The 9:00 a.m. lecture was by Howard Roitman, an overview of the history of what is now Kenya.

The area was always a polyglot of people; the word Swahili is not the name of a tribe, but simply means “coastal people/people of the shore”. They traded with Arabs (the term used pre-Islam), Turks, Omanis, and Egyptians, and where there is trade there is also war. Apparently the name “Mombasa” is derived from a word meaning “place of war”. During the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese also explored the area, but as diplomatic missions as opposed to trade.

The Portuguese who arrived in the 16th century were not diplomats – they were traders and conquerors. Fort Jesus that we’ll be visiting is a legacy of their stay. They were defeated not by another European power, but by the Omanis. Then in 1884/85 the Berlin Conference takes place, convened by Otto von Bismarck at the request of King Leopold of Belgium, who had interests in the (Belgian) Congo. Between 1880 and 1913, almost the entire continent of Africa with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia become “colonized”, or had “protectorates” created (clearly protecting European interests, not the African people). The British, French, Germans, and Italians carve up East Africa, based on agreements reached at that conference.

By the 1920s, African countries started to rebel against their “protectors” and seek autonomy. By the 1950s, there were armed rebellions; in Kenya that was the Mau Mau Rebellion that eventually led to the country’s independence in 1963.

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Kenya today still trades goods – mostly tea, coffee, textiles, and uranium ore – but 56% of their economy has moved into the service industry and tourism. Howard reminded us that as a “country” in its current iteration Kenya is still very new. How it develops remains to be seen.

FUN FACT: the Swahili language was at one time the lingua franca of Eastern Africa, and even now about 16 million people have Swahili as their first language and another 82 million as their second language. For most of us in North America the most recognizable Swahili phrase is “hakuna matata”, which’s really does mean “no worries”. Another great word is “harambee”, which means pulling together toward a goal, or simply helping each other with no expectation of payment. Both of those concepts reflect theKenyan philosophy of persevering through challenges.

After the lecture, I headed upstairs to Mamsens in the Explorers Lounge for coffee and a slice of raisinbolle (a delicious moist round raisin loaf), and to look out at the ocean. That’s when it became apparent that yesterday’s booby honour guard had left behind more than just memories. What a mess! Every glass surface on the front of the ship is covered in “souvenirs”.

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The 11:00 a.m. lecture had nothing whatsoever to do with Kenya or Africa. It was on “Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computers“, by Steven Burrows. One of the things he shared was that “the human brain is not a computer”, which perhaps is why so much of this lecture went right over my head. He asked the question, “If intelligent life found us, what would they make of the fact we are made out of meat … and that meat made machines?

He talked about the four things that need to (and perhaps already have) come together to create a singularity that will always be smarter than humans: artificial intelligence (a program which can sense, think, and adapt); quantum computing (the digital realm 10 years ago had more capacity than the entirety of humanity’s brains); fusion power; and robotics (google Ameca).

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So what’s the worry? If humans have reached their peak of evolution by getting to the point where we can destroy our own planet, what is our purpose when AI surpasses us? Will AI be what actually saves us? They are interesting questions – and it’s also interesting that while part of the world is perfecting robots, another part is starving. That may or may not change when we are firmly ensconced as the second most intelligent beings on the planet.

All that thinking made me hungry.

When I saw that today’s lunch special was “bunny chow”, I admit that I was expecting salad. It turns out that bunny chow is an Indian South African fast food dish consisting of a hollowed-out loaf of white bread filled with curry and a serving of salad on the side that originated among Indian South Africans of Durban.

We were offered chicken, lamb, or vegetarian options, all topped with chopped tomatoes and peppers and a bit of “crunch” in the form of crumbled fried tortilla strips.

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After a relaxing afternoon of reading and digesting, chatting with friends and watching the crew clean bird poop off the windows…

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…it was time for the port talk for Kenya. Since we have three days in a row of intense excursions, this was an important one. It’s going to be hot, hot, hot (39°C/102°F), but also potentially buggy. Time for netted hats and DEET.

And then at 5:30 p.m., the second “Canadian” get-together of this World Cruise, in the Wintergarden. There are 66 of us on board right now, all feeling pretty patriotic during the current political chaos in North America. Event organizer – and first time cruiser, of any kind – Judith McBride King offered up the toast: “elbows up!”, to cheers from all present. She made us proud.

Ted and I went from that event to the Explorers Lounge for some more pre-dinner conversation and guitar music, and then to the World Café for a bite before the evening comedy show featuring Lloyd Hollett in the theatre.

Tomorrow we reach Mombasa and begin our exploration of the African continent, under Viking’s protective wing.