What is the centre of the universe for our latest circumnavigation? It's the Panama Canal, wonder of the modern world at 9 degrees North of the equator.
There's a lot of ocean to the west so I think we'll go east towards Africa. First we must traverse the northern part of South America: Colombia and Venezuela. The current UK Government advice is "There is a high threat from violent crime and kidnapping throughout Venezuela, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world." And "Despite improvements in security, crime rates remain high in Colombia. Illegal armed groups and other criminal groups are heavily involved in the drugs trade and serious crime including kidnapping (for ransom and political purposes), money laundering and running extortion and prostitution rackets. Street crime is a problem in major cities." So I think there's a case for avoiding those countries and getting on a ship straight away. It's over 3,000 miles to Sierra Leone, 13½ days at 10 knots, so time for a nap.
From Sierra Leone we journey across Africa to Somalia:
Sierra Leone itself is an interesting start. Following many years of bloody strife typical of post-colonial (in this case British) rule, given independence in 1961, today it has an apparently democratic government, although it has to be said that President Kabbah was put in place by the military after a counter-coup in 1998 (having been ousted in a military coup a year earlier); I think I recall British troops were involved in that. Whatever, peace has reigned since then. Polygamy is rife in Sierra Leone but who am I to judge their customs? What I find most interesting is that, unlike many post-colonial African nations, they did not change their name.
We cross the border into Guinea. As another coastal country, like Sierra Leone, the first Europeans there were the great Portuguese explorers but the French were their colonial rulers. Guinea is a traditional name. Another peaceful, democratic country. Moving on, we enter the Côte d'Ivoire, a country of 26 million, another French-colonised, now independent nation with a post-independence history of civil war and despotic leadership. I don't pretend to understand the reasons for, and implementation of, the transitions from colonies to independent nations that these African countries underwent but common sense suggests it could have been managed better; who knows?
Ghana is next. I remember the British colonial name The Gold Coast from my youth. I guess that reflects its mining economy. Eastwards from Ghana we have to aim to hit the Indian Ocean in Somalia, although that's rated a "risky country" [my words] by the UK Foreign Office. Maybe we fly over. On the way we visit Togo. govolunteerafrica.org tells me that "Togo offers some extraordinary and interesting sites." For example:
1. Go on a hike. Nope, not for me; it's exhausting enough traversing the world.
2. Spend some time on one of their idyllic beaches. Yep, let's do that.
Benin is next; there's a lot of talk about the Benin Bronzes. Looted by British forces in 1897 and sold on to anyone and everyone. The Germans have given theirs back; the British, not so much.
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, with 206 million inhabitants. Another country where we should not go (all the familiar stuff about murders and terrorists); we'll pass through quickly and get to Cameroon, where the advice is less stringent, just a bit of "mugging and armed banditry". We'll take precautions whilst enjoying many wildlife experiences, such as the Benoue National Park and the Mefou primate sanctuary.
The President of Chad was killed by rebels in April, which obviously makes me nervous about that country. Oil is Chad's biggest export, however the country - another French colony given independence in 1960 - is poor and struggling to accommodate refugees from conflicts with neighbouring Libya and Sudan.
Only two - of 53 - African countries rank lower than Chad on the Human Development Index (HDI). One of those two is next on our list, as we dip in and out of the Central African Republic - like Chad, given independence in 1960 and engulfed in civil war more or less ever since - either side of a tiny enclave of Sudan, on our way to South Sudan - itself only one place above Chad on the HDI.
I find myself saddened by these countries and their post-colonial histories. Nowadays there is much criticism of European expansion and colonisation of parts of the world, particularly Africa, and I am definitely not competent to judge that history or those judgements but it just seems that the handling of moves to independence may have been hasty and ill-conceived. Without knowing any facts, it sounds to me like "we have got what we needed from you and now we're washing our hands of your troublesome country". I'd like to know more.
We arrive in Ethiopia, one of only two African countries to avoid European colonisation. A monarchy for centuries, the country suffered a Life Of Brian moment in 1991 when the communist People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was overthrown by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.
Finally we arrive at the coast in Somalia, home to 727 species of birds, according to Wikipedia, which I thought pretty amazing. However the conservation website Mongabay says 570, ranking Somalia just 60th in the number of bird species (Colombia is top with 1,878). Who's counting among friends, anyway? Mongabay also tells us they have 176 species of mammals and 239 species of reptiles. So there are some positive things to be said about Somalia.
[Check out the Mongabay site; it's an interesting resource]
Crossing the Indian Ocean, we just about touch the southern tip of India - the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu - and enter Sri Lanka. I once went to a wedding in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. It lasted a week. I was invited to give a speech. Thankfully there is no record of this. I absolutely love India and hope to return one day when things are back to normal.
Sri Lanka has 239 species of reptiles, 376 of birds and an urbane, thoughtful cricket star of recent times Kumar Sangakkara, ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2012, scorer of 12,400 runs in 134 Test matches at an average of 57.40 and current President of the MCC:
Incidentally (one of my favourite words) in October 2121 former England captain Clare Connor will be the first female president in the club’s 233-year history. If you don't like football (yes,you) how about cricket?
Now a really long sea voyage, over 6,000 km to Thailand's Ko Kho Khao island. I get terribly seasick but it'll be fine, won't it? Anyway the island has some great beaches and I can take a well-earned rest. We then move on to Vietnam, whose currency is the dong and whose government is Marxist-Leninist, deriving that ideology from Ho Chi Minh. Marxism–Leninism holds that a two-stage communist revolution is needed to replace capitalism. I'm not sure where Vietnam is on that journey.
After Vietnam, we enter the South China Sea which has in recent years become a hotbed of claims and counter-claims by China, Japan and others - and US naval patrols - over the sovereignty of a number of lumps of rock, otherwise known as islands. Such as the Spratly Islands, pretty much equidistant from Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines and named after a British whaling captain. A recent report in the CIA World Factbook tells us "all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China (including Taiwan) and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines".
The Philippines has over 7,500 islands. I imagine that must be a bureaucratic nightmare. There are two big ones, in the north and south, and a jumble of smaller ones in the middle which is where our route takes us. Palawan is a very very thin straggly thing with a population of just under a million and is our next landfall.
We sail through the Sulu Sea and the Bohol Sea, passing the Philippine Island of Mindanao, the second largest of the country and home to 20 million inhabitants, making it the eighth largest of the world's islands. Filipino is the national language of the Philippines and English is also an official language but dozens of languages are spoken by the various ethnic groups in Mindanao.
Back to sea; 5,200 km to the Marshall Islands across the Pacific Ocean. An independent Micronesian country of 5 islands, 29 coral atolls and, according to worldometers.info, 59,190 inhabitants, the Marshall Islands derive their name from John Marshall, a British explorer, who visited in 1788. Climate change, leading to rising sea levels, apparently threatens this tiny island nation.
Crossing the International Date Line, more ocean travel leads us to landfall in Costa Rica and finally back home to Panama. Costa Rica is ranked 64th in the HDI. It has the 5th freest press according to the Press Freedom Index 2121 (Reporters Without Borders), it is the 36th most democratic country according to the Freedom in the World index and is the 12th happiest country in the World Happiness Report, the 2020 edition of which quotes "it is fascinating to see that the top ten in terms of optimistic outlook also includes new cities ... in fact, places two, three, and five in terms of future life evaluation are populated by San Miguelito (Panama), San Jose (Costa Rica), and Panama City (Panama)".
We did it! Ferdinand Magellan, eat your heart out.
Did our world tour leave us more or less optimistic about the future for humankind? I suppose a mixture; lots of sadness but also beauty and promise.
