Mauritius and West Africa

37-päiväinen seikkaillu — Darren and Janet Lue lisää

Seuraa Yhteenveto Kalenteri Valokuvat Jaa

Matkan aloitus
26. toukokuuta 2025
Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
Mauritius by night
26. toukokuuta 2025, Mauritius ⋅ 🌬 24 °C
The day began yesterday with a flight to Dubai, a few hours in transit, then a 6 hour flight on an A380 to Mauritius.

It's one of the few airports (perhaps the only one?) where the country is listed as the destination on the departure boards, not the city or airport name - the international airport, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, is 50km from the capital and is usually referred to as Mauritius International Airport.

We arrived at 5pm, picked up our hire car and drove in the drizzly rain to our accommodation on the west coast. The drive took us about 90 minutes as the roads were poorly lit with large drop-offs, and the many street dogs had no road sense!

We had some difficulties finding the apartment, as Google Maps took us to the wrong area. Fortunately some friendly locals were setting up for a party in the front yard and were happy to help us get back on track.Lue lisää
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John KalaitzisNot quite the same but the main airport on the Cook Islands is known after the island rather than the main town it serves?
27.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John KalaitzisHopefully you'll have time for a quick trip to the newest islands of Mauritius, Chagos. Being handed back from the UK as we speak!
27.5.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetSadly not, it's a bit in the wrong direction for us!
27.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John KalaitzisIt is a long way from where you are and closer to other countries
28.5.2025VastaaKääntää
6 tykkäystä
Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
1
7 Coloured Earth
27. toukokuuta 2025, Mauritius ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
As we arrived late last night, we had no supplies for breakfast, so we walked into town and had an omelette and coffee at a local bakery/cafe.

After a quick supermarket visit, we headed off for the day towards the Chamarel 7 Coloured Earth Geopark. It is a relatively small area of sand dunes comprising sand of seven distinct colours and has become one of Mauritius' main tourist attractions since the 1960s.

In the same park is Chamarel Waterfall, the tallest single drop waterfall in Mauritius.

Heading towards the south coast, we stopped at Maconde Viewpoint, a small outcrop with views over the Indian Ocean. It is believed that the name Maconde originates from the slavery period, where runaway slaves from the Makonde tribe of Mozambique came to seek refuge.

Our final stop was Le Morne, one of the most popular beaches in Mauritius, but also home to the Le Morne Brabant, a 550m monolith located at the southwestern corner of the island. It is seen as a symbol of the resistance to slavery, as it was used as a refuge by slaves after escaping their masters. Legend has it that when slavery was abolished, the slaves falsely belived the approaching police (who were going to inform them that they were free men), were going to recapture them, and jumped to their deaths rather than be recaptured. At the base of the Le Morne Brabant is the International Slave Route Monument.

The coast off Le Morne Brabant is often cited as the location of an underwater waterfall, which you can't see from the land... but it may be visible from one of the seaplane tours offered nearby.Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis Looks stunning!
27.5.2025VastaaKääntää
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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The long way to Flic en Flac
28. toukokuuta 2025, Mauritius ⋅ 🌙 23 °C
We only had 25km to travel today if we went the direct route up the coast, so we travelled the inland scenic route, first stop Black River Gorges National Park, the largest national park in Mauritius. The park was busy with tourists and school groups, but the drizzly weather dictated that it wasn't the day for a long walk today, so we satisfied ourselves with one cache and a short hike along the muddy Black River Peak Trail.

Next detour was to Grand Bassin, a crater lake in the mountains, and a major Hindu pilgrimage site. There is no township or houses, just a large collection of temples spread over many hectares, including a 33m statue of Shiva, the tallest statue in Mauritius.

The surprise of the day was the city of Curepipe, located on the central plateau, 560m above sea level. It has a population of 75,000 and because of it's altitude is known for its cooler and rainier climate, which we certainly experienced today. We visited the Botanic Gardens and the Trou aux Cerfs volcanic crater, with heavy traffic throughout.

Final destination for the day was Flic en Flac, a beach tourism hotspot and home to many luxury hotels and resorts. It is the longest beach in Mauritius and has a line of food trucks along the beach front. Many are permanent and have built quite a reputation, so we weren't surprised when there was a line-up when we purchased our octopus roti for dinner 😋Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis I'd almost forgotten what green looks like! Very nice.
28.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Wow! That looks fabulous
28.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Cracking shot Wallace!
28.5.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and Janet...and I can't even claim credit, all Oliver's work😁
28.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John KalaitzisNice one Oliver! Taken from the car?
29.5.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetYes, taken on the move
29.5.2025VastaaKääntää
Matkaaja how beautiful!!!
2.6.2025VastaaKääntää
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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From Dodo Island to Port Louis
29. toukokuuta 2025, Mauritius ⋅ 🌬 23 °C
We toured the backstreets of Flic en Flac picking up a few caches, including one at the Manguiers Roundabout (colloquially known as Dodo Island) - it's a public art installation of life-size dodo statues, inaugurated in 2013 to raise awareness about environmental protection, particularly the dodo's story. It's not mentioned in any tourist guides, but there is a cache there!

We spent most of the day in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. It's a nightmare to drive in the city centre, with heavy traffic, narrow roads and hoards of pedestrians and scooters going in all directions, so we parked the car at the Citadel Fort, above the city centre, and walked the city for a few hours.

Citadel Fort, also known as Fort Adelaide, was built from 1830 to 1840. It symbolises the start of Indian immigration and the end of slavery and was constructed amid tensions from the French Revolution of 1830 and the recent British takeover of Mauritius. The British built the fort to guard against potential French attacks and local revolts, but it was never used for that reason. The Fort is still intact and allows a 360-degree view of Port Louis. From the fort you can view the Champ de Mars Racecourse, the oldest racecourse in the Southern Hemisphere and the second-oldest in the world (founded in 1812,) and where Mauritius declared its independence in 1968.

Our accommodation for the night is at Grand Baie, 15km north of Port Louis along the M2 - one of three motorways on the island where the speed limit is 110km/h. Unfortunately the good progress is disrupted by a series of roundabouts, mostly less than 1 kilometre apart! (the first 6 were 600m apart, the longest uninterrupted stretch was 4km)Lue lisää
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John KalaitzisI love it. Who would have thought the oldest racecourse in the southern hemisphere would be in Mauritius?
29.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis And there it is! Magnificent
29.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis A lot bigger and more modern than I ever imagined
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Northern beaches
30. toukokuuta 2025, Mauritius ⋅ 🌬 25 °C
We're staying in Grand Baie for another night, so today was a leisurely tour of the beaches on the north coast.

The north coast road hugs the coast and looks on the map like it will have fabulous ocean views all the way. This turned out not to be the case, with private residences and resorts monopolising the sea views, and the general public getting just an occasional glimpse. There are a number of public beaches, but finding the access point can be rather challenging!

But when you do get there, the views are idyllic.

We began the day at possibly the smallest beach on the island, Pereybere Beach.

The search for a cache took us next to Bain Boeuf, with access to the beach down a narrow walkway, opening up to a beautiful bay. I'm not sure how many public visitors this one gets, as there is no parking in the vicinity... but where there's a cache, there's a way 😁

Our journey continued to Cap Malheureux (Unlucky Cape) - named as a reminder of the British invaders defeat of the French occupation at this point in 1810. The distinctive red roof of the Notre Dame Auxilliatrice church dominates the bay.

At Anse La Raie Beach we walked out to one of the islands at low tide to grab a cache, then continued to Calodyne Beach, a popular local picnic spot.

On the way back to Grand Baie we stopped for a walk in the Daruty Forest, then had a late lunch at the most popular Greek restaurant in town, "The Trojan Horse (The Greeks are Inside)".Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis Fabulous shot!
30.5.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis 🫨
30.5.2025Vastaa
Matkaaja Looks a bit warmer than Adelaide right now 😩
31.5.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetYes, a pleasant mid 20s every day, today's the warmest, 27
31.5.2025VastaaKääntää
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Heading down the east coast
31. toukokuuta 2025, Mauritius ⋅ 🌬 25 °C
We had an early breakfast and were on the road by 9am. As it's Saturday the roads aren't quite so busy, so we made good progress.

We visited 2 aviation monuments today, the first to commemorate the first flight from Reunion to Mauritius in 1933, which landed near the beach at Mon Choisy. The second monument was for the crash of South African Airlines Flight 295, which suffered an onboard fire and crashed into the sea off the east coast in 1987.

We took the inland route today and stopped at the former railway station at Mapou (with plans for a railway museum on the site). Mauritius had a railway network with 250km of track, from the 1860s until 1964, initially built to support the sugar industry. After almost 50 years absence, in an attempt to ease traffic congestion, rail returned to the island in 2020 with a light rail system, but with only 25km of track and 19 stations, from Port Louis to Curepipe.

We drove through a number of villages, and visited a former sugar mill at Belle Mare, which is in remarkably good condition considering it closed in 1875. We reached our east coast accommodation at Trou d'Eau Douce just after lunchtime. Time to walk to the local supermarket for supplies and enjoy a leisurely afternoon on the rooftop deck.Lue lisää
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John KalaitzisThank you for the railway history. Didn't realise they had any railways
1.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and Janetmy pleasure 😁
1.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis ❤️
1.6.2025Vastaa
John Kalaitzis Had a read up on this disaster. Very interesting and not one I remember clearly from the time
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Orevwar depi Moris*
1. kesäkuuta 2025, Mauritius ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Our final day on Mauritius, and we have a 1 hour drive to the airport and 6 hours to do it... so plenty of time for detours.

First stop was Grand River South East Waterfall, a few minutes out of Trou d'Eau Douce. Finding the path to the waterfall was the biggest challenge as it wasn't signposted from the road, so we took a track through the sugar cane plantation, then followed the noise down to the waterfall.

The east coast doesn't have the wide sandy beaches of the north and west, so it's not as touristy... which means very few resorts, but fabulous sea views from the road most of the way. There's also a large number of Hindu temples - Mauritius is the only African nation with Hinduism as the dominant religion.

Amongst our stops was a monument to the first landing of the Dutch in 1598, who named it after Prince Maurice Van Nassau, head of the Dutch Republic. They introduced sugar cane, rice and tobacco, and also bought the first slaves. They abandoned Mauritius in 1710. In 1715, the French arrived, and ruled until they were defeated by the British in 1815. Independence was gained in 1968.

The largest town in the south is Mahebourg, a few minutes from the airport. The Sunday waterfront market was in full swing when we arrived, as was a noisy celebration of Liverpool's recent Premier League victory by the Liverpool Mauritius Fan Club. Just off the coast is the tiny island of Mouchoir Rouge, named after the "red handkerchief" that was waved as a signal to the boatman for those who wanted to go to or return from the island, not because of the red roofed house.

Our final stop before boarding our flight to Cape Town was the Pyramids of Plaine Magnien. Initially believed to be built by an ancient civilization, recent accounts have confirmed they were built by sugar cane workers who decided to neatly pile the volcanic rocks they cleared when planting the sugar cane. That's not as exciting 😐

* Farewell from Mauritius, in Mauritian Creole - also known as "Morisyen," it's a French-based language spoken in Mauritius. Primarily a spoken language, it's the most commonly used language on the island and is spoken by almost everyone.Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis They get everywhere!
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Cape Town walking
2. kesäkuuta 2025, Etelä-Afrikka ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
We arrived in Cape Town late last night and received notice that our scheduled tour to Robben Island today had been cancelled because of the weather, so a new plan was required.

We investigated a late notice walking tour as we were recommended not to walk the streets for safety reasons. As most of the impromptu walking tours leave from Market Square, we made our way towards there.

As we were walking we noticed security guards on most street corners, all in high vis uniform with body worn cameras, and armed with batons. We later found out that they are called Public Safety Officers, and 320 of them patrol the streets 24/7 to reduce crime in the CBD. Their presence was reassuring, and the number of other tourists and walking groups gave us the confidence to continue alone.

We began our walk through Company's Garden, which was established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company to feed the growing settlement as well as provide fresh produce to resupply their passing ships.

We also found the only piece of the Berlin Wall in Africa... slightly out of place in a city mall!

Our final destination was the Victoria and Albert Waterfront precinct, one of the city's major tourism areas with a plethora of shops, restaurants and markets. After lunch and a thorough discovery of the area, we caught an Uber back to our hotel late afternoon, having walked 9.6km for the day.Lue lisää
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Daniel Williams Why?
2.6.2025Vastaa
Darren and JanetAs a symbol of peace and reconciliation apparently... makes no sense. They also have a piece in Fatima, Portugal, so at least this one is vaguely relevant, after Mandela was elected in 1994 to reunite the country
3.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Daniel Williams Your fave!
2.6.2025Vastaa
John Kalaitzis Ah, the memories
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Good Hope and Boulders
3. kesäkuuta 2025, Etelä-Afrikka ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We had a full day tour of the Cape Peninsula today, beginning with a visit to the colourful Bo-Kaap neighbourhood across the road from our hotel. It is the oldest surviving neighbourhood in Cape Town, dating from the 1760s when Malay workers (slaves) were bought in by the Dutch colonisers.

Travelling via Chapmans Peak Drive, a coastal road carved out of the mountain in the 1920s, we stopped at Houts Bay for an optional boat ride to see seals on a nearby island. Given the rain and rough seas, we chose the walk around the markets and dock area instead.

We continued south to Cape Point Nature Reserve, stopping for lunch before walking up to the old lighthouse. Built in 1860, it was decommssioned 40 years and dozens of shipwrecks too late, after its high altitude meant the lighthouse was in cloud many days of the year, and couldn't be seen when the sailors needed it most! A new lighthouse was built at a much lower altitude.

The drive continued via the Cape of Good Hope, the most South Westerly point of Africa, to Simon's Town and Boulders Beach.

The beach is a popular tourist spot because of a colony of endangered African penguins (previously known as Jackass penguins) that settled there in 1982. It is in a residential area, and a series of boardwalks allows the birds to be observed at close range as they wander freely. From just two breeding pairs in 1982, the penguin colony has grown to about 3000 birds in recent years.Lue lisää
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Daniel Williams I thought it was going really fast and did a wheelie 😂
3.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis😂😂
3.6.2025Vastaa
Darren and Janet🤣🤣
4.6.2025Vastaa
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Sailing out of Cape Town
4. kesäkuuta 2025, Etelä-Afrikka ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
We spent a lot of today waiting ... our cruise departs at 5pm tonight, but we were given the first transfer window from the hotel, at 10.30am. After hotel checkout at 10am, we waited only a short while in reception, and arrived at the cruise terminal well before 11.00am. South African Immigration changed the time of their availability, so we wandered the V&A Waterfront until check-in opened at midday.

After formalities, we boarded the Regent Seven Seas Voyager, our home for the next 23 days. The ship is close to capacity with 615 passengers, including 195 Australians who boarded today.

First activity was buffet lunch, in one of the 6 restaurants on board. In the afternoon we walked the decks to familiarise ourselves, then settled into our suite late afternoon.

Shortly after 5pm we departed Cape Town, heading north towards Namibia.

After dinner we attended a caberet variety show in the main lounge, a taster of the entertainment on offer during the cruise.Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis That has to be the most recognisable and stunning view of any port in the world? Sydney perhaps is a rival with bridge and opera house?
4.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetYes, I agree! I made the same comment to the beverage manager on deck as we were sailing out, and he disagreed 😯. He put it down his list of most scenic harbours and rated Stockholm as his number one. It must be spectacular!!
5.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Luuuxery!
4.6.2025Vastaa
John Kalaitzis Stunning!
4.6.2025Vastaa
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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North to Namibia
5. kesäkuuta 2025, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We had a full day at sea, so it was shipboard activities for us. Between us, we partook in a guest lecture about Albert Einstein's personal life, a Pilates class, a trivia session, and a bracelet making crafternoon. No prizes for guessing which of us did each activity!Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis The Skeleton Coast is renowned for its fog. I seem to recall there are some plants whose only moisture is obtained from the fog as it hardly ever rains
5.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetAh yes, we'll hopefully see those on our tour tomorrow
6.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis👍
6.6.2025Vastaa
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Walvis Bay
6. kesäkuuta 2025, Namibia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
As we continued cruising towards Namibia, our morning activities consisted of a leisurely breakfast and another trivia session (with the same team of 6, we came third today, after yesterday's 2nd place).

We arrived in Walvis Bay at midday and, after immigration processing on board, caught the shuttle bus from the port to the city. For reasons unbeknownst to all of us, the shuttle destination was a shopping mall on the outskirts of town. Walvis Bay is very spread out and not a walking town (or a tourist town), so after a quick peruse to confirm that the shopping mall was the same as every other suburban shopping mall, most people caught the next shuttle back to the ship.

Walvis Bay is the primary port for Namibia, as well as a vital link for its landlocked neighbours to the east. It is also a former South African naval base, and remained under South African control after Namibia's independence in 1990, finally being integrated into Namibia in 1994. There are very few tourist attractions, but there are 6 caches spread around town, so we negotiated with a taxi driver for a 1 hour journey around the caches. Then we caught the shuttle back to the ship, arriving just in time for afternoon tea

At 6.15pm we hosted a geocaching event near the dock, and had one local cacher attend, then returned to the ship for South African buffet dinner and an early night before our full day tour tomorrow.Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis One of each thanks
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Salt, sand and Swakopmund
7. kesäkuuta 2025, Namibia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
We booked an independent tour today and met our driver at the gate to the port. First stop in Walvis Bay was the lagoon to view the flamingos, but being breeding season, there was only a handful present. We continued along the coast to the salt works and evaporation ponds.

Heading out of town, we stopped at Dune 7 - at 383m, the highest sand dune in Namibia and 5th highest in the world. It is part of the coastal dune belt that runs 30km from Walvis Bay to Swakopmund. We climbed to the top the long way, but came down the quick way, straight down the face... with boots full of sand.

Our journey took us to Swakopmund via an area known as the Moonscape, and to view the Welwitschia plant. It has been called one of the ugliest plants in the world and grows only in the deserts of Namibia and Angola. It is unusual because the entire plant has just two leaves. The leaves rest on the ground, and as they grow, their ends get split into multiple ribbons, which gives the impression that there are multiple leaves. Many of these plants are over 1,000 years old.
Since rainfall in this area is erratic, the plant absorbs moisture from fog that regularly develops at night over the desert. This is achieved by the leaves by keeping their spores open at night and closing when the fog lifts. Because of the dependence on fog, the plant is seldom found more than 100 km from the coast.

Last stop was Swakopmund ("mouth of the Swakop") , a popular beach resort town characterised by 19th century German colonial architecture. We had a quick city tour before returning to Walvis Bay via the coast road.

The ship departed Walvis Bay at 5pm, heading north to Angola.Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis Incredible!
7.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis It certainly not a small one
7.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetIt looks huge, but is on the smaller end - 615 passengers and 450 crew this journey
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John Kalaitzis👍
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Slow boat to Angola
8. kesäkuuta 2025, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
A full day at sea as we make our way from Namibia towards Angola, and it's the first time we've actually felt the ship move around, with seas building to 4m tonight.

The day was spent mostly around the pool deck, even though it's not quite warm enough to swim yet... but plenty of book was read.

Today's lecture was on the life of Nicolai Tesla, and trivia was on again - after 3rd place yesterday, we had our first win today with 13/15.

Before dinner they had a Block Party, where drinks and nibbles are served in the corridor outside your room and you're encouraged to meet your neighbours.

Dinner tonight was in one of the specialty restaurants (French cuisine tonight), then some musical entertainment in the theatre, before a rolling night's sleep ahead.Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis All dressed up, and somewhere to go I hope?
8.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Solid soup?
8.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Ah, I see!
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Sea day... off to a slow start
9. kesäkuuta 2025, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ 🌬 23 °C
The day began at sunrise for me (which is unusual in itself!), with more rocking motion on the boat than usual. Turns out we were stationary and had been so for a while, so was getting an extra buffeting.

At 7am the captain announced over the PA that we were stopped because of an issue with the propulsion system.

Follow up announcements communicated that they have identified, then fixed the issue, and shortly after 9am we were back underway and full stream ahead towards Luanda, capital of Angola.

Another full day at sea, so today's activities were craft morning, more book reading, coffee, cakes, shuffleboard and trivia (we won again).Lue lisää
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Matkaaja 👏👏
11.6.2025Vastaa
Matkaaja I get seasick just from watching. were you both OK?
13.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetLol... yes, both fine. It was the only bumpy action so far, we love it 💪🤣
13.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis 🤢
14.6.2025Vastaa
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Luanda with an escort
11. kesäkuuta 2025, Angola ⋅ 🌙 25 °C
We awoke to the sight of Luanda Bay as we arrived in Angola.

Angola was a Portugese colony until gaining independence in 1975. Upon independence, Portugal left Angola without establishing a new government, so Angola suffered 27 years of civil war, which left much of the country in ruins. Beginning in 2002 with a new constitution, Angola is still slowly recovering, with new high rises towering above shanty towns, and a beautiful beach front promenade running around the bay. It is, however, not yet regarded as a tourist destination (10 ships stopped here this year, and we are the last ship of the season).

The capital Luanda is the largest city in Angola (population 9.5 million), but is rated as the most expensive city in the world for expatriates and foreign workers to live, mainly due to the lack of quality housing.

We were on the first tour out today, in a convoy of 6 buses, with a police escort. First stop was Senhora de Nazare Church, built in 1664. After we were escorted back to the buses by police stopping the traffic for us to walk across the road, we headed to the San Miguel Fort, with commanding views across the city.

Built in 1576 by the Portugese to protect their colony, it was the major site for slave traffic that was exported to Brazil. For many years the fort was a self-contained town, protected by thick walls and cannons. Today it houses the Museum of the Armed Forces.

We drove along Ihla de Luanda, a narrow spit of land housing many beach bars and restaurants, before heading to Agostinho Neto Mausoleum, a rocket shaped structure and resting place of the first president of Angola. Unfortunately we couldn't enter, as repairs are currently being undertaken.

Again with our police escort, we returned to the ship in time for lunch, then headed straight back out on the shuttle bus to town. We are docked at an industrial pier, so were unable to walk direct from the ship, but had to catch a shuttle... which only took us to a shopping mall. The mall had very limited opportunities to buy any souvenir items, and even when I was approached outside the mall by a street vendor, they were moved along quickly by the mall security staff. The authorities are so keen to create a good impression, we were barely allowed to mingle with the locals, so unfortunately only saw a sanitised version of the city.Lue lisää
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Daniel WilliamsShame they wouldn't let you see the real Angola, not good for either side
11.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis TAB!
14.6.2025Vastaa
John Kalaitzis Very well-maintained road
14.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetThink they spent all their money on the promenade and that one road
15.6.2025VastaaKääntää
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Crossing the equator
11. kesäkuuta 2025, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Full day sailing today as we head north from Angola to São Tomé & Príncipe, crossing the equator on the way.

When crossing the equator by sea, nautical tradition dating back to the 1500's involves conducting a ceremony to pay homage to Neptune, God of the Sea, which transforms a sailor who has never crossed the equator, known as a Pollywog, into a Shellback.

The ceremony is lighthearted and was originally done to break the monotony of long sea voyages and boost crew morale, so today involves paying respect to King Neptune, kissing a fish and getting a miniature ice bath.

After an exhausting day eating, reading and enjoying ice cream on the pool deck, we also did a galley tour this afternoon with the head chef. It's quite an exercise in logistics to feed over 1,000 people every day (guests and crew). The fun fact I took from it is that they loaded 58,000 eggs at the start of our cruise, and will be topping up with another 15,000 in Ghana!Lue lisää
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Matkaaja so that's where the ice bucket challenge originated from
13.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Matkaaja Oliver seems to have enjoyed it <3
13.6.2025VastaaKääntää
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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São Tomé and Príncipe
12. kesäkuuta 2025, Sao Tome ja Principe ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
We woke early to witness the actual crossing of the equator... and unsurprisingly, nothing happened! But we did witness the ship's tenders being unloaded and the first sights of São Tomé and Príncipe.

São Tomé and Príncipe is a small nation composed of two islands - São Tomé and Príncipe - located in the Gulf of Guinea. Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range, and it is the second-smallest African country (after The Seychelles). São Tomé Island, where we are landing, is the larger of the two at 50 km long and 30 km wide.

This is our only anchor port of the cruise, which means we anchor offshore and are transferred to shore by tender (approximately 60 at a time).

We have an afternoon excursion booked, so we caught an early tender in and walked around town for a while. This time we were dropped in the centre of town (there are no shopping malls in ST), so we had easy access to the local shops and could really experience the beat of the city. The downside is that there were a lot of street children begging for money (although some resident adults admonished them, obviously aware of the reputation this gives the country). But all in all, a fabulous day.

I was feeling peckish mid-morning and noticed the street coconut seller doing a roaring trade, so I changed some money with a money changer and made a purchase. For 10 dobra (70 cents) he lopped the top off and gave me a straw to drink the coconut water. Then you hand it back to the vendor, and he chops it in half and chops a piece of the shell off to use as a scoop to eat the flesh.

Lunch consisted of a couple of bananas as we walked around town, before our afternoon city tour of the fort, a chocolate outlet, the cathedral, local produce market, and a nearby fishing village for a display of local dance.

Early dinner tonight in the Italian restaurant, then a theatre show of Broadway musical songs by the onboard singers... before we lose an hour as we change time zone again.Lue lisää
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Daniel WilliamsTAB, that's what you like
12.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Matkaaja To which Janet was approaching😎
13.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and Janet🤣🤣 she was tempted!
13.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Matkaaja🍺🍺😎
13.6.2025Vastaa
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Sea day to Benin
13. kesäkuuta 2025, Gulf of Guinea ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Another full day at sea as we head north to Benin, and a busy part of the cruise with 3 shore days in a row.

Today's activities were a bracelet making craft morning, a cooking demonstration by the Executive Chef, the usual trivia session, and my first swim in the pool.

Evening entertainment is a piano virtuoso.Lue lisää
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Matkaaja You will have a whole product range before you leave the ship Janet!
14.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis That's what you want
14.6.2025VastaaKääntää
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Let's Begin in Benin
14. kesäkuuta 2025, Benin ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
At 8am we docked in Cotonou, the main port, administrative capital, and largest city in Benin (the actual capital, Porto Novo, is 40km east)

Our tour today took us to Ganvie, a village built on Lake Nokoué, an hour north of Cotonou.

The entire village is built on stilts over the lake. With a population of 40,000 people, it is the largest lake village in the world, and sometimes called The Venice of Africa.
The Tofinu people settled here in the sixteenth century and built their lake village to escape slavers who came from the Fon tribe and were not allowed to enter water for religious reasons. This made the lagoon a safe territory for other tribes. All of Ganvie's houses, shops and restaurants are built on wooden stilts, and it also has a floating market. The town has one complete patch of land, which is the site of the village school, and many houses have a small patch of land beside them, where villagers can rear a few domesticated animals . All the soil was imported by the people of Ganvie in their boats, including enough to create a proper cemetery.

It rained most of the day, so our scheduled photo opportunity on the way was limited to peering through torrential rain at the Monument Amazone, a 30m bronze statue honoring the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female military group from the Kingdom of Dahomey.

We arrived back at ship after 3 pm, so didn't have the opportunity to catch the shuttle to town to do any shopping, so, after changing out of our wet clothes, we headed to the pool grill for a late lunch... as did many others.

We set sail at 4pm, heading west towards Ghana.Lue lisää
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John KalaitzisAh yes. Benin was previously known as Dahomey
14.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Impressive
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John Kalaitzis And what a welcoming!
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Today's Sunday, this must be Ghana
15. kesäkuuta 2025, Ghana ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
Our first back-to-back shore days brings us to the twin city of Takoradi-Secondi in Ghana.

Takoradi is the major export port for agricultural and oil exports for Ghana and its land locked neighbours. Unfortunately, it is also a good example of continued foreign exploitation of resources - our guide noted that less than 10% of the natural resources stay in the country. Across the city, very little work has been done on the roads, and unfinished and abandoned structures are everywhere.

Being Sunday, most of the shops were closed and, as the main market is undergoing a rebuild, there was very little to see in the city. Luckily a number of sellers had set up stalls on the dock, so we could get our fix of souvenir and fabric shopping.

Our afternoon tour took us to the fishing port and a local hotel for a dance demonstration.Lue lisää
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John Kalaitzis Brilliant shot!
16.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Walking at night would be a challenge
16.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetThey advised us not to even walk in the daytime... and kindly offered us a taxi for USD$30 per hour to save us the inconvenience of walking!
16.6.2025VastaaKääntää
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Abidjan
16. kesäkuuta 2025, Norsunluurannikko ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
We sailed into the Abidjan lagoon through a canal constructed in 1960 to connect the city to the Atlantic Ocean. Abidjan is the economic capital and largest city in Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), a city of 4 million people, supposedly famed for its mix of colonial buildings and new construction... but it's also the dirtiest and least developed city we have visited, with rubbish everywhere and dirt roads with shanty housing butting onto the main highway.

We toured the city as well as the former capital of Bingerville, traveling from the port in a convoy of buses, surrounded by about a dozen policemen on motorcycles whose job it was to stop traffic at every intersection and roundabout, lights and sirens blaring all day (we also had 2 ambulances follow the convoy all day).

First stop was St. Paul's Cathedral, with a capacity of 3,500 seated and another 1,500 standing (still nowhere near the largest church in Africa... not even the largest church in Côte d'Ivoire - the cathedral in the capital, Yamoussoukro, holds 18,000)

Next door, still under construction, is Tour F (Tower F), which will be the tallest building in Africa when it's completed in 2026.

We visited an art museum, an orphanage, the Botanic Gardens, and finished the day at a large art and craft market.

Another late lunch after 3pm, then a light tea in the Italian restaurant before a Michael Bublé tribute act in the main theatre.Lue lisää
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MatkaajaHas the rain dried up for now
17.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetA few light showers yesterday, but nothing of any note
17.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis How awful
17.6.2025Vastaa
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
Transiting the Pepper Coast
17. kesäkuuta 2025, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
We have a full day at sea, with most of it along the coast of Liberia, historically known as The Pepper Coast.

Liberia is a unique case in Africa, as it was founded by the American Colonization Society with the intention of resettling freed American slaves and their descendants, and is Africa's oldest republic (1847). It is one of only two counties in Africa never subjected to colonial rule (Ethiopia is the other).

The day for us was a late breakfast, craft session in the morning and trivia in the afternoon. Most of the day was overcast with occasional showers, but warm enough to sit around the pool deck reading. Dinner was in the specialty steak restaurant on board, followed by a spectacular performance by Tim Abel, Piano Showman, in the main theatre.Lue lisää
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John KalaitzisI thought Ethiopia came under Italian rule for a while?
17.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetThey were certainly there, I learnt something today too... "While Italy did briefly occupy Ethiopia in 1936, it was during World War II and was considered a temporary occupation rather than a successful colonization effort."
17.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John KalaitzisAh, thank you for the background.
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Running late for Senegal 🏃🏼‍➡️🏃🏼‍➡️
18. kesäkuuta 2025, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Hot but relaxing day on board with another full day at sea. The announcement came through mid morning that we had strong currents overnight and were now 3.5 hours behind schedule for our arrival in Dakar, Senegal tomorrow.

Bocce was the activity of the morning, followed by burgers around the pool for lunch. The afternoon was book reading and trivia, then we were entertained by violinist Susanna in the theatre tonight, playing everything from classical to Metallica.Lue lisää
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MatkaajaSeen any sign of Chinese or Russian influence in the countries so far?
18.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetYes, there's been some mention of roads built by the Chinese... no doubt in exchange for a share of the mineral wealth...
18.6.2025VastaaKääntää
John Kalaitzis Would be challenging in a big swell :)
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Mauritius and West Africa Darren and Janet
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Dakar, as west as West Africa gets
19. kesäkuuta 2025, Senegal ⋅ 🌙 25 °C
Most of the day was at sea, with our scheduled 11am arrival into Dakar pushed back to 3.30pm. This also meant that 3 of the 5 tours around Dakar were cancelled, including our trip to Goree Island.

This was a real shame - it was the excursion we were most looking forward to, as Goree was the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast.

The only tours remaining were a city highlights tour, or a cooking class... and the cooking class was booked out. The city highlights tours spend more time on the bus than visiting sites, so us and another couple opted to catch a taxi for our own city tour.

There were a number of taxis on the dock, so we negotiated a price for 2 hours to see the major sites, and it was brilliant. We visited all the sites the bus tour was doing plus more, and were finished in half the time 😁

Progress was swift because the roads around the city were the best we've seen, and the city is one of the cleanest we've visited.

Dakar is situated on the Cape Verde Peninsula, the westernmost point of Africa, so our tour began on the coast at the African Renaissance Monument, Africa's tallest statue. At 52 metres, it is taller than both Christ the Redeemer in Rio and the Statue of Liberty. It depicts a man, woman and child emerging from a volcano, symbolising Africa's emergence from centuries of oppression, and was the subject of much controversy because of its cost and design.

Our others stops were the President's Palace and Parliament House, Mosque of the Divinity, Cathedral of our Lady of Victories, and Independence Square, before returning to the ship and some market shopping on the dock.

We still had time for a swim and dinner before the other buses arrived back, then a leisurely cocktail in the lounge bar before the nightly show in the main theatre.Lue lisää
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Daniel Williams How much did that cost to build? Not quite as famous as the other big statues
20.6.2025VastaaKääntää
Darren and JanetCertainly not as famous. It was built by a North Korean company, so was criticised for its brutalist style and $41m cost... which was paid in kind by the "donation" of 40 hectares of land.,.. another of it's controversies.
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John Kalaitzis It is certainly impressive!
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