2/20 - 2/25 South Africa. For perspective, the distance from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth is just over 400 miles.
Journey to South Africa's Mother City and experience the vast beauty of a land shaped by two oceans. Stunning mountainscapes and miles of coast provide limitless outdoor adventure, while world-renowned restaurants and the outlying Cape Winelands make Cape Town a contemporary, cosmopolitan city with a global feel.
Link to Wiki (look at the pictures as well as the text)
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We were awakened at 0630 local time (zone GMT+2) with 700 miles to go. Served a nice little continental thing, D had the full English breakfast. The sun rose and I could then see a solid cloud layer below. The screen map showed us just offshore of Alexander Bay at 0700.
The cruise will be on Azamara Quest, one of three ships under the Azamara label, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean. Our cabin is 7054. We did the Baltic on her sister ship Azamara Journey in 2012. They are smaller ships, about 700 passengers, and bill themselves in the small ship luxury class. Deck plans here, if you're curious.
I'm putting this machine up in preparation for arrival.
Cape Town has a very nice terminal, good flow thru immigration. Met by Azamara rep in suit who took us to his car, a small Mercedes. He drove gently and gave a good mixture of local knowledge and conversation. He dropped us at the terminal; we arrived before check-in had begun, so we had to wait at several steps in the process. But by 1200 we were checked in, had done a complete tour of decks 9 & 10, and were seated on the after part of deck 9 outside (Sunset Bar), eating lunch. Picture at right is of the fabled Table Mountain.
We returned to our cabin and found only our two small carry-ons. We had trouble setting up the internet service, but finally cleared that up - they hadn't entered our pre-purchased package for good booze and internet for the trip.
The bed was not configured the way we want it. We found our steward, Nicoleta, who says she'll fix it (and did).
A full-size carry-on showed up, one of D's. Later, two more showed up - D's second and my first. After a longer while, the last one showed up.
We attended the mandatory drill, then wandered a bit. Then dinner outside at the Sunset Bar. Now we're seated on our verandah, typing these notes and reading.
That didn't last long. We went in and to bed.
Spend the day sailing in style aboard your boutique hotel at sea. Indulge in a treatment at Sanctum Spa, stay ship shape with a class at our fitness center, or lounge the day away on our sunny pool deck.
We woke and looked out on a beautiful sunrise. Saw two ships westbound rounding the Cape. We're running east (071*T) at 16 knots. Off to breakfast in Windows.
Azamara does things a little differently in their Windows compared with Holland America's Lido. You stop at the omelet station and order it - it is brought to your table. If you pick a few items and try to walk with them, someone will bring a plate, put them on it and walk with you to table. Excellent service. I had a custom omelet and some herring (I'm trying to not gain weight on this trip). D had her cheerios, orange, and banana (same reason).
We've seen several more ships, including a tanker going the same way.
More ships are passing by; a large container ship is off our port beam a couple miles distant doing about the same speed. The picture to the right is another ship passing by, with the mountains of South Africa in the background.
Son Bill sent me a message that my brother's cancer has reached the stage where nothing can be done. We called and spoke; we'll be calling again as we go.
We attended the Cruise Critic party, a group of people who had participated in an on-line forum for the past few months. Nice affair, ships officers introduced, canapés and wine. Spoke afterward with a couple (Rick & Sue, from Tampa) who have done 80 countries. They're doing a Black Sea cruise next.
D had her bedtime port, I had a cognac, and off to bed.
Discover the Port’s storied history while walking the Donkin Heritage Trail, dig your toes in the sand at beautiful Hobie Beach, or escape to the animal sanctuary of Addo Elephant National Park—home to the densest population of elephants in the world.
Link to Wiki
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We had booked a 0700 tour with Addo Travel Center today. After the ship tied up an hour late, we hit the beach looking for Walter, the owner. We waited an hour while people came and went. A couple of them called Walter on the phone and said that he was on his way.
After 9am, Walter arrived. An employee had hit a kudu (large deer sort of beast) and put the car in the ditch. Walter had to use another one to pull that car out. The driver went to the hospital. There were 12 of us he put into three SUVs, one with a Thrifty Rental sign on it. Our guy, though perfectly friendly and helpful was obviously pressed into service.
Here's a short video of the elephants walking to the mud bath hole.
In between some of these sightings we stopped for lunch that didn't arrive, stopped in the park shop, went to another picnic place and had native food cooked on a grill over wood fire - good, too.
So that split the day. We did the afternoon part, then headed home. To add to Walter's frustrating day, he had a flat on his way out of the park.
We arrived back at the ship about 1900, a full day, quite tired, but happy we'd seen all those animals, and the beautiful Addo National Park - it's the third biggest park in SA.
We're now running NE along the coast between Port Elizabeth & Durban. The shore is easily visible some 6-10 miles off the port side. Sea is up a little - SS3, whitecaps on long gentle swells, mostly cloudy.
We're told that later today we'll transition from the west-to-east cold Atlantic current to an east-to-west warm Indian Ocean current. Should result in overall warmer days.
Since there wasn't much to shoot today, we'll use a picture from yesterday that shows the beauty of the warthog.
It turned out to be a rather lazy day. D took a nap and on-line things, I did Kindle books and updated this tome.
Then we did back-to-back trivia quizzes but since we are a group of two, we did not do well against a group of six. Q: Who was the host at the 1976 Academy Awards when a streaker appeared? A: ?? Real answer: David Niven. Fun anyway.
Known as “the Asian Capital of South Africa”, Durban is city on the Indian Ocean where Zulu, Indian, and European cultures thrive against the backdrop of golden sand beaches, majestic mountain ranges, and plunging valleys.
Link to Wiki
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We've scheduled a tour of the city and the Botanic Garden from Viator, given by Afro Zulu. Received a message this morning from them that pickup would be at 0900 and where - nice.
MSC Orchestra with its 3,000 passengers is also on our pier. This is a huge and very busy harbor. Container ships all over the place, and a large mountain of coal along one long dock.
The city tour was excellent - I hold back from superb only because I had a little trouble with the accent of the guide. The driver seldom spoke.
We drove along the beautiful beaches called the Golden Mile. The promenade stretches for miles, all bicycle/jogger accessible. All the usual facilities and services.
Then back into Morningside where the super-wealthy live. Here the houses have surrounding walls with electric fences or razor wire on top. Many have private guards at the entry drive. We stopped at a park with a good view over the city for pictures.
Next was downtown. Total chaos. Jaywalking is normal. Lane changes with no signals or horns. We avoided two collisions because our driver was swift enough to pull away. We parked at Victoria Market and began our walk. We walked through that market, pausing to get SA Rand from an ATM and a jar of spice from a spice booth. On to the next market - there are about five of them across streets and under roads. They're full of little booths selling a specific thing or service. Each market has a sort of theme like meat but its mostly incoherent. The worst job I saw was men hammering heavy posts down into metal casings holding small roots to make them into powder. The motion is like using a post-hole digger.
Then we visited the Kwa Mhule museum. It tells the story of life of the blacks in Durban under Dutch rule. Each life was totally overseen and permitted by the authorities. Perssoonkarte (ID) could be demanded at any time. One could be ordered out of Durban if not employed. Very sobering. It also documents the time the women burned down all the beer halls because the men were spending too much time (and money) in them. One night, they rose up and burned them all down.
We were fairly frazzled by this time so we requested returning to the ship. They dropped us with many thanks and we told them how much we'd enjoyed the tour.
Experience South Africa’s rugged coastline, pristine beaches, and mist-covered hills. Richards Bay is perched on a lagoon where the Mhlatuze River meets the Indian Ocean, and is the gateway to Zululand, the vast inland region famous for its mountains, savannah ecosystems, and the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park—home to the largest white rhino population on Earth.
Link to Wiki
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We've booked a tour of Isimangaliso World Heritage Park, a marine environment with hippopotamus, crocodiles and birds for about $250. The operator is Under African Skies with Teshni Naidoo, who advised us by email when we would be met by our guide, Gert Klassen.
We tied up starboard-side-to at the marina dock, which is some distance from the town itself. Across the huge harbor is the the cargo facility. Coal and several mineral ores are shipped from here.
Gert met us on the pier and drove us an hour north along the coast, with plenty of commentary on the way. We wandered St Lucia a bit, then went to lunch in a nice open-air restaurant. The weather was beautiful. Then down to the river tour boat, where we got underway at 1400. We went up-river looking for beasts and found tens of hippos with their noses and eyes above water. At this season they spend all day in the water to protect their tender skin. See photos. There were birds and a couple of crocodiles as well, short video of a crocodile here.
Then we came back to the pier, and Gert drove us back to the ship. We had a drink and talked with Neal and Joanne from Melbourne VIC. Then went to dinner and returned to the cabin. We took shots of a beautiful sunset. We didn't do a lot but got a lot of fresh air, so D is tired and reading in bed.
The Captain came on the PA system to tell us all cruise ship visits to Madagascar, our next stop, are being denied. They are minimizing all travel there and all cruise ship visits. So we pass by Madagascar and add another day to get to the French island of Reunion. That moves Reunion forward one day. Then we move to Mauritius arriving a day early, and stay overnight into the second day before leaving. That puts us back on track for Sri Lanka.
Too bad that we're missing the lemurs, but there's naught to be done but go on.
I called my brother's wife. My brother is declining, eats nothing, and sleeps 80% of the time. She feels he's not long for this world. I'd go there but what would that accomplish. We've said our good-byes.