I’ve been watching a lot of shows on Netflix lately that take place in the South of Spain … either on the Iberian Peninsula or their autonomous enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Northern Africa … and / or Morocco. Spanish / Mexican series such as ‘Morocco, Love in the Time of War’, ‘La Reina Del Sur’, ‘Cocaine Coast’, etc. . And I’ve made a few Moroccan style dishes … such as ‘Moroccan Chicken with Lentils’ and last week, ‘Moroccan Ground Lamb with Chickpeas’. These shows and recipes (especially the ground lamb ) bring back memories … especially the first time that I ever sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar back in 1980. I had been in the Canadian Navy for just over two years … I was sailing on HMCS Huron; had just completed a two-week NATO exercise with ships from about 5 other countries; and was sailing into the Mediterranean for four more weeks of port visits and as luck would have it … unexpected naval operations off the coast of Libya and then Yugoslavia – hostage crisis in Iran. I was coming off the middle watch (midnight – 4am) and decided to have a smoke and coffee before heading back to the mess for a nap. I went out to the mid-ship boat deck and lit up a cigarette. We were just starting to enter the straits. It was a clear night and I could see many stars in the sky. Off to the north of the ship I could see the vague outline of mountains and many lights from the towns and villages on the Spanish mainland. To the south more mountains but fewer lights … I had read so many books and stories about Africa … in almost all of them they had mentioned that Africa had it’s own particular scent. Were they right? So, I leant on the guardrails (which was a deadly sin – but hey, it’s 40 years later, I can admit to it) and inhaled deeply …. Ahhh, I could distinguish; cumin, allspice, cinnamon, a hint of orange … so many wonderful scents!! This must be what they wrote about!! The scent of Africa!! I stood on the boat deck for the next 10 minutes, finishing my cigarette … and then, intensely satisfied with the experience, I went down to the galley for a coffee before turning in. At that time in the morning the only person in the galley cafeteria was the morning duty cook. I pulled up a seat alongside him and told him of my exhilarating experience. He said, “Really? I’ve sailed over here many times and never smelt a thing”. I said, “You have to go up … it’s amazing!!”. He said, “Well, where were you standing?” I replied, “On the mid-ship boat deck … just forward of the whaler.” He replied, “You idiot … that’s where the exhaust fan is from the galley … I’ve been baking orange muffins for the last hour!!” Needless to say, I have never experienced the same scent of Africa again ☹