March was a interesting month. We started heading into mainland China from Hong Kong and ended heading for Kruger National Park from Durban, South Africa. In between we crossed the equator again (2nd time this trip, one more to go) and visited five ports. You’ve already read about our China trip and we’ll cover our safari in our next blog. So this is about the five ports in-between.
One item. We arrived back on the ship from safari on April 1st in Cape Town to find that the razor wire and water cannons had been removed. Seems the pirates had missed their chance. Well, they’ll get another shot at us in November.
Singapore is a quick entry. We arrived back on the ship late on the evening of March 8th after our five day journey through China; tired, hungry, and happy to be home. The next day the ship sailed early and we decided to just sleep in. This was our second time in Singapore and we’ll be back later this year so we saved our wandering until then. You can see some comments from our earlier visit at XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
On to Phuket, Thailand on March 11th. First on the agenda was to head for Kokchang Safari and Noreen’s elephant trekking.
We chose the 50 minute trip. I mean if you came this far you may as well go for the most. A decision that Noreen was not all that pleased with after we got started.
One of the first things we checked was how the elephants were constrained, the condition of their skin and any signs of mistreatment. I am pleased to say that despite dire predictions of others we found no signs of any abuse. During the entire time we were there we never saw any of the handlers use their short sticks to hit or stab an elephant. They used voice commands, pressure with their feet, and a occasional nudge to keep the elephants on track. In this picture you can see the elephant staging area and the platform we climb on to get on the seat.
You know Noreen doesn’t like being up, and elephants are up; way up. Not only that but we were on a jungle trail with steep ups and downs and a drop-off to one side. Here are some pictures.
Our guide and the trail.
You can see how steep the trail is by looking back at a couple of ladies from the ship who decided to come along with us.
Even without a driver the elephant knew the way to go. The seat lurched back and forth and side to side with the elephant’s gate and the slope of the terrain. It constantly felt like it was about to slip off.
We really had a great time and enjoyed the ride. Back on the ground Noreen went to feed bananas to one of the younger elephants.
After our elephant adventure in the “jungle,” Noreen needed some therapy to recover her sense of civilization so we headed for……..
Inside the world’s biggest jewelry store. I was able to take this picture before security told me no photos. And this was only part of the store. I can safely say that Noreen was able to fully recover from her adventure with a few purchases.
Our time was up and we had to head back to the ship. Some shots going through town.
Our next stop was Colombo, Sri Lanka. Colombo was a port we decided to relax and catch our breath. After a short walk to visit the shipside vendors we returned to the ship and relaxed the rest of the day.
The Seychelles is composed of 115 islands and our port was Victoria on the island of Mahe,the capital. It is one of the smallest capitals in the world. First colonized by the French in the 1700s, then controlled by the British, the island nation gained their independence in 1976. The town reflects the history of French, British, African, Chinese, and Indian in the street names, food and languages spoken. It is known as one of the best SCUBA diving islands in the world. I went diving the first day but the water so was rough I decided to call it and not get beat around. I’ll get another chance sometime. On day two we went into town.
They generate power with a series of wind turbines at the harbor entrance.
Tuna fishing is a major industry. This is the tuna processing plant and some of the fleet. You may remember that we visited with Charlie Tuna in Pago Pago. We understand he visits here but doesn’t live here.
We wandered around town and found this Hindu Temple.
We also found the famous Little Ben in the town square modeled after the Big Ben in London.
Finally we settled into a nice place called the Pirate Arms for a quick drink before heading back to the ship. We saw these trucks full of men driving by. Seems they are construction workers brought to the Seychelles for a project. Each morning they ride to the work site and each evening they return to a dormitory setting. I wonder what OSHA would say about this.
While off the ship we checked out the razor wire and water cannons.
It was on to Port Louis, Mauritius on March 23rd. It was a Sunday and very quiet on the Island. They are most famous for being the last home of the dodo Bird before it went extinct. There are a lot of Dodo bird references and pictures around town.
Another item they are famous for is model ships. Here are a few examples.
Most of the ladies we saw were in the same type dress.
If you want to find Wi-Fi, just look for the crew. Unfortunately with all the people jumping on these small island systems it is so slow and intermediate that I can’t publish a blog. This is one table. There are six more tables of crew around.
There are local foods
and more familiar fare.
Some harbor sights.
The Captain parked our ship in a large field.
It was on to La Possession, Reunion on March 24th. This was another quiet island for us. We styed on the ship and enjoyed time together. No pictures from this stop.
As you can see this series of small islands between Singapore and South Africa was really a time for us to relax get ready for our safari. We’ll “see” you in the next blog and travel around South Africa. We send our best to everyone and hope all is well. Drop us a line with any questions or comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment