Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

November 27

Well, this morning the pilot arrived by helicopter again!  And this time I got a picture.

We met our guide, Tony, and embarked on the excursion to the Tala Game Reserve.  It was a chilly, drizzly day and a respite from the hot weather we have been having.  We drove through part of the city of Durban and learned that is is the largest harbor in Africa. There are many container ships here and lots of car ships being loaded and unloaded.  There are 13 entrances to the port! The population of Durban is 4 million.  We also learned that there are 11 million Zulu in South Africa. Our destination is a private game reserve in the KwaZulu-Natal hills.  The reserve spans nearly 7,410 acres and is home to an area of indigenous acacia thornveld, open grassland and sensitive wetlands.  There are over 300 bird species to be found here.  When we got to the reserve, we boarded safari vehicles and met our guide for the safari, Milton.

It was a bumpy ride on dirt roads, and also off road to get closer to the animals.  The first ones we saw were 14 giraffes (my favorite), very close to the road, and they even crossed while we stopped to watch.

By the way, I have many shots of the animals and will only include a few.  The ones I didn’g get shots of – too far for my camera (although I think Norm got some) were the warthog mom with her baby – they moved too fast to capture, the hippo who only emerged from the water for a short time, the jackal, who blended in with the grasses and some of the impalas, secretary birds and also other types of antelopes. Here are some of the others: Wildebeasts (we saw herds of them)

White rhinos (the first we have seen in the wild..and they were CLOSE!) On our Botswana safari in 2011 the only rhinos were on Chief’s Island and we didn’t go there.

Ostriches

And even the remains of some animal’s kill.

And, back at the reception area –  the biggest grasshopper I have ever seen!

There are armed guards in this reserve as there have been poachers. One of the rhinos survived but several others died as the poachers tranquilize them and remove the horns. Milton said that if poachers are caught, they are to be shot on sight.  The rhinos have tracking devices around one leg so that they can always be located.

The landscape on our bus drive – beautiful country

On our drive back through the town of Durban, I got a shot of a woman with a big box on her  head.  I don’t know how they balance these and they are very heavy.

They are big on KFC here!

One of the attractive buildings in the town

We had a nice day and this was a preview for our 3 day safari which starts tomorrow. This reserve had no cats (lions and leopards) or elephants, all of which we will hopefully see at the Shamwari reserve.

November 26, Thanksgiving Day in the US

It is hard to believe that we are already at Thanksgiving, and what a different one this was. We sailed into the harbor of Richards Bay and first heard the sound of a helicopter very close by.  It turned out to be the pilot (the official from the local port that arrives on to the ship to help the captain navigate the harbor) and two immigration officials. That’s the first time in all of our cruises that we had officials arrive by helicopter.  And they didn’t land on the ship, the men were lowered onto the back deck via ropes. South Africa is a huge diverse country and in some ways is still recovering from the apartheid years. It is the size of France and Spain combined and twice the size of Texas!It has an excellent infrastructure – the roads were as good as in the US.  But there is a lot of poverty and the African areas – generally poor – are often tucked out of sight. Our excursion today was to Shakaland.  This is the oldest Zulu cultural village in Zululand and was originally built as scenery for the miniseries Shaka Zulu in 1986.  The village replicates the kraal of Senzangakhona, father of legendary King Shaka, who united the Zulu nations by conquering numerous clans and tribes.  It really a living museum.  People can also come to stay here. The village itself has many round huts in a circle around the cattle craal.  Chief Malinga and his family live here and we got to experience Zulu culture, costumes, rituals, dances and food.

We first had a Zulu show and wouldn’t you know that I was picked out of the audience to do the dance with the native dancers.  And another guest, David, was also picked out. Here are some shots of this!

This little guy was adorable, trying to do the same dances as the men, and he was pretty darn good

We had a delicious lunch in the Kwabonamanzi restaurant prepared by the Zulu women, then we had some stories around the small replica of the village.

We were told to pick up a stone and spit on it then throw it onto the stone pile.  If it stays on the top, you will have good luck.  Ours stayed pretty near the top.

One of our crew, Mel, who joined us and purchased this head gear!

The chief is on the left

We saw weaving demonstrations, beer making (and we got to taste the beer), and we really enjoyed the day.

Making the beer (the chickens and chicks wait for the grain!)

Norm tasting the beer

The weapons

Amazing how they balance the pots

The kitchen hut

We saw part of the movie of Shaka Land, which talked about King Shaka who was born to a woman who was not married.  So both of them were actually bullied.  When he grew up he became a warrior and invented a new kind of spear that would not have to be thrown and it led to many victories in battle. In fact the British army was defeated by the Zulu in the Anglo Zulu war, the only time the British army was defeated by indiginous people (and Dick, our guide, says they have never forgotten it!) On the way back we had a wonderful glimpse of several giraffes along the road.  We saw them from afar in the morning, but they were pretty far away.  This was as if they were waiting for us!

When we returned to the ship, we had a chance to have some iMessage exchanges with Adam and Mark, and phone calls with Dad and my sister Debbie.  A nice part of our Thanksgiving.  And, of course, we had turkey with all of the trimmings for dinner. A Thanksgiving we will always remember!  

November 21

Nosy Be (which means “Big Island”in Malagasy) is our destination today.  It lies off the northern coast of Madagascar. Madagascar is the 4th largest island in the world, and has its own distinct ecosystem and extraordinary wildlife.  Approximately 95 percent of Madagascar’s reptiles, 89 percent of its plant life and 92 percent of its mammals exist nowhere else on earth and scientists continue to discover new species of plants and animals each year.  What an amazing place to visit.

Right off the ship as we anchored (there is no dock here, we had to go ashore by tender), men and women in these boats pulled alongside the ship hoping we would throw money which we were strongly advised by ship personnel not to do.  They also held up fish, crabs, bananas and other fruits and vegetables hoping, I guess, that we would buy from them.

One of the animals found here is the critically threatened Ploughshare tortoise where as few as 1000 of these animals survive.  They are sold illegally on exotic pet markets and can fetch up to $200,000.

He thought it would make a good helmet!

Another species is the endangered black lemur.  Lemurs are found only in Madagascar and look like a cross between a cat, dog and squirrel.  There are several varieties  They are prosimians, they came before monkeys.

We visited the Lokobe Nature Reserve where we got up close with the lemurs, the chameleons and saw the tortoises.  We traveled by boat to the island of Nosy Komba passing the Lokobe evergreen forest on the way.  We walked through the village to the Black Lemur Sanctuary and had a lot of fun feeding the lemurs the bananas they love.  We noticed smoke on the main island of Madagascar, and our guide, Solange, said that sadly, they are burning down forests there to plant rice.  They need the food, but are destroying much of the forest.

After our visit with the wildlife, we had a chance to say hello to local families (the children had painted faces and sang and danced as we passed by).  The women there make beautiful tablecloths and I bought one to bring home.  We saw many women stitching them as we strolled through the village.

Drying the bananas and plantains

People here are very poor and will ask for money in return for flowers and other trinkets. There are police around that will keep the locals at bay or they would surround you.  The people are very friendly, though, and most speak some French, so they appreciated my poor attempts!

Also, their exchange rate is $1 = 3,244 Malagasy Ariary.  So their banks will not even take $1 bills to exchange.  The locals take them for purchases, but then they approach you to exchange single dollars for bigger denominations.  We did that every chance we got.

We had some time on the beach and they provided drinks, snacks and a group of musicians and dancers for us.

One of the passengers gave this cute little guy $1, and he toddled away from the other kids straight to his mom and gave her the dollar!

One of the passengers with Elena, the cello player from the Pudra string quartet

Alexandra, our destinations manager.. wants to be a mom soon. She is practicing!

On the boat back to Nosy Be, saying an early happy birthday to Norm – Tammy, our social hostess and Solange, our guide.

Sunset from our balcony!

When we returned to the ship, we found out that one of the world cruisers had been taken off the ship due to smoking on his balcony, which we are continually told is against regulations.  He had been warned several times, the last time in writing, which he signed, and he continued to smoke there.  So he has been banned from the ship and the rest of the cruise and had to arrange his flight home.  I am glad that they do enforce these regulations. There are only two places on the ship that smoking is allowed, one indoor glassed in room and an outdoor section of the pool deck.

Tomorrow is Norm’s birthday and we have the special dinner with friends arranged.  We have 3 days at sea before we reach Mozambique.

November 19

We sailed into the port of Dar es Salaam this morning and went on an excursion to historic Bagamoyo.  This coastal village has a rich history and culture.  It is the closest point by sea from Zanzibar, so many of the early explorers like Livingstone and Stanley traveled from Bagamoyo to outfit their adventures.  It was also the last glimpse of then Tanganika that many people had before being bundled off to Zanzibar to be sold on the slave market.

Our guide, Mr. Smart, said that the meaning of the word Bagamoyo is “Here I lay down the burden of my heart.”  Over 20 million slaves were imprisoned here and then sent to be sold.  The village was a most important port in the 18th century and was the capital of German East Africa. It was also once the national capital, before it was moved to Dar es Salaam which has a much deeper port.  The central area is called Stone Town because of the old stone colonial buildings. After the capital moved, it fell into disrepair and has not really ever recovered.

We again had a police escort and this time, it worked well!  We went through traffic lights, passed on the wrong side of the road and generally made good time to the village which was about 90 minutes trip from Dar es Salaam.  And, by the way, the traffic jam of all those trucks we were part of in Kenya is still there, 3 days later, according to the BBC –  which we get on our room TV.

Our first stop was the Kaole Ruins.  The ruins date back to the 13th century and consist of 2 mosques and 30 tombs.  The older of the mosques is thought to date to the 3rd or 4th century, making it the oldest mosque on the mainland of East Africa.  The tombs were built of coral stones with stone pillars.  Traditions claim that some of the tombs are the graves of local rulers who were known as the diwanis.

Our guide, Mr. Smart

A little shop outside the ruins. The importance of penmanship. Is the third item snakes or shakes???

The country seems to be more developed than Kenya, although there are still a number of mud houses in the outskirts of the city and the villages.  Many people build their homes in stages as they save up the money so you see concrete blocks and unfinished houses.

We also visited the Old Fort, where many German troops lived during the colonial uprising in 1888.

The German Boma, residence of German Colonial Governor

We then made a lunch and beach stop at the Paradise Beach Resort, where we were also entertained by some very energetic local folk dancers.  The beach was beautiful and we saw a number of traditional ancient Arabic sailing boats, called dhows.

After relaxing at the beach, we went to the German Church and the Holy Ghost Mission as well as the Catholic Museum. The road leading there is called Mango Road because of the rows of mango trees lining both sides of the road.

David Livingstone’s body was in this tower for 24 hours before it was taken to London for burial.  The museum was really interesting, could have spent more time there.

Traditional fishing basket

Model of the dhow

We passed several schools, one was built by the Cuban government.  We have seen lots of examples of countries that have had aid from other countries to help build their infrastructure or preserve historic sites.  Some partnerships seem strange, but we are encouraged that this is happening.  Here, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is providing millions to help eradicate malaria.

You can ssee that this baobub tree was planted in 1868, they live thousands of years and are revered by the African people

Our escort really worked on a fairly fast return to the ship, only an hour late – but I see now that this is “Africa time”.  John and Tina Freedman told us that while they were in Uganda, they waited almost 2 hours for a concert to start,  A woman then came to the stage and said “ladies and gentlemen, something soon may be happening”.

Our police escort having a drink..yes, it is water!

The busy waterfront in Dar es Salaam

Many goats along the road, cows too!

View of Dar es Salaam city from our bus

All in all, a very nice day.  And to top it off, there was fresh fish grilled on the Terrace deck tonight, tuna, white snapper and red snapper.  Wonderful!