I AM STANDING on deck, my chin covered in fish scales, backing away from a plate of comedy cream pie that's heading straight for me. Who'd have thought Saga Cruises would be like this? "Expect the unexpected," the captain had announced that morning but I thought that was because we were making our way around the west coast of Africa, calling at ports which had seldom seen a cruise ship, let alone several hundred intrepid Britons.

What I hadn't expected was King Neptune coming on board; all the passengers who had never crossed the Equator by sea were encouraged to "kiss the fish" to become initiated into the ways of the "shellbacks", as people who have crossed this linear point are known.

We were in the right place for initiation ceremonies, because we were visiting some of the most serious voodoo countries on Earth.

10f49africamap The Saga Ruby had left Southampton in early November for the west coast of Africa, and I joined up with the 32-day cruise in Cameroon.

During the drive from the capital Douala to meet the ship at Limbe I was stuck in a Wacky Races-style traffic jam where cars passed us along the dirt pavements on both sides of the road.

It was a first taste of the colourful and bewildering way of life in this part of Africa, modern enough to have 4x4s and mobile phones, yet with ancient rituals and many people living handto-mouth.

What a contrast to the luxury of the Saga Ruby, where the elegant Veranda Deck became a favourite place to chat with other passengers under the shade of parasols.

Every night I met friends for drinks in the intimate preView bar, where there was often live music and dancing. Dinner was always delicious and on my first evening I tucked into dressed crab followed by an excellent steak.

On a sea day I listened to a lecture on African history and even went to the church service in the ballroom where the crew's Filipino choir was wonderful.

After a morning at the Limbe Wildlife Centre that rescues chimpanzees and gorillas, we set off for the beautiful island of S£o Tom© and Pr­ncipe, a former Portuguese colony. At Praia Mel£o - or Fisherman's Beach - we saw a fisherman proudly showing off his catch, a 5ft marlin.

Next stop was The National Ethnographic Museum in Benin's Porto-Novo.

Here we learned that voodoo is a religion concerned with birth, life, death and after-death. It exists side-by-side with Christianity and Islam and its influence starts when babies are still in the womb.

Pregnant women consult the oracle, or priest, and we saw the cowrie shells which are thrown like runes to be interpreted.

The museum was a good introduction to voodoo but hardly a preparation for the shock of the next day's fetish market in Togo's Lome where wooden stalls are piled high with animal skulls, horns and mummified animal heads.

The whole place reeked of cured fish and musty leather. There were skulls of antelopes, crocodiles, horses and monkeys, which also had mummified heads with their fur and eyes still intact.

Our guide described the market as a medicine shop, where locals buy the ingredients for traditional cures to illnesses.

Later we were driven to the village of Sanguera to watch trance dancing. It's a way of communicating with voodoo gods who are believed to talk to the spirits of the dead.

The drums didn't stop for a minute and women dressed in bold prints clapped, sang and danced while men spun wildly within circles drawn on the ground.

Back on board Saga Ruby, with its chandelier-lit dining room and afternoon teas in the ballroom, it was difficult to come to terms with what we'd seen. Some might say that is the downside of cruising from one country to another every day, but it was thanks to this cruise that the 450 or so passengers could safely visit some of the least touristy countries in the world.

With pirates making east African cruises more precarious, this could be a route more people will travel. Certainly it will benefit the impoverished people who live here but I don't think it will wipe out their traditional way of life.

That's something not even colonial empires managed to do.

THE KNOWLEDGE

Saga (0800 056 5199/www.travel.saga.co.uk/cruises) offers a 15-night Africa's Undiscovered Coast cruise aboard Quest For Adventure from Ghana to South Africa from £2,622pp (two sharing), full board. Departs February 1, 2013. Saga Ruby has no West Africa cruises scheduled but offers a 16-night Cities And Souks cruise from £2,037pp (two sharing), full board, round trip from Southampton. Departs November 28, 2012.