Oct 15 – Leaving Mauritius

It was a short stop in Mauritius as we sail for India at 8:00 tonight.  Julie decided to explore the surrounding area with a van load of other of other women from the ship.  I decided to go snorkeling at the Blue Lagoon, reported to be one of the best snorkeling areas in the world.



Julie with Sheva



Julie and the gaggle of women loaded up in the van and headed out of town and into the surrounding mountains.  The area is lush and green with fields of sugar cane, pineapples and mangoes groves.  They stopped at a Hindu temple to see a 100 foot, terra cotta statue of Sheva, one of the Hindu goddesses.   People walk from all over Mauritius to pray to this goddess during one week in Feb.  Near the stature and the temple is a lake that is filled with water from the Ganges River in India.  Using the water from the Ganges River make the water in the lake holy water.  Julie and her group were given special blessing from the Hindu monk and who painted the appropriate Hindu marking on their foreheads.



The group continued on to a water fall, and an area called the 7 earths that had volcanic dirt mounds that showed 7 different levels of colored dirt.  Both are major tourist stops in Mauritius.  They sampled freshly pressed sugar cane juice, coconut milk along with fresh coconut and pineapple all before they stopped for lunch at a Creole restaurant.  The Domain du Cachet is nested in the palms and ubiquitous greenery with an open air patio – where group lunched.  Lunch consisted of creole chicken and rice with ice tea slightly sweetened with fresh lime, hearts of palm salad followed by caramelized banana and pineapple mousse.  A final stop before returning to the ship was a small beach where each of the ladies waded bare foot into the surf allowing them say they had been in the Indian Ocean.  They then made a mad dash for the ship before the gang plank was pulled up.

Blue Water Bay

I had a great day snorkeling at Blue Water bay.  This bay is home to several different types of coral including elephant, brain, stag horn and mushroom.  The fish were plentiful and the colors of both the coral and the fish were beautiful.  Our guide told us he was part of band that played around the area so after we finished with snorkeling we went to the local village to get a copy of his CD – a little local souvenir.  We had lunch at a small restaurant suggested at the record shop.  It was tasty and cost the 4 of us a total of $6 after which we headed for the ship and prepared to sail for India.

Oct. 14 - Maritius Day 1



Mauritius as We Entered the Port



We were up and on deck to watch the pilot boat and the tugs get us into port and docked.  It’s the same routine at every port, but coming into a new port is always exciting and somehow different.  Unlike Cape Town it is about a 35 minutes walk to get out of the port and into town.  The other option is a 10 minute ride on a water taxi.  These craft vary in size, shape and general appearance and sea worthiness.  All are privately owned and the owners are trying to make every trip count so they cram as many people as possible into each trip.  It makes the trip more interesting to think you might sink in the middle of the harbor.



Taxi Boat



We started to explored the town around the port and making our first stop the market.  The town is a mixture of the buildings erected by the French and British and new buildings put up after the country got its independence.  Most of the old building are shabby and run down and occasionally inhabited by the homeless.  We were told in our Global Studies class that Mauritius was a very mixed culture in terms of religion, race, politics, etc.   This was very evident from the way business is conducted on the streets of the city.  As you walk down the streets you have at least two different opportunities to shop.  One opportunity is to go into the stores and the other is on the opposite side of the sidewalk, between you and the street curb.  These set of businesses are owned by the street vendors selling just about anything you can imagine.  Overall the locals are friendly and helpful and were not  in your face trying to get you to buy their wares.



 

Maritius Fruit & Vegetable Market

It was my sister Sue’s birthday, so we decided to have a birthday dinner at an old sugar plantation that has been converted into a conference area.  There were 3 very good restaurants and we chose Indian cuisine.  The food and wine were great and all had a wonderful time.

Oct 3: Arrival in Cape Town, South Africa



Port at Cape Town, Table Mountain with
 "Table Cloth" of Clouds



We arrived in Cape Town at 0600 in time to watch the sun rise over Table Mountain.  The ship was docked in the Harbor Area of Cape Town.  An area that has been in the works for about 4 years, but really got the final touches and the upgrades to coincide with the start of the World Cup in July.  The centerpiece is a shopping mall that is anchored by a 5 star hotel at one end and a local craft market on the other.  The area surrounding is full of shops, restaurants, pubs, local tour guides and performing musicians.  It is the starting point for many tours such as one to Robben Island were Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.  We spent the first day wondering the markets and mall shops and restocked some items and bought a few things as well.  We decided to eat off the ship tonight and sample from South African cuisine.  The City Grill seems to offer something for all of us in our party of 4 – Kudu, springbok, wart hog, Ostrich and Crocodile.  We tried a little of everything.

Oct 4: Table Mountain and the surrounding area

Julie onTop of Table Mountain

We were up early to catch the express bus to the foot of Table Mountain.  It looked like is going to be a clear day, but apparently one can never count on that when going up Table Mountain.  There is a cable car that ascends the 1050 meter mountain that site directly to the east of Cape Town, but close enough to be an integral part of the city.  Table Mountain get it name because once on top of the mountain it is flat – an area of about 17 acres.  We were able to link up with a local guide who walked 6 of us around the mountain pointing out various sites in Cape Town and the surrounding areas below and flowers and wildlife that inhabits the top.  We descended the mountain the same way we arrived, cable car, and got back on the tour bus to see the rest of the area outside of Cape Town.  There are a number of smaller villages around Cape Town like Camp Bay and Clifton- very pricey real estate on lovely beaches.  Both Julie and I were beginning to think about jumping ship and staying here for the next 20 years.  Reality clawed its way back in to our consciousness as we remembered that the diplomatic briefing had told us about the 28% unemployment, one of the highest crime rates in the world and very pricey real estate in the area where we would like to live.  We tried to take a tour to Robins Island, but the only tour boat was out of service for repairs and we decided to call it a day and pack for our safari that starts tomorrow morning.



Cape Town View from Table Mountain



 

Lion's Head and Cape Town from Table Mountain



Oct 5, 6 and 7 – Going on Safari



Zululand



Our adventure started with a 2 hour flight from Cape Town to Durban followed by a 2.5 hour bus ride to Kwazulu Natal.  Our destination was Zululand Tree Lodge in the Ubizane Wildlife Reserve.  Zululand is similar to our Indian Reservations in that it is governed by the Zulu tribe according to trial laws and tradition and the property is owned by the Zulu tribe and not by the National or local governments.  The area, at least at this time of year, is lush and green with lots of Sugar Cane and gum tree fields.  The blue gum trees are used for paper production. 



Typical Zulu Home Complex

We passed small villages, but most of the housing was small Zulu style residences with several building and always a circular hut that is reserved to allow for the ancestral souls to return to their homes.  A Zulu family's wealth is measured in Cattle.  One of the jobs of the boys and young men is to watch over the family's heard as they freely grazed in the area.  Cattle are still used as the means to purchase a bride with a minimum price of 7 cows, and the law is that a man can have as many wives as he can afford.



Our TreeHouse



We arrived at the Zululand Tree Lodge and were greeted with fresh fruit drinks in the open air dining room, checked in and were shown to our tree house.  The tree house was among the large fever trees and is built on stilts about 8 feet off the ground.  These tree houses were much grander than we expected with big windows over-looking the reserve, king sized bed with mosquito netting all around and windows that opened enabling us to hear the birds and small animals during the night.

After a short stop to get unpacked, we took the first of 3 trips into the reserve to see what wildlife we could see.  This first trip was an evening drive timed to view the animals foraging in the cool of the evening.  We were in the smaller of the game reserves for this first outing and we saw impala, zebra, white rhino and giraffe in this outing as we drove on the back roads of the small, private reserve.

We returned to the lodge for dinner.  Cream vegetables, soup, salad, pumpkin, rice, sweet and sour pork, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and cream cake and pudding with vanilla sauce for dessert.  All done in Zulu style.  The evening ended with the lodge staff singing happy birthday to one of our fellow travelers and doing a traditional Zulu dance.

Up early the next day our safari to the larger game reserves of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi.  This reserve covers 11,0000 hectors and is a 30 minute drive from our lodge.  As we entered the park the first animal we spotted was a warthog.  These animals being fed at the entrance of the park were more like the pot belly pigs than the ferocious animals that I think of.   Although the ranger told us that they could be very mean and dangerous if cornered - especially the males.  We continued into the park to see more impala, nyala, kudu, waterbuck, gnu/wildebeest, rhino with calves, zebra, giraffe, families of baboons and Cape buffalo.  At the end of the day we finally spotted a heard of elephant and a couple of single bull elephants.  One would think, given the size of an elephant especially the size of a heard of elephant that there would be no problem in easily seeing these creatures – NOT.  They certainly look big in the zoo, but in the bush that is gray about the same color as the elephant and once they move into the bush 10 feet off the road they are almost impossible to see. 

Bull Elephant Pulling Down Tree for Dinner

The highlight of the elephant sightings was a lone bull elephant standing along a clearing on the side of the read about 15 feet from where we passed.  We stopped up the road from him to watch as he hid behind a tree and peeked around it to see what we were doing.  Seeing a  trying to hide behind a tree and peeking around it with one eye to see spy on us was an interesting sight, but the show was only just beginning.  As soon as this bull decided we were not going to bother him, he decided to start dinner by wrapping his trunk about this tree that was 20 feet high and pulling it towards him.  Once he got the root of the tree loose, he reversed his direction and started pushing the tree in the opposite direction.  With a load crack the tree trunk gave way and the tree fell in the road in the direction of our Landrover.  Our ranger quickly started up the car and move forward to the tree miss us.  The bull elephant was very pleased with himself as he casually walked around and started munching on the tree leaves saving the soft roots for dessert.  You could almost see him laughing to himself thinking that he give us tourists a little scare by pushing the tree over in the direction of our car.

Julie and Ranger at Kwzulu Reserve

The Sufari Begins

Oct 8 – Goodbye to Cape Town



Stellenbosch Countryside



At 6:00 PM we sail for Mauritius.  It has been a wonderful stop and we are sad to be leaving, but we do have one last tour.   We boarded a bus and drive to Stellenbosch for a city orientation and a stop at one of the many wineries in the area.  Stellenbosch is a very charming city that built up by the British and is home to some very old and high quality wineries or at least that what we are told.  The winery we visited was very nice, but their wine did not match the winery making it.  Oh well it gives us another reason to visit Cape Town and South Africa again.  We were given an hour to wonder around in the town of Stellenbosch and we found a piece of inexpensive art that was created by a local artist in a size that we could actually bring home on the airplane.




Old Home in Stellenbosch

We got back from the tour in time to do some last minute shopping in the Cape Town mall.  We bought a book on Cape Town cooking, had coffee and a chocolates and returned to the ship in time to get to the top deck to watch the last views of Cape Town as we left port heading for Mauritius.

Neethingshof Winery - Stellenbosch



Sept. 23 – Nzulezo Water Village

Typical craft to Water Village

Our tour today was the Nzulezo Water Village – a village about 2.5 hours drive from the ship. We arrived at the tour center for the village and got a short talk about the ecology of the area, given live jackets and sent down the road to the boat dock.  Even though these craft would hold up to seven people each, calling them boats is somewhat of a stretch.  They resembled more a dugout canoe than a boat and by the time we got each one loaded the gunnel was about even with the water line.  Not much free board above the water and on top of that they leaked, and the front passenger was given paddle.  These craft were really pole boats for 2/3 of the trip and then the guide and the front passenger paddled once we got to the lake.  It was an hour boat ride through canals and lake to reach the village.  About 10 minutes into the ride it started to rain slowly at first and then in a steady stream.  As the boats leaked in good weather, this made the job, given to those not paddling, of bailing water a bit more of a necessity.  We arrived at the village dripping wet, but still a float.

Starting the adventure to the Water Village



The village is built on stilts about 4 feet above the water and about 25 feet from shore or what looks like the shore but is likely a swamp.  Alligators do live in the area, but come and go according to whether the time of year is the dry or wet season.  Huts were built on these stilts and then walk ways were constructed between huts.  A few huts were larger and one acted as a village square and others were being used as schools for the children of the village.  The people of the village went on with their daily lives as we wondered through it.  Washing was hung out to dry and the cooking pots were bubbling with rice, curried chicken or fish, and some were roasting peanuts.  According to the history overview of this particular tribe, this village has been in existence for several hundred years.  The history appears to have been passed down as spoken tales and started before white men came this this area.  It was originally built as a way to protect the tribe from other warring tribes in the region.  The tours seem to be a source of income for the tribe, but the feeling we got as we walked through their houses was that the people liked the income the tour provided but were not that pleased to have strangers walking through their huts and walkways.  It was interesting but also nice to board our canoes and paddle back to the tour bus for the trip home.
 

Water Village Main Walkway



Water Village Walkway - cooking stoves at end





Children of the Water Village



Sept. 24 – Kakum Natural Park and Elmenia walking tour

Today we headed for Kakum Natural Park to see the rain forest and walk on walkways suspended above the trees.  We had all of the adults in a smaller tour bus with a tour guide that talked about the area, people and culture most for most of the 1.5 hour trip.  He was very informative and we learned a lot about the lives of the people in the area including the marriage and death ceremonies, land ownership, family (a.k.a. tribe) relationship, etc.  We also discovered that our guide was also the guide for President Obama and Michelle when they visited Ghana in July, 2009.

Walkways at Kakum Natual Park

Kakum Natural Park- Walkway #2

2 of the 7 walkways - approx 80 meters above the ground

Our walk through the village of Elmenia was once again an interesting experience.  Elmenia is a large fishing village.  It was originally built by the Dutch who worked in and supplied the Castle/fort when it was a trading center.  Many of the original houses and building are still being used by the local population as houses and stores.  This village feels over crowed as does all the villages we saw.  Fishing is the biggest business and it seems that hustling tourists could be the next largest activity in the area.

Elmenia Village

Elmenia Fishing Fleet

Children of Elmenia

Sept. 25 – Stroll through the town of Takaradi with Lunch

Although we did not have anything planned, we decided to go to the markets in Takaradi were where were docked.  We had a short cab ride to the middle of Takaradi and the market. This market is built in something that resembles a large circle with paths going in all directions.  You can walk around the outside of the circle and visit the shops or go inside the circle to the dense maze of shops.  All the shops in the inner circle are separated by a walkway about 3 feet wide and then covered with corrugated aluminum roofing that hangs over the walkways about 12 inches on each side.  As we started into this inter circle it started to rain and the effect was that all the rain water runs off the stalls and into the center of the walkways so it is like walking under a waterfall as one moves down the pathways of the markets. It did not take long for all of us to get absolutely drenched so we did not stay long in that area.

It was a short walk from the markets to a restaurant that was recommended as a place to try authentic Ghana food.  We sloshed up the street a few block to the Silver Pot for lunch.  Julie had been hearing about a dish called fufu that is a combination of a root plant called cassava and plantains.  This combination is mashed together and served as something that looks like uncooked bread dough. It is probably similar to poi that is served in Hawaii, but I have not tasted that so not sure about that comparison.  As she inquired about ordering fufu for lunch the waitress told her that fufu was served in a spicy peanut soup with either meat or fish.  Not feeling like eating fish and not being able to order just the soup and fufu, Julie opted for the meat and was told the meat was goat.  Shortly after placing the order, a large bowl of warm water and a container of soap were brought to Julie because the way you eat fufu is with your right hand, and then you eat the soup and meat with a spoon.  The spicy peanut soup was very good, the goat was medium and the fufu, to me, tasted like the undone, underside of a dumpling, but Julie was a great sport and finished almost everything including the fufu.

A final note to the lunch adventure – I said earlier that most of the villages we passed through has pigmy goats and chickens running loose around them, and as we passed through these villages Julie always remarked, with a warm fondness, how cute the goats were especially the babies.  I have noticed since her lunch that she no longer remarks about how cute they are – she just licks her lips as we pass.

On to Cape Town!

Sept. 22 – Ghana – Castles and Dungeons

We arrived in Ghana this morning at the port in Takaradi.  As soon as the ship cleared customs, we boarded our tour bus to start the Castles and Dungeons tour.  This tour starts with about an hour drive from the port and visits a two of the castles that were built in the late 1400s by the Portuguese who lost them to the Dutch in the 1600s and then were taken over by the British in the late 1800s.  The castles were built as a trade centers for gold, ivory and slaves.  The tour through the castle followed the footsteps of the slaves tht were held in the dungeons and then walking down the tunnel where the slaves walked to the waiting ship to be taken to North and South America.  We drove back towards our ship and stopped at a second castle in Elmenia.  The cost of Ghana is dotted with 16 of these castles all used as trade centers for over 300 years.   Over the years, it is estimated that more than 30 million people were captured and sent into slavery from these centers.



Castle (Trade Center) in Elmenia



Castle in Elmenia - Door to left is a place where guards watched the slaves move to the waiting ships

Entrence to the Female Slave dungeons

The trip from the ship traveled through Elmenia and beyond to the castles and passed through several smaller villages.  Most of the housing in these villages were dilapidated shacks with people selling and trading goods along the roadways.  Men worked on cars and other machinery and women and children carried bags of everything on their heads.  Garbage, goats and chickens were also plentiful additions in the villages.



Coconut Grove Resort



Between castle visit, we stopped for lunch and got a bit of a surprise.  We had been traveling through these villages made up of shacks and small business on the side of the street.  We were taken to lunch at the Coconut Grove Resort - a “country club” with golf course, palm trees, swimming pool and small lodges all on the ocean beach.  It was beautiful and a stark contrast to the locations and conditions in the villages we had just driven by.  This contrast is consistis every where we went in Ghana.