21 Day Namibia, Angola, and Ivory Coast on Sky: thoughts?

[David_S29]

I'm looking at a cruise up the western coast of Africa, and this one keeps popping up in my searches. It's particularly attractive to me for its ports-of-call in Walvis Bay, Luanda, Sao Tome, and Banjul. I note that this is on the Sky, which seems to be an older ship. Has anyone taken some version of this itinerary up the African coast -- and do they have any thoughts about it?

[complawyer]

we're taking the same cruise but o n the dawn a week earlier, i needed a 2 bedroom suite which the sky didnt offer. i was hoping that at least 1 of these ports might have offered a safari shore excursion, but so far no luck

[Kayak25]

We are doing this cruise in March 2025, all being well, on the Dawn. There is not a great choice of excursions but enough of interest and variety for us to choose from. Lots of choice for Walvis Bay, but Namibia is well in advance of the other ports of call when it comes to tourism. Twelve years ago my wife and I hired 4x4 and travelled to many places in Namibia including crossing the Namib Desert and driving down the Skeleton Coast.

The excursions look very good in Walvis Bay. The best place to do a safari would be from Cape Town before the cruise begins.

[majmaj4]

I would recommend going out early and doing some safari's in South Africa prior to the cruise.  There isn't much wildlife opportunity up the west coast.  For this trip you need to have some patience.  These ports are not frequently visited and sometimes are more industrial than tourist oriented.  That being said it is a fascinating trip.

[complawyer]

except our cruise leaves from barcelona and ends in capetown. i have researched 1 day safaris from capetown, but they just seem to be glorified animal parks, not much different than the one at disneyworld.

 

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[David_S29]

7 hours ago, majmaj4 said:

I would recommend going out early and doing some safari's in South Africa prior to the cruise.  There isn't much wildlife opportunity up the west coast.  For this trip you need to have some patience.  These ports are not frequently visited and sometimes are more industrial than tourist oriented.  That being said it is a fascinating trip.

I am not interested in Safaris. I would, however, love to get a glimpse of Luanda, which I understand is incredibly expensive as the capital of a Petrostate, and Sao Tome, which would otherwise require a flight from Libreville or Lisbon. And this might be my only real chance to visit The Gambia in a reasonable fashion...

[Goldenknight]

I cruise for an entirely different reason than many other cruisers.  For us, the ship is the destination, an opportunity to relax, and enjoy just being at sea.

 

My suggestions to two posters here on this thread:  perhaps a bit more research into the ports to which you are **briefly** stopping.  For example, having a "real chance to visit the Gambia" is an intriguing statement, me asking, "why?"   My family was fortunate to live in Dakar, Senegal for about four months. IMHO, Gambia (being the finger in Senegal's mouth), is a puzzling stop.  Angola is another puzzling stop.

Travelling up the West Coast of Africa is unlikely to be the cruise for hopping on a safari, even if one could be done within short port times.  If one's goal is to say we visited 8 or 10 African countries, so be it.  

Safaris would be perfect as a  land based tour, through Botswana, Zambia, etc.  

 

 

[David_S29]

54 minutes ago, Goldenknight said:

I cruise for an entirely different reason than many other cruisers.  For us, the ship is the destination, an opportunity to relax, and enjoy just being at sea.

 

My suggestions to two posters here on this thread:  perhaps a bit more research into the ports to which you are **briefly** stopping.  For example, having a "real chance to visit the Gambia" is an intriguing statement, me asking, "why?"   My family was fortunate to live in Dakar, Senegal for about four months. IMHO, Gambia (being the finger in Senegal's mouth), is a puzzling stop.  Angola is another puzzling stop  

 

 

Am I detecting a touch of travel snobbery here? Banjul and Luanda are puzzling stops -- to you. Isn't it great that we all have different travel priorities? Cunard offers a cruise with stops just in Walvis Bay and Dakar for those who find NCL's port-of-call list too puzzling. 🙂

 

I think I've already stated that I'm not looking for a Safari adventure, but there's nothing at all wrong with those who want to do this. 

 

I'd be quite interested into your insights on this cruise if you've sailed it.

[deefer]

13 hours ago, complawyer said:

except our cruise leaves from barcelona and ends in capetown. i have researched 1 day safaris from capetown, but they just seem to be glorified animal parks, not much different than the one at disneyworld.

 

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

I'm not sure how much time you have at the end of your cruise - but I would do what I could to add a few extra days and go to a safari camp.   We did a safari before our cruise and used a company called Discover Africa to coordinate not only the safari but also all our Cape Town tours & hotel.

 

We flew into the camps from Johannesburg, but I bet they could coordinate getting you there from Cape Town.  

 

Our safari coordinator was Megan - you could email her at megan@discoverafrica dot com.  It would be a shame to go all that way and not do a safari too - I bet you could even get a short 2-3 day one.

 

I did a review of our 12 day Cape town cruise. The first several posts maybe helpful for your planning, the safari & Cape Town.  In Cape Town, if you are interested in doing a Robben Island Tour, I would recommend doing a private tour - you see a lot more (see post #29) 

 

Here's the link if interested .... have a fantastic time!  

 

 

 Live from Cape Town: Jan 14-26, 2023. NCL Jade

[complawyer]

deefer.. much appreciated, and very much thanks!

[earth117]

I did a similar Azamara cruise in Dec 2022 so I'll try to help where I can. South Africa will have the best wildlife viewing, but not the "megafauna" within a day of Cape Town. The penguins and baboons near the cape are definitely worthwhile, and there are lots of great non-animal sights (Stellenbosch wine country as well as Cape Town itself). Namibia is superb - almost any shore excursion will be great, whether 4x4 through Namib-Naukluft Park (ostrich, antelope) or climbing the highest sand dunes. Luanda is... not. Except for the coastal strip it is an unexciting city, with only minor historical sites. The ship's excursion bus had an entourage - several police cars and an ambulance - because the city was so intent on making sure the rare tourists had no problem. There are wonderful natural sights in the country (waterfalls, cliffs) but generally too far from Luanda for a short excursion; if your cruise offers them they might well be worthwhile. Banjul is colorful - no must-do sites but it's pleasant to walk through the (crowded) markets and just see life going on. My cruise offered an excursion from Banjul to Fathala Wildlife Preserve in Senegal (they canceled our Dakar port for no stated reason). This is worthwhile since you see more wildlife, get a picturesque large local ferry across the Gambia River filled with locals in colorful dress, and get some taste of rural West Africa when crossing the border. We saw giraffe, various large antelopes, etc. The ship arranged the visas, but charged us double for Gambia (without telling us in advance) since the excursion left it and came back. Anyway, have a great trip! 

[Mike B Landlubber]

In 2026 I will be doing this on the Dawn as a B2B after a cruise from Mauritius. I haven’t done it yet, but I understand there may be some wildlife viewing possible from Fort Saint South Africa east of Cape Town.

[gflo]

On 8/26/2024 at 9:41 AM, complawyer said:

except our cruise leaves from barcelona and ends in capetown. i have researched 1 day safaris from capetown, but they just seem to be glorified animal parks, not much different than the one at disneyworld.

 

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

We're arriving in South Africa a month before departure.  Most of our time will be spent in Kruger Park.   It is a 2.5 hour flight from Cape Town to one of the Park,Camps--Skukuza.  You land inside the park & may either rent a car or have transport to the main camp.

We've been traveling to South Africa for 20 years & really believe Kruger is the best place on Earth.  Why?  It's very affordable.  Bungalows are less than $100/night.  They are self catering, meaning you do the cooking.  But each cap has a well stocked shop for groceries, wine, baked goods.  There are restaurants at all the camps except Bush camps.  The food is excellent & the restaurants have spectacular views.

Best part of Kruger is you drive yourself for your safari.  It's safe & easy.  You can go where you want, when you want.  We see almost as much as the commercial safari trucks.   Last trip, we were the only humans watching a family of 5 cheetahs.  

Kruger park also offers morning, sunset & night drives in 3 row safari trucks.  We always take a park drive & really enjoy the guides expertise & sharp,eyes!   They cost about $20.

For booking the website is:  www.sanparks.com.

See you in Africa!

Lisa

[DominicAUS]

There are many private game reserves not far from port Elizabeth, I went to Shamwari nd saw the big five. Game drives are very early morning and just before sunset when the animals are most active. If you’re going to South Africa I’d recommend going to one of these private reserves. No malaria needed and to see the big five. 
 

the other countries look amazing and it’s in my list for my big birthday trip.