One day in Mauritius

Is it a giant whale ........... No it's Gus !!!!

Below Gus totally stressed out!






We docked at Port Louis Mauritius at 8 am and after the immigrations formalties were completed (in each port the Immigrations Officials come on board and check passports etc. which are normally processed very quickly) we took a taxi to Trou aux Biches - a beach resort that had been recommended to us. We had a delightful taxi driver who pointed out all the places of interest and told us about his life.
What spectacular beaches we discovered - miles of powdery white sands and aquamarine color sea. After a very refreshing swim we took a walk and found a very luxurious hotel (see pics above) for lunch. We had drinks overlooking the pool and sea, and then were shown down to a lovely little thatched roof area for a delicious lunch - the sea was literally lapping under our table - just gorgeous! We then spent the rest of the afternoon in the sea which was so warm (the air temperature was in the upper 80's as was the sea temperature). All too soon it was time to return to the ship and instead of using a taxi we decided to catch a local bus. The schools were just coming out and loads of children boarded the bus and were fascinated to see non-Mauritians aboard - they kept peering at us as if we'd come from outer space! It was a very interesting ride, albeit somewhat bumpy as we hit the numerous potholes in the road! The Mauritian people comprise 52% Hindu, 28% Christian, 17% Muslim and 3% other. We found everyone to be incredibly helpful and friendly. They have over a million tourists each year most of whom come from South Africa, Italy & France. They are very proud of their Dodo bird heritage and there are replicas in all the shops.The Dodo,(Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird, a native of the island of Mauritius discovered in 1598,and extinct by 1681. It was apparently related to pigeons and doves and stood about a meter tall, weighing about 20 kilograms (44 lb). Mauritius is only 2,095 square kilometers (809 square miles) and has world class beaches and hotels - certainly an island I could recommend.

The Beautiful Cape

Table Mountain & Harbor







(Left)Sailing into Cape Town facing Table
Mountain

(Below) View from the ship's deck




Buitenverwachting vineyard








Our wonderful 4-day visit to Cape Town is now over and we're en route to Mauritius. Anthony (son) collected us from the ship and the next few days were fantastic meeting up with old friends, shopping, dining and enjoying a rugby match.(Anthony's company has a box so it was a luxurious way to watch S. Africa beat an Australian team)
We had a fantastic lunch out at Buitenverwachting vineyard one day. It has a glorious setting overlooking a panorama of vines and mountain slopes. It's just spectacular and the restaurant is
rated as one of the best in South Africa.
Cape Town's working harbor is situated between Robben Island and Table Mountain and the surrounding Waterfront has become South Africa's most visited destination. As well as
loads of very upmarket restaurants there are over 400 shops. There are several outdoor arenas where visitors are entertained with singers, dancers, acrobats - it's a really
vibrant great place to visit. Cape Town is hosting the Soccer World Cup next year so there are several enormous stadiums being built, plus even more hotels. Everyone on the ship raved about their Cape Town stay and several students are already planning their next trip. Some of the excursions offered from the ship included "Extreme Sports" and over 80 students bunji-jumped, did some cliff-gliding off Table Mountain and "swam with the sharks" (in cages!) A large number of people did safaris and were thrilled to see so many animals in their natural surroundings. Our visit to Cape Town was so enjoyable - even though we've been to the Cape many times, the scenery is still overwhelming spectacular and one can quite see why it's rated as one of the top destinations in the world to visit.

Some pictures from Namibia

Seal aboard our boat gobbling down a fish!














A friendly Seal















Welwitschia Mirablis Plant














African ladies













Feeding some pelicans at a refuge for injured
pelicans
















Students attempting to climb
Dune 7













Gus "pretending" he'd just climbed the
sand-dune!

Namibia

Our first day in Namibia was a tour in a 4 x 4 through the Namib Desert.(The desert occupies an area of around 31 200 square miles, stretching about 1000 miles along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia). We had such a knowledgeable guide who pointed out firstly the Welwitschia plant which was over 500 years old - some of them live to over a 1000 years. This plant is a modified tree producing a single turnip-like stem that can be more than three feet thick and five feet tall.At first glance there seem to be many leaves, but closer inspection reveals only two, up to 10 feet in length, which split into many sections.It has a relatively short tap root but a myriad of smaller roots which radiate out for about 15 metres just below the surface. It was fascinating to see. To the south of the mountaineous desert are enormous sand dunes - just spectacular to see. Dune 7 is supposed to be the highest sand dune in the world (450 ft.) and is very popular for sandboarding. Many of the students climbed to the top which is incredibly hard as the sand is so powdery.
The lunar-like landscape of the desert comprises ancient gray granites 250 million years old intruded by younger pink granites and very often covered by black, erosion resistant, dolerite giving a contrast in colors. We also saw a melon looking fruit on a thorny bush called Narra which has a tap root extending down 30-40 meters. Toward the end of the tour in the desert, snacks and drinks were served which included fresh oysters. It was a fascinating trip.


Our second day we went out in a speedboat on the Walvis Bay Lagoon. You will see from the photos that we were regularly joined by some very friendly seals. We saw loads of flamingos and pelicans - went out to seal island where there were literally thousands of seals (very noisy ones!) It's interesting to see sleeping seals with their fins protruding from the sea. It was a fun trip where again fresh oysters were served. (Pity I don't eat oysters but Gus enjoyed my share!) On our final day we rented a car and drove through to Swakopmund (20 miles). Swakopmund City (German for "Mouth of the Swakop") is a lovely little city on the Atlantic coast of northwestern Namibia. It has a lovely beach and some wonderful German colonial architecture. We found a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea. We looked around several African markets where we met up with some students who were buying gifts to take home. We also saw some African "Himba" women who are very striking to look at because they have maintained their traditional culture and dress. The women are topless and cover their bodies with a paste made from fat and ochre.

(Some useful trivia (?) - all our tour guides were proud to tell us about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who regularly stay in Namibia and pointed out where they stayed!!!)

We are now en route to Cape Town and should arrive at 8 am tomorrow. Global Studies this morning included a great lecture from Gus on South Africa.

Photos to follow (hopefully!)

Life after 4-Weeks aboard!

We have now been on board for 4 weeks & I can only say it gets better & better! The daily Global Studies Lectures are fascinating - my brain is bursting with all the information I've learning! I'm also enjoying the marketing course. Gus's 3 Chemistry Courses are going well & he's enjoying such small classes. I'm still doing an early morning yoga session which is now followed by a swim. The swim is taken early in the morning so that I'm not surrounded by young bikini-clad students! Because of my expanding waistline I decided to join an aerobics class last week.The class consisted of 8 young girls & we were out on the top deck in the sunshine so it all looked like fun!

However after a general "warm-up" which I could manage, we then had to run up 5 flights of stairs three-times which left me a complete panting wreck. Not to be deterred I continued with the class but have never known such a long hour - to say I could hardly move the next morning would be an understatement - I have therefore not returned to the class & left it to the "young" ones! Meals on board are still excellent & include a large variety of salads & fresh fruit. Lunchtime we try to sit with different students who are such a delight - so enthusiastic & keen to tell us about their lives. I can only describe dinners as enjoying a fun dinner party with very interesting guests every night. I think we have met & enjoyed all the faculty members now & have really made some wonderful friends. Tonight we have been invited to join the Captain's Table where I understand a lavish meal is served. On Monday there were no classes as we "Crossed the Line" & enjoyed the Neptune Day celebrations. Many of the faculty & crew were appropriately dressed up in "Father Neptune gear" & then virtually all the students lined up around the pool having first had blue liquid poured over their heads. After they had leapt into the pool they then had to kiss a fish held by one of Neptune's helpers, followed by a ceremonious bow to Neptune, & a kiss on the hand to Mother Neptune. It all sounds a big corny by my description but it was great fun. About 40 students then had all their hair shaved off - in fact 4 staff members also did the same. This is presumably all part of the Neptune Day celebrations, but I'm sure some of them awoke the following morning wondering why on earth
they did such a thing. Getting sunburnt on the bald heads could also be a bit of a wake-up call. Anyway the whole event was good fun & very different from when I celebrated the equatorial crossing back in 1967.
Most evenings there are optional lectures in the main lounge area. Last night the wife of one of the faculty members spoke on the life of Desmond Tutu. She had been his personal assistant for over 24 years & gave such an interesting talk. We had dinner with her & her husband afterwards. They are both still living of Cape Town.
We arrive in Namibia on Saturday. We have arranged to go out in a 4 x 4 to visit the Walvis Bay Lagoon which is where the Namib Desert meets the sea. We then drive to a nearby salt field which apparently resembles snow-covered hills in the desert - should be fascinating to see. The following day we're renting a car & driving to Swakopmund which is on the northwestern side of Namibia. It's described as "a slice of Germany on the edge of the desert". It's a seaside resort resembling a Bavarian village nestled between the desert & the sea, so should be very interesting & I'm sure we may just sample a few German beers!

Goodbye Casablanca

Left:- Gus at Rick's Cafe Bar
Right:- Sue with a friend (?) at the market

Above plaque outside Rick's Cafe, Casablanca.

We left Casablanca last night in very rough seas & are now heading down to Namibia. I wouldn't rush back to Casablanca - very dirty, loads of stray cats, street vendors selling all the same things & the most awful smelly exhaust fumes. Having said that, it's very interesting & different. We went on a very interesting city orientation where we visited a spice market, a very lavish city hall plus the Hassan 11 Mosque which was commissioned by its namesake, King Hassan 11. It's enormous accommodating 25 000 worshippers & a minaret 689 ft. tall. Fabulous chandeliers & marble pillars.

We had a fun lunch at Rick's Cafe yesterday (for "young" people reading this, Rick's Cafe is the mythical saloon from the 1942 film "Casablanca") It's owned by The Usual Suspects company (yes ... that's really the name of the company!) The inside of the restaurant is full of arches & balustrades & there are intricate antique brass floors & table lamps with metal shades strung with beads that give off dramatic lighting effects. On each table there are specially designed brass lamp with beaded shade. One of the faculty members here on board is a very well known jazz guitarist. He plays in the faculty lounge bar some evenings & arranged to play at Rick's Cafe yesterday - it was great fun.

Viva Espana!

Viva Espana !

We arrived in Spain at 7.30 am on Wednesday - all the students were out on deck so excited having had 12 days at sea (never seen so many students at breakfast so early in the morning!) Cadiz is a wonderful city to visit & rated the oldest city in Europe. (See 2 pictures)

It's a maze of winding narrow cobbled streets, lovely restaurants & shops. Christopher Columbus set sail several times from Cádiz en route to the Americas. We did a city orientation tour in the afternoon - visited the Cadiz Congress Palace built in 1741.

Walked through some botantical gardens - bright red and pink cyclamens growing everywhere (I always thought they were an indoor plant!) Found a great restaurant in the evening although it's quite hard to find a restaurant serving dinner before 9.30 pm. The following morning we drove up to Seville(2-hour drive). Gus & I both agreed we could have spent a month in Seville - it's the most beautiful city with all the streets lined with orange trees laden with fruit. We had a tour of what is supposed to be the largest Cathedral in the world & saw the tomb of Christopher Columbus (apparently the contents of this tomb were questionable until a few years ago when DNA confirmed that the body/bones were those of Christopher Columbus). We then visited "Alcazar" which is a Palace (built as a fort in 913) where ancient Christian & Muslim Kings lived over the centuries. It is very interesting with beautiful Islamic intricate architecture. We then went onto Cardoba where we spent the night. The cathedrals in both Seville & Cordoba are
quite amazing with a blend of Islamic & Christian styles, both having been built on mosques. Whereas in Seville most of the original mosque was demolished, the cathedral in Cordoba is unique as it was constructed in the C17th in the center of the original, enormous mosque which was built in the C10th. At that time Cordoba was the largest city in Europe (didn't know that!)& the mosque (Mezquita de Cordoba) was/is enormous accommodating 30 000 worshippers at a time. Muslims are now welcome to visit the cathedral but are not allowed to use it for prayer. The Mezquita de Cordoba is most notable for its giant arches & its forest of over 856 (of an original 1,293) columns of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. (See picture) These were taken from the Roman temple which had previously occupied the site & other destroyed Roman
buildings. We were shown a magnificent mihrab which is positioned to indicate the exact direction towards Mecca, and this is where the imam leads the believers into prayer in front of it, his voice gets amplified from its round shape. The whole cathedral (See picture) was overwhelming when one first walks into the place. It's so incredible to see both Islam and Christianity contributions all under one roof.
After Spain we sailed toward Gibraltar where we re-fueled. The Rock was so clear, although we didn't seen any Apes! Europe & Africa are separated by only 7.7 nautical miles of ocean at the strait's narrowest point. Went to yet another cocktail party last night - each day we seem to meet such interesting people especially some of the "Lifelong Learners". Met a really interesting man last night who has retired from the World Bank - he's traveled all over the world with the bank & continues to travel on educational cruises such as Semester at Sea.
We are now en route to Casablanca, Morocco

4 Pictures