Grand Africa Voyage 2023

Durban

22nd November

The Durban pilot being helicoptered to the ship.
Due to the sea conditions here the pilots are airlifted to the ships.
That is not a funny hat he is wearing, the wheel of the helicopter is behind him.

Today our excursion is to the PheZulu cultural village and Tala Game Reserve.
The valley of 1000 hills from the PheZulu village.

A re-enactment of a boy meeting a girl fetching water.

The fortune teller who casts the bones to see if it is a good match before the dowery is paid.

After the PheZulu village we went to Tala Game Reserve.
Nyala, a spiral horned antelope.

A Blue Heron that has just caught a frog.

Rhinoceroses mud bathing.

Young zebra.

One of the adults.

Rooiboks.
This is a nuserary, one female looking after several calfs

More antelope.

Hippos.

More rooiboks.

Giraffe.
A young giraffe is in the background of the photo above.

This bird in the foreground is feeding.

It uses its wings to shade the area where it is looking.

Rhinos.

Good bye to Durban.
The pilot boat departs and we are on the last leg of our voyage to Cape Town.

At Sea

23rd November

Today is Thanksgiving. This is our dinner table.

Me dressed up for Thanksgiving Dressy night. The clash with the serviette was not spotted till later.

The menu.

My first course. Beets Apple and Tarragon.

Colleen's Traditional Thanksgiving Turkey.

At Sea

24th November

The Christmas display in the Atrium.

Debarkation

25th November

Sunrise over Cape Town.

Docking, the last time for us, in Cape Town.

We could not check into the hotel till 14:00. So we sat in this lounge with a view of Table Mountain till we were kicked off the ship at 09:00.

After taking an Uber to the hotel to drop off our bags, we followed the hotel staff's directions for a Hop on Hop off bus tour of Cape Town.

Driving up to Table Moutain's cable car station.

Table Moutain's cable car station.

A view from the cable car station over Cape Town.

In the background can just be seen part of Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

This is the dining room of the hotel. It has an ecclectic collection of furniture.
After the tour we had lunch here while we waited for our room.

Cape Town

26th November

Today we have a tour of four wineries.
This is the first, Fairview Wine and Cheese in the Paarl region.
They make both cow and goat cheese.

The tasting room.

Our first wine of the day.
Six wines are paired with six different cheeses.
At the end of the cheeses is a little bowl of hibiscus oil to dip the cheese in for tasting.

Half way through the tasting.
After eating the first cheese a squeeze of balsamic reduction was put in its place and after the second cheese a squirt of dijon mustard to try with the cheese and wine.

The second winery, Eikehof in the Franschhoek region.

The third winery, Le Pommier in the Stellenbosch region.

At this winery we are pairing wines with chocolate.
The chocolate was supplied by the tour company.

Lunch.
Colleen and I had Home Made Chicken Pie.

Our fourth and final winery, Muratie, in the Knorhoek Valley north of the Stellenbosch region.
A customer is sitting in the cobweb draped tasting room.
The previous owner didn't believe in killing the spiders, as she wanted to live in harmony with nature.

Our guide and driver giving us an overview of the wines we are about to taste.
By this time, after a wine with lunch, there was not much enthusiasm for more tasting.
Most of the wine went in the spitoon.

The last view of our ship as we return to our hotel after a great day out wine tasting.
The ship sailed during the night.

SQ479/SQ281

27/28th November

So what is it with me and airline seats?
At check-in I was informed my seat was faulty and moved to another one.
At least there is plenty of leg room!