Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 19/96 - Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire - Ivory Coast makes country #89
After four sea days, we made land this morning, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, known in the western world as Ivory Coast. We booked a six-hour tour today from the ship to see the area. Ivory Coast marks our 89th country visited, and we are closer to our 100-country goal.
The port in Abidjan is an industrial port, and wow, it's huge. The shipping containers number into the thousands. Of course, that doesn't make for a scenic port or a scenic drive out of the port. Exiting the port and reentering the port took more than 30 minutes. There are a lot of twists and turns plus lousy pavement and massive truck traffic. Oh well, we made it and nobody got hurt.
We boarded our tour bus - a surprisingly nice one with good seats and air conditioning. We took in the sights on the way to our first stop at St. Paul's Cathedral.
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| The flag is the same as Ireland's flag, except the orange is on the flagpole side versus the green in Ireland |
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| Presidential palace |
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| National Assembly |
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| A skyscraper, still under construction |
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| Our first glimpse of St. Paul's |
When we arrived at St. Paul's, we could tell it was no ordinary day. Thousands of people were there, worshiping outside, with live music and sermons. We waded through the sea of humanity to tour the inside of the chapel.
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| We got a good view of Pont Ado - a modern bridge |
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| The church's entry |
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| The church can hold 3,500 seated and another 1,500 standing |
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| The glass throughout was beautiful |
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| Looking out at the worshipers |
We got back on our bus and headed for our next stop.
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| Creative packing |
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| Our second stop - an art gallery |
We wandered around looking at the art.
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| Free-range chickens wandering around |
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| They also had a bunch of peacocks |
We got back on the bus and started out to our lunch stop.
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| MTN water town |
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| Houphouet Boigny stadium |
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| Another view of St. Paul's |
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| Pont Ado again |
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| More creative packing into a van |
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| Our lunch venue |
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| Agama lizard |
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| Nailed it |
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| I had to try the local brew |
There were tons of birds and flowers all around the area.
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| Incredible woven nests |
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| Black-headed weavers |
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| A nice buffet-style lunch |
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| So many small birds |
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| Our tour group |
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| More lizards |
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| Possibly a starling |
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| Weavers again |
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| More small, unidentified birds |
Next, we headed to the craft market.
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| An artist, decorating a carving |
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| These were each carved from a single piece of wood and collapsed into a cylinder |
We left for the ride back to the ship.
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| Palais des Sports |
After arriving at the ship, we put on swimsuits and hit the hot tub and pool. Then, after a well-deserved shower, we headed to the Observation Bar for cocktails.
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| As we sailed, we spotted what appeared to be an oil derrick |
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| Exiting the channel and heading out to sea en route to Ghana |
We joined friends for dinner at Earth and Ocean and had another terrific meal. The food and the company made the evening. Afterward, we returned to the suite as we have another port day tomorrow in Takoradi, Ghana.
Today was a good day and we look forward to visiting our 90th country, Ghana, tomorrow.
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