Today we awoke to rain and as we pulled into port it seemed to get worse. Out tour meeting time was 8:45. The official passport stampers boarded the ship at 8 am and we were cleared to go ashore at 9.
There isn’t a lot to see in Luanda and this tour will be stopping at four different locations.
Terri searched for the most attractive hat amongst the group.
We boarded the bus shortly after 9 and the rain was finished. On the bus, our tour guide answered some questions from passengers. One question was the unemployment rate. “The government tells us it is 25% but we know it is much higher. Close to 75%”. Angola has a problem with crime and it is fueled by this unemployment number.
First stop is the Iron Palace. Supposedly this was designed by Gustav Eiffel and was on its way to Madagascar. The ship made it is far as Angola and the government seized it and had it built in Luanda in the 1890s. It has been going under restoration for the past 15 years. It really isn’t used for much. There was a drum set and guitar set up on the first floor and I heard a guide speaking about auditions.
Our caravan of 8 busses was escorted by police and followed by an ambulance. I guess the government doesn’t want to take any chances.
Next stop was a Catholic Church.
As far as Catholic Churches go it was quite lame.
We past a monument to fallen soldiers.
Next stop was the Museum of Anthropology.
Small museum. Maybe 30 minutes here. Next was the monument nicknamed Sputnik where the tomb of the first president of Angola is.
The President obviously thought quite a bit of himself. Quite a monument amidst of so much poverty.
Last stop on the tour was Saint Miguel Fortress near the water. It had many military vehicles and did provide a nice view of the water front.
On the way back to the port we passed one of the Government buildings.
Back on the ship the crew was busy decorating for the holidays.…
Another day at sea and very smooth sailing. It is also getting warm again as we approach the equator.
We received a warning about our next port of call. Unfortunately Luanda has the title of most expensive city in the world. I checked the exchange rate, a 10,000 note equals twenty USD. Many of these countries have more zeroes on their bills than anything else.
We have a HAL tour for tomorrow. I don’t suspect any issue.
More ridiculousness from another country we are stopping at.
I’m guessing the leader of this country spoke with a few folks in the USA to come up with this.
At team trivia we’ve reached a new low. 4. Many other teams scored low also. Zythology? We did get the author of to Kill a Mocking Bird. We tried scategories for the first time and did quite well. Maybe we will add this to our busy day.
Evening entertainment was the second show of the comedian we gave a 1 to. Didn’t want to give home the opportunity to score even lower. We played cards at the back of the Lido. Beautiful evening. …
Still very cool compared to last week. We haven’t been using the balcony nor playing cards at the back of the Lido deck. As we approach the equator, we expect some warmer weather.
We have met a few folks that call themselves “homeless”. They have sold their homes and now live in temporary locations. Ships and air B&B’s seem to be the method they use. This means that they own very little other than clothes. No cars, no furniture, not much of anything. It is an interesting lifestyle but it is hard to have any relationships with anyone other than your travel partner. Most that we have met do this alone. On the plus side you can live in places you never thought possible. The downside is loneliness.
Jeremy is still recovering and did a taped presentation on our next post of call. Luanda in Angola. We do have a HAL tour scheduled and he did give a warning about crime. Large increase in the past decade or so and the police cannot keep up with it. Most people who on on the ship seem to dress in a way that says “I’m from the ship” and make easy targets.
When we were in Victoria Falls, Jack was at an ATM. He put his card in, looked to his left for just a second, and found that the man next to him switched his card with another. He did go to the police and they were well aware of well dressed men operating like this in the city. Of course Jack had the hassle of cancelling his card and all of the other headaches that go along with getting a replacement. We have learned from these experiences and haven’t had any trouble in many years. I suggested to Jack that he apply for an Apple Card. He could apply and be approved quickly and wouldn’t need the card, he could use his phone. If the card is compromised, a new number can be issued instantly. Using Apple pay is really the way to go.
We decided to skip the evening entertainment as it was the second show for vocalist Selim. I did hear him rehearse the second show. I’m sticking with the 6.
Today we scheduled a tour to Sandwich Harbor. About 30 km from the port but no roads exist past the town limit.
Michael from MC Tours picked us up at 9 am. He spoke Afrikaans and English. He was born in South Africa and moved to Namibia later in life.
The town was neat and clean. There is still a large German population here.
Shortly after picking us up, he pulled over to let some air out of tires. This would allow better traction on the sand dunes we were heading towards.
We passed a major business in the city, the salt plant. Salt was harvested from the sea. It was also the source for chlorine which was added to make the water they draw from the ground, potable.
We traveled on the beach. The tide was out and there was plenty of room to drive. About 30 mins in, Michael took the vehicle up a very large sand dune. He circled around and went up even higher. The pictures you see of the water and sands, are from the top of the dunes.
We had a quick lunch from this viewpoint. In the vehicle was another couple from the ship. As proof that people digress as they age, we saw 80 year olds making sand angels in the dunes.
After lunch we went back in the vehicle and we looked for some wildlife. Ostriches and jackals made their homes here. We also saw lots of flamingos in the shallow water near the salt plant. The water here was pink from bacteria and algae that exist in these waters. This is how the flamingos get their color.
Michael felt we had time so he took us to Pelican point. Here we saw what was estimated to be 80,000 seals. They were up on the beach about 100 ft deep. It was mating season and you can see many babies in the sand. Sea gulls would walk up and down the ranks of the seals and they would eat the eyes out of the babies. Once this happened, the babies would have no way to continue living and their mothers left them on the beach.
Michael dropped us off at the port about 4 pm.
The evening entertainment was something titled The Rhythm of Africa. Terri wasn’t interested but I thought it could be African drummers. We arrived about 15 minutes early and were careful to pick good “escape” seats. It wasn’t African Drummers. We gave it a solid minute and left.
Another day of rough weather and the ship was doing some major rolling.
It was a bit too cool to sit out on our balcony and watch the crashing white caps. The crow’s nest provided that opportunity. We went up for free drinks at noon and learned that it was happy hour in every bar on the ship. There were a lot of happy people after they waited for the real drinkers to fill each hand. The professionals realized that it was one drink at a time so they moved from bar to bar. There are about 6 bars on this ship. Enough for real happiness to take place.
Some folks ended their cruise in Cape Town and some are just beginning. It’s funny how the new comers stick out. We certainly haven’t met all of the passengers on this cruise but it’s easy to identify those just joining us.
Jeremy couldn’t do his usual port talk at 11 am on stage because of his quarantine status. He taped a 15 minute talk from his room and it was broadcast on tv. It’s nice to know the currency, exchange rate, shuttle bus locations and a little about the town. The port we missed, Luderitz, was part of German West Africa. Wallis Bay is similar. The town was built to resemble the “homeland”.
We have a 3rd party tour for tomorrow and I already received a message on WhatsApp from our guide. Sounds fun.
Namibia has decided to join the other African countries in the port silliness. They have gone a step further than South Africa did. South Africa only cared about your identity when you left the country. Passengers were allowed to spend two days in the city and then had to prove their identity to customs when they were leaving. Huh? Namibia wants to know who you are when you arrive and when you leave. Of course a government form is the answer. Ridiculous. All of the information they ask for is on your passport. They scan the passport when you present it. The form will end up in the “burn this” pile. I doubt if any country will beat Botswana and the cookie sheets for stupid ideas but every country seems to want to compete.
Erika continued to take over for Jeremy. Jeremy speaks way too fast. He will come on stage and ask the audience a question such as “how was your visit today?”. Great question but he does not wait for a response. He immediately begins talking. A confident public speaker realizes that silence has a place. A speaker with no confidence feels they have to fill every minute with speech. Many times it is ummm, aahhhh, ya know,…..Jeremy just continues talking non stop. Erika is very clear and confident. Pausing when necessary. She will make a great tour director, at least in the public speaking portion.
The evening entertainment was South African vocalist Selim Kagee. He did covers of mainly love songs. Voice quality is nice but dynamic range was limited and lacking in most numbers. He was backed up by the Ocean Bar quartet and they play ok. Terri kept flashing me a 3. I gave him a 6.…
Nice recovery day from Cape Town and the Safari. Winds are quite strong and the Captain said they will be getting stronger all day. His noon announcement came with the usual position information and weather information. He also added that he is cancelling the next port of call which is Luderitz in Namibia. Unfortunately this is a tender port and the rough seas will create havoc while trying to board the tenders. The passengers on long cruises like this one are full of folks past retirement age. The scale of stubbornness is very high. There are many passengers that should not be on tours that say “strenuous”. Unfortunately, stubborness and the self centered nature over takes rational thinking. Getting these people on the tender would take an unfathomable amount of effort and it is much easier and probably smarter to cancel the port of call.
The Captain did announce that there will be a complimentary happy hour in the Crow’s Nest at noon tomorrow because of the cancelled port of call. Expect a crowd.
Another surprise, Jeremy, our cruise director has covid. He is isolation for the next few days and Erika is taking over for him. Maybe someone is thinking as I do. If masks work, and he wore a mask the entire time, why didn’t the mask work?
Probably not enough people using the new hand washing stations, or failure to use the hand sanitizer. Maybe the crew is not scrubbing the handrails hard enough or wiping down the door frames correctly.
We will be cruising past our next port of call, Wallis Bay, and then turning around. A minimum speed is required to use the stabilizers on this ship and without them we all would be tossing cookies. Thankfully, the next port is not a tender port.
Team trivia was a bit different today. True or false. Fact or Urban Myth. 50/50 chance on each question. Think we did any better? No. I was given the Mozart question. “We don’t know where Mozart is buried”. Erika said the answer is true. Actually we do know where he is buried. In Austria, we just are not sure of the correct plot. My answer of false was incorrect. Marilyn Monroe has 11 toes? Nails and hair grow continue to grow for up to a week after death?
Dinner on the Lido next to the pool. African Barbecue was the theme. The Ocean Bar band played. The bassist and lead singer, Molly, is outstanding. I’m not sure what she is doing playing these three others on a cruise ship. She is ready to record some original material. Incredible voice. One of the better bassists aboard also.
Tonight’s entertainment was comedian Mark Sampson. He was chatting it up with a gent at the gym while I was doing sit-ups. He sounded quite normal and decided to see his act. He said it was his first time performing on a cruise ship. He is from London but has lived in South Africa for the last 30 years. He didn’t connect with his audience at all. He kept looking at his notes next to his water bottle. I have nothing against notes and I use them all of the time. The expression on his face as he stared at them told me that he knew he needed different material. He kept looking as if something else would appear on his notes but nothing did. Terri fell asleep. I gave him a 1.
Today we had made no plans. We knew that we would be exhausted from the 5 day excursion. We were already in port from yesterday so we made our way out to the city after breakfast. It was about 1.5 miles to the city center.
Cape Town reminded us of Chicago or Manhattan. Lots of tall buildings, thriving businesses and lots of traffic. We decided on a walking tour using the GPSmyCity app. Shopping was the tour we selected. We took a few photos to remember what the city was like. This is a city we would like to return to and spend more time.
We did see the Slave Lodge and decided to go in. Lots of history of slavery and how it led to the apartheid that South Africa had from 1948 to 1994. So many things about this reminded me of what is going on back home. During this period there was one radio station that people could listen to. It was government controlled. Another radio station did broadcast illegally and South Africa did their best to jam the signal. Back home it isn’t radio but all other forms of media. Print, social, broadcast.
We took in the shops and sites and then ducked into a nice bar for lunch and a drink. Something about the name caught our eye.
Quite a bit cooler than Botswana today. 97 when we left and 65 here in Cape Town.
All aboard was to 10:30 pm today but that was changed. Port authorities are making everyone get off of the ship and get the official stamp from South Africa. They will be in the customs house from 4 – 830 pm. Once you get the official stamp you can only return to the ship, not back into Cape Town. HAL joined in the nonsense by punching a round hole in our key card. Maybe they are preparing for an EMP or electromagnetic pulse. All electronics would be fried but HAL would have their hole punched cards, Zimbabwe had their little custom papers and Botswana the cookie sheets. I’m glad we are all prepared.…
5:30 am for an early morning game drive. Bella took us around to see animals that were still up and moving around.
We spent three hours driving around the park and observed all kinds of animals. We had breakfast at 8:30 and then began to pack for our drive to the Kasane Airport. We were to leave at 11:15. This group is always ready 30 minutes before departure. We arrived at 11:10 and were the last to load onto the trucks.
The drive to Kasane was about 30 mins. We did see some elephant and water buffalo one the way out. Bella drove us.
It was an international flight. Botswana to South Africa. I felt so much safer filling out the 4×4 inch piece of paper that asked for information found on my passport. Who comes up with these ridiculous rules? I did decided to put down Superman for my name. I noticed the immigration official giving me the double take. He then probably realized that I had my glasses on and was in my Clark Kent disguise. Proceed.
I do know that potential hijackers and smugglers are very fearful of the 4×4 sheet of paper with all of the questions. This has had to turn many away. Good thinking by government officials.
The flight to Johannesburg was about 90 minutes. We had to grab our bags from the turn style and go through immigration and then customs. Customs has changed all over the world. Proceed to the “nothing to declare” line and there is no one to check anything. No dumb forms either.
The connection to Cape Town was about 2 hours. We arrived in Cape Town about 8 pm and loaded busses for the port. We were back home on the ship about 9 pm. It felt good and we were tired.…
Today we had a 5:30 am game drive. I’ll never remember which pictures go with which drive so the pictures will remain.
The game lodge is located in the Chobe National Park and it is a well maintained and well run. The rooms are spectacular and it is, at least for our group, all inclusive. Drinks, laundry, food, use of facilities. This is a place that would be worth the travel time to get here. It is very close to the Kasane Airport in Botswana. Fly here and spend a few days at the lodge. Bucket list experience.
The guides that we had were all young women. Maybe 30 yrs old or so. Very knowledgeable about the surroundings. Birds, animals, vegetation. You name it. They know their stuff.
The park was created by the government. It is evident that people lived on the land at one time. Evidence of old foundations, paved roads, sidewalks. The government moved them to different locations outside the park. I had a hard time believing that people lived amongst all of these wild animals but our guide told us that when the people lived here, the animals moved to different locations.
There are dirt roads through the park. A 4 wheel vehicle is a must. The roads are simply paths identified only by the lack of vegetation and tire tracks. Guides cannot leave the road they can only track the animals. They do these by using cb radio communications with the other guides. Footprints across the road, dung trails, warning signals from birds are all used to track them.
The guides carry no weapons. The animals have learned to live amongst the tracking vehicles. They see the trucks as no threat and ignore them. The starting of a truck engine does not even arouse them. An elephant, a lion, a hippo. All will ignore the trucks. If the guides notice that animals feel threatened, they move on.
We used about 5 vehicles for each drive. When we were all seated, the guide would ask the group what they wanted to see. Giraffes, zebras, lions, elephants, came the responses.
Morning game drives started at 5:30 am. Coffee and rolls at 5 am and then we were off. We road with Bella on more than one drive. Outstanding game tracker.
Impalas were like deer in Michigan. Very plentiful. The black markings at the rear of them look like the Golden Arches. McDonalds of the bush. Fast food for many predators.
Impalatermites
8:30 am was breakfast and then a few hours off for the river cruise. The animals would come out of the bush to get water. We saw many baboons, and impalas along the river. Crocodiles were also plentiful here.
About a distance of 4 feet from me
The animals are left to themselves and humans do not intervene. We did see some lions tearing apart an impala they had caught.
The evening game drive was only interrupted by a stop for a gin and tonic at sunrise. Drivers stopped in the middle of the bush and put a spread of food and drinks on the hood of the vehicles. Nice touch!…
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Chobe Game Lodge, Botswana
November 21, 2022
Breakfast at 6:30 am today and bus to the falls at 7:30.
The Victoria Falls were close and we were there quickly. The early start time was due to the heat expected later in the day.
We given a short orientation at the falls and then proceeded to 16 different lookouts along the falls.
After the falls, we made our way back to the busses. Some baboons we near the entrance of the parking lot.
We boarded the bus and started on our way to Botswana. A herd of elephants crossed the road in front of us and then we went to see the big tree. Not sure if its near the big ball of twine.
The Big Tree – 1050 years old
The ride to the border of Zimbabwe and Botswana was about an hour. Along they way, we heard people discussing the Botswana “shoe sterilization”.
Back on the ship, HAL officials notified us that our shoes would need to be sterilized when we get to Botswana and to carry shoes in a separate bag. In the back of my mind, I thought “another assault by a government program”. I didn’t bring any extra shoes. I’m not sure what other shoes I could even bring on a safari.
Back on the bus, we saw passengers with bags of shoes with them. Maybe different safari outfits called for different shoes. I’ll never figure this kind of thing out.
The bus took us as far as the border and we had to exit the bus and go up to the customs office. Before we could approach the office, we had to put our feet on what looked like a cookie sheet full of filthy water. Let’s see, foot on a dirt road, cookie sheet for shoes, feet back on dirt road. Makes sense. Terri had other shoes and they were in her suitcase where they belonged. Other passengers stood at the cookie sheet and dipped each shoe in. We could barely contain our laughter. One thing we learned years ago. Never ask a government official anything. Just proceed like you own the place. You will be ignored.
Shoe bag waiting for cookie sheetLine at the cookie sheetSuccessful cookie sheet processing
The official at the custom house after the cookie sheet looked at your passport and then put another slash in a column on a scrap of paper. This were her job. Nothing else to do here. It was an easy job but not as easy as the custom official we passed earlier. He was sprawled out on the ground. Asleep.
It was now time to walk 200yds to the official custom station. It was here that another official took the passport, opened to a blank visa page, gave the official stamp and handed the passport back to you. This was all done without actually looking at the photo page or looking at you. I expected to hear something like “have you put your shoes on the official cookie sheet”? I heard no such question or any question. No one spoke. I thought maybe the visa page would at least have a picture of the official shoe cookie sheet. No such luck.
A man helps his wife step on the official Botswana cookie sheet.
Some countries use a mask mandate. Others a cookie sheet. I’m amazed by different cultures and am more amazed by the similarity in the people that govern them. Lot’s of citizen head shaking concerning governance around the world.
We all felt better that we participated in the official cookie sheet process. No one mentioned, however, what the process was actually for. The dirt on both sides of the cookie sheet seemed to be the same. I guess the dirt on the Botswana side could be cleaner dirt.
On the Botswana side we boarded 4×4 pickup trucks outfitted to hold about 12 passengers. Only a few miles to the lodge but very rough terrain.
Giraffe showed on the way in.
The resort looked fantastic. The Chobe Game Lodge is in the Chobe National Park. This park was created to preserve the area and wildlife in the 1960s. The lodge is right on the Chobe River. This is the same as the Zambezi River which we were on in Victoria Falls. The park is 11,000 square km. There are no fences. Animals go where they please.
We had lunch and then checked into our rooms. A sunset cruise was began at 4:30 pm down the Chobe River. We had a few drinks before we left.
The local beer is “St. Louis”.
The animals with the antlers are Kudu. We did see quite a few crocodiles and bird species. Our guide was Sue.
Breakfast at 6:30 am. We sat with Nancy and Stan with whom we shared the partial dinner last night with. They left at dinner at 8:50 pm. We made it until 9. It turns out that they were stuck in the elevator for 30 mins after they left dinner. The elevators probably haven’t been used like they were yesterday in years. Covid 19 devastated the tourist industry here. The AC in our room didn’t operate either. I did complain to the HAL rep on the trip and she had the hotel send someone up during our wait for dinner. When we arrived after it dinner it still wasn’t working. “It’s working fine” is what I heard when I called the front desk. I told him it will not turn on. He said an employee was just up there and everything is working. He did agree to send another up another employee. “It doesn’t work”, said the second employee. They offered another room. We told him we would stay and open the windows. There was a nice cool breeze.
We boarded the bus and started for the airport at 8:30 am. Uneventful ride. Luggage caused many to be concerned. Our guide told us they would deliver it to check in and they did but ship people panic easily. We had an issue at the check in with Terri’s passport. The scanner would not read it. I guess that’s why we spent 30 minutes there. We had to have our vaccination cards to check in also. The world of government control. Makes life so much easier and people happy.
Another check point before we boarded the bus that takes us to the plane. Another look at passports and vaccination cards.
A quote I remember kept lurking in the back of my head.
The closest thing to eternal life is a government program. Ronald Reagan.
Let’s see what we know. The vaccines do not prevent the disease, they do not stop the spread of the disease, they do not lessen the severity of the disease. Let’s make everyone get vaccinated. I don’t do well with government requirements.
We received some immigration forms to fill out. All kinds of ridiculous information is asked for. No one will ever read these. For the question about what countries I have visited in the last 3 weeks, I put down what I ordered for dinner last night but didn’t receive. At least this info is useful.
The free airport WiFi? You must enter your name and email address and then agree to receive crap from whom ever they sell this info to. You may be thinking that making up an email address and a name to go with it will prevent you from connecting on the free WiFi. The answer is no. Joe@schmoe.com worked just fine. Its much cheaper just to demand things from people. Why bother paying for the additional infrastructure? Most people will comply.
The bus to the plane was standing room only and stand we did. Maybe 30 minutes. What is the problem we all began to think. Maybe it was a loose government form on the floor.
The flight was obviously a charter. Nice, new jet filled with folks on this tour. Easy 90 minute flight to Zimbabwe.
We de-planed and then got in line to turn in our worthless forms. No one batted an eye. I think the immigration officer agreed that the pork belly I ordered for dinner was a good choice.
Another line for Visas. $30 each. Credit card machine is down. Cash only. Not sure what happens if someone has no cash. Floors looked like they needed sweeping.
This immigration officer was using a receipt book with carbon paper. I didn’t even know that still existed. A hand written receipt from the immigration officer. This needs framing.
Another bus ride to the hotel and another bus driver looking for a tip. His English was quite poor. There were yield signs along the way with an image of an elephant. We did see baboons crossing the road and more in the jungle. I didn’t realize that people lived amongst these wild animals.
We checked into the hotel and went right to lunch. Three restaurants at the hotel. Our lunch was at the Jungle Safari Restaurant. Food was very good. We ate outside and enjoyed the view. The hotel is old and magnificent. Reminded me of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
4:30 we had a cruise down the Zambezi River. This river will lead to Victoria Falls but that was not our goal today. Tomorrow we will take a short hike to the falls.
The 2 hour cruise was very nice. Lots of wildlife to see. We returned to the hotel for dinner and watched a group perform for us. A marimba band and lots of drummers. The marimbas looked quite crude but did produce a nice sound. The drummers and dancers were entertaining.
We picked up our pilot about 5 am and then began the slow ride into Mozambique.
I was surprised by the size and also by how modern it looked. The language here is Portuguese. Our meeting time was 8:15 and things progressed well. We were off the ship, walked through customs and on a bus for the airport. The ride was about 30 minutes.
The airport was nicer than I expected. Many irritating people asking to carry my luggage. I like to carry my own luggage.
Our flight was at noon and we left about 12:15. The flight was only 45 minutes and they served lunch. That was the quickest flight with food service ever. Upon arriving in Johannesburg, we went through the usual ritual of immigration. We met outside of immigration and boarded a bus. This bus would take us on a tour of Soweto on our way to “lunch”.
Soweto represents south western townships and was the home of Nelson Mandela. Our guide grew up in South Africa and he told us how the state controlled media lied to them about apartheid. He spoke about a picture of children that were slaughtered by the government. He said that picture had as much impact on people in South Africa as the picture of the boy and girl running and obviously screaming after a napalming in Viet Nam did in the USA.
We drove some obviously very wealthy neighborhoods. We also saw the largest man made first in the world. The natural vegetation in this area was prairie grassland. Trees were first brought in for the wood they would produce. The wood was used in the gold mines. Later, trees were added for the shade they gave.
Our guide told us that you may see trash but that is a government problem. The people here keep their homes very clean. I’m not buying that.
Lunch was at a local restaurant in Soweto. We were entertained as we ate again.
After lunch we visited Nelson Mandela’s home. It was a very small home and there wasn’t a whole lot to see but there was a framed letter from the State of Michigan asking the President of the United States to apologize to Nelson Mandela for the role the CIA had in the arrest and sentencing of Mandela of life in prison.
After our visit we got back in the bus. Our hotel for the evening was about 30 minutes away. The 54 on Bath Hotel was our destination.
Diner was to be served at 7:30 pm. When we still didn’t receive our meals at 9 we went to our room. Nice Hotel. Poor dinner service.…
Today we prepared for our 5 day overland tour that begins tomorrow morning. We have sprayed our clothes with insect repellent, dried them and packed them. Shoes will need to be disinfected in Botswana. We are only bringing the shoes we are wearing, otherwise we would need to pack extra shoes separately.
We picked up passports today as we will need them to board flights.
We are leaving the ship about 8:30 am Saturday and boarding a flight to Johannesburg. After immigration we board a bus to Soweto and have lunch. We then check in to the 54 on Bath Hotel. Dinner is at the hotel. I’m guessing it wasn’t possible to get us to Victoria Falls from Maputo with back to back flights.
Sunday we have an 11:20 flight to Victoria Falls. We check in at the Victoria Falls Hotel and then enjoy a cruise on the Zambezi River. Dinner at the Hotel.
Monday morning we leaving for the chore game lodge. It is here we will experience game drives. We stay here until Wednesday morning and then fly to Cape-town to rejoin the ship. I’m hoping for WiFi at the lodge to upload pictures. We will be on this excursion with several couples we have met on the ship. Should be a great time.…
As we continue south down the eastern coast of Africa it is becoming noticeably cooler with less humidity. The captain said we will be continually be picking up more wind and have larger swells. We have already noticed this today. The captain also said that one of stops had to be cancelled because of timing of tides. There will not be enough clearance for the ship during the date and time we will be there. Instead of Banjul, Gambia we will stop in Dakar, Senegal. I was able to cancel the tour we had already booked. I think we are going to do a bike tour or walking tour in Dakar.
The 1pm trivia today was hilarious. Victoria is from Colombia and her accent is hard to interpret. Sometimes it is not even the accent it is the questions or possible answer she gives. She started one of the questions with the possible answers. Answer a) 1000 BC – 1000 AD . Answer b) 2000 BC to 30, 000 AD. There was of course an uproar with this. I’m not sure if she even gave the question since the answers were so far off. We had a good laugh amongst ourselves.
We did another wine tasting after trivia. We sat amongst a group of folks who were a lot less pretentious than the last few tastings we did and it was fun. We tasted 2 wines from New Zealand and two from Australia. The Australian wines were from the Hunter Valley region and we had taken a tour of a winery in that region on our trip back in 2020. The descriptions of the wines and the bouquet are rather hilarious. Earthy, violet, cranberry. I added church incense. This is what I noted. None of the others noticed that. Must have been my upbringing.
We did evening trivia and called it a night. Good day of rejuvenation.…
Today was our 2nd day anchored off of Hell-Ville. Today we had a HAL tour of the Lakobe Park.
We met in the main stage at 6:45 am. As your tour is called you pass through some employees who put a numbered sticker on your shirt. It reminds me of when I taught elementary school but now I am the student.
We headed out to the tender and there seemed to be no issue with the mask police today. Some had masks, some didn’t. I don’t really care but I am not going to wear one.
20 minute or so and we were on the pier. Now was the wait to get on the boat that would take us to the park. The park was also on Nosy-Be but there weren’t roads to take us there. The fastest way would be by boat. The wait for our boat was about an hour. The boats had names much like they did on Zanzibar. Ours was the Shaina.
The ride out was uneventful. The water was a little rough but not a bad ride. When we arrived we walked through a very primitive village. Crude huts, lots of garbage. The path we walked down reminded me of the alley behind our house in Detroit. You expected garbage there.
Local guideErnest showing flower used to make Chanel no. 5
The crude huts were built on cement slabs. After a few minutes I heard someone kicking out some tunes from one of the huts. Electricity? I saw a few solar panels. Something wasn’t feeling right about this experience. A former teacher in our group asked if there was a school in the area. Ernest, our guide, asked the group if we would like to see it.The group agreed and we took a short walk to the school. We heard what were obviously primary school aged children. We waved and they waved back. Some of the folks with us spoke French and they greeted them also. It hit me when I saw a teacher walking a group to the building. She was young and had an English accent. Peace Corps I thought. Ernest invited us to come up on the porch to see inside. The other teachers were young also. One teacher told us to leave. The children weren’t something to be looked at. One said get the F#$^ out of here. Of course she was right. No one in our group had actually worked with children, had careers, families, or children and grand children of their own. I told the one young Missy that we were invited here. Didn’t mean much. She had answered a higher calling and we were intruders. Shame on us. Opportunity missed, I thought. Could have been a great learning experience but what would I know.
We left the school area and continued down the path of dirt mixed with trash. We saw some women making tablecloths that they were selling. The men fish and the women make tablecloths. Not sure how making tablecloths in this remote area was decided on. Maybe tourism is a lot bigger that I think it is here. The tablecloths were beautiful. I guess when you are eating on a weathered wooden table and sitting on a wooden bench, the tablecloth provides a big difference.
Ernest took the group into the jungle. There were 11 of us and these were folks that could handle the hike. Another guide who grew up in this village came with us to point out the wildlife. We did see some sleeping lemurs, a boa constrictor, many geckos and chameleons.
If you look closely at the branches of the tree pictures, you might be able to make out sleeping lemurs.
There is cell phone service in this remote area. Not sure why.
We spent a few hours in the jungle and then Ernest said we needed to head back. Lunch time. We made it back to the little village and sat along long tables. The drinks came quick but we waited over an hour for lunch. They did literally just kill the tuna and it was on the barbecue. Refrigeration here? Not sure of that. The beer was cold. Maybe ice.
After lunch it was time to head back. All aboard was 2:30 and it was already 1:45. No one was worried. The captains wife was with us.
Our ride back was fast and very bumpy. I think our driver was racing someone. Maybe Mr. Bean or Mr. Cheaper.
30 mins back to the pier. 4 boats to unload in front of us. Just before it was our turn to unload the tender left. There was another tender behind us and when it positioned itself the crew loaded all of the pier equipment on with us and they all came aboard. Last tender in.
We were a bit late to the dining room but had a great meal as the ship pulled away. We were really moving. Maybe because we left an hour or two late. We did see a huge dolphin flip itself entirely out of the water as we ate.
We’re had an exhausting day and skipped the evening entertainment. We did do some trivia. How many times will they ask how many hearts an octopus has? I did know what H2O2 was. 11 out of 18. Ok score.
Another episode of Yellowstone and then bed. Two days at sea coming up.…
The HAL tour we booked was moved to tomorrow and today we were winging it.
A tender was sent out to get port authorities and bring them back to the ship to process passports.Jeremy spoke on the PA system and announced they we would be delayed in getting to port. The area where the tender pulled up is about 2 feet lower than the tender exit. The ships carpenters were sent out to build a ramp for guests. Impressive I thought. They would need 30 minutes to complete the task. Even more impressed.
We had lunch and the boarded a tender. The water was a little rough and it took a while to load the boat.
The trip was about 15 minutes to the shore. I couldn’t wait to see the impressive ramp that the carpenters built. The port was busy and the tender full.
It took a little time to unload the boat. A woman was nasty to me because I didn’t have a mask on. I ignored her and she said to the folks around them, “they are probably from Florida”.
I worked my way over for a look at the ramp. Wow, I thought. A sheet of plywood and two wooden stairs that they regularly use on the gangway. Nothing attached. Nothing actually “built”. I’m not impressed anymore.
Once of the tender we started to walk into town. At least 4 taxi drivers followed us and offered “good price”. They were relentless and I finally had to get quite stern with them to let us alone. They got the message.
It was just afternoon and we passed a few prostitutes. I don’t know why I’m surprised but I am.
We found our way to the tourist office. We learned that nothing is really open between 12 and 3 because of the heat. It was hot. We found a French restaurant called Papillon. We decided to enjoy a drink or two and use the wifi.
Later in the afternoon, Richard joined us for a beer. We chatted about his career as a lawyer and I shared some rental property stories.
We left and decided to walk into town since it was now after 3. Nothing here we were interested in.
We tendered back in time for dinner. Our entertainment was the series Yellowstone. I was able to download an episode while in Papillon’s. …
We have passed the halfway point on our trip. It has gone by very quickly but it also seems so long ago when we were in the Canary Islands.
We had breakfast with Jim and Bill. We chatted about Tanzania and our experiences. They took their wives on a few HAL tours and agreed that the bus loads of people complain and move slow. We shared ways that we thought this could be improved. Most of these people think that they are in better shape then they and just refuse to admit that there are things they can’t do anymore. The word “strenuous” on the tour seems to have little meaning. We all wished there was some way to get the more fit and active people on one bus. One idea would be to have ice cream and cookies leading the less able bodies to other busses. Just a thought.
Jim and Bill said that they are going on HAL excursions on the two days we will be in Madagascar. When planning this trip months ago, we opted for a HAL tour the second day only. Day 2 ends at 2:30 pm. There weren’t any third party excursions that met this time frame. Day 1 we arrive rather late. 11 am. It is a tender port. Tough to book a tour when the arrival time is uncertain. We did think about playing a round of golf but decided it would be to difficult to get to. We are going to wing it tomorrow. Let’s see what happens.
Back to the gym. After my workout I got on the tread mill. JAWS was playing. The effects were lame compared to today but back in 1975 the film kept most of the country out of the water. The politics in the town would still happen today. The great music kept me going at a brisk pace.
We did quite well at trivia. Richard has dropped out permanently. We all have guesses why. He knows a lot of trivia but his hearing is not up to it. We knew the most deadly creature in the world. We missed the technical name for a fingerprint. The tall young lady from Indiana who does the trivia speaks very clear and makes it fun. Two of the other hosts do not speak English as their primary language. Frustrating as there are two games being played. Deciphering what they say and then coming up with the answer.
The evening entertainment was Mentalist Michael Abrahsmson from South Africa. His show began with a video clip of him reciting the first 2000 numbers of PI in record time to make the Guinness Book of World records. Impressive but less than exciting.
Michael did some mathematical wizardry on paper in front of the audience. He also was able to get people to say which playing card he had in an envelope by asking them questions. Not a very tough thing to do as each answer leads to another question that eliminates more possible cards. Entertaining. I gave him a 6. Terri flashed me the two after she woke up.
Tomorrow is Nosy-Be Madagascar. Lots of wildlife and things to see. Economically very poor. Only two other stops have a lower GDP than this Country.…
Our second day in Tanzania. Today we had booked a private tour. Amour, our guide, contacted me on WhatsApp yesterday. We were to meet at the old fort at 9 am. Tendering was no issue and we were off about 7:45 am. The tender pulled into port and we took the short walk to the old fort. Lots of Jambo. The people are very friendly and want to help.
Amour
We started our tour by boarding a small boat. Prison Island was our first stop. We boarded a boat called “Italy”. No particular reason for the name. I saw a boat called “Mr. Cheap”, Mr. Bean”, etc. I did ask amour about mambo and Jambo. He said mambo was used between natives of Tanzania. Jambo was used between natives and visitors.
Stone Island was about a 30 minute ride. A prison was constructed here but was never used for its intended purpose. There was what looked like a nice resort on the island but it closed 15 or so years ago. It was a wet landing but we only had to walk a few feet in the water. High tide brought many starfish now trapped on land. The tour guides picked them up and placed them back in the water.
The thing to see here were tortoises and peacocks. One tortoise was 193 years old. The biggest tortoise was nickname Mike Tyson.
The prison never held criminals but it was used to house slaves during the slave trade period. One former quarter was now used as a bar. An iron ring was still on the floor where slaves were chained.
We spent about an hour on the island. The great thing about a private tour is that you can go at your own pace. Those on group and ship tours have a lot of time waiting for others.
Our boat ride back was uneventful. We continued on our tour with a walk to stone town. The name refers to the stone buildings built by the Portuguese. Lime stone and coral was used to construct these buildings.
Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar and our first stop was the apartment he was born.
We continued through the narrow streets of stone town.
We did learn in Dar es Salaam that a motorcycle is called a bodahbodah. Border to border. It takes you from one area to another.
We stopped in a few shops, I purchased some coffee, and then we proceeded to the slave market.
Tippu Tip was the nickname of the slave master of Zanzibar. He was given the name because of the sound his gun made.
We saw where slaves were held until they were sold. The slaves came from many different countries in East Africa. Tribe leaders would sell off people they couldn’t manage after taking over another tribe. The Slave Master in Zanzibar would sell them to countries around the world.
Lots to learn here. I don’t remember learning about the slave trade on the eastern coast of Africa. Written on the wall in one of the cellars one can see that 75 slaves and children could be chained in one room. A room that you could barely stand in. Where the slaves were chained was a slab of concrete about 4 feet from the ceiling.
We came out of the slave holding area and Amour spoke to us about the slave master. The white man wasn’t even a part of this business. This was an Arab man from Oman selling slaves to any purchaser. Most went to India.
We worked our way back to the port.
We walked through the old fort. The theater area is a newer addition. Periodically they hold live concerts here.
We ended our day here in The Mercury Zanzibar. I wanted to tried the Monica Lewinsky but opted for a Kilimanjaro.
Getting on the tender is quite amazing. There is the noise, and hustle of the city. Cross the HAL security and you are once again in first class service. Cold towel? Glass of lemonade or iced tea? Chairs if you would like to sit and wait. Once back near the ship the service is the same. Line on the gangway? You will be served something to drink in line.
Dinner in the dining room as the ship began towards our next port. Outstanding dinner each nite.
The evening show was saxophonist Axos Laki. Axos told the audience that he is from a country that doesn’t exist anymore. Yugoslavia. It is now Serbia.
Axos played the tenor and he was very good. He helped the not so good stage band stay together. Good show of popular tunes. 8…
Today we arrived in Zanzibar, an island off of the coast of Dar es Salaam. We only traveled about 40 miles overnight but we were still moving when I awoke. I saw the pilot boat come in and shortly after I heard the ship’s anchor being lowered. Zanzibar appears to have a port deep enough as I can see large container ships docked but the area is not that large and we will have to remain anchored.
This is the first port on this trip where we will have to take tenders ashore. The tenders on the ship double as lifeboats. They are lowered when needed and a gangway is used to board them.
We went to the dining room, grabbed a tender ticket and waited for our tender to be called. 5 tenders were being used to shuttle passengers back and forth. 75 in each tender and the wait was not long.
Yesterday we were able to speak with someone from the Sea Cliff Resort on Zanzibar and we made a tee time for golf at 10:30.
Our tender pulled in to port about 9:30. It was going to be tight to get there at 10:30. I sent a note to the resort and the response was no problem. Hakuna Matata.
Getting off of the tender I heard lot’s of “Jambo”. Isn’t it Mambo? I had to look up the Swahili word and it is definitely Jambo. I guess Dar es Salaam has its own pronunciation as it is Mambo or Hello over there. A lot of Hakuna Matata also.
Zanzibar seems to have a larger Arabic influence than Dar es Salaam in the way people dress and the way some buildings look. Dar es Salaam has experienced some tremendous growth and it is the financial hub of Tanzania. Looks like Zanzibar has been left behind.
The port area was very crowded. People always seem to be in your way when you are in a hurry. There are many seasoned travelers on the ship but few are in shape enough to get around as we do. We snaked our way through the crowd and made our way to the shuttle. The shuttle would take us to the Serena Hotel near Kelele Square. Better chance of finding a taxi there.
Once off the shuttle we heard lots of Jambo. We found a taxi and negotiated a price. I always start with offering half of what the asking price is. I may have to change to a quarter as there was no discussion. I asked Mohammed (it’s so easy to remember names here) if he took credit. Yes, Yes was the response. I did have some USD just in case.
The resort was about 7 to 10 miles out from the town. About 30 minutes with the traffic. Speed bumps are used to control speed. Lots of horns, weaving, near death experiences along the way. Both sides of the street were lined with businesses selling all kinds of merchandise. Most had corrugated metal roofs. Some rusted, some galvanized. Some looked like they might keep water out. Most didn’t. Living is different when it doesn’t rain much and the temperature doesn’t change. The ride out reminded me of Indonesia. Maybe Bali minus the Hindu influence. Obviously very poor. In some ways it reminded me of San Francisco and the many homeless encampments with a major difference. The people here were working to improve their lives. They were not sleeping on the sidewalk waiting for a government handout. People here were very friendly and happy that you were visiting. Come back to Zanzibar. We heard this over and over.
We arrived at the resort about 30 minutes late. Hakuna Matata. We were already checked in and our cart and clubs were waiting. I needed balls since I already lost the ones I brought from home. (I donated them to the course in Jordan). News balls? $30 for a package of 3. I don’t play well enough to justify that. 5 used balls for $10 is what I purchased.
We did meet some young boys along hole number 1 sticking their hands full of balls through the fence. Another purchase here.
Golf was fun. On hole 16 I called Mohammed to come get us. We would be waiting on hole 19.
Nothing finishes a game off like a bottle of Kilimanjaro.
We had a HAL tour this evening and the meeting time was 4:15 back at the port. Mohammad’s got us there at about 4:05. Perfect timing. This tour was a bus ride with a guide through stone town and then dinner at the Serena Hotel under the stars with live music.
Dinner was great but the music never happened. There are so many disclaimers on this tour that I’m sure that HAL has relieved themselves of any financial responsibility but we have been pleasantly surprised time and time again.
Our guide spoke English with a heavy Swahili accent. Usually it is that the wrong syllables are being emphasized in a word and when spoken rapidly it is difficult to understand. The stone town tour was rather meaningless but we are doing a private tour of the area tomorrow.
Tender back to the ship and preparations for tomorrow. Tour at 9am.…
Our second day in Tanzania began when our guide, Erik, picked us up. We had booked this tour months ago on trip advisor. This was a private tour with driver and guide.
First we were off to the fish market. This is the same market that I saw when we cruised into to port yesterday. Wow. What an assault on the senses. The smell was overwhelming. There were different stations for different types of activity. Station 1 for auctioning. Station 2 for cleaning of fish. Station 3 for cooking. Smells, flies, ice, butchering. I saw a man eating raw octopus off of a wood plank.
Hungry?
We spent about 30 minutes in the market. People were hard at work and very friendly. Mambo means “what’s happening” in Swahili. The response is Pua. Lot’s of Mambo here.
Our next stop is as museum. It was nice to learn some of the history here. The city was founded by Majid Bin Said in 1865 who was the first Sultan of Zanzibar. The Arabic name means Peaceful Home. This was the main administrative center of German East Africa. After The Great War, the British took over and it became British Tanganyika Territory. In 1961, Tanganyika gained independence from Britain and merged with Zanzibar to become Tanzania.
Next stop was the woodcarvers market. Unbelievable craftsmanship.
Our next stop was lunch to experience traditional Tanzanian food. We stopped at an open air restaurant and sat inside. We picked our food from about 4 choices. It was all steaming hot so we felt confident that we would not get ill. Flies were everywhere in the restaurant. A young lady came around and gave us a squirt of soap and poured hot water over our hands so we could wash them. The customers in the restaurant didn’t seem to mind the flies. They drove me bananas. The food was great. Eat fast and the flies go somewhere else.
After lunch we stopped at a bar to try some local gin.
Believe it or not we talked politics. Erik sat on our side of the table with his views. He also agreed that the lockdown and mask response to the pandemic was ridiculous. Their president realized that more people would die from starvation than the virus would kill if they did not open their economy. The only people wearing a mask in this country are people from the ship. You see them walking down the street with a mask on. I told him that everyone on our ship is triple vaccinated, tested prior to boarding, and had to wear a mask across the Atlantic as to not infect the other 1200 aboard. Close interaction with 5 million Africans is not a problem. No mask required.
After our drink, we went to an area that had homes from different tribes in Africa. These tribes still maintain connection with their people. Different tribes constructed homes in different ways.
We finished the tour with a trip to the War Memorial Cemetery. Stones were erected to remember those who gave their lives in the Great War.
Erik brought us back to the port and we were just in time for dinner.
