Cruises Day 39 and 40
“I need six months of vacation twice a year.” -- Unknown
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Today was the first of two very welcome sea days. We have just completed six ports in seven days, and we had tours on all of them. It was well worth it as we had a great time, but it was tiring, especially with the last four port days being tender ports.
Since we had gone to bed early last night, we got up early (for us) and had our breakfast as usual in the Neptune Lounge. After breakfast we had a little time to kill so we read until it was time to head off to another lecture by Kate Ross. Today she talked about the history of South Africa, and it is a very sad history of the original inhabitants being pushed off their land and weren’t even considered citizens when South Africa became independent. She went through how apartheid came about and how it was finally ended, it was very hard to listen to how this all came about and finally was ended. It’s hard to believe that this went on until relatively recent times.
After the lecture it was time for me to get the blog written for our stay in Madagascar. I worked on that until it was time for lunch and then continued until mid-afternoon.
The captain made an announcement that our stop in Gambia was being cancelled because of tidal conditions at the port and being replaced by Dakar, Senegal. Senegal was one of our original ports, but due to their Covid restrictions it was cancelled. They have now loosened their restrictions and we will once again be visiting there replacing Gambia. Val spent the first part of the afternoon researching tours there and we ended up booking a ship excursion. It may change as we get nearer, but we wanted to have something booked as they tend to fill up.
We spent the rest of the afternoon mostly relaxing and reading, but we did start to get a few things together for our upcoming safari. It was dinner and the casino as usual and then returned to the room and called it a night.
Tomorrow is our last sea day before we reach Maputo on Saturday.
Friday, November 18, 2022
This is our last day until we arrive in Maputo, Mozambique and we start our safari. We found out last night that there are 182 people booked on ship organized safaris and 43 who are traveling independently like us. For our safari we will be taking a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Maputo to the MalaMala Game Reserve in South Africa where we will stay at MalaMala Rattray’s Camp.
We slept a little later than yesterday but were up and around by nine. After breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, it was time to start packing. Packing became a little more complicated after Val checked the weather report for the MalaMala area and the prediction is for rain and cool temperatures for the next couple of days and then warmer days after that. That means we will have to take some warm clothes, cooler clothes for when it gets warmer and rain gear for the rain.
I spent the morning getting the camera gear ready with plenty of extra memory cards and batteries. We both brought a backup camera with us as the thought of having a camera problem on this once in a lifetime (for us) safari would be devastating. I have a photo backpack I carry it all in and because we will be flying back to Cape Town at the end of our safari, the weight must be less than 17.6 pounds (8 kilos). After getting everything ready my weight came in at 17.7 pounds which is good enough for me. Believe it or not, that took me all morning as I was cleaning lenses and synchronizing the times on all of the camera.
While I was doing that Val packed her carry-on bag and her clothes. We are each taking one small suitcase and with adding a rain jacket and some cool weather gear it got to be a tight fit. She finally got everything she needed packed and by that time it was time for lunch.
After lunch it was my turn to pack my suitcase and I had a harder time than Val. Besides my clothes I had to pack some electrical adapters as South African power outlets are different than the US. I also had to pack sunscreen and insect repellent, which took up room, but I finally made it all fit.
When I was done, Val and I gathered together some prescriptions and over the counter medications that we might need for this trip. We especially had to make sure we packed our malaria medication. Ever since Tanzania we have been in malaria country so we have each been taking a pill after dinner every night and will continue to do so until we leave West Africa near the end of our trip.
We finally had everything together and packed except for what we would have to add in the morning and spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading. I feel like we are probably bringing too much, but this is our first (and only) safari so we don’t have any experience and we both tend to over pack anyway.
The evening was spent in our usual fashion, but we did linger in the casino a little longer than usual.
We are scheduled to arrive in Maputo at eight, but we don’t have to meet our driver until ten, so we don’t have to get up too early tomorrow.
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