This morning all the new crew members went for a ship tour at 9 am. As we where finishing the tour we ran into Bill, who works in the hospital department. He invited us to join him heading off the ship into Cotonou, so 8 of use piled into a vehicle and first he took us to the Hospitality center for Mercyships, where many people come before going for surgery, and then stay there afterwards for some time after their surgeries. They do not receive treatment there but they are fed and if they run into complications they are sent back to the Africa Mercy, at any time of the night. A lot of the women staying there come from the north of Benin, and do not speak French or Fon, but one of the other 52!! tribal languages, so they require up to 3-4 translators (from English to French to Fon to ?other tribal dialect they speak). There were also a few kids there who have had their surgeries and are still not ready to go home yet. A few of the kids had received surgeries to release contractures from burns. Another little guy with neurological problems had received surgeries on both legs and was walking around with a little walker and both his legs in casts. Just having this glimpse of some of the work that is done here makes me eager to get to work!

After visiting the hospitality center, Bill took us for a drive around Cotonou, through some of the markets, and past some of the government buildings, embassies and resorts. So much to take in! Interesting to see what people are trying to sell at the stoplights (radios, wineglasses, phonecards, irons,....pretty much a portable hardware store). Traffic remains insane, as I noticed on our drive from the airport. After our mini-tour Bill took us to a hotel for some pizza and coke. Apparently the beaches here are not safe to swim along, because the currents are so strong, so a lot of the crew go to different hotels and pay a few dollars to use their pool for the day. The ship also has an above ground pool on the top deck (nothing really fancy but it's wet and in this heat anything will do!). Did I mention it is hot here yet!