Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
S AILING THE I NDIAN O CEAN
“Our ship took us past the Skeleton Coast where we anchored to gaze at shipwrecks along
the shore, smashed sailing ships and rusting steel hulls, all victims to storms and near cyc-
lonic winds, and then ashore on present-day Namibia, once German Southwest Africa.
Evidence and mementos abound of its years as a German colony. Shops still carry German
goods and German names like Backerl and Metzgeri. And streets still carry German names,
for example, a grandfather of Nazi Marshal Göring, Shultz, Dr. Stahl. Churches also carry
German names, such as Christuskirche, as well as statues like Sudwest Reiter.
“Prosperity came from diamond and copper mining. Germans as directors and engin-
eers; the Herero and Nama the hard labor. To assert German control, the Shutztruppe was
used to compel obedience.
“But our days were pleasant, no reminders of past conflict. The Black natives were
friendly. Our rusty German was tolerated and we dined on wonderful German cuisine:
dumplings, 'mit' pork and the like. Our ship was our hotel and we said farewells to our
restaurateurs.
M OROCCO
“We have spent many a happy summer living in Morocco, fascinated by its thronging life.
From a balcony above its central square, Jemaa el Fna (The Square of the Dead), we de-
lighted in the passing show: jugglers, tumblers, story tellers, snake charmers. In an act of
boldness, I asked to sound the flute. Slowly, head weaving from side to side, the cobra ap-
pears, flicks his tongue and hisses! We watched the blind, tied together on long ropes, cross
the square around noon every day. And we flinched as a dentist pulled teeth with pliers and
a chisel.
“I solved the mystery of the Oriental rope trick, where a rope is thrown in the air with
no visible means of support, and the thrower climbs upward. The trick? The audience faces
the sun, unable to see the hook that holds the rope to a nearby balcony!
“Poverty in Morocco is endemic. An English friend told us that a few coins of charity
cannot make a dent in poverty. Instead, give a few coins to a beggar. I chose a boy leading
a blind father, and Libby chose a begging nursing mother. The next day they were waiting
for us outside our hotel!
“Through a friend teaching at a local college, I was invited to lecture at the University
of Marrakesh. The language of the educated was French, and mine was passable. As a com-
bat meteorologist in World War II, I was sent by the American Air Force to help train others
in the French-speaking colony of New Caledonia. To my great surprise, my students were
reading about democratic development, using the French edition of my book on American
democracy. Winston Churchill was nearby, painting, at the Hotel Momoumia. At the great
market or souk, I bought some Cuban cigars and sent them over to the great man. He raised
his hat and waved 'thank you'.”
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