On Board Le Bellot — Zanzibar and the Jewels of the Indian Ocean — December 16-28, 2021

[AussieBoyTX]

Last night's dinner with the officers, followed by a show put on by the dancers in the main lounge and dancing hosted by the junior officers and staff was well attended and fun. Being on the sunrise shift, it was almost past our bed time and we didn't stay for much of the dancing.

 

We had a busy at-sea day.

 

The naturalists offered sessions on sea turtles and coral reef symbiosis, as well as an overview of the most recent stops and what to expect tomorrow. About eight people attended the English sessions -- in part because the naturalists decided to offer a German session for the twelve German-speaking passengers.

 

The naturalist sessions were very well done, pertinent and interesting. 

 

The cadets were kept busy. They taught us how to tie boating knots and they led tours of the Bridge -- the first official Bridge visits since COVID. We got to see the high-tech navigation and control systems running the ship, still augmented by paper charts, & navigation logs. We also got to learn a little bit about the ship's security procedures for travel in areas where piracy is possible.

 

Other events on offer: Travel Quiz, Learn the Charleston and the Salsa dances, Crêpes Suzette for Afternoon Tea, Photography Tips and musicians in the lounge.

 

In between that, we exchanged Manta and sea turtle videos with our fellow divers.

 

Needing a break from formal & gala dinners, we ate outside at the more casual Deck 3 restaurant.

 

Tomorrow we see Astove and Cosmoledo Atolls...

 

 

[AussieBoyTX]

Yesterday, Le Bellot brought us to the Aldabra group of islands -- some closer to Madagascar than Mahé, where we started. First stop: Cosmoledo Atoll

 

The planned activity was an expedition tour of the atoll's lagoon to see the wildlife -- mainly the roosting areas of the birds -- the Boobies and Sooty Terns. That's not our thing, to say the least, so we all went scuba diving. 

 

The diving was very good with healthy coral and massive schools of fish. forests of Gorgonian fans, some sea turtles and grouper. We had gotten used to having very short 5-10 minute rides to our dive spots, but the expedition tours visited a different part of the atoll than us and Le Bellot repositioned to meet them at the end of the tour. That made for a 75 minute return through the atoll to ship for us and we got the atoll tour anyway. Bwahaha. 

 

The afternoon was at Astove Island. 

 

Most passengers were on a supervised snorkel from Zodiacs at the top of the Astove reef wall and they said it was great.

 

For those of us diving, we all agreed that the scuba diving was among the best we'd ever experienced! The wall was filled with life from the surface all the way down past 85 feet, which was as deep as we went. Schools of tens-of-thousands of small tropical fish, several grouper, gorgeous healthy colorful coral, sea anemones with their clownfish, some cleaning stations and even a remora trying to hitch a ride with us. Video may be coming after we get home.

 

After the dive was completed, we did some snorkeling near the other passengers and agree that the reef was gorgeous from the surface as well. 

 

We had dinner on deck four with a delightful solo passenger and made it to bed by eleven.

 

Next stop: Assumption

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Yesterday on Le Bellot we arrived at a mountain of paperwork to enter Zanzibar. But more on that at the end. 🤣

 

We spent the day at Assumption Island, a member of the Aldabra group. It's a curious island with spectacular white sand beaches, where we could spend our day in luxury, along with a paved airstrip and, if you believe Wikipedia, a military installation and deep water port on the other side of the small island (we didn't see this). A Beech 1900 belonging to Seychelles Island Development Company landed, apparently with some provisions for our ship.

 

The setup offered was similar to Rémire -- regular Zodiacs between ship and beach, umbrellas for everyone and bar setup. Snorkeling was possible above the famous reef featured in Jacques Cousteau's 1956 documentary "The Silent World."

 

In the morning, we went drift diving on the reef and, again, it was spectacular -- an interesting combination of coral, seagrass beds and white sand. We saw lots of anemones, sea cucumbers and schools of fish.

In the afternoon, we went exploring on the island and found several Aldabra tortoises resting under a bush to escape the hot sun.

 

The snorkeling was also great and the reef was shallow enough to provide excellent views, including some manta rays.

 

We actually stayed up to watch the show "New York" and it was very good. IMO, a notch above other Ponant shows I've seen. 

 

Now, back to the paperwork -- charitably, I'm going to chalk this up as part of the fun of the expedition. The Zanzibar health declaration had to be completed online and it was a poorly designed form that tended to time out -- especially with all of the passengers trying to hit the site at once. The theater was full with passengers on their screens as they tried to complete the forms. Fortunately, we decided to try before the mandatory evening briefing and we successfully completed the form after only six attempts.

Next: a day at-sea.

 

[gogo65]

Looks superb. Trying to convince hubby…

[AussieBoyTX]

1 hour ago, gogo65 said:

Looks superb. Trying to convince hubby…

 

I think in a couple of years, we'll be ready to do Seychelles again -- probably the thirteen night The Seychelles and Aldabra Atoll cruise. Just much easier logistics to stay in the Seychelles.

[AussieBoyTX]

 

Yesterday, we were at-sea with Le Bellot in the Indian Ocean bound for Africa. Again the naturalists offered talks on Aldabra Giant Tortoises, the pods of whales & dolphins we could see occasionally off the ship's bow, the varied Seychelles birds and several other topics.

 

In the main lounge, our cruise director and naturalists offered quizzes on wildlife, movie music and exotic fruits and the various artists performed throughout the day and late into the evening.

 

Our cadets were also hard at work, this time under the watchful eye of the Ship's Captain, teaching us the science of celestial navigation by sextant. I thought this would take about fifteen minutes, but we spent an hour, with each of us trying to shoot the sun, then using the tables to determine our latitude. Finally, we ended the suspense with a call to the bridge to get the official GPS latitude and found we were about 30 nautical miles off. Our understanding is that a skilled sextant navigator, not distracted by a bunch of helpers plied with Champagne, could have accuracy under 1 nautical mile.

 

Our activities were broken up with a caviar tasting and one of Ponant's patented brain-scratching covid antigen tests in preparation for entry into Tanzania. 🤯

 

We ended the day with another lovely dinner at the Deck 4 restaurant, where our excellent wait staff shared some dinner table tricks.

 

Next: Christmas Eve on Pemba Island, Tanzania.

 

 

[AussieBoyTX]

On Christmas Eve, Le Bellot brought us to Pemba, an island in the Autonomous Region of Zanzibar. After the formalities, temperature and paperwork checks, we went ashore by tender and were met by quite a welcoming committee -- the island's governor and other officials, dancers, news media and the fire department were all there to welcome us to the island -- we were the first cruise ship to visit since 2019 and therefore newsworthy.

 

We could see that many things are recycled here -- our bus was previously a Japanese school bus and none of its markings had been painted over. The firefighters had high-tech protection suits from Hamburg, Germany. The Germans loved that.

 

After our welcome festivities wound down, our convoy of eight small busses were led by the chief of police in his Land Rover on our tour. It was fun to wave to the children we passed by.

 

We took the "Spice Islands" tour, which started at a State-owned essential oils processing plant and got to see and smell clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, ylang-ylang leaves and more, followed by a tour of the plant, which was not operating because it runs seasonally. At the end, we had the opportunity to buy some of their product at $2 a bottle. We found an interesting poster with work rules at the factory.

 

Then we went for refreshments and local music at a local restaurant and enjoyed coconut water & corn cakes. Some of us broke free from that and found a tree filled with Pemba flying foxes. A video is more interesting than the picture below.

 

Then we went for a tour of the chaotic markets in the capital city of Chake-Chake. Wow. It's considered rude to take pictures of people without their permission, so the only people-pictures I took were of performers, or people that gave their consent. That didn't work the other way -- every single move we made was recorded by at least one local videographer and that was somewhat unnerving. More so in the market, where we drew a crowd.

 

Finally, we saw a clove tree farm and saw examples of many fruits & vegetables that grow there and received a gift of dried clovers.

 

All that took more than five hours before we found ourselves back at the port to return to the ship.

 

We had planned scuba that afternoon, but visibility was poor, so we skipped that and it gave us time to rest up for the marathon evening ahead.

 

Christmas Eve is a big deal on the ship -- starting with a cocktail party at 7pm at the main lounge with Christmas songs performed by the ship's artists. The multi-talented Ship's Captain then accompanied our lead singer on piano as she sang Silent Night.

 

Another gala dinner on deck 4 began at eight and before dessert was served, many of the ship's staff gathered to perform Christmas songs for us.

 

After dinner and a very short break, we were invited to another party at the main lounge where many of the crew were involved in songs & skits. Then the floor was open for dancing and it was well past eleven. Just to note that the lounge was at capacity with almost eighty of us there and had we had higher occupancy, this format wouldn't have been possible.

 

Next: Christmas Day at the beach at Misali.

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Christmas Day on Le Bellot started with a scuba dive on the famed Misali reef. It was good, with healthy coral. We saw our first starfish, a Napoleonfish, jellyfish and a large scorpionfish, along with the other marine life.

 

Back on the surface, fishermen had come to the ship offering fresh catch for sale. 

 

For the non-divers, a beach day was on offer -- unfortunately, those same jellyfish made the beach too treacherous for swimming, leaving people to sunbathe or search for the local monkeys (apparently not difficult, if you actually looked up into the trees at the beach).

 

Late in the afternoon, the Ship's Captain made an announcement over the ship-wide PA system advising us that Père Noël had gotten caught in a baobab tree and the cadets had been authorized to take a Zodiac to rescue him. (Clearly, Santa hadn't paid attention to the cadet's navigation course from earlier in the week). Soon enough, Santa was retrieved by the cadets and arrived at the Marine Deck unscathed with hugs & presents for all. We also got to watch the Marine Deck fold up, which was impressive.

 

We haven't mentioned much about the food -- it has been uniformly excellent. Tonight appealed to us all, with cauliflower soup, seared tuna, beef tenderloin and sea bream on offer. Also, we were invited to try over twenty special cheeses before enjoying our chocolate & caramel dessert.

 

Tomorrow, we arrive at Kilwa Kisiwani island for the possibility to tour the ruins of the former Swahili trading city -- one of the former most beautiful cities in the world. Spoiler: we're not likely to do this tour.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

Yesterday, Le Bellot made the long trip to Kilwa Kisiwani at full-steam. Thanks to new rules from Tanzanian immigration authorities, we had to enter Tanzania in Pemba and now backtrack some 200 nautical miles to see Kilwa Kisiwani. 

 

As foreshadowed, we skipped the tour and seeing the ruins independently was not allowed. Along with a handful of other passengers, we stayed on board and enjoyed the ship to ourselves for a couple of hours. After four hours at anchor, we left to make the full-steam return back to Zanzibar.

 

Surprise! Along with some other English speakers, we were invited to join the Ship's Captain at his table for the farewell gala dinner. Even though we had been looking forward to a casual evening, we had a great time. The menu was very well done (the scallops stood out as really perfectly prepared), with great wine pairings provided by the sommelier and ending with a variation on a signature Ponant dessert.

 

Next, we arrive in Zanzibar and have a day on the ship before disembarkation the following day. Already, COVID has begun to reenter everyone's minds -- Emirates has suspended service to Zanzibar, leaving many passengers scrambling for alternatives. Many have been rebooked on Qatar Airways, which is the airline we're flying. We'll see...

 

Edited December 27, 2021 by AussieBoyTX

[AussieBoyTX]

 

[jonikal]

Salut!

[AussieBoyTX]

So now the details on the final day on the ship...

 

Well, well… Le Bellot arrived in Zanzibar on the 27th and no sooner had the local dancers begun to entertain us from the pier than we were called to the theatre by the Ship’s Captain. We were informed three people felt ill overnight and tested positive for COVID. The day’s excursions were cancelled and we were all tested for COVID again. 🤯🍢.

 

Anyway, testing the passengers took 45 minutes and testing the crew took another 90. After we were tested, we found the ship’s COVID restrictions were back to what we experienced on Le Lyrial over the summer — buffets / self-service were closed, Plexiglas shields were back up and Tensabarriers kept us a few feet back from staff. But we still had full access to all parts of the ship.

 

We were given a lot more information than what I’m sharing here, but suffice to say, we were given the details we needed in a timely manner. Testing and contact tracing were completed by late afternoon and we weren’t close contacts with anyone who tested positive.

 

I will say the “game” at the main lounge was to guess how COVID got on board, but all theories were inconclusive. The chaotic day at Pemba Island two days earlier was definitely a frontrunner, though. Especially the street market — it was so chaotic that we decided to stand way back.

 

Dinner was available as normal to us as was breakfast the following morning. At 9 AM, we left the ship and we were bid adieu by all of our favorite crew members.

 

-- About the ship & itinerary:

 

This truly was a spectacular itinerary with so many beaches and so much aquatic life to see. The Tanzanian part of the trip was very interesting, but with the COVID and Yellow Fever protocols, knowing what we know now, we’d choose an all-Seychelles two-week itinerary next time. And we’ll probably do that Seychelles itinerary again in 3-4 years.

 

We felt the crew on this ship was among the best of any Ponant ship and found no aspect of service was lacking.

 

The food, as we’ve come to expect, was excellent. Next time, we’ll probably choose to eat at the casual restaurant more often. The fantastic service kept drawing us upstairs, but after the scuba and other activities, it became a bit much.

 

All of the activities (aside from scuba) were “Accessible” — meaning any passenger who got the physician’s sign off to come aboard was able to do any activity. We wished accommodations could have been made for strong / athletic swimmers to do a more intense activity. Some of the snorkeling was so safe, it felt like being in a kiddie pool.

Edited January 1, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[Lukec]

Thank you for the detailed review and all the pictures. 

 

Do you if additional passengers/crew members tested positive after the initial 3 positive results?

Hope you were not too bummed about missing the excursions that day. The rest of the trip looked phenomenal.

[Sitti]

2 hours ago, AussieBoyTX said:

We were informed three people felt ill overnight and tested positive for COVID. The day’s excursions were cancelled and we were all tested for COVID again. 🤯🍢.

 

Testing and contact tracing were completed by late afternoon and we weren’t close contacts with anyone who tested positive.

 

I will say the “game” at the main lounge was to guess how COVID got on board, but all theories were inconclusive. The chaotic day at Pemba Island two days earlier was definitely a frontrunner, though. Especially the street market — it was so chaotic that we decided to stand way back.

Thanks for letting us know. Glad you were ok.

 

This is what I'm afraid of. It can instantly ruin the remaining trip. I might try to avoid spending much time or making close contacts with the others. Try to be alone as much as possible.

 

My upcoming Antarctica cruise, once the ship departs from Ushuaia, it won't stop at any port for the entire voyage until it returns the same the port. I guess in a way everybody on board would be completely isolated. Much Less likely chance of covid brought from outside. Unless someone manages to slip through on the day of boarding or penguins infect us with new strains

 

[AussieBoyTX]

36 minutes ago, Lukec said:

Thank you for the detailed review and all the pictures. 

 

Do you if additional passengers/crew members tested positive after the initial 3 positive results?

Hope you were not too bummed about missing the excursions that day. The rest of the trip looked phenomenal.

 

There were additional infections that were uncovered on the final day tests. We were given details about them, including that we weren't close contacts to any of them.

 

We hadn't signed up for any of the final day excursions and had intended to explore Stone Town on our own. We were able to do that the next day. 

[AussieBoyTX]

38 minutes ago, Sitti said:

Thanks for letting us know. Glad you were ok.

 

This is what I'm afraid of. It can instantly ruin the remaining trip. I might try to avoid spending much time or making close contacts with the others. Try to be alone as much as possible.

 

My upcoming Antarctica cruise, once the ship departs from Ushuaia, it won't stop at any port for the entire voyage until it returns the same the port. I guess in a way everybody on board would be completely isolated. Much Less likely chance of covid brought from outside. Unless someone manages to slip through on the day of boarding or penguins infect us with new strains

 

Yes, there's always a risk. We're always good about being prudent about our exposure, but we didn't isolate ourselves from other passengers. There were several passengers we saw again and again in the lounge and at meals.

If Pemba was the source of the infection, then you're right -- the entire ship was mostly isolated up to that point.

Edited January 1, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[ethan1171]

Thank you for sharing these details with us. And the advice on a all-Seychelles two-week itinerary - I will take that into consideration since your trip gave us great ideas for the future for a similar itinerary.

 

Do you know what was the protocol followed for those passengers tested positive? Did they have to isolate in Zanzibar / Tanzania for 10 days or more? Did Ponant provide any sort of assistance / hotels etc. to make this easy on these passengers or they were disembarked and left on their own to figure it out? Also wandering if you had thought about it and had a Plan B in case of a positive result? Like spending 2-3 more weeks in Tanzania / Zanzibar before being allowed returning back to the US?

 

We traveled to Greece and Cyprus a few months ago and I had a similar plan in mind in case of a positive result and not being able to return back immediately. E.g. I had investigated the options on quarantine hotels and had my laptop with me so I can continue working remotely.

 

Same as Sitti we are on an Antartica cruise in less than a month and a half and I am thinking through the options in case of a positive test? e.g. isolate / quarantine in Ushuaia ? But still would be nice to know if Ponant has a protocol developed for those outcomes?

 

 

[AussieBoyTX]

16 minutes ago, ethan1171 said:

Do you know what was the protocol followed for those passengers tested positive? Did they have to isolate in Zanzibar / Tanzania for 10 days or more? Did Ponant provide any sort of assistance / hotels etc. to make this easy on these passengers or they were disembarked and left on their own to figure it out? Also wandering if you had thought about it and had a Plan B in case of a positive result? Like spending 2-3 more weeks in Tanzania / Zanzibar before being allowed returning back to the US?

 

I don't know exactly. I know that everyone who tested positive and their close contacts were isolated to their cabins -- but that's only 18 hours or so, and I don't know what happened with them after we disembarked.

 

We did have a Plan B. Travel insurance coving covid was required (and we actually had two policies that would cover isolation / quarantine and other expenses if we got infected. We had the authorized hotel list for Zanzibar and knew which would be the best choice (freestanding villa overlooking the beach) 😄 

Edited January 1, 2022 by AussieBoyTX

[Sitti]

1 hour ago, ethan1171 said:

Same as Sitti we are on an Antartica cruise in less than a month

 

Your upcoming Antarctica cruise, does it happen to be "The Ross Sea"?

[schnapperin]

2 hours ago, ethan1171 said:

 

 

Same as Sitti we are on an Antartica cruise in less than a month and a half and I am thinking through the options in case of a positive test? e.g. isolate / quarantine in Ushuaia ? But still would be nice to know if Ponant has a protocol developed for those outcomes?

 

 

Usually they do have isolation cabins for that - so you will spend those days inside the cabin, unless conditions are getting worse enough for a medi evacuation or the ship turning around

 

I would say at the moment the risk is as high as ever to catch Covid on the way to the ship, quarantine before and not taking of a N95/FFP2 mask at all during the travel

 

Seperating from others might not be possible unless one only orders room service for all of the trip - and there is some closer contact putting on shoes, getting onto the zodiac and the zodiac trip of course

 

They might broadcast the daily briefings now but those are def not to be missed

[gogo65]

Thanks for the review ABTX, jealous you got to have an amazing vacation, but brought back how quickly things change. Luckily you weren’t impacted (except for a missed port). 

We were meant to be jumping on Le Soleol in a few days, sad we aren’t, but believe everything happens for a reason, now I have to wait till August to try again. 

[ethan1171]

7 hours ago, Sitti said:

 

Your upcoming Antarctica cruise, does it happen to be "The Ross Sea"?

We are on Emblematic Antarctica with Le Lyrial Feb 19 - Mar 2.

 

[VirgilB]

I’m jealous. I did a typical Caribbean Christmas cruise with Crystal… no scuba.

It was relaxing, but your trip looks incredible. Thanks for sharing…!

[jpalbny]

Really enjoyed your trip report! It was great to "catch up" with Le Bellot in a new location. Your ship and food pictures brought back nice memories. 

 

Have been to Zanzibar, but not The Seychelles. The diving excursions looked great. Might have to find an itinerary that visits there. We haven't booked a second Ponant trip yet but we are looking. 

 

Thanks for taking us along with you!

[klsd]

Can anyone advise me as to the difficulty of getting into the zodiac from snorkeling? I haven't found any pics that show a ladder or anything.  As a 70 yr old, I wonder if it's doable. Many thanks