West African Cruise Day 3: Sunday – Cruise the Sine-Saloum Delta, explore Joal Fadiouth and sail to Banjul, Gambia
February 15th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
This morning, we arrived in Senegal’s Sine-Saloum Delta, a UNESCO biosphere reserve and an important birding area. The park is a haven for lots of mammal and fish species, from marine turtles and dolphins to West African manatees and crocodiles.
Today’s optional excursion started at 9.15 an and finished at 3.45 pm and it was an exciting time. Our yacht moored off the coast, while we took pirogues (motorised wooden canoes) to the the fishing village of Djiffer, where we made a ‘wet landing’ (shoes and socks off and trousers rolled up).
The a coach took us one hour north to Joal and Fadiouth, small towns set on land made of clam shells which are traditionally used in local crafts and architecture. Although Senegal is
overwhelmingly Muslim, for historic colonial reasons, Fadiouth is substantially Catholic with a Church of St Francis Xavier.
We explored the islands by crossing new long wooden bridges and taking slim wooden canoes crafted from a single piece of wood and navigated with long poles.
At Joal, we enjoyed lunch overlooking the islands before returning to Djiffer. On the outward journey, we stopped to observe vultures devouring a dead donkey. On the return journey, we halted to view a hugh bilbao tree, said to be the oldest in Senegal, an estimated 1800 years.
Late afternoon, we continued sailing south to our port for the night in Gambia’s capital, Banjul, the gateway to the 700-mile-long Gambia River.
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West African Cruise Day 2: Saturday – Visit Gorée Island and begin cruise to the Saloum River Delta
February 15th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Our began with a trip to Gorée Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Dakar. Here, our local guide Omar toldus about the island’s slave trade history at the museum in Fort d’Estrées and the Maison des Esclaves, where captives were imprisoned before being shipped overseas. We paid our respects at the Mémorial Gorée Almadies, built by Guadalope to honour victims of the slave trade.
Afterwards, we strolled through the island’s alleys lined with pastel-coloured buildings now home to a thriving arts community. Then we stopped for lunch at an open-air restaurant called “Chez Thio”before taking the ferry back to Dakar.
At the port, we were immediately driven round to our cruise ship “Harmony V”. A safety drill by the Greek captain and lots of briefing by the Czech cruise leader settled us into the way of things. We started to meet the other passengers: there are 28 of us from a variety of countries.
After dinner on board, we sail south through the night along the coast Senegalese coast towards the Sine-Saloum River Delta.
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West African Cruise Day 1: Friday – Arrive in Senegal
February 15th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
On Friday 13th, we started our trip. It was 4C and cloudy in London when we flew out of Heathrow Airport at 7 am heading for Brussels. After a trip of just 40 minutes and then a wait of four hours, we flew down to Dakar, a journey of 5 hours 40 minutes.
There is no time difference between the UK and Senegal and it was about 6.30 pm when we landed. We were spending one night in a hotel before beginning a cruise. The hotel was actually a seaside resort on the other side of Dakar so it was around 8.30 pm when we reached our room in the 4-star Terrou-Bi Hotel.
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West Africa Cruise: introduction
February 12th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
I used to have an objective to have visited as many countries as my age. Then I found that I was racing ahead with my international travel. Now my wish is the reverse: to live for as many years as the number of countries that I’ve visited!
I’m about to start of a new trip that, when it’s over, will take my country count to 93 (I’m currently aged 77).
I’m travelling with my fiancée Tess to West Africa on a package tour organised by the travel company Jules Verne. It’s a cruise, which makes sense, given where we’re going. However, it will be my first cruise (Tess has been on many). Our destinations are Senegal and The Gambia.
Senegal owes its name to the Senegal River which borders it to the north and east. Along the whole of its western side, it borders the Atlantic Ocean.
Historically it was under French colonial rule from 1677 to 1960 when it was known as French West Africa. In African terms, it is a small country with an area roughly similar to Romania or Greece in Europe. The population is around 18 million. The largest ethnic groups are Wolof (40%), Fula (28%) and Serer (16%). There are six languages.
The capital is Dakar with a population of 1.3 million.
The Gambia owes its name to the Gambia River which stretches the length of the country with strips of land to its north and south. It is surrounded by Senegal on all sides, except for the western part which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.
It was part of the British Empire from 1765 to 1965. It is the smallest country in continental Africa. The population is about 2.5 million. The largest ethnic groups are Mandinka (34%), Fula (15%) and Wolof (9%). There are 19 languages.
The capital is Banjul with a population of only 27,000.
Locals liken Senegal and The Gambia to the mouth and the tongue respectively.
I normally blog on NightHawk and post photos on Facebook when I travel but, this time, I suspect that Internet access will be limited and expensive so my usual messaging might have to wait.
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A review of the new Korean film “No Other Choice”
February 10th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
From the Korean director of the infamous “Old Boy”, Park Chan-wook’s latest film will not be to everyone’s taste since this surreal black comedy is a tale of mayhem and murder, but it is done with some style and poses a challenging social problem: what do we do when traditional industries – in this case, paper-making – embrace robotics and artificial intelligence to such an extent that almost all the staff are ‘let go’?
In the case of the redundant middle-manager played by Lee Byung-hun, he decides to enhance his chances of re-employment by eliminating his major competitors in the jobs market, but killing them and disposing of the evidence comes with problems in this deliciously entertaining, though rather overlong, macabre story.
Note: The film is an adaptation of a 1997 novel called “The Ax” written by American author Donald E Westlake. It was previously adapted for the screen in 2005 by the Greek-French filmmaker Costa-Gavras to whom the Korean film is dedicated.
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A review of “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan
February 8th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Set in a small Irish town in 1985, the point of view is that of kindly coal merchant, Bill Furlong. As the story develops, it becomes the author’s response to the scandal of the Magdalen laundries. Claire Keegan’s writing is so exquisite that one needs to read it slowly and fortunately one can because the book is little more than 100 pages. Furlong knew “It would be the easiest thing in the world to lose everything” and asks himself “was there any point in being alive without helping one another?”
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A review of “So Late In The Day” by Claire Keegan
February 2nd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Claire Keegan is an Irish writer known for her short stories and this one has been published in a stand-alone work of just 45 pages. Set in modern-day Dublin, this beautifully-written tale describes the evolving relationship of Cathal and Sabine and the lack of care in too many young men even today. Sabine offers Cathal an insight into “the heart of misogyny”: “It’s simply about not giving.”
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A review of the classic film “Gone With The Wind” (1939)
February 2nd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Everything about this film is epic. It is set at the most transformational period of American history: the civil war and the reconstruction era. It is based on the very long and hugely popular 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell. It was the second most expensive film made up to that point, with only “Ben Hur” (1925) having cost more. It has a phenomenal running time of almost four hours (but with an intermission). It obtained what was then a record number of Academy Award nominations (13) and wins (19). Allowing for inflation, it has earned more money than any other film in the history of the cinema. Quite simply, any serious fan of films should see this work at least once; I’ve viewed it four times, twice on the big screen.
Although an historical drama, at its heart it is a powerful, but ill-fated, romance between the suave and wealthy, but complicated, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and the strong-willed, self-centred daughter of a cotton plantation owner, Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh). The casting of the male lead was never in doubt; producer David O Selznick waited two years for Gable to be available for the charismatic role. By contrast, some 1,400 actresses were considered for the role of Scarlett and the choice of the English Leigh was a surprise.
Historically, the movie presents a highly partisan and politically wrong narrative in which the Southern cause in the civil war is offered as noble and slavery is portrayed as acceptable to white and black. If one can look beyond this, the film is enormously impressive with so many classic scenes, such as the railway station and great fire in Atlanta, and so many memorable quotes, notably Butler’s assertion “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” and O’Hara’s declarations “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again” and “After all, tomorrow is another day.”
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A review of the new sports movie “Saipan”
January 29th, 2026 by Roger Darlington
Never heard of Saipan? It is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. Never hear of the Saipan incident? This was a public quarrel in May 2002 between the Republic of Ireland national football team’s captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy when the team was preparing for its matches in Japan in that year’s World Cup.
Does the argument really merit a film? Well, if you’re Irish and/or a football fan, I guess it does and my son, who is a massive football enthusiast, loved it. The central performances, by Éanna Hardwicke as Keane and Steve Coogan as McCarthy are excellent, and the narrative would seem to be a fair account of what happened but, as cinema, I found the work too flashy and frenetic with a kaleidoscope of images and sounds.
Wikipedia page on the Saipan incident click here
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Ever heard of Louis Spohr?
January 23rd, 2026 by Roger Darlington
I hadn’t until I was told about him by a patient to whom I was talking while doing my weekly volunteering at the Older Persons’ Unit of St Thomas Hospital in central London.
According to the entry in Wikipedia:
“Louis Spohr, 5 April 1784 – 22 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinistand conductor.
Highly regarded during his lifetime,[2] Spohr composed ten symphonies, ten operas, eighteen violin concerti, four clarinet concerti, four oratorios, and various works for small ensemble, chamber music, and art songs. Spohr invented the violin chinrest and the orchestral rehearsal mark.
His output spans the transition between Classical and Romantic music, but fell into obscurity following his death, when his music was rarely heard. The late twentieth century saw a modest revival of interest in his oeuvre, primarily in Europe, but his reputation has never been restored to that during his lifetime.”
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