Karen’s great great great uncle lived in Mobile, Alabama and though he died in 1877 his name and face are familiar to Mobilians even today. He was Admiral Raphael Semmes of the Confederate States of America. His statue has stood at the foot of Government for more than a hundred years. We’ve visited his statue on nearly every trip we’ve made through Mobile. Today though we spent some time getting to know him and his city a little better. We walked to his home at 806 Government Street and spent time on the porch where he sat. We spent time in the History Museum of Mobile where an entire gallery explores his life and Civil War service. By the way, it was his shipmates who dubbed him Old Beeswax because of his habit of twisting his waxed mustache while pacing the deck of the ship.
Queen Mary 2’s arrival in the Port of Dakar, Senegal was heralded in the local press and greeted with ceremony. Our own excursion took us on a coach journey through the streets of the capital city to visit a Wolof village and the shore of Lake Retba, the salty lake famed for an intense pink color.
Today’s safari adventure transported us out into the Dorob National Park to have up close encounters with little creatures that are well adapted to the extreme heat and lack of water in the Namib Desert.
With a UNESCO World Heritage Site, two national parks, dozens of museums, and hundreds of tours offered in the Cape Town area there is more than plenty to do. For our two day visit we opted to concentrate on African wildlife visiting the Aquila Private Game Reserve and the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony for a wonderful chance to these fabulous animals in their own habitat.
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