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| Cape Town |
Travel doesn’t get much bigger than this. Consider the numbers:
-2 years planning
-2 years saving money (mostly by hiding money from ourselves)
-2 years saving vacation time
-1.5 years since the last big trip
-46 long hours travel time to get to Cape Town
-2 buses and 1 train between London - Heathrow terminals in Monty Python fashion (you take the #2 bus to get from Terminal Four to Terminal 2, then the #3 bus to get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 4; you can’t just go directly to the terminal of your choice because the buses don’t go those ways...)
-3 inches of leg room on the 11.5 hour flight from London to Cape Town
-18 Billion Dollars in fees
Cape Town, S.A.
The city wraps around iconic Table Mountain, and a few others. The scenic Cape of Good Hope is also nearby. What a spectacular location. After two days, we are left wanting more. Although explorer Batholomew Diaz originally named the area the ‘Cape of Storms,’ the weather is absolutely fine for us.
Even though the population is well above four million, Cape Town seems small and cozy. Much of it is walkable, including the fun and exciting V(ictoria) and A(lbert) Waterfront area.
Early in our first morning, as I am completing my run, there’s a lunar eclipse. It’s occurring just as it is getting light, and as the moon setting. A few others are about. I take a photo or two.
The Aerial Cableway gondola takes us to the top of Table Mountain. Lady Adventurer and I walk all around and ogle the incredible 360 degree views. The flora (unique flowers and other plants) and fauna (lizards, birds, and one cute hyrax) are interesting as well. By the way, a hyrax is a small, furry mammal that seems like a rodent, but is more closely related to elephants. Really. You can look it up.
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| Cape Town view from Table Mountain |
Cape Point (aka Good Hope) is about a 45 minute dive from Cape Town proper. It’s where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. We spot some wild baboons as we approach. The Cape also requires mechanical means for ascent; in this case, a funicular. Here the views from the base of the lighthouse are nearly as wonderful as those from Table Mountain.
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| Cape of Good Hope |
After fish and chips in Simon’s Town, we see Jackass Penguins (yes, that’s the correct name – you can look it up), at Boulders Beach.
Our Tours by Locals guide, Brenda made it all interesting and fun. If there will be any place along the way to which we’d like to return, Cape Town would be it.
As we begin sailing toward Port Elizabeth, we catch sight of a seal, and then a whale.
Speaking of Cruise Critic, we meet several like-minded people at a meet-up, and then join a trivia team. We sure be having fun.
Addo Elephant Park / Port Elizabeth, S.A.
Addo is a South African National Park, and it’s full of wildlife, especially elephants. The park was founded a few decades ago with 11 elephants; now they’re up to around 700. From our all-terrain vehicle (that held about 25 people), we see a large herd of perhaps 100. That is one huge herd. They are tons of fun, literally and figuratively.
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| Addo Elephant Park |
Along the way, we see warthogs (that are surprisingly fun to watch), two kinds of antelope, virtual zebras (their actual name), two tortoises (a large one and a small one), and one hyena.
East London, S.A.
Not much happening here. The neighborhood isn’t so great for walking, but we do make it over to a nice area called Orient Beach. They are setting up for an Ironman triathlon, and it’s quite the Big Deal. Our walk becomes more challenging again when the cool rain begins to soak us. By the way, they do need it here in this part of the world.
Valley of 1,000 Hills, Durban, S.A.
Durban itself seems a little dismal, but the cloudy, misty, rainy weather doesn’t help. We mostly just drive through on our way to the tourist attraction.
We’re viewing the crocodiles, lizards, and snakes in the Reptile Exhibit within the Valley of 1,000 Hills, and I think, ‘These crocs are impressive, but this is no better than a zoo.’ I am even more disillusioned as we’re herded into the gift shop for an hour of captivity. Lady Adventurer informs me that she is feeling like-minded.
Then the Zulu show and dancing began. It is pretty darn entertaining. I feel better now, thanks.
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| Zulu Warrior Princess (right) and some tourist (left) |
After the show, we are invited to visit the Zulu village that consists of several small huts. Before we cross the threshold of one of them, a villager mentions that the King is inside. I ask if it's still okay to visit, and I am assured that I'm welcome. Not knowing how best to address a Zulu King, I say the only thing I can think of: "Hello, King!" He just stays quiet. But I think I struck the right tone of deference and respect for a Head of State, don't you?
I do find it interesting that the Comrades Marathon comes through this way. Maybe I’ll return and run that race in the future.
As we return to the ship, there’s another Zulu dancing show onboard. Thinking it would be more of the same, we nevertheless reluctantly find seats to watch this one. It wasn’t the same. The jumping and tumbling are nearly unbelievable.
In the evening, we dine on kudu, springbok, ostrich, and crocodile. It beats the other way around.
Hluhluwe Game Reserve, Richards Bay, S.A.
What’s the difference between a zoo, a game reserve, and a national park? Not much. Maybe size.
Hluhluwe is pretty big, but it is entirely fenced in, as was Addo. So it’s more of a game reserve than a national park in my estimation. It does provide a way for tourists to see the large animals in something like their native habitats, and for better or worse, allows concentrated management of that game.
Lady Adventurer and I climb into the Land Rover with eight of our best friends. It’s raining, and we have ponchos. Lady A., sitting in the back, gets somewhat more wet than us lucky ones.
Had it not been for the rain, the park would have included stunning scenic beauty. As it is, we concentrate instead on keeping dry and warm. It does help when we spot some occasional wildlife. We see some giraffes munching on tree branches, a couple white rhinos, a nyala (another type of antelope), and hippos that are (thank goodness) a mile away.
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| White Rhino at Hluhluwe Game Reserve |
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| Giraffe at Hluhluwe Game Reserve |
All this is pretty cool. But we actually wish it was a little warmer. Not to mention dryer.
Maputo, Mozambique
The largest and capital city of this sprawling country on the eastern coast of Africa, Maputo has a storied history, and we learn about it during our city tour. We visit the world-famous train station, and extensive craft market, a pretty nifty natural history museum, and a fortress used to protect and sustain the slave trade.
We witness some extreme poverty, but also visit an opulent hotel in a rich area for a nice lunch. There seems to be a large income gap between rich and poor here, and it’s perpetuated by a corrupt government.
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| Moputo, Mozambique |
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| Moputo, Mozambique |
Some Days at Sea
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| The moon, Venus and Jupiter, early morning |
The itinerary has been keeping us quite busy, so Lady Adventurer and I are happy to have some time to relax. We’re making friends and having lots of fun playing trivia and attending lectures. But mostly sitting down at tables with strangers and sharing stories for our two-plus-hour long dinners. Sharing extremely slow food with friends like this is the way life is supposed to be.
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| Debbie and me, Tom and Nancy Mackenzie, Lore and Fred Waechter |
Nosy Be, Madagascar
I am sweating like a pig. I am not sure how much pigs sweat, but let’s just say it’s a lot. The thing is, it’s only been a few minutes since I’ve arrived here in Nosy Be by boat. Nosy Be is a province and also an island. The place we’re at is in the N.B. province, but it’s an island off the nearly main island of Nosy Be, which is itself an island off the coast of the really-main island of Madagascar. Madagascar, of course, is an island off the coast of Africa.
Back to the perspiration. From the beach, we’d climbed directly into the Lokobe Natural Reserve jungle with eight shipmates and a couple guides. The air is still and the humidity is stifling. But Dan and Lady A. abide.
Right away, there’s wildlife galore. We see chameleons (three types), geckos, snakes (including a python and a good-sized boa), and lemurs. We had been excited about the spotting the latter, but here in their natural habitat, they were a little hard to see, high in the trees. Although we walk for an hour, we don’t get real far, since the going is tough. It is amazing how much wildlife there is in this small area.
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| Lokobe NP, Nosy Be, Madagascar |
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| Nosy Be, Madagascar |
Afterwards, we boat over to a small village of about 100 inhabitants for fruit and soft drinks. Some ladies sing and dance, and the kids are cute.
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Sounds exotic, no? Doesn’t that name conjure thoughts of a busy, bustling port city, alien and strange to typical Americans like us, you’d be on track. On the one hand, there isn’t a whole lot for tourists to see and do. But on the other, Dar really is a good place to be an explorer. Lady Adventurer and I do like to think of ourselves as such, so we’re going for it.
With no organized tour, we set out on our own. We’re walking with another couple from the ship, and you can say that we stick out a little on these crowded, dusty streets. We find the National Museum and enter with only a minor mishap: trying to ‘tailgate’ our way in by following some tour-bus groups, we are busted, and required to pay five U.S. dollars each. I am then actually busted again for trying to pay with a slightly torn ten dollar bill. You can’t get away with anything around here.
The museum is mildly interesting, with nice exhibits on petroglyphs and also hominid archaeology. The four of us then walk another block or two to the National Botanical Garden, where there were some green plants and trees. Of interest here, however, were the couple monkeys scampering around until they jumped over the wall to cross the street into the city proper.
Zanzibar, Tanzania
If Dar sounded like an exotic, far-away place, what can we say about Zanzibar?
Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous province of Tanzania. It’s also an island (that has a couple other names as well) and a city. This is beginning to sound familiar. But lookyahere: the country of Tanzania is made up of said province of Zanzibar as well as the mainland portion of the country, which used to be called Tanganyika. Bet you didn’t know THAT.
Jozani Forest is a national park in these parts. Today it appears to be overrun with tourists, as their small buses struggle to get around one another on the narrow, winding, dusty, dirt-roads. I remark that there appear to be more people than monkeys, and it seems appropriate because we haven’t seen any of the tree-dweller types, even though that’s why we came.
After several hours of trekking through the forest and mangroves, we finally begin to see some black monkeys. They’re fun to watch. Even though it’s now time to leave, our guide Hussein isn’t satisfied. He wants to show us the rare Red Colubus monkeys that the park is known for.
After another hour (overtime for Hussein) of driving and hiking, we finally do encounter a troop of the famous red monkeys. You can look it up if you like, but troop is indeed the correct term for a grouping of monkeys.
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| Red Colubus Monkey in Josani Forest, Zanzibar, Tanzania |
It was worth the effort. The troop is in the tree above us, and also in several nearby. They’re only a few feet away! They make quite a ruckus, and are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Well, maybe about the same.
Amboseli National Park, Kenya, NOT
It’s the Third of February, and we’re traveling east towards the Seychelles, at great speed. Yup, we’re really moving. The thing is, this is the day that we were supposed to be spending in Mombasa, Kenya. It’s also the day that Lady Adventurer and I were to fly from Mombasa to Amboseli National Park for that one-day safari.
Said safari was going to be the epic highlight of this here entire epic trip. We’d been considering it from the very beginning, and were looking forward to it with great anticipation. We figured this would be our only-ever chance to take a real-life safari in the Serengeti area of Africa. But oh, it was gonna cost us: about a grand apiece, all told. That’s what we spend for some entire vacations.
Alas. No Kenya, no Mombasa, no Amboseli, no safari. The reason? The heightened threat of terrorism, as per warnings from the U.S. State Department and other countries. Instead, we’re leaving East Africa a day early to travel east across the Indian Ocean. To make up for the lost day and port, we will now spend two days instead of one in the Seychelles. I suppose things could be worse than spending and additional day in paradise. It probably beats becoming a hostage or being killed in a random explosion.
More Sea Days
With a couple exceptions, my early morning runs have consisted of running in circles on the deck, or running on the fitness center treadmill. Usually some of each. Since it’s frequently dark when I start, I often see the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter, as well as the Southern Cross. I see them this day, but something else as well…
It’s 4:20 AM, but it feels earlier because of the time change; we’re heading east, and we have crossed into a new time zone. Passengers and crew are often few and far-between at this hour, but that’s not the case today. A Super Bowl party is going on in Horizons Lounge, where I go to get my pre-run coffee. The TV is on, the sound is turned up, and there are a couple dozen people watching. After the outdoor portion of my run, I move onto the treadmill for more, where I watch the fourth quarter.
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| Valentines Day |
Praslin and Mahe, Seychelles
Due to the missed port of Mombasa, we are stopping at two islands in the Seychelles, rather than one. The first is Praslin. Since this stop had been unplanned, Oceania came up with some things to do. Lady Adventurer stays behind, whilst fearless Dan goes on a snorkeling expedition. He is loaded on to the tender boat, transferred to Praslin, unloaded, then loaded onto a snorkeling boat, and finally transferred and unloaded at Coco Island for the snork.
After over ninety minutes of transfers and travel, Dan thinks said snorkeling had better be truly great here; it could’ve been done on Praslin, as we transferred through. Alas. It isn’t. The coral is mostly bleached and dead-looking. There are some fish and some sea urchins, but that’s about it. An hour or so is spent in the water (which is quite comfortable, temperature-wise), all the way back to the Nautica. Even though the snork leaves much to be desired, the island scenery is marvelous. The Seychelles – all that we can see - are beauties.
Our second day in the Seychelles is spent on the island of Mahe, the chain’s largest, and home of the capital city, Victoria. Lady Adventurer and I are in the botanical garden, and like everything else in the Seychelles, it’s very lush, tropical, beautiful, and bountiful. Earlier, we’d been to a tea factory and several other vantage points around the island that provided marvelous views. Add the Seychelles to the short list of places that are worth a return visit.
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| Mahe, Seychelles |
Still More Days at Sea
We are headed for the Maldives. It will take us well over two days of sailing. As we cross the Equator, King Neptune, several mermaids, and a Pirate encourage passengers to kiss a fish, and then get dunked by ice water. I’m not sure I understand why they’re doing this, but it seems like a stupid, but funny activity.
That interrupted the Dominoes game we had going with Nancy and Tom Mackenzie. We’ve made many good friends on board, and more all the time. But we’re closest with Tom and Nancy. Champagne party tomorrow, anyone?
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| around the Maldives |
Male, Maldives
We’re walking along the shore of this island-city. By island-city, I mean that the entire island is one city, with no room to spare. It’s crowded, dirty, stinky (from exhaust and pollution), and motorbikes are everywhere. Like everything else here, the sidewalk is crowded, and we have to continually get out of the way of folks walking the opposite way to avoid being pushed into the water. We see a walking tour group crossing the street, and they have to stop traffic to do it. We take our lives in our hands to cross facing them at the same time – it’s seemingly the only way. We arrive at a square with a flag and some buildings. There’s a bit of grass here. The buildings include a mosque. Pigeons are everywhere. This is as good as it gets here in Male. On the way back, Lady Adventurer notices a sign saying, ‘no spitting,’ and thinks, spitting is the least of their problems here.
Back on board, it seems that one nearby island is used for burning trash, so even being anchored here isn’t pleasant. There’s garbage in the water too.
The rest of the Maldives may be better, although not much, based on what we’ve seen from the ship. Snorkeling and diving are big here. And some of the (probably far-away) islands are supposed to have nice beaches.
Prior to this trip, we didn’t know much about the Seychelles or the Maldives. Now we do. Similarities: they’re both island chains in the Indian Ocean. Differences: the Seychelles are paradise. Lady A. had considered writing a letter of complaint to the King of the Maldives, but then changed her mind, since, ‘the islands will all be underwater in a few years, anyway.’
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| Male, Maldives - one big city |
Columbo, Sri Lanka
This here main Buddhist temple (Ganguramaya) truly is something to behold. Classic and ornate Buddhist art is everywhere, and tourists and worshipers alike appear display proper reverence. In fact, it appears that Sri Lankans in general are a gracious people.
Prior to the temple, we’d visited the national museum and a national landmark shrine.
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| Buddhist Temple, Columbo, Sri Lanka |
Although Sri Lanka people are great, there seems to be too many of them. Sounds like the Maldives again, doesn’t it? One additional problem here: the Chinese are building everything. High-rises are going up all over, and there’s a major infrastructure project to reclaim hundreds of acres of land adjacent to the sea. We’ve seen this time and again: huge investments from the Chinese that these poor countries can never repay. The bounty will be in terms of natural and human resources.
Phuket, Thailand
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| Arrival into Phuket, Thailand |
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| Our ship has come in |
It’s unfortunate that we were not able to get over to the iconic beaches of Phuket. They’re also famous for the disaster of the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the place.
Langkawi and Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia
We’re in the queue. It’s been an hour and a half, and we’re only just now getting into the cable-car gondola. It will take us to the top of 950-meter Mount Machincang, but here’s the thing. Since we’ve only got four hours allotted for the tour, and since we spent a good portion of time driving here as well as stopping to look at roadside monkeys, and since we will still need to stop at the all-important rice museum on the way back, there is no time for getting out of the cable-car to look around at the top. It seems that we’d have to get in yet ANOTHER QUEUE to wait for a car to take us back down. So it’s just stay in the car all the way up and all the way down.
Not that the rice museum in any way redeemed this tour, but I can still say that I like the Langkawi area; it’s quite scenic and very pristine – a wonderful part of Malaysia.
Now we’re climbing stairs. There are a lot of stairs (I believe the number is 270), and they’re quite steep. What is the destination this time, you ask? Kuala Lumpur’s famous Batu Caves. Now you would like to know what a Batu Cave is. Let me tell you: it’s really something. The entire route up, into and through, down, up again and back is one big Hindu religious shrine; the symbols are all around. The religious stuff would be interesting enough, but the location is like, wow. And don’t even get me started about the monkeys that are terrorizing everyone as they climb up and down into the caves.
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| Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia |
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| Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia |
After ogling the caves, we visit the new King’s Palace, some colonial buildings, and the Thean Hou Temple. This is a Chinese Temple that’s very red. Extremely red.
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| Thean Hou Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
Malaysia turns out to be a pretty cool place. The only fly in the ointment, besides too many visitors to the cable-car, is the air pollution. It was awful in Port Klang, our starting point for the morning. I am told that it originates across the Strait of Malacca from Indonesia. I understand completely: bad things nearly always come from other places.
Singapore, Singapore
Combine Vegas, Disney World, Tokyo, and Dubai, sprinkle it with some Hong Kong, and you might come close to Singapore. It’s impossible to capture this place in photos; the wow factor here is just not possible to describe.
We have drinks with Tom and Nancy at the top of ‘The Hotel.’ There are lots of hotels here, but only one ‘Hotel.’ The very top of The Hotel tops three towers and provides 360 degree views of this fantastical city. The infinity pool here is something to behold as well: want to swim with nothing underneath but 58 stories of air? This is your chance.
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| Having a drink with Nancy and Tom Mackenzie at the top of 'The Hotel' |
From The Hotel, we can view our next destinations. The four of us walk, take various elevators and trams to get to Sun park, and the domed Flower Garden and Cloud Forest. Each venue is more fantastical than the last.
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| Flower Garden, Singapore |
Singapore seems boundless. How the heck do they do it?
Goodbye
After 30 days on the Oceania Nautilus, it’s time to say goodbye. We have certainly had a wonderful time, and we’d likely do it all again if we could. I say likely, because the experience was not absolutely perfect. Some of the excursions left a great deal to be desired, the food - although still excellent - didn’t seem to be quite up to Oceania’s exclusive standard, and of course there were the missed and late arrivals to various ports of call.
But one of the best parts is that we met so many fine people. On a 30-day voyage with about 650 passengers, you’re bound to get to know some of them pretty well. Tom and Nancy are a case in point – we seem to have a lot in common with them, and we’ll miss them. Same for several others.
One more thing about doing it all again: we did go ahead and book a future cruise. Maybe that one will be slightly more perfect.
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| Until Next Time |
To see my running blog about this trip, click here.
I even have something in my environmental blog, Don't Poop in the Pool - to see that, click here.
