MICHAEL WALSH EX-DECKHAND: Waking up in unfamiliar surroundings my shipmate lying in the bed opposite greeted me. Finally, kicking our legs out from under the light duvets we crossed to the magnificent villa’s huge bedroom window.

The previous evening, we had fallen into a conversation with two Europeans working in this African country.

The camaraderie at the previous night’s bar was such that we two had been invited to stop over at the compound where the pair shared a foreign company villa.

It was long after nightfall when we arrived. I now recall a remotely situated kraal-like but highly developed and modern community surrounded by high walls, and fencing.

The entrance was similar to any gate marking the entrance of a military complex. At the gate, there were armed sentries and other security guards on duty.

Going on through the gates we could see the community set out in the shape of a horseshoe where there were situated about twenty magnificent European-style villas.

Now residents albeit temporary, as we at the villa’s bedroom window gazed across the football field-sized lawns we commented on how green and well-manicured the lawns were.

As smooth as a billiard tabletop, it seemed every blade on the lawn had been cut to a precise size. Bizarrely, set in the almost centre of the beautiful lawn was one of the ugliest structures I had ever set eyes upon.

About the size of a backyard privy in a Lancashire cotton town, this hut of sorts was a ramshackle wattle, straw and goodness know what outhouse. In a word, the structure was an eyesore.

As we four chatted over breakfast, each of the adjacent homes was identified as being the property of a high-ranking government minister.

LEFT: Michael Walsh ex-Able Bodied Seaman and maritime writer:

Our hosts were two European factory managers responsible for the running of a small local processing plant. As we made small talk I enquired about the eyesore and was told that it was the hut where the witch doctor practised.

‘Then tell him to place it elsewhere,’ I dourly remarked.

‘We can’t,’ the Belgian factory manager smiled. ‘We tried it but he wanted it just where it is. Had we refused we wouldn’t have a workforce.’ TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

PLEASE NOTE: This is Story 37 of the 70 true illustrated real-life stories to be enjoyed in THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL by ex-mariner Michael Walsh, AB.

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THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL  ex-Liverpool seaman Michael Walsh. Bestseller: 70 stories and over 100 pictures. A first-hand account of the British ships, seafarers, adventures and misadventures (1955 – 1975). A tribute to the ships and seamen of the then-largest merchant marine in history. LINKS TO BOOKSTORE CLICK PICTURE OR LINK https://michaelwalshbooks.wordpress.com/

ALL I ASK IS A TALL SHIP Michael Walsh the Mariner’s Poet. Hauntingly illustrated a captivating chronicle of life penned by a son of the seven seas evoked from worldwide voyages during the 1950s and 1960s. The Bard of the Sea has spun a captivating treasure chest of delightful verse that captures hearts and souls worldwide. CLICK PIC OR LINKS TO BOOKSTORE https://michaelwalshbooks.wordpress.com/