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Dubai, Cape Town to Singapore
  • Brad Ruben
  • Brad Ruben

Dubai, Cape Town to Singapore

We are going to Dubai for four nights and then flying to Cape Town to catch a 32! day cruise which goes to some very interesting spots. Read more
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  • Trip start
    December 5, 2024
  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    First night in Dubai

    December 6, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Monica was stopped at border control because they couldn’t identify her pic. It turned out it was because of her contact lenses. We made it through security eventually after she took out her contacts which made her effectively blind. Emirates provided a free black car but looked at our luggage situation and said a 14 passenger van would work better! Toured the one and only za’abelle had dinner and slept in the most amazing bed. Christmas in Dubai who would have thunk it.Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Dubai Day 1

    December 7, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We took a tour of the city including the old city, Palm Island, and the Marina. Marina is definitely our favorite with huge skyscrapers tucked together a long a waterway. Then went to the mall and chose Abd Elwahab and had a feast including our first time smoking hookah! Of course we spent some time at the mall which is huge, clean and crowded. What strikes me is the different styles. Someone in a full black burkah and another dressed like someone about to party in Vegas! Of course a lot dressed in between but everyone seems to get along great. Oh and I met a Chabad member!Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Dubai Day 2

    December 8, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We had a day on our own visited the museum of the future. The building itself is amazing, watching robots walking around was fun too. Then we went to the frame, which divides old Dubai from new Dubai. In line we met a couple from Valencia, Ca who had just come back from Africa and shared some incredible videos of the safari they had been on. The frames middle is glass so it’s cool to walk feeling suspended over the ground hundreds of feet below. Then we headed to dinner at the Burg Khalifa restaurant called at.mosphere on the 122nd floorRead more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Dubai Day 3

    December 9, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Off to the desert but first a trip to the gym, spa then an amazing gluten free cheeseburger by the pool. This hotel is very complicated - you have to take multiple elevators one up and one down and more but now that we have figured it out it will be time to head to Cape Town. Caught a pic of the window washers scaling our building.

    Later we went to the desert and our guide Jamshad drove like a maniac (in a good way) then a dinner in tge middle of the desert under the stars.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler
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    On our way to South Africa

    December 10, 2024 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    I had no idea how long a walk it would be to Dubai gate C2 but I’m half way through my steps before boarding the 9:20 am flight. Emirates is so good with included black car service to your airport and then to the hotel. You realize how fortunate you are when we talked to our South African driver who is two years younger than me but has never left the country. He is afraid for his job and say unemployment rate here is 40 percent. There are quite a bit of homeless people here as well.

    We went to the V&A which is in a marina here had an amazing dinner at Harbour House and discovered South African wines are good. Everyone here is so friendly. Tomorrow we get in the ship for 32 days!    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    On to the Cruise

    December 11, 2024 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We stayed at the Taj hotel where the people were the best. All friendly, happy and helpful. In the morning I jumped into an uber and headed to table mountain. Although it was cloudy it was still beautiful. I had no idea how much you could walk at the top but I got in my steps. Also found an amazing gluten feee bakery.

    Just as we were getting ready to leave for the ship I couldn’t find my passport. The hotel was able to look at camera footage and told me I put the passport in my pants pocket. Anyways, I blame jet lag for this, with the passport found I just felt grateful for anything and everything that happens next.

    Cruise has been fine so far although the crowd is older lol. Off to Mossel Bay tomorrow.

    On a side note - I’ve been reading a chapter from bible for the last four months and just tonight finished the last of the five first books.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    No Mo Mossel

    December 12, 2024 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We were supposed to go to Mossel today and planned on doing a hike there but the captain thought the winds were too high and they couldn’t safely tender us in. We tried to make the most of it, relaxing at the private retreat and getting my 13k steps. Toscano for dinner had an amazing lobster pasta.Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler
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    A great day in Port Elizabeth

    December 13, 2024 in South Africa ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    We finally arrived at a port! Port Elizabeth got off to a rough and windy start as we made our way through the industrial port terminal to get an uber. We ended up hiring him for the day and he took us all around the area including a safari at Katya Gamma Game Park. We visited a penguin recovery center, the city center and munkee biznez grub and pub.Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Days at sea

    December 16, 2024, Mozambique Channel ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    We were supposed to go to Mossell Bay but high winds prevented us from docking and French Comoros but it was hit by a deadly hurricane that literally wiped out the island. The prime minister of the island designated this a week of mourning and so us complaining about it just makes us look bad.

    In place of Comoros we will be going to Nosy Be Madagascar and Zanzibar an island off the coast of Tanzania.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Nosy Be

    December 18, 2024 in Madagascar ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Had a great day at Nosy Be Madagascar (another country to add to our list!) We took the wrong Tender and were not able to make it to our tour - so we went into a sea of Taxi drivers screaming “Where you want to go I take you.” Anyways we picked one who seemed like a good choice but quickly found out the extent of his English was “Where you want to go?” I brushed off my ten words of French and proceeded to go to Google translate which didn’t work because ATT turned off our data internationally for overuse. Called ATT international customer service line and after five minutes of prompts found out they only work US hours. Oh well.

    We went to a lemur sanctuary. These are about the cutest animals in the world. They would literally grab my hand gently to get to the bananas we had. Saw a 200 year old tortoise named Napoleon and his younger 100 year old wife Josephine. We also saw some “Turtle Porn” Our guide generally spoke the same amount of English as our driver but seemed very chill and I get the feeling I overtipped him based on his reaction.

    We then went on through “downtown” traffic chaos of the occasional truck, constant tutus, motorcycles and wagons pulled by cows to get to a pretty spectacular beach where I had the worst rum and coke of my life. But it was only $2.50.

    Back to the ship for amazing gluten free pasta and spectacular sunset.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Zanzabar is amazing

    December 20, 2024 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We finally got to the beach but first we visited the town and saw some amazing museums which discussed the slave trade.

    We also went to an incredible market of seafood, spices and meats which seemed to come from an episode of Star Wars. Later we took a boat to a beach strand in the middle of the ocean. It was breathtaking and I feel so fortunate to have visited. Finally we visited the museum to Freddy Mercury - he was born here.Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler
    1

    Dar Es Salaam Day 1

    December 21, 2024 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We ported in Dar Es Salaam early in the morning. I headed to Nyerere National Park to do a safari while Monica spent a day in town touring the city and the beaches. The flight to Nyerere was thrilling in a single engine prop plane. The Tanzania airport is something else. I was given the boarding pass of Kenneth Earl because “it would make the boarding process so much faster.” We landed on a dirt runway but the pilot did a masterful job.

    Seeing lions and many other animals up so close in this huge park without any fences was a lot of fun. The pictures speak for themselves.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Dar Es Salaam Day 2

    December 22, 2024 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We went in to town explored the parks and the beaches then we got into a tuktuk along with an English speaking college student named Dennis and checked out some sites on the coast. We had lunch at a beautiful waterside restaurant with excellent food. It was interesting hearing about Dennis’s family and his ambitions in life.Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    More missed ports, days at Sea + a plan

    December 25, 2024, Indian Ocean ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    Whenever the captain of this ship gets on the intercom we know it won’t be great news. And once again he proved reliable. They canceled our port visit to Antisiranana Madagascar. The reasons were murky - they blamed the Madagascar authorities for having more health requirements for our entry.

    We made the most of the day hitting the gym and waiting for Santa Claus arrival. Went to a Hanukkah party with latkas and Manaschevitz. Surprised with the turn out of probably 100 Jews. The man who ran the service is a Jew born in Peru!

    So we have a plan.

    When we get to the Maldives we are going to get off the ship and spend three nights and make New Years on one of the islands resorts. We need visas to travel to our next stop, Sri Lanka. And what better airline to take than Srilanka Air.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Great day at the Seychelles

    December 26, 2024 on the Seychelles ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    The Seychelles are absolutely beautiful. We made the most of a rainy day visiting the beaches and some of the 112 islands that make up this country. Had a great lunch seaside. Visited some of the oldest turtles in the world. Our boat captain seemed to have had a couple of drinks before we showed up but our guide Ted kept a watchful eye on him. Ted was interesting , he was a chemist for an international company before retiring and becoming a tour guide.Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Dom Perignon

    December 28, 2024, Indian Ocean ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    The highlight of these days at sea was a Dom Perignon champagne dinner. I ate foie gras and it was actually good. We don’t normally like these Michelin star type meals but this was really great. I kept thinking what my friend Sherwin would have thought. A foodie gourmet described it as a 3 star Michelin meal.

    We happened on some German friends of ours (Rita and Erwin) Monica had a smoking buddy in Rita and I had a drinking buddy in Erwin. Not sure if he appreciated my cigar lol.

    I also attended a rite of passage crossing the equator - see video.

    Today the seas are so calm, it looks like a big blue pool. Our next stop is the Maldives where we will be getting off the ship and spending three nights at the Baros Maldives. It’s incredibly complicated to get the right visas notify the ship etc. I only hope I can coax Monica to get back on the HMS Altacacker aka Oceania Riviera.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Made it to paradise

    December 30, 2024 on the Maldives ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We got our passports stamped quickly (shout out to Dulce the purser) so we were in a tender by 8;30 with the altacackers going to their various tours. We went off to a taxi for the airport. When we got to the airport I was stunned by the sheer number of power boats and sea planes going to many private islands.

    We chose the Baros after I spent an extraordinary amount of time going over the pros and cons of each resort (there are hundreds) in the Maldives. Now that we are here I believe we made a great choice. The snorkeling is the best I’ve ever done, incredible visibility and saw two reef sharks. We have a butler Anas who gave me his WhatsApp to communicate with him.

    We had a dinner on the beach and saw reef sharks swimming close to us.

    Great weather today, we may get rain tomorrow but fingers crossed. There is an enormous amount of work going on for the NYE party. Hope I make it to midnight!    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler
    The tiles that came crashing down

    Happy New Year!

    December 30, 2024 on the Maldives ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Had a blast on New Year’s Eve. It started out with what GMA later called a bang - two giant bathroom tiles came crashing down on Monica. It was miraculous that she only had a cut on her toe, her flip flop was cut straight through. We thought about when the tree that fell in my sister’s backyard seconds after Monica went under it. My wife has an angel looking after her. A doctor was brought in and the bandaged her toe but she wasn’t able to wear the heels she wanted. Tragic!

    They moved our room placing every item in the exact same location, while we went to a cocktail party, the biggest buffet ever, a live band and a countdown with fireworks. The best part was being able to share it with my daughter and her husband live. Later was able to FaceTime with GMA, my son and his girlfriend.

    I forgot to mention I rented an underwater camera and took some pics of sharks and other sealife while snorkeling. It turns out I’m an even worse photographer underwater than on land.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Last day at Baros

    January 1, 2025 on the Maldives ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    We had a somewhat rainy last day at Baros. Monica can snorkel for way more time than me and wasn’t bothered by 30 minutes of intense rain. Tomorrow is supposed to be much worse. Because of Monica’s incident with the bathroom tiles the manager insisted that we have dinner st their gourmet restaurant. It was really good and we had a beautiful view. Tomorrow we go back to our “home” aka the Altacacker.Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Colombo Sri Lanka

    January 2, 2025 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    We made it back to the cruise ship. The people at reception were frankly surprised to see us. They thought our flight would be canceled. We went through a monsoon to get to the airport. I will always remember Monica holding her umbrella for dear life as she walked across a bridge from our water hut in horizontal rain.

    Shout out to Sri Lankan Air for a great short flight on an uncrowded plane. They apologized profusely for arriving 10 minutes late.

    Our Uber driver Zahim became our tour guide when we went to visit the city of Colombo. We visited a Buddhist temple where we were both blessed by a higher up monk who could not have been nicer. I thank him now for saving my life, more in a few. We visited their independence park, went to the market, and did some shopping. But the highlight for us was Zahim invited us to lunch at his home with his family. The food was very spicy but delicious. We met his wife and three girls who are so beautiful. So engaged , not any tvs or electronics in their well kept home. I suspect that he was hungry, and had an alterior motive,since ours was an unplanned tour lol!

    When we got back to the port I was looking for the bus that would take us to the ship. Being impatient I saw a bus leaving and was in motion to run to it when a truck came within a whisker of hitting me at 50 mph. Thanks to Monica’s scream or the blessing from the monk I’m here today.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Hambanto, Sri Lanka

    January 3, 2025 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We connected with a friend of Zahim who hooked us up with a driver and an adventure to Yala park. The biggest part of the adventure was the drive to the park. Our driver got lost, him and his interpreter did not speak English. At one point he did a 15 point u-turn on a tiny road and looked back at us and said “mistake”. They kept asking people where the park was and they would point. But then they would get lost again. Anyways - we made it and because we took some back roads came across a pack of wild monkeys.

    The 4x4 ride in the park was great the highlight being coming up to by surprise four elephants. They are huge but they are so quiet as the eat branches from trees.

    Driving through this part of Sri Lanka you need to avoid cars, people, scooters, dogs (who will lie in the middle of the road with no cares) and cows.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Phuket

    January 6, 2025 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We hired a private speedboat and went out to the Phi Phi Islands. It was very crowded. I think this is a social media influencer type place. It’s beautiful but the number of boats looked like a bad day on the 405. Had some good snorkeling and lunch on the beach. Curry for me and Monica with the beef salad.

    Did some shopping in the city, Phuket is really a party place for young people, and found myself some lite gluten free beer at a British pub.    Read more

  • Brad RubenDubai, Cape Town to SingaporeTraveler

    Penang

    January 8, 2025 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    We took a crazy drive to the top of a mountain in a 4x4. These drivers are F1 capable. Had lunch at a Michelin star Chinese place we stumbled on. And did some shopping!

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