Goodbye to Lagos – The story of a last goodbye

In 1962, the two of us were waiting to board the Mail Ship, the MV “Accra”, bound for Liverpool from Lagos, West Africa. My daughter was three years old. The port was a teeming mass of humanity, including local merchants folding their wares, many of them women. As usual, her slippers were resting on her heads. The scent of spices permeated the air along with the indescribable smell of Africa itself. Stalls were installed in all available spaces, no matter how small. Right next door to a display of pots and pans, fruit and vegetables alongside sweet pastries. Brightly colored fabrics clamored for attention along with a variety of glorious rugs. A few meters away, a vendor extolled the virtues of his coffee beans, inviting everyone to taste them. All the merchants considered their wares to be the best in the world: the juiciest watermelons, the largest prawns, the thickest rugs, the richest coffee, the choicest cakes, the heaviest rugs.

Amidst all the hustle and bustle, we slowly made our way onto the catwalk. We were finally on board where a stewardess showed us to our cabin. After unpacking we went up on deck. Beverley anxiously scanned the faces on the dock, searching for her papa. “There it is, there it is,” she cried out excitedly. She was waving frantically to get our attention. Everyone had already boarded and the ship prepared to sail. Suddenly, I heard the sound of “Rule Britannia”, which I discovered would play every time we arrived and left the port. They all waved their last “Goodbyes” before settling down for 13 days at sea.

I remember feeling terribly dizzy but luckily it didn’t affect Beverley. After a couple of days, I suddenly felt much better. I mentioned this to a woman he had started chatting with every day and she laughed. “Idiot! We’ve been docked for two hours!” We had arrived in Sierra Leone, Freetown, still on the west coast of Africa. The port was most impressive, surrounded by mountains. The ship was only there for a couple of hours while loading cargo and more fuel. Once again we heard “Rule Britannia” as the ship sailed majestically out of the harbor. To my relief, I no longer suffered from seasickness and began to enjoy the ride. I wondered why I had never traveled by boat before instead of waiting until my last trip from Lagos to England.

I was blown away by the wonderful food that was served in the lavish dining room. The ship offered all the services that I would have associated with a cruise. We all get dressed for dinner, of course, nothing too grand or formal but something a little fancy or elegant. I went to a lot of cocktails and other drinking parties, but all the officers thought they were God’s gift to women. I could have happily stayed on board traveling back and forth forever. Of course, I was very young at the time.

Beverley had a great time, but now she doesn’t remember anything about it. She was with me all day and at night a stewardess kept a close eye on her and called me if necessary. I forgot to mention that I met a “Sugar Daddy” who promised me an all-expenses-paid vacation anywhere in the world with my daughter, no strings attached! When I refused, he never spoke to me again, so much for “no strings attached!”.

We finally docked in Liverpool and said a fond goodbye to the people we had met and took home some very happy memories. My next trip would be to Benghazi, Libya, but that’s another story.