Lost in Africa

I was working on the merchant ship Del Alba on a cruse to Africa. The ship had a crew of about 30 men including officers. I worked as Officers Pantry man. My duties were to shout down a dumbwaiter to the kitchen, what the officers wanted to eat. The cook would place the plate on the dumbwaiter and I would pull it up. I also made salads and kept fresh coffee brewing all during the day. I worked about 4 hours a day and got paid for 8. The rest of the crew were hardened sailors with whom I had little in common. I pretty much stayed to myself.
The first port we hit in Africa was a Bauxite mine and we unloaded fuel oil. We then went down to Conakry in Guinea . We had 24 brand new school busses that were being given to the people there. I had watched them being loaded in Lake Charles. The longshoremen were very careful to get them all down the hole of the ship with out a scratch. The African's on the other hand, didn't have the proper equipment or qualified personal, so they managed to knock out the head and tail lights on every single bus. The rest of the ship was loaded with free Wheat. The busses and Wheat had signs painted on them. The sign said "Gift From The United States of America" . Under the sign was the figure of two hands shaking. I thought it curious that both hands were white.
Tied up next to us was the Hospital Ship Hope. The first evening we were there I went and watched a movie on board the Hope.
The next evening, I let a few of the "old Salts" talk me into going with them to what they called a luxury restaurant. We got a cab and as we drove, I tried to make a mental note as to which direction we were traveling. The cab driver was driving like crazy and attempted to hit several pedestrians along the way.
The restaurant was nice and we sat down and enjoyed a good meal. The old salts had started drinking as soon as we arrived and now after the meal, were drinking more. They were getting drunk and I was wishing I was back on the ship. At about this time another group of seaman from another ship came in. They were already drunk and had only been there a few minutes when one of them made some crude comment to one of the guys I had come with.
The guy sitting next to me stood up and leaped at the other seaman and broke his bottle of beer over they guys head. All the seaman jumped up and ran across the room and started to fight. I ran out the door.

I ran about a 100 yards before I stopped and turned around. It sounded like everyone in the restaurant was in the fight.
I started to walk in the direction where I thought the ship was. The streets were unpaved and dimly lighted. The houses were not much more than huts and as I walked I could hear music coming from some. I continued walking for about a half a hour and knew I was totally lost. I would have taken a cab, but there were none coming by. I walked cautiously past a group of young men and thankfully they paid no attention to me. I wasn't just scared, I was numb. I continued until I came to a corner that was well lit. There was a old bench and a sign for what I thought was a bus stop. I sat on the bench in hope that a cab or bus would come by. I heard someone coming up behind me before I could see them. They had on sandals and made a flopping noise as they walked. It was a young man and he sat down on the bench. He smiled and I gestured with my hands and said "ship?" He smiled and said something in French. Then something came into my mind. "Hope?" and once again I gestured something big. His eyes lighted up.. "Hope" he responded. Then with a series of gestures I got it across that I wanted to go to the Hope. He got up and made the sign for me to follow.
We must have walked for 45 minutes before we finally entered an area that I recognized as the entrance to the port. I could see the tail end of the Hope in the distance. I thanked him in a Spanish/English mixture and tried to give him a few dollars. He refused the money and walked off. I ran the rest of the way to the ship.
Later, I was at the top of the ships ladder, talking to the Guard. I heard screeching tires and saw a vehicle racing down the docks towards us. When it reached the area where the ships ladder hit the dock, it stopped. The driver jumped out and opened the back door and pulled out the three sailors I had gone to the restaurant with. He piled them up on the dock and drove off. They all three were beaten up badly and required medical attention .
I stayed on the ship at night after that.

©2011