June 3-8, 2024
For those unaware – June is International Pride month and the Serenade had a Pride Flag raising ceremony to celebrate (and will have a Pride Party on June 14th).
Unfortunately, the flag had to come down as we approached Ghana. Ghana decided to outlaw LGBTQ+ individuals (simply identifying as gay or lesbian can mean a prison sentence of 3 years), violence against those suspected of being LGBTQ is encouraged, and bodies of suspected gay individuals have been exhumed and dumped. A lot of my friends stayed on the ship. I joined Brandee and some other friends and participated in a batik class run by Global Mama’s (a co-op of women who make and sell their wares internationally and give classes to visitors).
Meanwhile – John wandered around Takoradi.
Liam and Alan had been pushing for a Rocky Horror night, finally saying that we would come dressed no matter what on the next 80’s Night. Our Activities team stated they couldn’t “officially” call it a Rocky Horror Night, and could not show the movie – but announced the theme and a lot of us participated on June 7th.
Then into Senegal, where most of my LGBTQ friends remained aboard again due to violence against community members. A lot of passengers went on safaris to the Bandia Wildlife Reserve – when we could get out of the port. Bribery and corruption are everywhere, in every country, but I had never seen it so blatant as in Senegal. The SUV taking John and me along with another couple was approached by a guard and told their paperwork did not cover driving us out of the port – so our grouped walked with our guide the 3-4 blocks to the entrance. As we exited, the guard at the gate yelled something at the guide, who stopped and argued as we continued through to the SUV. We climbed in and waited, and waited, and waited. After about 30 minutes, I messaged Andrea in the minibus to let her know we were waiting – and she messaged back stating they were at the gate and the guard would not let them through – demanding a bribe of $300 (US). Their guide negotiated this down to $150, and had to wait for the money to be brought from the office. The ship had been about 45 minutes late docking, and with this delay put us over 1 1/2 hours behind. We finally made it to the reserve.
History lesson
It is very sad. I am putting in a link to my friend Anthony’s TikTok post about the impact of the area.