Port Boulebinet
by Anne Harkin
Sitting astride my djembe,
flanked by my suitcase, crouching in the edge of shade provided by a
derelict container and adjacent shack, I wait at Port Boulebinet for the
next pirogue to nearby Room Island.
Before me is the usual
melée and colourful chaos of human and nautical activity. Behind me the
eerie, burnt out shell of the former parliament building. This massive,
circular structure of concrete, is the legacy of an attempted coup d'état.
These days it plays host only to the crows and vultures which circle
tirelessly above it or perch on its rusting iron framework.
Rows of boats bob up and
down, bumping against each other, maneuvered into place by bamboo poles
and by manual pushing and shoving. Passengers and pilots jump from one
to the next to reach their desired pirogue. Sometimes too many people
stand along one side and the boat dips perilously low sideways,
threatening to capsize.
But they are sturdy and
well designed boats, shaped long and thin like slices of melon, their
noses pointing skywards. This design prevents the waves flooding in when
the boats rise then fall with a smash in rough seas. The hulls have been
painted in strong colours, but most are beaten up and in need of
repainting. They go by such names as Les Copains D'Abord, L'An 2000,
Lucky Boy and Rasta Rocket.
Those belonging to
Ghanaian fishermen are of slightly more robust dimensions, (they have to
weather weeks at sea), and are festooned with bouquets of tattered flags
fluttering on bunches of bamboo poles.
An argument suddenly
breaks out among the women waiting in the shade next to me. One has
grabbed another by the front of her dress and both are yelling and
grimacing fiercely. God knows what it's over! More women surround the
pair, some trying to separate them, pacify them, some upping the ante by
taking sides. From one or the other comes an intermittent single clap
and loud "Aha!", as in "I told you so!", stated with
utter moral superiority and unquestionable finality. So it continues for
some minutes until it dissipates as fast as it arose.
