MONKEY FAMILY ASHORE IN AFRICA

Our ship discharged everything from her cargo hatches in Kenya and hoped to load again immediately. The inspectors found some strange looking insects lurking in a few crevices. So our ship had to be fumigated and everyone received shore leave.

The Captain capitalized on the opportunity to walk along the beachfront early in the morning. On his early morning walk he cam across a mother monkey watching her 9 babies play in the sand along the beachfront. The Captain watched the family of monkeys for a long time until the mother spotted him. Mother monkey and her babies disappeared into the forest in a flash.

BANANA THE STOWAWAY

Our ship was docking at her assigned berth in Beira. While we were discharging our cargo into the waiting coasters an unexpected visitor came aboard from a neighboring vessel. The Captain and the Chief Mate encountered the new arrival as they walked to lunch.

Wherever did this cute little monkey come from? No one knew! Directives were given immediately to set a trap and get rid of "Banana"! The cook gave the tastiest treats he could find to make catching Banana easy. However, Banana knew how to steal! Banana stole the treats and eluded the trap. What do we do with Banana? The cook helped us select some very ripe bananas to place in the trap. Banana needed extra minutes to eat this huge treat and soon found herself trapped. Now the Chief Mate carried the trap to the dock and set Banana scurrying off to the vessel docked behind us. However, the entire crew missed Banana and hoped they would feed her as well as we did.

TIGERS ARE COMING

Barnum and Bailey Circus recently contracted with a game farm in England for 16 tigers to perform in their circus acts. Our vessel had the good fortune to carry them back to the United States from England. We had lots of fun studying about the characteristics of Siberian and Bengal tigers. The crew on our ship videotaped the feeding sessions and exercises of the tigers. We learned that they each eat one half of a pig's head for their lunch and that tigers do not get seasick. One of the very young tigers named Claudia took a fancy to the Captain. She would do anything he told her. These tigers were gorgeous cats. We look forward to seeing them perform when the circus comes to our area.

B.B.DOMINO and BIG RED

On a voyage from New Orleans, Louisiana to Durban, South Africa we had the good fortune of carrying two prize-winning 4-H Hereford Bulls, named B.B. Domingo and Big Red. They would be used to start a new dairy herd in Durban. Hoof and mouth disease had destroyed South Africa's cattle herds.

The crew was excited about carrying these prize-winning animals. They were quite handsome and very gentle. Everyone on board spent their free time visiting, brushing and feeding BB and Big Red. They even let us sit on their backs without a saddle, and did not buck or rear. Needless to say, we were sorry to see them depart

YOUNG BOY STOWAWAY

Early one Monday morning, while docking in the port of Maputo, South Africa, the Captain announced to the passengers on board that immediately after breakfast, a fire and boat drill would take place.

The passengers went to their staterooms upon finishing breakfast and donned their life jackets. This is standard procedure in preparing for the drill. However, the couple occupying the front stateroom, noticed something moving in the lifeboat outside their porthole window. On their way to the drill, they reported their observation to the Captain. He ordered the lifeboat lowered and searched. A young boy of 12, said he joined the ship in New York but carried no identification papers. Since our ship had not called New York, the harbor police were called and he was turned over to them.

PLEASE MAY I HAVE A PAIR OF SHOES?   

Bad weather had slowed us down on our voyage to Beira, Mozambique. How could we possibly make up for this lost time and return to our scheduled itinerary? Our only hope was the Stevedores in Beira. Would they help us to work fast in discharging our food cargo there?

Our Chief Mate explained our dilemma to the foreman of the longshoremen's gang. He promised to get his crew working immediately if only he could have a pair of shoes when the vessel was unloaded (The foreman was barefoot). Our Chief Mate promised him not one, but two pairs of his shoes if they would get the vessel unloaded in record time.

The longshoremen got their orders and began unloading the cargo. Each day the foreman checked on the promise. By the end of the third day, all of the cargo had been discharged. A promise was kept as our Chief Mate gave the foreman a pair of new leather boots and a pair of new gym shoes. The foreman told the Chief Mate that he was the first one who ever kept his promise as he had been asking for a pair of shoes now for many years.