually a really lovely walk in the beautiful, lush, woods.

After an hour of trying to avoid being run over and gingerly avoiding the huge puddles we arrived at a clearing in the forest.

Could this be the end of the road? No, it was just a popular picnic spot, and so we bravely trudged on across a bridge

in the high heat and humidity towards the House of Nature.

Here we left the road and were finally on a lovely looking path.

Alas the path ended at the museum.

The House of Nature was a bit rudimentary, but they did have some interesting skulls

And the plants in the grounds were spectacular.

Then it was time to head back to the road again,

Only thank goodness this did seem to be less travelled, and less waterlogged.

Our next stop was to feed the catfish. I must admit I am not a catfish afficionado, but I have never seen so many big catfish. It was an amazing sight!

Brian was distracted by trying to film a beautiful butterfly, which just as he thought he was getting the best shot, disappeared under a leaf. Hopefully his next butterfly encounter will involve a more outgoing creature.

Finally, 2 and a half hours, and 5.75 miles later we emerged from the park. I am not usually a fan of air conditioning, but I must say that getting into the cool bus did feel good.

Then we headed off for lunch. The traffic was totally chaotic, and we spent ages stuck in traffic jams.

Still, it was interesting to watch what was going on outside our air conditioned bus.

Finally, we arrived at our restaurant for lunch.

We had an amazing buffet lunch. So many really delicious dishes. It certainly was the best lunch I have ever had on a ship’s tour.

The staff were very friendly, and all in all it was a great experience.

Next to our bus a street artist was hard at work. He was so talented, and I loved his artwork.

Then we got back into the traffic and headed for the port. If we thought the traffic was chaotic in the streets of Abidjan, it was nothing compared to the traffic in the port.

Even with the assistance of a policeman on a motor bike, it took ages to reach the ship.

One sensible truck driver seemed to have brought a lawn chair along with him to use while he waited in the queue.

Eventually we did arrive at our ship.

I had time to have a swim in the pool on deck 5. It was perfect and very relaxing. Although looking over the side of the ship at the garbage in the water was disappointing.

The band played music by the main pool for our sail away, and it was a very beautiful evening out on deck.

From the sail away we headed straight to the Facebook Group cocktail party. As always, the staff put on an excellent party, with great food and drink, and a beautiful cake.

The service on this ship is truly amazing, everyone really seems to go out of their way to make you feel special in your “home away from home’ as Captain Hamish keeps saying. I am loving it.

The entertainment is excellent as well. We were treated to another excellent performance by Greg Rodman.

It had been a great day, and I had enjoyed being in the outdoors, but it was the first time this trip that I had been so happy to get back on the ship. It really has become our home away from home.