We skipped the morning game drive and instead went to breakfast and packed our stuff. We leave for the airport at 10:15.
Out the window of our rail car.
The Skukuza airport is tiny and we have a smaller jet that we are boarding. It’s great arriving at the airport at 10:30, getting through security by 10:45 and boarding at 11:10.
The flight was about 2.5 hours to Cape Town. We landed, grabbed our luggage and hopped on a bus. On the bus I confirmed tomorrow’s excursion. Hop On Hop Off Wine Tram. Should be a blast.
It was about 5pm when we settled our stuff back in our room and we decided to go out to dinner in Cape Town. We went to an Irish Pub in the waterfront area. Last time we visited Cape Town, we did not visit this area. It is full or restaurant’s and shops. We sat at a bar and watched a band set up. It looked like a trio. Keyboard, Guitar and Bass. The player ordered some drinks and we chatted it up a bit. He said they start at 7. It was 7:30 and we decided to wait for them to start.
When the hit the downbeat at 7 we were out at about 7:01. Not a 10!
We headed back to the ship and called it an early night.…
Our game drive today left at 5:30 am. The sun was just beginning to rise. The Kruger National Park is very different from the Kalamazoo Game Lodge. Kruger is a National Park and Kapama is a privately owned reserve. There is a single paved road through the park that is travelled by jeeps from game lodges and those traveling on their own. There is a campground in the park and those people also travel through the park. In the center of the campground is a “sightings” bulletin board where information about game is shared. What really happens here is that vehicles drive along the road until they see stopped cars. That is usually a guarantee of a large game sighting. There is no off roading in this park and some of the game can only be seen from afar. At the Kapama Lodge, we were able to get writhin 6 ft of lions and other game.
The following pictures are from the morning game drive. The drive ended at 8:30 and we went into the lodge for a great breakfast. The next game drive was at 4pm and we had the day to enjoy the area.
We walked into Skukuza and on the way we passed the steam locomotive that used to pull the cars that are parked on the bridge. About a mile or so we found ourselves at the campground store. Quite a large store with camping items and souvenir type stuff.
We walked around this area a bit and then went did some shopping.
Dinner tonight was in the bush after the game drive.
We left for the drive but didn’t see many animal. We did go up on top of a small rock mountain. Here many go to watch the sun set. We did see the sunset and also saw a young man get down on one knee and propose to his girlfriend. I’m guessing she said yes by her reaction.
Shortly after we arrived at a location where the dinner in the bush was hosted. Many large fires were already burning and the tables were out and set. The wait and cook staff sang some traditional folk songs from their tribe. They were quite good.
Dinner was great and it was a fun experience. After dinner we did some star gazing and one of the guides showed us the southern cross and also how to find north from the constellation Orion. Fascinating.
We headed back to the Train on Bridge and called it a night. We decided to skip the morning game drive tomorrow. This will give us a chance to catch up on some sleep.
Today we went on our game drive at 6 am. Half of the group did a longer game drive by skipping breakfast. We need to leave the lodge for the airport at 9:15 am. Some of the group thought that they would see more animals if they skipped breakfast.
On the morning drive we saw a pride of 11 lions that had taken down a giraffe having a feast. The insides of the giraffe were completely gone. Legs and neck remained.
Kudu feeding
All of us were ready to go at about 9:10 and we boarded the jeeps for the short ride to the airport. Our flight today is to the Skukuza airport and we are flying in a single engine Cessna that holds 13 people. This is our first time in a small plane. Pretty tight fit.
The flight was only 20 minutes long. We were only flying at 2500 ft at 168 mph. There were dark clouds but we flew under them. It was nice to see the game area below us.
The airport was tiny and I was surprised to learn that we will be flying out on Thursday to Capetown from this airport. The jet must be flying in the same day as I didn’t see any when we landed.
The Train on the Bridge is only a few minutes away. We climbed aboard the Jeeps for the Kruger Shalati. Same Toyota pickups configured differently than the other lodge. Roll bars and a roof. This was an improvement. There was also a built in fold up table over the front bumper. Even better!
The Bridge that the train sits on was built in 1923. It was put here during the gold rush times of the area. The bridge is being leased. The cars will have to be removed if the lease is not renewed. Nothing on the bridge is attached permanently.
Each cars contains one room. There are 14 cars. Each car has a view of the sable river.
The car in the center has a bar, a lounge, and a swimming pool.
We had a few hours before we could check in so we had a drink at the bar and then lunch.
The afternoon game drive was at 4 pm. Each drive is 3 hours. This seems to be the standard amongst the lodges that do safari’s. Long pants and T shirt has been my attire. As the evening progresses I add a sweatshirt and then a blanket.
We stopped for a drink, a snack and watched the stars come out. Very little light pollution in this area. The stars are amazing.
We finished the evening with dinner back at the lodge. We booked dinner “in the bush” for tomorrow evening. The dinner includes protection by a game warden with a rifle. Hyenas can get rough.…
Our game drive was at 6 am. We headed over to the reception area, grabbed some coffee and boarded our jeep. The sun was just starting to rise.
We spent three hours driving through the game preserve,
The weather was on the cooler side and the sky was cloudy. We did see many big game animals. I asked our driver, TK, why the lions didn’t see us as lunch. She said that we are not recognized as food as they have never tasted human blood. The lions just laid there and we were about 6 feet away. If we were on the ground it would be a different story she said. They would attack or run.
The elephants were a bit different. They are herbivores and don’t see us as a meal but they are so large and could easily trample us to death.
At 9am we went back to the lodge and had breakfast. Terri and I had a massage at 10 am. It is good to keep old parts moving.
The afternoon drive was at 4pm and we again pulled over for drinks and snacks and watched the stars come out.
We went back to the lodge and had dinner. The food was very good. The food service could be a little better. Many of the drivers and guides double as waiters. Probably not a good combination.
Tomorrow our game drive ends early. Our breakfast will be at 8:30 and at 9 we leave for the airport. We have a chartered Cessna flight to the Kruger Shalati train on the bridge.…
Today we have flight to Hoedspruit which is near the Kapama River Lodge. We met in the lobby at 9:45 am and boarded the bus to take us back to the O.R. Tambo International Airport.
The airport is massive and full of people. The security line did take some time to get through. Our gate was on ground level and we would be taking a bus out to the plane. The woman working the gate came around and matched passports to tickets. If they matched she wrote “OK” on your ticket. There was still lots of time before we boarded. All of the security in the airport was just broken at this point. It just shows that if some individual wanted to get on the plane but couldn’t pass security screening, here was the place.
The flight was about one hour. The airport was in the middle of nowhere. When we landed, we were in a field. There was a tiny terminal building. Bags were unloaded onto a wooden, U shaped shelf.
Baggage claimSafari jeeps
We grabbed our bag and boarded jeeps for the ride to the lodge. These were the same jeeps we would use on the game drives.
Spotter seat
Unlike the Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana, this lodge had an electric fence around it. The road into the lodge had metal pipes over a deep pit. The pipes were spaced far enough apart that an animal would have to cross using the pipes. The pipes leg of the animal would fall between the pipes if it tried to cross. Quite ingenious.
We checked into our room and prepared for our first game drive at 3:30. The drives were three hours long. Proper clothing and insecticide plus cameras is what is needed.
TK was our driver. Her spotter had a seat over the front bumper. Communication between the other game vehicles was done by radio. The animals on this game preserve ignore the sound and the sight of the vehicles. These vehicles come through the preserve every day and the animals treat them like they are just part of the surroundings. No animal even flinches when a jeep is started. There is no threat.
The challenge of the game drive is finding the animals. Our goal at this preserve is to observe the big five. The lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and African buffalo. These are deemed to be the most difficult to hunt on foot.
At the beginning of our drive we spotted a group of deer and then a group of impalas. We did stop and watch a hippo and African Buffalo.
African Buffalo. Hippo below the surface in this pic
Maybe 20 minutes into the drive we spotted a giraffe eating the leaves off of a large tree. We parked right in front of the giraffe and watched. Every once in a while it would look at us and then continue on. The long tongue of the giraffe was extended to grab a branch and pull it in. The jaws did the rest.
These birds eats ticks off of the giraffe
We left the giraffe and drove on. Word of a leopard came over the radio. After much off reading, we did finally spot him. Difficult to get a photo. He wouldn’t pose.
The videos show what we saw on the first evening. We stopped just before dark in the park and had some drinks, compared notes with the other safari jeep and watched the stars come out. It started to get very cool and we were given blankets for the ride back.
We returned to the lodge for dinner. Great food and the 10 of us sat at one table. One of the sisters, Eve, stayed inside all day as she felt ill.
A complimentary massage is included with our stay and we booked that for 10 am tomorrow.
Game drive wake-up call is 5 am. Coffee and snacks 5:30 am and the drive starts at 6 am. Breakfast is at 9 am.…
Today we leave on a multi-day overland tour. The tour meets at 11:30 am. This gives us time to walk into Maputo.
It was after 8 am and we decided to head out to the Maputo Market. Similar to Eastern Market on a Saturday.
The port area of Maputo was not impressive. The buildings looked like they could have been nice at one time but are no more. This was obviously a very poor area. Lots of garbage and abandoned buildings.
The market was in a large building and people were already there selling all kinds of goods. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, and also hand made carved items. There were lots of little shops that sold hair items. Wigs, extensions, and the like.
There was no lack of people trying to sell you things. A man would come up to you and show you something. He would tell you how nice it is and give you a price. My answer was the same for each man. “I don’t want it”. Good price. Good price. How much you pay? Terri was much more polite but if you use “No thank you” as your response they will follow you down the street. My sister. My sister. Look what I have for you. I told one man to talk to your brother. That ended that.
The whole experience lasted about an hour. We saw many people at the market that we knew from the ship and they couldn’t get back on fast enough. We stopped here in 2022 but went right to the airport. Probably a good thing.
China is here in Mozambique also. A bridge that China built.
I took a photo of the back of the ship as we came back aboard. I drew a line to our room. The top deck is deck 9. We are on deck 6.
Maputo is the largest city in Mozambique and does have nicer areas. The airport is 5 miles from the port and is very nice. I think the stop here is more of a gateway to the many lodges that do safari’s.
We went back on the ship and packed our things for the next 5 days. It is Fall in the southern hemisphere and it is noticeably cooler. Upper 40s at night and 70s during the day.
We went up to the Lido and had some lunch and then went to meet our group. We boarded our bus for the airport. Our group consists of one male couple, 2 sisters, one single male and an unmarried couple and the male guide. 10 strong.
The airport was a short drive away and we arrived 3 hours before our flight left. Lines to check in went quite fast. There was another HAL tour that was traveling on this flight. They were going to Victoria Falls and then to a different lodge in the Kruger National Park.
The flight was one hour and when we landed, the passport control had very long lines. Probably an hour here. We met our South African tour guide. Pat grew up in South Africa and gave us a nice audio tour of Johannesburg on our way to the hotel.
We arrived at the Sandton Hotel about 7pm. It reminded me of the Hyatt in Dearborn when it was in its’ prime. Beautiful, high end hotel. Johannesburg has a population of 10 million. The area is beautiful. It is known as the city of gold because of the gold mines still in operation today.
Dinner was at 7:30. Very late for us. We learned a little about the folks in the group. The two sisters sat across from us but did little talking. One wore a University of Michigan t-shirt. I asked if she was a grad back when we loaded the bus. “No my husband is but I used to live in Michigan”. She walked away. Conversation done. I said to Terri that the sisters looked like heavy drinkers. Sure enough they were in the duty free shop buying bottles of booze at the airport.
The male couple was interesting. One left his job at Amazon to go on this cruise. He looked to be in his early 40s and was a high school dropout. His partner was on “sabbatical”. The single male is from Australia and was in his 60s. The unmarried couple appeared to have a “cruise” relationship as she was from Australia and he from California. Chris, late 20s, our male HAL guide came to dinner with a pearl necklace. “Yes they are real”, he said. This is another instance where we felt we were in the twilight zone. Life has changed so much since retirement.
Pat came over to talk to us and we were the most comfortable talking with her. She asked where we were from and when we said Michigan. The sisters in front of us looked at each other but offered nothing. I don’t think we have felt this uncomfortable with a group of people before. It seems so abnormal here to be married and have kids and grandkids. I guess I thought this tour would have attracted more married couples but the lack of space (10 was the limit) and the mysterious workings of the internet booking process may have helped produce the results that we have.
Dinner was great but the waitress really struggled taking our orders. Maybe it was her first day. Dinner ended at 10 pm and we went to our room and went to bed.
Roughest water we have had in a while. At some times the ship seems to be suspended in mid-air and then it crashes down into a trough.
The gym was tough. Bench press was very difficult. When the ship is coming up from a trough the barbell weight seems to double. I’m glad I set the safety pins.
We followed our usual morning routine and did afternoon trivia.
Who was Tess Truheart the girlfriend of in this comic strip? What were the first names of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde? What is the width of a balance beam in the olympics? What was the name of Edgar Bergman’s female dummy? Who played Arnold Ziffle on Green Acres comedy series? Which USA state still has wild Panthers?
We chose to do something a little different in the afternoon. We watched a movie on the main stage. “The Bee Keeper”. We have seen this before but was worth watching again. An elderly woman gets scammed on the internet by a group that operates a huge network. The bee keeper ( a retired government operative) chases the scam network all the way up to the President of the USA.
The ship continually crashed and would could feel and hear it as the stage is at the front of the ship.
We had dinner on the Lido instead of the dining room. Still good food but a very casual atmosphere. We did lightning trivia after dinner. The theme was 1980s TV Shows. None of us watched much television during the 1980s and it was tough. Which television series took place in a bar in Boston? What was the name of Frasier’s dog in Cheers? (it is not Eddy). What position in baseball did Sam Malone play? Thomas played the theme song to “Saved by the Bell”. This was on Nickelodeon. I knew the tune but couldn’t come up with the name. We had more blank answers than ever on this trivia sheet but were right there with all of the other teams. 9 out of 30.
The evening entertainment was a second set by Chris Bannister. He covered more than John Denver this time. It was very good. His acoustic guitar playing is great. His voice is very good. He covered some tunes that he probably should have avoided. Scarborough Affair is tough to cover and make it your own. I gave him a 9 this evening. Terri had a nap.…
We travelled through a rainstorm during breakfast. The ride is becoming rougher as we approach Maputo.
I walked the deck after breakfast and Terri did the treadmill. I like the treadmill because it allows me easily to give my heart a good workout using intervals. I am fearful of using the treadmill because the injuries I suffered months ago. At least my legs are getting a workout. The heart rate doesn’t move much when I walk.
Another hour back tonight, 6 hours ahead of home.
The World Cruise averages 4 deaths on board. We are up to 3. Heart attacks are a good guess for this age group.
Team trivia. was again more reasonable. What city did Matlock take place in? Which city in 1976 won the competition to host the olympics but refused it? What appliance company advertised the “Loneliest repairmen?” Which sport is played in the most countries? Which woman from USA won a gold medal in 1968?
The evening theme was Masquerade. It was formal dress night and those that participated wore a mask. Not the pandemic face mask but a mask that covered the eyes. There were a fair number of people that participated. Later in the evening the theme continued. Near the ocean bar, the Phantom of the Opera emerged amidst a fog and sang “Music of the Night”. He was a HAL employee and his cover of the Andrew Lloyd Weber tune was fair at best. I would have kept the mask on and travel back into the fog. There was no clear cut reason for the theme. I thought I might hear the tune Masquerade from the Phantom. No such luck.
Cards on the back of the Lido to finish the night.…
First of three days at sea before we begin our safari in Maputo.
One month remains in our trip and we know it will go quickly. We are looking for golf on the western side of Africa. Maybe Walvis Bay. We have a few private tours and two HAL tours left.
There is a Facebook group for this cruise. It is quite entertaining. Some postings contain great pictures but others are just complaints. People complaining about others coughing and not wearing a mask. Not coughing or sneezing in the appropriate manner. Of course these people post anonymously. The pushback is entertaining also.
We sit by the main pool for lunch and it has been very hot. We did get quite a rainstorm in the morning. Sunrises at breakfast and sunsets at dinner. This can’t be beat.
Group trivia. What is Italian for stallion. All I could think of is the Italian Stallion that Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone called himself. We didn’t get it right but the correct answer is Stallone. Who knew? What was the tallest building in 1996? Who founded Brothers Record Label? What do you add to white sugar to make brown sugar? What sea did the Lusitania sink in?
Today was “For Cakes’ Sake”. The bakers made all kinds of cakes to be sampled on the Lido at 3 pm. There are so many ways to gain pounds on a cruise. The cruise line constantly comes up with new ways.
A number of people we normally dine near decided not to go to dining room because they couldn’t find anything worthwhile on the menu. Huh? Maybe it was the Haggis that scared them away.
We finished the evening with cards. Great evening to be under the stars.…
The ship was anchored overnight off of the coast of Tanzania. Tender boats continued to run every hour through the night. I doubt if many passengers were out past sunset. It is near the end of Ramadan. Restaurants will be packed with Muslims breaking fast. Finding a bar to have a drink is difficult. Many that serve alcohol to tourists won’t sell during Ramadan. Passengers have also been told that it is frowned upon to eat or drink in public during Ramadan. That message goes a long way toward keeping people on the ship.
We have a tee time today of 10 am at the Sea Cliff Resort. We left the ship about 8 am. We get numerous questions as we pull our clubs around. “Are you playing golf?”. “What gave it away?”, is the only response I can think of. The forecast is much more favorable today.
Not many on the tender today. Smooth ride into the port. After leaving the tender and walking through the port area, we were in an area where numerous cabs and busses parked. We had little US currency left and really didn’t want to get any local currency. Any left over currency that you take with you becomes worthless. No one wants it. Uber would be our best bet because it goes right to our credit card. I had about $60 USD on me and would be willing to barter for a taxi if it was the right price. I decided that $40 was the right price. It was rainy and I knew it would be a slow day for cabs. The first gentleman I came upon gave me a price for $100. To the course and back. He showed me a printed sheet of prices. “These are the prices set by the government”, he said. “I don’t care about your government. I don’t want to give any money to government”. He said, “OK, $90 and you have a deal”. I stuck with $40 and I said to him, “Do you want me to walk out of the port? Someone will take me for $40.” He gave me many more opportunities to take me. $80, $70, $60, $50. Finally he took me to a driver down the street that agreed to take us to the course, wait until we are finished, and then take us back to the port. $40
The drive to the course was slow. Lots of cars, busses, motorcycles, donkeys pulling carts. The streets going to the course were again lined with businesses. I could have easily counted 1,000 of these businesses along the way. Where do they get all of the goods they are selling? My guess is that are all from China. There is a container port next to where the tender comes in. They get the goods from the container port to their little business by cart, or taxi. I saw a man riding a bicycle with a bag containing hundreds of shoes. There are little businesses that make items. I saw many hand carved doors, beds and other furniture. I am guessing that they are not marketing them to the locals. The beds would not even fit into the houses that people live in.
We passed many abandoned structures along the way. Many had large trees growing out of the center of them. Driving here reminded me of Sri Lanka. Vehicles going every which way. No one gets angry. People just allow everyone to move around. I am guessing that people living here have really no way to advance up the economic ladder to a better life. Selling goods out of a bag or a shed is just for survival. No advancement in anything here. Survival is what it is all about. Many of the busses have Chinese characters on them. They are printed on the side.
We arrived at the course at about 9:45am.
at the resort gate
We packed up the cart and were off. We noticed the course was in much better shape than it was when we played here in November of 2022.
At the first tee, a boy about 11 years old spoke to me in Swahili. I couldn’t understand him. I tried to communicate but Jombo or Hakuna Matada is all of the Swahili I know. After we hit our drives, he ran out to fairway and pointed at the ball. He did this constantly, even finding balls off the fairway. He was with us the entire game. He took our clubs, wiped them off and put them in the bag. When we drove off he stood up on the back of the cart. It was obvious he wanted to be our caddy and we were glad to have him. Make a good shot and he would applaud. I asked what his name was and when he said it, it sounded like David. I knew that this couldn’t be his name but we used it anyway.
Our caddy
As we drove to the second tee we saw boys at the fence selling balls. I had so little cash on me I could only buy a few. I would have bought all of them if I had enough cash on me.
The course is challenging and the weather was beautiful. 9 holes were over before we knew it.
I asked our caddy if he played. He understood. I gave him my 9 iron, a ball and a tee on hole 9. Great shot! I think he dropped the putt for par!
We packed up our clubs. I told the clubhouse manager what a great caddy he was. Our driver was waiting for us and we headed back to the port. We could see the ship from the course but traffic was unbelievable. The driver told us it was because of Ramadan ending.
We put our clubs under the HAL tent at the port and went to get a drink and something to eat. The Freddy Mercury Restaurant was only open at 5 because of Ramadan. We walked a bit further and found another restaurant. Soft drinks only. We split a salad and I had a mango juice and Terri a diet coke.
We arrived in Zanzibar about 6:30 am and were cleared to go ashore at 7:00 am. This is a tender port and the ship controls the tendering process to be sure that the HAL tours can leave first. This requires a passenger, not on a HAL tour, to get a tender ticket and wait to be called to be the tender. This process has worked well and we have no concerns on this trip.
Today we plan to play golf at the only course on the island. Our tee time is 10am. It is about a 30 minute cab ride to the course and the tender ride with loading and unloading adds another 30 mins. We prepared to leave at 8 am.
85% chance of rain today but there is a bit of blue sky, especially towards the northern end of the island where the course is.
We boarded the tender and when we left there were a few drops of rain. No problem, we thought. By the time we arrived at the port there was a huge downpour. I couldn’t even see the northern end of the island. It looked like an all day rain. We decided to stay on the tender and return to the ship, put our clubs away and decide what to do.
The golf course allowed us to try again at 10 am the following day. Our dinner reservations at the Rock restaurant were for 6 pm and we decided to move that to 2 pm and have a late lunch instead of dinner. This would provide more of a view of the restaurant and surrounding area.
We took the tender back to the port and took the complementary shuttle to the downtown area. As soon as we got off the busses we were approached by many people about tours and transportation. I did ask a few about going to the Rock restaurant and back. $100 was the going rate. I knew I could do better with Uber so I gave a no thank you. Farther away from the crowd I was approached by another driver. $50 he said. We agreed to meet at 12:15 for the trip out to the Rock. It is only 38 miles but the estimated travel time is at least 90 minutes.
We have been to Zanzibar in the past and the “must see” things have already been done. Zanzibar, Tanzania, is another poor country where the average citizen lives in a run down house with a corrugated sheet metal roof. The roads are lined with business after business. The product for sale is in good shape but the building it is being sold out of is dirty, and looks like it should be torn down. In some areas, shop is set up near the edge of the road. No building, just a blanket with goods for sale on it. This is life in Tanzania and especially in Zanzibar.
We began to walk through the downtown area and stopped in some shops. A man wearing a garbage bag as a raincoat followed us. He kept pointing things out and told us what they were. I told him that we have seen Zanzibar before and didn’t need his help. That didn’t work and he kept following us from shop to shop. Terri kept thanking him and said we didn’t need his help. No avail. I finally told him that I had no cash. I didn’t bring any money. I also told him he didn’t look like he had a credit card reader under the garbage bag. He did finally leave us alone.
Terri sampled perfume, looked at jewelry and other items. Nothing we needed. As we walked back to meet the cab driver, a man held up a few t shirts that said Zanzibar. They were nice looking Adidas shirts and I asked how much. $20. I told him I’m not interested. “How much you give me?”, he asked. “5 dollars”, I said. I really wasn’t interested in the shirt. “No profit”, he said. We continued to walk. “Ok. Ok. $17 dollars”, he said. I told him no again. “What is your price”, he said. I maintained the 5 dollar stance through our entire conversation. “Ok. Ok. 10 dollars”. We continued. “Ok. Ok. 5 dollars”. I gave him the 5. He did ask for an extra dollar to buy a Coke. No luck with that request.
Our cab driver was waiting for us at the chosen meeting location. We climbed in and settled down for the ride. After 30 mins I noticed that we had only gone 4 miles. Traffic was terrible and the roads were beyond bad. Ditch after ditch. There were also speed bumps. No reason for them. The ditches served the same purpose. After an hour of driving we got to our first paved road. A brand new asphalt road. It was nice. I am guessing it was paid for by China as they continue to try to take over Africa.
We arrived at the restaurant at 2 pm. Our driver took us across the beach and waved to the restaurant. Soon, two men got into a boat and pushed themselves over with big sticks.
Lunch was fantastic. Typical African fare. I had steak on a stick and Terri had fish and rice. Great stuff. I talked with the owner after dinner and he said they built this in 2008 and the rent the “rock” that it sits on from 14 local families in the area. The rock is out in the water and is not owned by the government.
Our cab driver waited for us as we had lunch. About 90 mins. We finished lunch and went back to the city. The driver dropped us right off at the tender port. I gave him a $10 tip and his faced glowed like he won the lottery.
Back on the ship we went right to after dinner trivia. The theme was “currency”. What was the first currency? Which currency is worth the most? What is the origin of the $ before US currency? Thomas also posted photos of currency and we were to guess where it was from.. Not bad. Second place.
Terri went to the treadmill and walked the promenade. It’s amazing how fast the time goes. It is already day 95. It would be easy to live on the ship all year.
Afternoon trivia was more trivia like and less obscure questions than normal. What element is the basis of all life on earth? What was the most prescribed drug in 1995? What Bob Seger tune did Chevy use for its trucks? What was the name of the German Republic before Hitler? What did wonder woman use to deflect bullets? What is the Motto of the Missouri? Mark Twain said that doing this ruins a nice walk. What was the name of the Hoover Dam before 1948? What is the capital of Morocco?
We had dinner with Nancy and Stan. It ran a bit long so we missed the after dinner trivia.
The evening entertainment was Chris Bannister. He does covers of John Denver tunes. He place a nice guitar and his voice does sound like John Denver. Kimberly said he is from Colorado when she introduced him but he is from a small town in England. Heavy accent. Not sure how Colorado got in there. Very powerful set. 10…
We are on our way west towards the African Continent. The water is very calm and the weather is hot.
We plan to play 9 holes of golf on a course that we have played before in Zanzibar, our next stop. We are planning to have dinner in a restaurant called The Rock. It is on a large rock out in the ocean. I made reservations for four after we asked Nancy and Stan to join us. Today they decided to cancel because of fear of being in Zanzibar at night. Now it will just be the two of us. Golf is at the northern end of the island and the restaurant is on the western side. We are doing 9 holes at 10 am. Dinner reservation is for 6 pm. Zanzibar is a tender port and this will give us time to tender back to the ship and drop off our clubs.
The ship is taking care of the Visa for us. $100 each just to get off of the ship. This kind of unreasonable Visa is going to make ships by pass this stop. Ships bring a lot of people and a lot of badly needed money into this island.
We did a wine tasting today after lunch. There was quite a bit of mis-communication by the ship staff and only 7 folks showed up. We sat with the wine steward and two sommeliers’. It was fun and we sampled five wines. The wine steward, Jacques chose five very different wines. We were to comment on the “nose” of the first. It was a white Italian wine. “Lemon Pledge” is what I reported. “Wet dog” is what the sommelier Julias said.”Wet dog” is a descriptor that they actually use. Jacques explained how all of this information is stored in your brain and it brings to your consciousness the most reasonable information from a scent. I like the smell of lemon pledge a lot more than I like wet dog. The tasting went way past two. I skipped out early for a meeting about a trip from Maputo.
Out of 1200 passengers aboard, only 9 of us plus a ship guide are on this tour. There were no other spots left.
I am posting this for my own memory but you may enjoy looking at the itinerary. At the meeting there were some interesting questions. One of our flights is on a tiny Cessna aircraft. A woman said she had “Cessna fear”. She was an air traffic controller. I’m not sure why she made this statement. Maybe she thought the tour guide was going to change to a larger aircraft?
The meeting only lasted about 30 mins. I went back to the wine tasting and they were all getting hammered. Lots of wine. Few people.
We missed after lunch team trivia but did the after dinner lightning trivia. This was about nicknames for cities and/or countries. The land of Eagles? (Albania) Windy City? (too easy) Little Pakistan? (Bradford) Land of Golden Fiber? (Afghanistan) Mother of Presidents? (Virginia) City of Hills? (Rome) Dark Continent? (Africa) Horn of Africa? (Somalia) Land of Milk and Honey? (Lebanon) The Holy Land (Palestine)
The locals pronounce the country Sea-Shell. I only hear Say-Shells from outsiders.
It is early morning and time to take the ferry back. We packed our gear and then sat on the porch and had our breakfast. Very peaceful here.
This is the view from our porch. Hard to take. Breakfast was great and just enough to get us back to Mahe’. Fred was right on time. Bikesh wasn’t in the office yet so we hung our key on the office door and left for the ferry.
The ship was smaller than the one we had taken yesterday and it was packed. The ride was smooth and uneventful.
We arrived back on Mahe’ at about 9:15 and walked back to the ship. We passed many fellow passengers on the way back. It is funny how they stick out like a sore thumb. Most are overweight and have trouble walking. The walk went well.
Most of Mahe looked like this.
On the ship, a new person wanted to take our clubs and send them through the bag scanner. I was having none of that. We argued for many minutes. I invited them to look in side the bag and they did. The most intelligent thing she said was “Who won?”. We bypassed the scanner.
We unpacked back in our room and then went to lunch. After lunch we went back out to visit Mahe’. We went to a mall and bought some coffee and then stopped on the way back for a drink.
They served Seybrew and Heineken. I don’t care for Heineken. The Seybrew is good stuff.
We did see a few ship people in this restaurant. Many are on a constant search for “free wifi”. We have shared with many people that T mobile is the way to go. We have 5GB a free high speed data in every country we have been in. 5 GB is a lot if you limit yourself to texting and email. After 5 GB you are a slower network. That has happened to us and it still doesn’t change email and texting much. Web browsing is definitely slower. Calls are .25 per minute. Nothing extra is needed. No international sim card or anything else. I don’t think anyone that we have talked to has changed to T mobile. I guess I won’t win a spot on the T mobile sales team. A lot of folks do not purchase the internet package on the ship and are “blind” to any happenings at home until they find free wifi in port. I’m not sure I understand the thinking.
We did do team trivia after dinner. Our team won and Thomas bought us a drink. What part of the body can grow back in 3 weeks (no to hair and nails)? The Romans boiled vinegar mixed with what for an energy drink? What animal urine glows in ultra violet light? What is the hottest pepper? (no to habanero) What are sweetbreads? What is a pupu platter? Which reptile cannot stick out its tongue?
The evening entertainment was the comedian we didn’t care for. We played cards instead.…
We arrived in Seychelles and were cleared to get off the ship at 8am. Today we are taking a ferry from Mahe’ to Praslin (praw-lin) to play golf at the Constance Lemuria resort. We have a tee time of 2 pm and the ferry ride is 75 mins. I have hired a cab driver on Praslin and we have been chatting for over a month. He will meet us at the pier when the ferry comes in at 11:45am. Our ferry leaves at 10:30am but it is suggested that we arrive 45 mins before departure time.
We decided to play it safe and we left the ship about 8:15am. We had our clubs and one suitcase. It is just over a mile to the ferry pier and I can see the ferry from the ship. We started on our way and found a walkway through the container port. No taxi’s allowed in the port. By the time we reached the port entrance, we realized we already walked about a third of the way to the ferry. The taxi was 10 euro for less than a mile. We decided to walk the entire way.
We arrived at the ferry about 9:15am and checked the clubs at the ferry office. At 10am a line started to form. A gentlemen was checking tickets and passports as we stood in line. Our passports are on the ship and will not be ready to be picked up until 11am. Seychelles immigration are busy stamping passport books and having muffins. I carried a photocopy of our passports and was happy to see the gentlemen accepted that. I learned long ago that government is only interested in the appearance of following protocol. The ferry couldn’t care less if someone had a valid id. They are interested in the paid ticket that I had. The government official is only interested in perpetuating the job they have.
The ferry left right on time. Contrary to all of the reviews I read on Trip Advisor, the ferry operated very professionally. The many reviews about vomit didn’t happen on this ride. It was very smooth. I am sure there are days with rough water. I’m not sure what the ferry can do about that.
The ferry arrived right on time. It was 11:45 and Fredel was waiting for us at the pier. He held a sign with my name on it. 30 minutes to the course. It was already in the upper 80s and very humid. The island has a population of about 7500. There appears to be very few roads and they are all near the water. The island is very mountainous and there is one road that is the middle of the island. We took this road.
We arrived about 12:30 and the resort was beautiful. We asked about having lunch. A gentlemen in the pro shop said he would take us to a restaurant that served lunch.
Our view from one restaurant in the resort. This is a top-notch resort and rooms start at $1000 euro per night.
The food was fantastic and the club pro said we can tee off early. We went back to the clubhouse, loaded up our clubs and it started to rain. We waited about 30 mins and then went to the first tee. After letting up some, it started to rain even harder. We waited at the tee. Maybe another 20 mins and then decided to tee off. The rain was on and off for the first three holes and we were soaked. The sun finally came out but there was little luck of our clothes drying out in the high humidity.
Looking back up at a tee.
We had the course to ourselves for the entire afternoon. The views were incredible and the course was very challenging. Lots of opportunity to lose balls.
I am standing on the tee of this par 3. I am even with the hilltop across. Nothing but mountain between the tee and the green.
The course closed at 6 pm and it was already 6:10pm when we are on the 17th tee. The course manager came by and told us they were closed. No 18th hole for us but we were out of balls anyway.
We called Fred and he picked us up to take us to the hotel. We had already agreed on a price last week and he didn’t expect any payment until tomorrow morning.
The ride to the hotel was 30 mins as it way only a mile or so from the ferry. The Colibri hotel was our destination. Terri grabbed some local medicine for the ride.
Fred dropped us off and Bikesh took care of checking us in. Dinner would be served at 7:00. Pork Cordon Bleu or Octopus. We chose the pork. Dinner was delicious.
Since we are leaving tomorrow before breakfast is served, Bikesh had the staff assemble a basket full of breakfast goodies that we took back to our room with us.
8am ferry back tomorrow. Fred will pick us up at 7 am.…
Another day on our way to Seychelles. Seas are calm but many spots of rain all around us. The Captain seems to be steering around them.
It is very hot and humid. Difficult to go out on the balcony or promenade deck without sweating like crazy.
We did our usual routine of breakfast and then the gym. Workout is easier when the seas are calm like this. We see the same dedicated folks every day. Some do the cycle class, the abdominal class, or other stretching classes. Others go right to the treadmills or weights. Lots of poor technique. Lighter weight and proper technique keeps one from getting injured. I see lots of swinging when folks do arm curls.
Team trivia after lunch. What Sinatra tune did buzz Aldrin play on the moon? What is the name of the place the Kentucky Derby is held? How many points need to win a game of Cribbage? Who was the rootin’ tootin’ cowboy on Bugs Bunny cartoons? What is the penalty for slow play in golf?
At dinner we learned that Roger has scheduled a fishing trip. He gets very excited about food and I have seen him order 4 appetizers. We still plan to play golf and I think I have everything figured out. Passport, ferry, hotel, taxi, golf course.
Team trivia after dinner. Lightning trivia. Topic math. It was more or less story problems you might see in 6th grade. No problem with those. We did miss the names of mathematicians. There were no “Oh Ya” moments with these names. Never heard of them. Second place because of that.
The house band played on stage and we decided to finish the night with cards instead.
As we prepare to enter the African continent, the ship is preparing for possible Visa and vaccination problems. Today they announced that are yellow fever vaccination card needs to be turned in tomorrow. A Visa is required for Tanzania. This Visa can be purchased on arrival for $125.00 each for US residents. All other countries, $75. I like the way we are singled out.
No Visa needed for Seychelles but I am concerned about not taking my passport with me. The ship keeps them on board so local immigration officials can look at all of them at the same time. I am sure there are plenty of muffins to go around at this even. I sent a note to the hotel about the passport. Maybe they will accept a photocopy.
We chatted with Nancy and Stan about things we have experienced at the last few stops. Nancy told us a story that happened back when we were in Brazil. A man went down cold on a HAL excursion that they were on. Fortunately there were a few in the group that had some medical experience. No HAL representative was on this tour. One of the passengers called the emergency number that is on the ship card. Unlike when I called when we were in Shanghai, the HAL office in Seattle was open. The woman quickly explained the story of what had happened on the tour. A man passed out and they needed emergency help. The HAL representative wanted the man’s booking number. Huh? Obviously this number gives folks a false sense of security. There is no emergency that someone in Seattle can help a passenger on a ship. The bottom line of the story is that the fellow passengers carried this man back to the pickup point for the tender to the ship. Something needs to change here. I know where the corporate focus is and I also know where it should be.
Afternoon trivia. What cowboy tune is associated with Kansas? Which pro sports team brought a National Championship to New Jersey? What is the oldest European alphabet still used? What is the name of the bragging singing duo that were discovered to be lip syncing frauds? Who said she doesn’t mind dumb blonde jokes because she is not blonde nor dumb? What was the first water taught to Helen Keller?
We planned a trip to the “Rock” restaurant in Zanzibar with Stan and Nancy. We worked out details just before dinner. The restaurant is on a rock out a ways from the shore. During high tide, a boat will ferry people there, during low tide, it is possible to walk. We will golf and then meet them there for dinner.
The dining room appears to be less than half full. Our waiters are still learning.
Lightning trivia after dinner. The topic was geography. Most of the questions were about obscure places but there were also some easy ones. The city of Angels? Largest continent? The longest river in the world? Largest country in Africa (population).
The evening entertainment was a second set by Rebecca Kelly. She talked less about her wife, and made less of an attempt at humor. Her vocals are unmatched. She did a whole set of tunes written by Carol King. Many of the tunes I did not know Carol wrote as others made them famous. Great, powerful voice. I give the show a 10.…
Three recovery days before we arrive in Seychelles.
I have been tossing ideas back and forth about local currency. I do need 75 Seychellois Rupees each of us for the Tourism Environmental Sustainability Levy. 150 scr = $10.50. If the payment is made with a foreign currency, a $6 Euro fee is charged. The fee must be paid in scr through credit card or cash. I can get cash at an ATM but I doubt if such a small amount will be dispensed. The joke is that it is illegal to take currency out of the country. It sounds as if they want foreign currency and they also want to charge you more for using it. Levys like this must be decided on at the World Economic Forum. I’m not sure how else all of these countries decide to implement these taxes.
I have been chatting with the taxi driver I hired on Praslin. He will take USD. The hotel is already paid for and so is the ferry. We will decided how to do the 1.5 miles from the ship to the ferry when we get there. Our tee time is 2pm and the following morning we are on the first ferry out. We aren’t taking any chances with a ferry arriving late.
After lunch team trivia. Which mail service is owned by Microsoft? Octopus blood is which color? Which member of royalty wore black for 40 years after her spouse died? Which Ancient Wonder of the World is thought to have been in present day Iraq? Globe and Jerusalem are varieties of which vegetable?
Our waiters at dinner have slowed down a bit. I did notice one had a new shade of lipstick on. Maybe he had trouble applying it and got a late start? The gentleman across from us complained to Oscar about the two Francis’ serving us. He waited for an hour to get his entree. Oscar gave his best line of excuses to the gentleman. I have a feeling he will not be so friendly after dinner.
There seems to be a new sommelier aboard. Oscar sent him over to talk to Terri. He made several suggestions of wines that are in the wine package that Terri purchased. Lots of head shaking by Terri. He didn’t want to be wined and brought several samplings until the head shaking went the other way. Good work!
Evening trivia was Disney musicals. Thomas played a portion of a song. We were to name the movie. None of the clips had the title of the song in it. Sometimes I was able to name the song but not the movie. Other times it was just the opposite. Thomas decided he wanted to play the whole song during the answer portion. He likes to watch himself dance to the tunes. It added 30 mins to trivia. We left before the winner was announced.
The evening entertainment was comedian Jim David. He started with a clip of his parents introducing him. It was quite funny. When he came out and did a few jokes, Terri flashed me a 2 and then took her nap. He made a comment about how “we all survived the pandemic and the last president”. That one didn’t sit well with me. No one laughed and I have a feeling many will not be at his second show. Instead of keeping his political views to himself he clearly revealed his bias. It’s ok to have a bias but when you are performing in front of an audience and want them to return, that bias shouldn’t intentionally show. He told a few jokes that his father told him. I did laugh at those. Show kept going downhill. I gave him a 5. Terri awoke refreshed. I wanted 45 minutes of my life back.
Easter Sunday was mentioned during announcements of the Pride meetup and Ramadan. I guess I feel a little better.
There was an Easter egg hunt on the Lido. There are only 3 children aboard. It wasn’t for them.
Day two in Maldives. The view from the ship is quite spectacular. We decided we would go back over to Male’ and do a complete circle around the island. Doing a quick mathematical equation, we calculated it to be around 4 miles.
It is still blazing hot here. I’m not sure why there are so many motorbikes here. Traveling on this island is easier to do by walking. The farthest distance you can travel on the island is only 1.5 miles. It is possible to go over the bridge that China built and go to the airport. I can’t believe that all of these people are doing that.
the bridge that China built
Lots of traffic again. I don’t understand where all of these people are going on such a tiny island.
The walk took about 90 minutes to complete. We were drenched in sweat and headed back to the ship.
Most of the folks we talked to that did an excursion, did the snorkeling. After many snorkel excursions last year and our snorkel trip on the great barrier reef, we passed. We did here about some that went to a resort for the day. I’ll never understand that.
We spoke with Oscar at dinner. He said from his experience, the Islamic countries have a much later starting time to their day. Things don’t open until mid afternoon and stay open until mid-night.
Team trivia was all about Easter. What color were the first dyed Easter eggs? What did the church decided could not eat the week before Easter? What critter delivers Easter goodies in Westphalia, Germany? Where is the Easter egg museum? Again, we had many questions where we couldn’t even make up an answer.
The evening entertainment was vocalist Jacques Lagesse. Jacques sang classic ballads along with canned recordings. Terri flashed me a two before her nap this time. He started with Sinatra. I thought he really nailed the style of “That’s Life”. As time went on, I enjoyed the show less and less. All of us have electronic devices where we can listen to anything we want at any time. What will bring people here? I like to hear something about the artist. I like a new rendition instead of a direct cover that someone else did. Maybe something about the performer. I didn’t hear any of these. I saw many people walking out. Not a very polite thing to do in a 45 minute show. Jacques turned his back to the audience many times as if he was conducting the band. It wasn’t very effective since no band existed.
He definitely can sing. The show wasn’t something I would return to. I gave the show a 4.…
The Maldives are a former British protectorate. Independence was gained in 1965. Male’ is the capital. The Maldives are a collection of 26 atolls. These are islands that form a ring around an extinct volcano.
We arrived at 8am and were anchored off the port of Male’. From our balcony the area looked beautiful. Male looked like a major city and the other islands had sandy beaches.
I would have never guessed a city this size existed in the middle of the ocean on such a tiny island. Male’ is 1.5 miles by 1 mile. A lot smaller than Grosse Ile.
We ventured out about 9 or so. No tour. Sight seeing on our own. Not sure there is much to see. We do want to have dinner on the island in the evening. I had a difficult time trying to call so we are going to stop by to see if we can make reservations.
The tender ride was about 10 minutes and the water was very calm. The weather was blazing hot. Full sun and humidity. My shirt was already drenched with sweat by the time we arrived.
Male’ is almost entirely Muslim. It is Ramadan so a lot of the stores were closed. We walked around to try to find the hotel first. It was a lot more difficult than one might think. The address didn’t seem to take us to the correct location. We finally spoke to someone on the street and we were pointed in the right direction. The Cloud restaurant was on top of the Sammandgrand Hotel. We went up to see the menu and make reservations. We learned that most restaurants on the islands had a buffet at 6:30 for local residents who wanted to break their fast. We couldn’t make a reservation until 7:30. We decided to pass.
We continued walking around. There were thousands of motorbikes parked along each side of the street and the sidewalks were very narrow. It was very difficult to walk around. There wasn’t going to be much here for us. Sometimes we will just sit an enjoy a beer and wine. Not happening here. Against Islamic practice. No alcoholic drinks on Male’.
The Maldives are very popular with tourists. The many atolls have awesome hotels with rooms built right above the ocean. Most tourists go right from the airport and on to a ferry to the island their resort is on.
HAL only had many tours that put you at one of the resorts. Quite expensive. One was over $900 for a day at a resort where you didn’t even have a room. We passed on that. Snorkeling was an option but we passed on that too.
Male’ is one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. There was a park or two that had a bit of grass but most of the island was covered with buildings.
We spent a few hours walking around and went back to the ship. This port was added after the Red Sea forced an itinerary change. I’m not sure why a cruise ship would want to come here.
We are here overnight and have yet decided if we are coming back to the island. There is plenty to do on the ship if we choose to stay.
Team trivia after dinner really made us feel like we walked into the time tunnel and landed into a period of time where we don’t belong. Elton John’s husband’s name? Who is the godmother of their children? Who was the star of the Bond Film Casino Royal? Who did the voice to Disney’s Aladdin? We had five more questions where we couldn’t even guess at the answers. Are we on the right planet?…
