Grand Africa 2023

Day 1

8th October

I chose this photo taken from our seats in the bus to the airport to kick off our adventure. Uploaded using the in-flight WIFI before we land in Houston.

I was not going to post photos of food this time but this Amuse Bouche with the pre dinner drink caused us an entertaining moment. I was not able to eat five of those little balls they kept slipping out from between my teeth when I bit down on them. Colleen had the same problem with one of hers.

Next we have the appetiser with a topped up wine.

And then after a bit turbulence we have a stained table cloth when the wine slopped out of the glass. Colleen faired worse her glass fell over and some of the wine ran on to her trousers. Her table cloth was replaced.

Landing approach to Houston. In the middle is a United plane flying parallel to us. Just after I took this photo the pilot was ordered to do a 'Go Round' from the tower. We don't why.

Fort Lauderdale

9th October

Today we walked across the 17th street bridge. It is a bascule drawbridge and on our way back across the bridge the alarm sounded and it began to open.

Embarkation

10th October

We were able to see the top of our ship from our hotel room.

Cargo still to be loaded on the dock, including passengers luggage.

New mooring lines being loaded.

Through here.

To here.

A diver emerging after inspecting the ship's hull.

Sunset on embarkation day.

And were off! We were late leaving because a crew member needed a CAT scan before starting the transatlantic crossing and the captain gave the medical team till 19:00 to deal with it.

Fort Lauderdale as we sail away.

At Sea

13th October

There is a depression in the mid Atlantic and we are going south around it. So the captain has had to put the 'pedal to the metal' to arrive at Funchal on time. Here we are racing along at over 20knots.

We saw the new hawsers being loaded in Fort Lauderdale and here they are installed on their windlasses.

At Sea

16th October

Here I am all dressed up for our first Formal Night with my new bow tie.

Funchal (Madeira)

18th October

Our tour today is round the west side of Madeira in a private taxi organised by Viv and Tino. There are just the four of us. Our first stop is the traditional fishing village of Camara de Lobos.

Viv took this photo of us on the quay.

Bananas grow all round Madeira. Here they are growing above Camara de Lobos. Sugar Cane is another crop grown on the island to make Madeira Rum.

Winston Churchill used to paint here.

Colleen having a look at Winston's painting.

This is what he is painting.

From the taxi window I took a photo of the motorway. This is just one of the many double tunnels the motorway passes through. The longest is 3.1km long. We have been travelling on the old roads that wind up and down the valleys.

Looking down on the municipality of Ribeira Brava from the lookout.

Round the headland is a Seabream fish farm.

Colleen sitting in our taxi.

Down in the town we had a walk round.

Soa Bento church is a sixteenth-century church. The interior is decorated with paintings of Flemish origin.

After leaving Ribeira Brava we drove to the Sao Vicente municipality in the mountains.

Colleen looking down the valley from the lookout.

One of the vineyards.

In Porto Moniz we had a pizza for lunch and then headed back to the ship.

Arrecife,Lanzarote (Spain)

19th October

Today we have a ships excursion.

Lanzarote had volcanic eruptions for six years from 1730 to 1736 and a smaller one in 1824. So the landscape is volcanic.

This is how the grapes are grown. In hollows with small volcanic rock walls to protect the plants from the almost constant wind.

Our first stop was at this winery.

Inside the cellar door. We bought a bottle of wine here to have when we have lunch in our state room

Two more pictures of grapes and lemons growing in the volcanic soil protected by the hollow and volcanic rock wall.

In the background are some of the more than 300 volcanic cones on Lanzarote.

These are not camels they are dromedaries. Our guide was at pains to explain that while they are called camels they are in fact dromedaries. Tourists can ride them. Riding them was not part of our package.

Two types of volcanic landscape we saw while travelling through Timanfaya National Park.

The Campesino Monument is a sculpture by Cesar Manrique dedicated to the farm workers of Lanzarote. Also known as the Monument to Fertility. The sculpture is 15 metres tall and was built in 1968 using water tanks from old sailing and fishing boats.

Colleen decending the spiral staircase to the underground restaurant at the House Museum of Cesar Manrique. It is a museum of the history of agriculture and the life of farmers. Cesar was a nature activist.

At the bottom is this pool beside the path to the restaurant.

Agadir (Morocco)

20th October

On top of the hill is the Kasbah of Agadir. It was the old city of Agadir which was destroyed in 1960 by the Lisbon earthquake. The wall has been partially restored.