#744 Indian Seagull

As our ship sailed into the Kochi harbor, the bright yellow sign at the Hotel Seagull caught my eye and I snapped a picture.

That picture was the start of a wonderful relationship.

Hotel Seagull

On day 2 of our stay in Kochi, a dinner group formed around the idea of eating at the Seagull's waterfront restaurant. Our mode of transit: the chaotic tuktuk.

Tuktuk driver, Me, Abby

We were all smiles after devouring our Seagull meal.

Our excellent host that night was Rajesh.

Abby, Rajesh, Bob

When I showed Rajesh the photo of his yellow sign, he raved and asked me to email the photo.

On day 4, another dinner group formed around the idea of revisiting the Seagull.

Mariah, Tom, Judy, Bob, Kelly, Marni, Mary, Abby

When we arrived, Rajesh's big smile let me know something was up. He motioned me to follow him, away from the restaurant hubbub, behind the scenes, and into an office toward a large desk. There amid the clutter, a color copy of my Seagull photo was under glass, on display.

Pointing, Rajesh exclaimed, "Your photo! Your photo!" as my photographic pride skyrocketed.

Yours in photo connections,
Kelly    

#743 On Safari

On the farm where I grew up in Missouri, one of my jobs was searching our 80 acres to check the livestock, i.e. cattle. At Botlierskop Game Reserve in South Africa, we spent three days exploring 7,500 acres to check the livestock, i.e. not cattle.

Rhino, not cattle!

Each day in the early morning and late afternoon, we set out from the lodge with our Semester at Sea friends on game drives in search of animals.

We found all the animals.

Bontebok

Impala

Buffalo

Hippo

Giraffe

Elephant

Lion

Yours in South Africa,
Kelly

#742 Thanksgiving food art

Food art is fun.

We don't do a lot of cooking so our holiday meal contributions typically tend toward the inconsequential side dishes.  

Thanksgiving is fun because we like to try our hand at making a turkey without turning on the oven.  This relish tray is one of my favorites.

This cracker, cheese, and sausage platter was fun too.  I especially like the tomato wattle.

Lately, we've been offered two creative suggestions for future Thanksgiving food art. 

Thanks go to Megan for this colorful fruity turkey idea.

And thanks go to the crew of the MS World Odyssey for this funky idea!

Yours in planning for Thanksgiving 2019,
Mary

#741 The Mysterious Zero Zero Buoy

Latitude zero, longitude zero is a point in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ghana where the Equator and Prime Meridian cross.

We've been lucky to visit this spot on the Spring 2011 and Fall 2013 voyages with Semester at Sea.

Before both visits to the 0,0 spot, we heard stories about a buoy anchored there. Both times upon arrival we didn't see a buoy. After each visit, we were shown photos allegedly taken from the ship of the elusive 0,0 buoy. Often the photos were accompanied by doubt-inducing commentary.

So as we approached 0,0 on this Fall 2018 voyage, we were excited to find this note on our cabin door: 

"The Captain invites you to the bridge for the 0,0 crossing at 13:20. Deck 8 forward."

Believe me, we were on time for this appointment! Upon arrival Captain Kostas, binoculars-in-hand, tells us he's looking ahead to spot the buoy.

And in just a few minutes, we spot the buoy!

It's real! There's a buoy at 0,0. I was so excited my hair stood on end.

Then so many questions come to mind. Who decided to put a buoy at 0,0 and why? How does it stay at 0,0 where the ocean is over 16,000 feet deep?

Making good use of satellite internet, I learn the buoy is part of the PIRATA (great acronym!) array deployed by a consortium of countries (including the US government agency NOAA) to collect data.

That answers the 'who' and the 'why'. But what keeps the buoy at 0,0 given the depth? One widely-held theory: the buoy is fitted with GPS and motors its way back to 0,0 if it floats too far away.

So I emailed NOAA asking about the 'how'. NOAA's reply came quick and strong with diagrams and deployment photos.

Yes, the 0,0 buoy is anchored to the ocean floor. This cartoonish drawing makes it seem simple. It's not. A more complex drawing followed with details.

At the bottom lie over 2 tons of anchor weights made from recycled rail car wheels.

It takes a big ship to deploy the assembly.

Once the sensors are installed, deployment is complete.

Yours in thanking Captain Kostas and NOAA for bringing the zero zero buoy up close and personal,
Kelly

#740 Neptune Day 2018

Our Fall 2018 voyage crosses two lines at the same time, the Equator and the Prime Meridian.

For a moment off the coast of Ghana, we float across latitude 0, longitude 0.

Green King Neptune, Queen Minerva, and their costumed court celebrate this maritime event by initiating a pitiful flock of first-time equator-crossers, derisively known as pollywogs 😏, thereby bestowing upon them the prestigious title Emerald Shellback.

The Royal Barber is on duty, keen for head shaving.

And of course, fish kissing is required.

Yours in enjoying maritime tradition,
Kelly

#739 Global Mamas

In Ghana, we spent an inspiring day with Global Mamas.

Previous Semester at Sea voyagers raved about Global Mamas, the Ghanaian fair-trade cooperative started by eight women in 2003. We've seen Global Mamas handcrafted products from Ghana for sale in a shop down the street from our home in Indianapolis so we know the Mamas have grown to be a worldwide creative community. But we want to know more.

So while in Ghana, we visit both the Global Mamas store in Accra and their modest facility in Cape Coast where we learn about their 350 producers from 7 communities all in Ghana supporting local entrepreneurial women and their families.

Then come their products, beautiful and useful.

But when Global Mama Mary Koomson takes us to her batik workshop things get really interesting.

Sponge patterns. Organic cotton. Natural dies. Brilliant colors. Drying sunshine. We have so much respect for the hard work and skill invested in making batik fabric! 

We come away impressed with Mary Koomson's fine craftsmanship and much better clothed. 

Yours in Ghana,

Kelly