Picto Diary - 03, 04 December 2018 - At Sea between Canary Islands and Cape Verde
Above: Self portrait (shadow) while holding ancient I Pod. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. At sea. East Atlantic Ocean. 03 December 2018.
Back getting my daily 7K steps at sea, accompanied by Bob Seger's walkable tunes.
Regent Seven Seas Explorer. Deck Five.
500 miles off coast of Western Sahara, midway between Canary and Cape Verde Islands.
Above: Observation Lounge. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. At sea. East Atlantic Ocean. 03 December 2018.
Cocktails with best friend TIMDT.My favorite time and place on the ship. Pre dinner. Piano player: "Blue Bayou," "Trailers for Sale..." "I Will Always Love You," "Spanish Eyes."Sunset on eastern Atlantic Ocean, midway between Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands, 200 miles off the west coast of Western Sahara/Morocco.
Above: Steve Stevens. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. At sea... between Canary Islands and Cape Verde, 500 miles west of African coast. 03 December 2018.
Unbelievably funny comic...telling jokes about geezers. He knew his audience. Also sang, played ukelele, and trumpet.
Shipboard after dinner show, 3 December 2018.
A lot of ship comics are groaners. Not this Brit.
U. — in Cape Verde
Above: Lecture slide. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. 04 December 2018.
Above: Lecture slide. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. 04 December 2018.
Non navigable rivers and disease of Africa prevented the type of early European conquest experienced by South America.
Andy Jampoler, ship board lecturer.
200 miles northwest of Cape Verde, 500 miles off coast of Western Sahara. — in Cape Verde.
Above: Lecture slide. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. 04 December 2018.
Progression of colonialization between 1880 and 1913.
Andy Jampoler, ship board lecturer.
200 miles northwest of Cape Verde, 500 miles off coast of Western Sahara. — in Cape Verde.
Lecturer Jampoler also discussed the dissolution of colonialism in Africa during the 1960's an 1970's.
Looking back, is there a case to be made for colonialism?
Would India be the united country it is today with railroads linking its cities, and a civil service enabling is government, and a professional military without the impact of 300 years of British colonial rule? Hong Kong was long held as a model of colonial success due to the island's prosperity under British rule.
West African nations have not seen similar levels of success while under colonial rule. West African countries, some of which we will be visiting on this voyage, remain impoverished with high levels of corruption at government levels.
The flood of refugees to Europe from Africa is not occurring because things are going well in Africa. Are European nations paying the price for a failed colonial effort... an effort they abandoned too soon to leftist liberation movements?
What are the benefits of independence for many of these West African countries?
One cannot ignore that cultures are different. Some advance individual freedom, safety for their citizens and an economic platform which gives rise to prosperity for those who wish to work hard. Other cultures advance tyranny.. oppression, Is their an obligation on the part of the free cultures to "teach" their version of culture to those cultures where tyranny rules? Will there be consequences if free cultures renege on that "responsibility?"
Above: Lecture slide. Regent Seven Seas Explorer. 04 December 2018.
First recognizable map of Africa, by Sebastian Munster.
Andy Jampoler, ship board lecturer.
200 miles northwest of Cape Verde, 500 miles off coast of Western Sahara.
Addendum:
Steve,
I don’t know when I will find the time to read TBTF but I thoroughly appreciate getting your high level summation and insights. Especially was intrigued by your view into the sale process at ASF, as well as comments on some of the characters in TBTF. I look forward to discussing further—hopefully when we expect to be out to DV weekend of 14th to open up our unit for the season.
Mezzanine,
Miami, FL
Steve,
As a result of your review of Hampton Sides, book, On Desperate Ground, I ordered a copy. I read it on the flight to Sydney, where we are now, and finished it while here. Excellent read and for me particularly engaging as I went to Korea in the Army with an Intelligence unit in 1962/63. I was in Uijeonbu on occasion and I knew most of the places written about in the book. To be clear, I never crossed the 38th parallel. It truly is a miracle that anyone survived that battle.. Thanks to the calm reserve and wisdom of General Smith many of his Marines made it out. MacArthur should have been relieved of Command in November rather than waiting until April of 1951.
If you continue to have an interest in Korea and the Korean war, I recommend to you a book by Michael Pembroke, an Aussie writer and historian who currently is a Judge on the NSW Supreme Court, entitled simply, Korea. It is excellent early history of the country and tells the reader a lot about the period following WWII. How the country got divided and why half was given to Stalin. Of importance are his views of American militarism and mistakes made in the belief that all foreign policy problems can be solved by the military. People like John Bolton and Donald Trump who never served in the military, let alone in combat, say they have never met a war they did not like and that peace is maintained only my having a military budget 10 times that of Russia and Europe combined.
Get a copy and see what you think.
Aspen,
Aspen, CO
I liked your book report very much Steve. My batting average for participation in troubled bank turnarounds went from 1.000 to 0.500 (BankUnited), and now stands at 0.667 with the turnaround of Ocean Bank.
Heloc,
Weston, FL
Keep up the travel log Steve....you are seeing many different things than we did on our trip to Portugal and Spain in June.
1492 was an epic, sometimes horrible year, when the Spanish said to the Jews convert to Christianity or leave??! Also they financed Columbises discovery of the new world.
Have fun.
'Cake and Maui,
Park City, UT
Thanks, Steve, but I’m not sure I want to revisit that era . . .
The Bohemian,
Reno, NV