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Cape Town to Southampton
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Cape Town to Southampton

A 22 night cruise odyssey. Read more
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    🇵🇹 , Portugal
    Cape Town to Southampton
    Dawn over the Desert Islands just off Madiera.
    Madiera itself. That cliff on the left is about 600m tall. There are houses perched on the edge.The pretty city of Funchal. Like the Canary Islands, very touristy.Câmara de Lobos. A little fishing village not far from Funchal.Câmara de Lobos. The rock wall is mostly natural.Câmara de Lobos village. Bought a fridge magnet there.At one of the viewports after an long climb up steep streets. About 600m high here.Went even higher. This is an isolated village in the mountains.The glass walkway at the top of the big cliff on the coast. Its 580m straight down to the water.The view from the cliff without the glass in the way. Its a looong way down.Poncha is a local alcoholic drink. 40% proof. We had some but fresh made. Strong and smooth.

    Stop 8 : Madeira

    Yesterday in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Dropped by the island of Madiera, which is Portuguese territory. Another volcanic Atlantic island. Similar to the Canary Islands but not the same.
    After complaining about no whales all this trip saw two at the harbour entrance along with 20 or so dolphins.
    Went on a '4WD' tour in the mountains behind Funchal, the main city. Not a lot of off roading but boy are the roads steep, narrow and winding. The views from up high are breathtaking.
    This is our last 'exotic' stop. Next stop is Vigo in mainland Spain, two days at sea away. Thats our last stop before Southampton.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Main city on the island and co capital with Las Palmas.
    It's hilly. Motorcycle paradise as long as its not a Harley. Lots of BMWs here.The houses stuck on the hillsides are more amazing than on Grand Canaria.Driving above the clouds that bank up on the northern side of the island.A small bridge across one of the many gullies.View down the side of a restaurant at a converted monastery. Its called the Viewpoint. Wonder why?The main front of the Monastery Restaurant. Not a monastery any more.Puerto de la Cruz. This is where the first Brits came to holiday. It's acres of apartments.Nice old part of the waterfront. No beach but lots of pay to enter swimming pools.This car park in the city uses acres of solar panels to shade the carsThe Auditorio concert hall. Doesn't look big here but its big.Another shot showing the cantilever 'wave' roof.

    Stop 7: Tenerife

    May 26 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Finally got to see Tenerife, which is to the British what Bali is to Australians. People from Europe flock here for the better weather although due to the fact that its a volcano, all the beaches but one are black and rocky. The one non black beach is sand imported from the Sahara, only 200km away.
    The highest point of the island is Mt Tiede, and at 3,700m its no bump. It gets snow in winter and I really wanted to see it but the road to the viewpoint was closed. Plus the clouds were hiding it most of the time. Did get some jiggly phone shots from the bus.
    In summary Tenerife is very much developed and very touristy. It's no quiet backwater. If we visited again I'd make a big effort to see Mt Tiede and the more natural areas of the island.
    Next stop is an overnight hop to another island, but not part of the Canary Islands. We're off to Funchal, which is a Portuguese territory.
    PS There are no Canaries in the Canary Islands. The name means Dog Islands. The 'dogs' were seals, long since exterminated.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    The Bajamar Express high speed ferry. Built by Austal in Henderson in Western Australia
    Part of Las Palmas old city. Christopher Columbus dropped in prior to failing to find North America.More old town. Bought a fridge magnet and a T shirt.Bandama Caldera. An old volcano next to the winery we lunched at.Bandama crater with chicky babe posed in front. Was a scorching 26 deg.Very nice Grand Canaria dry red.And a matching white.

    Stop 7: Las Palmas, Grand Canaria.

    May 25 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Finally arrived at Las Palmas, on Grand Canaria in the Canary Islands, 200km off the coast of Morocco. These islands are volcanic peaks rising from the floor of the Atlantic and two are still active. Las Palmas Island (not where we are) erupted in 2021 causing 850 million euro damage in an event that lasted almost 3 months.
    Grand Canaria and Tenerife are popular holiday destinations but are by no means sleepy little resorts. We are docked in the large and busy port and the island has a freeway with tunnels, many modern buildings and the obligatory picturesque old town.
    We went to a winery (bodega) in the hills for lunch for some Spanish food and local wine. Both were extremely nice.
    Off tomorrow to the neighbouring island of Tenerife.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    The island outside the harbour entrance.
    Dakar CityJust some random houses in the suburbs of Dakar.EV? How extravagant! Common light delivery vehicle in Dakar. Seats 6. Has AC if you are moving.Sheep and goats for sale. They will be sacrificed next week at by the head of each household.I'll have to translate this sign. Its related to the founder of the Dakar Rally.Salt boats at Lake Retba. They are used to bring harvested salt ashore.Lake Retba, the Pink Lake for which Dakar was once famous. No longer pink but may be again.We've made it round to the far west of Africa. Next stop, the Canary Islands.

    Stop 5 : Dakar, Senegal.

    May 22 in Senegal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    22nd of May and our last stop on the African Continent. At Dakar we have reached the edge of the Sahara Desert and the northern limit of Sub Saharan Africa.
    Dakar is of interest to me as a long time follower of the Paris Dakar offroad enduro. We are going out to Lake Retba, aka 'Lac Rose', the traditional end point of the rally. Unfortunately Lac Rose, the Pink Lake is no longer pink due to an influx of water, but it will be interesting to see it anyway.
    Of additional interest is the fact that Dakar sits at the western most point of the African continent. So in one trip we have been to the southernmost and westernmost points of African.
    We have seen the remote easternmost point from a ship.
    So, next stop? The Canary Islands. Still geographically Africa but they are part of Spain. Two days are sea to get there. I'll miss the chaotic energy of Africa.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    Where are we today? Off the coast of Sierra Leone. Tour was a few days ago.
    Sheet drying and ironing machine. Each sheet takes about 1 minutes to process and comes out folded.Dryers have 90kg capacity. Sheets don't go through them.175kg capacity washing machines. The electric motors could start a jumbo jet.One of the freezers banks. The corridor is cool and is used to store veges like spuds.The ice cream freezer. Its about three of those rows wide.Recycling baled up to be offloaded in port. It gets sold, not dumped. Rubbish is unloaded in Port.One of the kitchens. These ones are huge plus there are others. Head chef is from Barbados.View from the bridge window. Pix of the bridge and ships officers are a nono.

    Behind the Scenes

    May 21, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Went on a 'behind the scenes' tour of the ship to see some of the vast hidden network that keeps us in food, water, clean sheets and out of trouble.
    Got to see the kitchens, food storage, some technical areas and the bridge. No pictures allowed in the Engine Control Room or bridge, except out of the bridge window. Might post some more pix later.Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    All the tour buses lined up at the dock. It would be 3hrs before we boarded.
    Some of the old forestry buildings in Banco ForestBeautiful tropical rainforest. Not too hot but sooo humid.The bamboo is introduced but lovely.There was a school outing in the forest. The kids practised their English on us.Fishing village across the lagoon from modern Abidjan. The smoke is fish smoking.Arty shot on the way out of the lagoon.Fishing boats on the way out to fish over night. As usual, washing drying on the superstructure.

    Stop 4 : Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

    May 19 in Ivory Coast ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    After last night's 3hr departure delay we made it. Arrived in Abidjan in a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning thrown in.
    A long delay for immigration that had some people unhappy, and then off to two different excursions. Angela to a neighbouring town and me to a big forest park within the city limits.
    The park is very big at 3000ha and true rainforest with huge trees. It's remnant rainforest so no large animals but monkeys and lots of butterflies. Also huge catfish in the little River that flows through.
    So, Abidjan itself. Modern African city with impressive modern buildings and lots of more 'modest' structures. Big and busy. We went through one of the typical market streets just so people could see a typical African city market.
    I think people loved the crazy turmoil of it all with a DJ van in the middle of it all blasting out Afro beats.
    Angela reported that her tour was a bit meh and she read a book.
    Our next stop is Dakar in Senegal, two days sailing away. Should be less rain at it is the western edge of the Sahara.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    How these posts get to you. Ship has 12 Starlink antennae
    Beautiful wooden fishing boats pulled up on the beach. Not for show. These were out this morning.The keel of each boat is a massive tree trunk. A single piece of wood.Mystery booth at Funkoe. Lotto?Where we are today. Tomorrow we shift west to Abijan, Cote D'Ivoire.

    Stop 3 : Takoradi, Ghana

    May 18 in Ghana ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    After only 6 months away from Ghana we are back, but a bit to the west of our previous trip. We split up today with me visiting a fishing village and Angela doing a city tour. I was a slacker and concentrated on YouTube footage so I have hardly any pictures on the phone. I'll try to get Angela to upload some pix of her trip.
    Once again, Ghana proved to be road works capital of Africa, if not the world. Main road dug up, yet another African Massage.
    I think some people were a bit shocked at the basic nature of life in Funkoe, the village I visited. Electricity yes. Dirt streets, sort of. Rudimentary housing yes. But this is the real world and so many people live like this. Donated some cash to the community centre they have half built.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    We is here.
    Sao Tome Island and Sao Tome city. Principe is another smaller island.Tenders are out. At this time its all looked good to go.Ready to go ashore.Another pic of Sao Tome. Sigh...And so we depart. Me heartbroken. Off to Ghana.

    Stop 2 : Sao Tomé & Principe

    May 16 in São Tomé and Príncipe ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    All ready to go ashore at this rarely visited location but unable to. The sea conditions deemed to extreme for tender operations. Looked OK at the ship but might have been bad at our landing point. There is not dock here big enough for the ship.
    Very disappointed. I was looking forward to visit here as it is unspoilt by tourists, and now not by us either. Feel sorry for the local businesses who miss out.
    We have now crossed into the Northern Hemisphere, but only just. After 3 days at sea to get here we have another 2 days at sea to get to our next port, Takoradi in Ghana.
    PS. Since we didn't set foot in Sao Tome I can't add it to our list of visited countries. Double disappointed.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    Mighty Walvis Bay. It's a basic port town, nothing fancy, perch between the sea and the desert.
    Where Namib meets ocean. We drove through there.View from the dunes to Sandwich Harbour.The dunes stretch for hundreds of km. A Toyota 4WD people mover in our group.We drove along that none existent beach to the point.

    Stop 1 : Walvis Bay

    May 12 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Already in the tropics back at Walvis Bay. We were here in 2023, same time of year. It was cold and foggy then and same same today. Very few flamingos this time though.
    Last time we were here I had a hankering to go down towards Sandwich Harbour to see where the Namib dunes literally meet the sea. Couldn't find the way and not sure how far I would have gone anyway. Its a beach drive and in places not much beach.
    Our excursion was a 4WD tour down to Sandwich Harbour with a driver that knew what she was doing. We got to a place you can see on Google Maps called Kodiak View. Other cars were coming back saying it wasn't accessible. The water was too high. Our group sent a test vehicle through and then we followed. It got hairy, driving in the sea in a couple of spots but we made it.
    Then up into the giant dunes for some major ups and downs. Turns out Angela is fine with a female driver. It's just me she's worried with.
    Stopped for a sundowner and some quick sandblasting, then headed back to Walvis Bay in the Namibian Sunset.
    I have to hand it to Mandy, our driver. She had our Prado through spots I would not have attempted. Had a great time mixed with moments of bottom clenching trepidation, but we got to see where the mighty Namib meets the sea. Plus 5 dead seals and a dead whale.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    Sentinel Peak looms above the sealed colony at Hout Bay. The ship is the one we'll be boarding.
    Angela at the Cape of Good Hope nature walk. We didn't do it.Ahhh the views. Southern Africa does hazy views so well.This lighthouse was retired because it was too high and got clouded in.An African PenguinThe same African Penguin with some swoon scenerySimon's Town. Lunch stop. Angela had the Kudu. I had the squid.Cape of Good Hope. Have done Cape Horn, now for Australia.Dodgy old guy.The African Penguin that wouldn't show me its face.African Penguins coming ashore after a swim.Yet more African Penguins. This colony is at Simon's Town.Wall art in the suburb of Bo Kaap.

    Big Day Out

    May 9 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Did the touristy mini bus tour today. They are great just to chill and let someone else take you to interesting places. For a geography nerd like me, it great to see significant places like in this case, the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of the African continent, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans don't meet. Thats at a place 200km east.
    Anyways, the coast in this part of the world is truly spectacular. Cliffs, mountains, bays etc. All part of the Table Mountain structure.
    Some very nice towns including secluded and exclusive bays where houses are expensive and with Owners like Madonna.
    Also learned a bit about apartheid and also the fact that Cape Town has a population of just under 5 million people but is only the second biggest city in South Africa.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    Cable car gondola heading up. Its a short trip up but steep.
    What a view. Capetown and it's Harbour.More view of the hazy hinterland. The top of the mountain is often clouded in.That woman was following me around. Good thing. She had the cable car tickets.View from the other side.Calm Atlantic Ocean.Lunch. Great seafood here. The Savannah is good but not quite as good as the Namibia/Botswana brew.So where are we again?Its that Mountain again. Can't get away from it.And again.The lift bridge at the marina opened. Bit of a delay getting back to the hotel.

    Going Up!

    May 8 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Weather forecast was for clear skies today, so we prepared for the ascent of Table Mountain. This requires
    1) Taxi to the cable car station
    2) Standing in queue to get in the cable car.
    3) Ride cable car to the top
    Exhausting. The queues are often very long but from being dropped off to arriving at the top took 1 hr. That's not bad at one of the top tourist attractions in the world.
    The view? Amazing! Clear and calm. It's so high above the city and the distant valleys were hazy, adding to the scene. I hope my photos do it justice.
    One surprise is that the floor of the cable car gondolas rotates as you go up or down, so you get a 360 degree view just standing in one spot.
    Then, back to the Fish Market for lunch and a Savannah Dry. Have a wander around and then a short harbour cruise before we have to head back for our night out. Dinner and some other people dancing.    Read more

  • Cape Town to Southampton
    Mountains near Cape Town. Its very lumpy hereabouts.
    Table Mountain looms over the city.Savannah saves the day. It was nice, as was the seafood lunch.Table Mountain doing more looming. It's very close. The photo does not do the loom justice.

    Found an Old Friend in Capetown

    May 7 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Yes, back in Africa again! Technically the 6th time for Angela and the 5th time for me.
    11 hour flight from Perth to Johannesburg, three hour layover, then two hours to Capetown. Two flat, aching posteriors. The flights don't get any easier.
    Went for a walk at lunchtime to stock up on a few items, stretch the legs and get a drink and maybe a light lunch. Found that Savannah Dry cider is available here. Almost wept. Hotel is close to the cruise terminal and a big Ferrari dealer. Only one of those is relevant.
    Hopefully get a good night's sleep tonight. Have not decided what to do tomorrow, although Table Mountain looks promising. It's a must do for here and why not.    Read more

    Trip start
    May 6, 2026
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