and so it begins.....RTW16

[socrafty]

I agree! It can be quite time consuming and tedious to report your activities. Thank you for doing this for us!!

[cbb]

Today dawned calm, clear, and very warm in Cape Town and only got hotter-the forecast for noon was 95.

 

Since this was a change-over day we told our cabin steward that we didn't want anything done for us so that he could spend his time on the cabins that had been vacated. (Bayu, we love you!)

 

We ate breakfast early, went through immigration quickly, (thanks O and South African officials!) and walked through the Victoria and Alfred waterfront to get to the "City Sightseeing Hoho."

 

We had purchased these 2 day passes online months before we left and simply added Table Mountain this morning. We were reluctant to purchase Table Mountain when we bought the passes since we wouldn't know the weather until we arrived in C'town. No use buying tickets for a mountain if the fog covers it!

 

We climbed aboard at Stop 1 and headed straight for the top deck of the double-decker since we wanted to take pictures with an unobstructed view.

 

We immediately plugged in our earbuds and off we went. Table Mountain was stop 7 and since we arrived there at 9am we were among the first in the walk-up to the cable car.

 

The cable car arrived very shortly, we walked on, a tour group had also arrived so the car filled quickly. Kudos to the designers of the cable car as the floor gently rotates 360 degrees giving at least those of us on the outside (always go to the outside!!) a commanding view of the mountain, then the valley, the harbor, the sea....and back to where you started in time to get off.

 

The view was amazing and there weren't that many people on the top yet, but that quickly changed as more and more arrived.

 

My advice to anyone going to Table Mountain is to go early, go early, go early. The weather situation may change quickly and the crowds come later.

 

We were off the mountain and back on the bus at 11am. We continued on a great loop along the coast making 5 more stops for people to get on/off.

 

We saw lovely flats and houses all along the coast, beautiful beaches, and more views of the mountains before we eventually reached Victoria and Alfred again. We remained on board and got off at stop 5 which was Long Street.

 

There were many market stalls selling a wide variety of things on side streets that had been turned into pedestrian thoroughfares. Many of the stalls appeared to be selling goods made in South Africa and there were also many box stores also selling items that were locally made.

 

I spent some money at the Africa Women Craft Market as well as a couple of other artist shops.

 

After lunch we walked to the Bo-Kaap neighborhood which are brightly colored, extremely well kept houses on small streets. Very photogenic!

 

After window shopping and visiting a Methodist Church that had been there since the early 1800s, we began our walk back to the ship.

 

The fitbit said we had walked over 15K steps so we celebrated with dessert at dinner tonight.

 

Many new faces in the restaurant tonight and Farid, the chef, was in and out checking on everything--as usual, it was wonderful...especially dessert!

 

Tomorrow we are taking the ferry ride to Robben Island, the prison that housed Nelson Mandela and thousands of others. Upon our return, we will walk through the Victoria and Alfred area, perhaps to buy some snacks and South African wine.

 

As we went through security before reboarding we complimented the security officer on her lovely city and told her we appreciated the weather she had arranged for us. She told us that Cape Town had been beautiful since December.

 

Another wonderful day aboard Insignia but we miss our new friends who left us this morning and we hope that they reach their destinations safely.

[Not landlubbers]

Really look forward to your postings! Fond memories of our trip to Capetown as we read your adventure today! Hope you enjoy tomorrow as much as we did! South Africa is one of our favorite trips! Enjoy!

[cbb]

Today we expected to be on the early ferry to Robben Island but due to ferry problems the time was pushed to 10:15 so we hustled over to Victoria and Alfred to do some shopping at the Pick N Pay. Of course, we saw many shipmates doing the same thing!

 

We bought some snacks for the cabin, some local wine and hustled back to the cabin with time to spare. We unloaded our purchases then went to the Lounge for our ticket...and whew...ferry problem fixed!

 

Wonderful trip over to the island with calm seas, and dolphins, seals, and whales all performing for us!

 

For those of you who have not visited the island you climb aboard a bus which will take you around part of the island and accompanying you will be a former inmate of the island.

 

We were so fortunate to have Mr. Mohamad as our guide who has escorted various heads of state, including the current President of the US, prime ministers, UN officials and knew Mr Mandela personally. He was, as you can imagine, amazing! He was an excellent story teller and could have performed at any comedy center anywhere in the world! There were people from 3 different continents and he had us all laughing!

 

After we left the bus we were escorted by another former political prisoner. He had been a high school teacher and had served 5 years before his release. This guide showed us one of the cellblocks, some of which had beds on frames, a little smaller than a twin bed.

 

Then we saw Mr Mandela's cell block, and Mr. Mandela's cell, which had a bucket and a mat on the floor; he spent 18 years of his 27 year sentence there. No children under 16 were allowed to visit so most of the men never saw their children grow up.

 

Mr Mohamad said the one thing the men craved the most was hearing the sounds of children-- laughing, crying, singing-- not hearing little ones was the hardest part of prison.

 

Most of the political prisoners were forced to work in the rock quarry which was not only physically exhausting but the bright glare of the sun off the rocks and the quarry dust caused eye problems for most of the men for the rest of their lives.

 

When Mr. Mandela and other former prisoners returned to the island for a reunion in 1995, they visited the quarry and Mr. Mandela placed a piece of quarry rock down and the other men did likewise. Today you can see the reunion photography with the pile of rocks and in front of the picture is the rock pile. Amazing moment.

 

Upon our return trip from Robben we decided that since we had to be back on board at 5, we would simply shop in V&A and skip lunch. The Rand is currently 16 to 1 US$; one of us can do the math in his head, I move the decimal point and say "it's under this amount!"

 

Life boat drill this afternoon at 5;15 and as we walked on deck we realized that the boats around us were getting hard to see. By the time we dined at 6:30 we were surrounded by fog and could see absolutely nothing of the town, the mountains, or the ships around us.

 

As we sailed out of Cape Town, Captain Flokos told us that he would be using the whistle and he did....often. Can you imagine being on a little sailboat without much instrumentation and suddenly hearing that sound and see a very large cruise ship coming out of the fog towards you? ....whew!!!

 

It is now 8:00 and the fog is still totally around us. We had heard from local people that the fog descends quickly...and they weren't kidding!

 

A sea day tomorrow as we sail towards Port Elizabeth. Goodbye Cape Town....we loved you!

[cbb]

Sea day today as we sail towards Port Elizabeth. I heard several newbies discussing the state of their cabin; evidently everything wasn't quite stowed away yet!

 

Many new faces around the ship today and several new crew members. Victor, the General Manager has left the ship but will return soon.

 

Today there were new enrichment lecturers; one was with John Tabblutt-McCarthy who introduced us to the Eastern Cape and the 'Windy City and Michael Hick who talked on South Africa and Mozambique.

 

We all had to form new trivia teams today--we renamed ourselves "the refugees" since we were formed from various groups that had disbanded. Many new people were participating and quickly found groups that needed new players.

 

Tonight was the Captain's Cocktail Celebration which is always fun. Captain Flokos was as charming as ever and in the receiving line we asked if Mrs. Flokos had returned home safely. (we miss you, Denise!) He assured us that she was fine.

 

Dinner at Polo with our favorite waiter, Red, and I'm back in the room to settle in for the night. Mr Wonderful, who has regained his sea legs (thank God) is going to see Wolfgang Riebe, a comedy illusionist.

 

One of everyone's favorite crew members won one of the Super Bowl pay-outs so he was pretty excited...although we're not sure he understands American football! He wanted to know when we were doing it again....er...next year?

 

Port E tomorrow and everyone is pretty excited...lots of tours going to various animal preserves and on safaris and weather forecast is to be terrific!

 

Goodnight from somewhere off the eastern African coast.....

[deus]

Really enjoying your posts. You are an exceptional writer! Thank you!

[LHT28]

enjoying the blog & photos

I am sure it is nice to get some new faces every so often ;)

[cbb]

thanks, deus and LHT28!

 

forgot to mention that we had a great turn-out for the meet and greet in Horizons this morning.

 

Sukey's ("seasoned") suggestion of wearing name tags was a great idea...again!

 

Everyone introduced themselves and information was exchanged about private tours, etc.

 

Great bunch of people...welcome aboard!

Edited February 11, 2016 by cbb

[CintiPam]

As I pack to get ready to board Riviera tomorrow, I too want to add my thanks to you for sharing your adventure with us. I really have enjoyed your posts so much that I almost feel that I am there with you. Regards to Don and Betsy and keep enjoyin'!

[ljandgb]

I'm following avidly as well. Dh and I are eyeing the RTW cruise, but it will be a goodly time from now. I need to get my youngest out of the house before I can leave for 6 mos.

[buggins0402]

I look forward to all your CC and blog entries also! The pictures from South Africa are wonderful. They have me second guessing the trip we're sketching out for next year......

[cbb]

thanks for all the kind words....blush!

 

We really looked forward to coming to South Africa and enjoyed the Cape Town area so much we would love to come back and stay for some weeks.

 

There is so much to do in the general area and organized and private tours seem easy to do from here. Vineyards, day treks to preserves, overnight safaris, trip to the Peninsula, several days in Cape Town....etc.

 

Seriously....if you can swing it both financially and time away, take this RTW. We think one needs to do it while young enough, agile, and healthy as ADA just isn't part of this world.

 

We see people struggling everyday just to get off ship or onto a bus/van and while I admire their tenacity I'm glad it isn't something we have to factor into our plans.

 

We think O ships are exactly the right size to do this and they're doing it so well. Ok....enough advice!

 

Off to the Addo Elephant Park. Calm seas this morning, sun is out, then tucks behind some clouds..low 80s expected, low winds and humidity great....sounds like the perfect day to go see elephants!!!!

[cbb]

It was the perfect day to go see elephants!

 

We had chosen the Addo Elephant Park by 4x4 and it was a winner. Bus arrived 15 minutes late through no fault of really anyone.

 

Our guide told us that a bus or van had broken down right at the pier entrance and so blocked traffic and the buses coming for us. 2 buses were affected--but 15 minutes was quickly made up on the road. (a couple of people from the ship were quick to blame O--I just don't understand that mindset....)

 

Off to Addo.....saw zebras along the road as well as the African veld.

 

We arrived in Addo, had a comfort stop, and boarded our 4x4s. There was some delay getting all of the O passengers into a 4x4; some of us had to wait 10-15 minutes for 4x4s to return but I visited the shop and got a tee shirt for a family munchkin. The $ goes to fund the conservation project.

 

The 4x4s come in a variety of sizes, but all have seat belts and a covered top to shield you from the sun, but the sides are all open. No food is allowed on the 4x4 but be sure and carry water. It' free with O so there is no excuse not to carry plenty of water.

 

Addo was named a national park in 1931 when 11 elephants lived in the area. Thanks to South Africa's conservation efforts, Addo is now home to more than 450 elephants as well as other indigenous animals and birds.

(And if what we saw is any indication, more babies are on their way!)

 

Because we were in 4x4s we were able to go down dirt paths rather than staying on the roads so we were able to see lots and lots of zebras, kudu, a very, very large water buffalo just finishing a good wallow in the wet mud, and what had to have been at least 1/4 of the 450 elephants!!!

 

Especially fabulous was seeing first a female kudu, which resembles a North American deer with lovely white markings on her side, and then later a fine looking male kudu.

 

These are the guys who have the "corkscrew" antlers and the older the male, the more turns in his antlers. This one was no kid and he posed so beautifully for us against a green plant background so his antlers would show. Periodically he would turn profile but mostly it was a full on head shot!

 

A very sweet mother and baby wildebeest were eating along the road with the elephant herd in the background. Mom was just grazing along, but baby must have just been exhausted because it was kneeling on its front legs, with straight back legs, and was munching away, hardly moving! Adorable!!

 

As we moved away from the large watering hole where some of the elephants were and drove around the corner to another side of the water hole, here came 2 smaller groups of elephants...many were babies.

 

You know...I sit at home and I research these excursions and DIYS and I think rationally about what we'd like to see and I make choices but when I see what I've chosen turn out so successfully I'm just thrilled.

 

So...if you ever choose to go see Addo Elephant Park, either with the ship or as a private tour, you will not be disappointed. It is just one of those great experiences everyone should have.

[cbb]

correction---

 

it was warthogs, mother and child, hanging with the elephants....my bad!!

[cwn]

I am loving your blog!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to post! We hope to do this cruise if it is still being done in 2018. I agree with you about doing this kind of thing a young as you can, but don't write it off if things don't work out. It is worth the effort even if travel is taxing like it is for me.

 

We almost signed on to the first O RTW trip last year, but decided to our on version of a RTW trip instead, which given what happened to the ship was a good thing for us. Our trip included included a three week driving tour in SA as part of our RTW trip (4 month combo of land and cruise segments).

 

Glad you had a good day at Addo...it is a favorite of mine. along with Kruger. Spent two nights at the very nice park run lodgings (self catering studio type, but there is a restaurant at the main office complex). We had some great sightings also. There are many side roads and small water holes and so many baby elephants! We love South Africa. This was our second time there.

 

If interested in what we saw, check out the pictures in our blog;

 

http://www.rtw50thanniversary.blogspot.com

 

Go to the Achieves at the bottom of the page and click on April then April 12 the day we arrive at Addo. Also under "About Me" you will find the link for our first RTW in 2009 that was 5 1/2 months and included time in SA also.

 

Looking forward to more of your trip! Enjoy!

Edited February 12, 2016 by cwn

[cbb]

cwn--will look at your blog tonight! Headed out soon for Mpongo Game Reserve.

 

Did want everyone to know how wonderful the restaurant staff is for those of us taking tours, whether O or private, that arrive back at the ship having not had lunch.

 

This amazing crew not only keeps Terrace open long past normal hours but Waves had warming dishes filled with hot dogs and hamburger patties to build your own sandwich. Also on the table were all of the condiments, breads, salads, small premade deli sandwiches and deli meats and cheeses to create something that appealed to you.

 

Not once did anyone show the least exasperation or unhappiness working extra hours feeding us. What long hours these wonderful people work!

 

I always try to thank the crew and "white shirts" for staying open for us but I did want to post a public thanks as well!

[hypercafe]

Thanks so much for your posts, I would love to go however I would have to rent a jumbo jet coming home to take all the stuff my wife would buy!!

[cbb]

hypercafe....

 

we don't have your problem since we have a place in south florida so for us it is get off the boat, get into the hired car, and go up I-95!

 

maybe you should think about driving back to NY--then she could buy those things she wants.

 

in NC we have a saying..."if momma ain't happy, ain't noooo body happy."

[cbb]

hypercafe.....i just thought of the answer to your problem. If you go RTW O takes care of 4 pieces of luggage for you...picks it up at your door, returns it to the same place 6+months later....free.

 

so all you have to do is check the extra luggage through the airport line---and everybody wins!!!

 

seriously, we are having the time of our lives....every day is absolutely wonderful and the RTWers are having a blast!

[cwn]

I am eager to hear about your time at Mpongo. I had contacted them and arranged for a transfer, lunch and a game drive when East London was a port of call for us. Sounded like a nice small game reserve.

 

As it turned out we spent the night at a beach resort near Cintsa just north of East London after spending the day driving from Durban through Xhosa land and seeing some of the Saturday markets. Fascinating!!!

 

Reading your reports makes me wish we were going to be on the ship next year!!!

[cbb]

We liked Mponga quite a bit. The landscape is gorgeous and with the exception of power lines it looks like it must have looked generations ago.

 

Our guide took us in 4x4s off the road of side roads...so we really got to see a lot. He was so good about starting and stopping and easing forward so that we could get pictures.

 

Our only problem is that he would point or stop the vehicle but never told us what we were seeing so that was a great disappointment. He was our driver, but not our guide. The other drivers were also guides.

 

That said he rounded "a corner," if the veld can have corners, and suddenly there were 6 or 7 giraffes. They looked at us for a moment, and then resumed eating...awesome!

 

We had Alex from destination services on our 4x4 and yesterday was his 1st game drive, so today was still great fun for him. He made smoochie noices to try and entice them to turn and look at us... and it worked! Maybe giraffes like Italian men, too!!

 

Lots of zebras and wildebeests again as well as a beautiful black kite (predator bird) that sat on a tree for the photographers before it took off. Belsbok, kudu, a couple of hippos in a small pool, wildebeests, etc.

 

Saw lions as well, but they were in a highly electrified small area and were just kind of chilling under a tree, certainly not out in the wild.

 

Tomorrow is an overnight at Phinda (pronounced pin dah) so I'm really pumped about this one. 2 game drives, tea time, "dinner under the stars"

and plunge pools by our suites.

 

Research tells me that we need to check what other mammal may be at the plunge pool getting a drink before we step in!

 

More when we return.....

[cwn]

Ahhhh...Giraffes, I love to watch them and the zebras too. Sounds like you had a nice outing. You are going to love your overnight safari...they are the best!

[RachelG]

Be careful on your overnight. When we were on safari last year in South Africa, we encountered a black mamba right on our pool terrace.

[cbb]

rachelG- thanks for the heads-up! i.hate.snakes. I know their role in the ecosystems, etc. but i don't have to like them....

 

send him out onto pool terrace first.......check!

 

thanks again!!

Edited February 14, 2016 by cbb

[jaxw17]

Loving this following both reports it has become my ritual to read it each night. I then relay it back to my Husband.

Enjoy