April 16, 2025

Today we are having the visit many travellers are talking about for weeks. As many as 800 guests and 280 crew are going to be off board, most are going to be on their way to visit the pyramids of Giza.

For ourselves, we are booked on a tour to visit the pyramids and have a boat cruise on the Nile River. The day started at 5:30 AM breakfast call. We were loading busses up at 7:30 for our 3hr bus ride to Cairo. It took us a while to get out of the port compound area. The port of Alexandria is enormous, stacks of sea containers as far as the eye could see. Eventually we made it through the checkpoint into the City of Alexandria. Soon we were greeted by very old apartment buildings in this City of 5.6 million. I also noticed large blocks of new apartment buildings, it looks like they were finished but not occupied. On the outskirts of the City there were a few large oil refineries, followed by stretches of wetlands, being part of the River Nile Delta. Eventually the wetlands started to turn to agriculture land till the outskirts of Cairo. As we were traveling along the highway, we passed many small trucks loaded with tomatoes and other varieties of produce. When we travelled through the outskirts of Cairo, we could see the Pyramids in the distance. Not much later, we pulled in through the gates of the pyramids of Giza. We were allowed to drive the bus very close to the pyramids, which was a bonus.

Soon as we departed the bus we were greeted by the Sahara sand blowing into our faces. Obviously the first thing to do was shoot pictures of everything in sight. These pyramids are massive structures built thousands of years ago and withstood all the elements of nature. One interesting scene was, that I went for a small camel ride and all of a sudden the price went up from $15 to $50 while I was on the Camel. The guy refused to let me off the Camel until I paid him. Meanwhile he was trying to get his hands on Carol’s phone, which she obviously refused. After some arguing  we settled on 20 bucks for the ride and he let the Camel down, so I could get back on the ground. Luckily Carol shot many good pictures. These tactics are apparently very common. We heard from one of the ship’s crew members, they tried to charge her $110. (bunch of scammers to me) Following this episode they took us to a central plateau for more opportunities to take pictures. We got back on the bus for a short ride to see the Sphinx. What is the Sphinx you may ask?

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre.

After arrival at the Sphinx we were let into several chambers adjacent to the Sphinx. Looking at the granite blocks they used for the chambers , they must weigh over 10,000 pounds. They transported the block from 300 miles away about 4500 years ago. After we were let out of the chambers, we shot a few more pics of the creature, before we were headed off to the bus for our short ride to the shores of the Nile for our boat ride and lunch.

Our lunch buffet was great, lots of Egyptian foods. During the lunch we were treated to a belly dancing show and a performance by a Egyptian guy whirling some kind of a colourful round carpet above his head. A variety of the larger hotel chains are located along the shores of the river. It is obvious that the people who are well off, made their homestead in this area. Compared to other residential areas in Cairo , where there seem to be lots of piles of garbage laying around. Many areas are not landscaped well , a lot of broken concrete and boulders laying around. It looks to me a perfect scenario to twist your ankle or break a leg if you’re not careful. After our 2 hour or so lunch we headed for the bus and started on our 3 hour  ride back to Alexandria.  When we arrived back on the ship near 7:00, we were greeted by a nice barbeque style  dinner stations set up around the indoor pool deck. After our dinner we called’r the night. The end of a long  good day.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 13, 2025

Today Palm Sunday we are visiting Valletta, the Capital of Malta. Valletta is the smallest capital of all of the EU countries with only 6000 people. the country of Malta consist out of 3 major islands and several inhabited islands. Total population approximately 565,000.

Our entrance into the harbour of Valletta was quite spectacular, with its old ruines from the 16th century on both sides of the harbour entrance.  Our mooring place for the day was lined with 16th century buildings. For today we are on a 4hr walking tour of the old Capital City of Mdina and the new Capitol City of Valletta. First we boarded the bus to take us to Mdina which is situated in the center of the island. The oldest building today dates back to the year 1233. Some older  ruins of the city date back to 700BC. Today the historical buildings are being occupied by noble families. Only approximately 100 people are living in the old city, accompanied by a few souvenir and ice cream stores.  The streets are all slightly curved, I was told that is in order to get away from the bow and arrow intruders in the old days. When walking through these streets it is really like going back in time to the Middle Ages.

After our visit to Mdina, the bus took us to the outskirts of Valletta. From here we started our walking tour through this historical city, dating back to the 16th Centurie. As it was Sunday today, there were a lot of families out today. We were lucky that it was only our cruise boat in town. I can see that it can be very busy here during the summer months with tourists. Today Valletta is much of a commercial center for shopping, bars,dining and cafe life, surrounded by beautiful historical buildings. We were lucky to be able to have a peek into the cathedral.

After the end of our excellent guided tour, we chose to stay in the City. As it was after 4 by now we stopped for dinner at one of the numerous outdoor patios. Carol decided on the Maltese specialty dinner of Rabbit stew, I personally settled for the fish and chips combined with the lager special. After our dinner we stopped at a few souvenir shops before we took the elevator to the lower part of the City. From here we walked toward our boat. Our legs were very happy when we gave them a break from all the walking we did today.

I surely recommend visiting this city if you have a chance in the future. There is so much history packed in such a small area. Great Stop.

On a sour note some of our fellow travellers decided to take a ride on the Hop on Hop off bus for the day. Unfortunately the bus was involved in an accident, but after medical attention they were able to get back on the ship before our departure.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 11, 2025

After a short overnight sailing, we arrived this morning in the picturesque harbour of Cartagena Spain. Cartagena is a City of approximately 220,000 on the south east coast of Spain. It has been home to the Spanish Navy fleet for over hundreds of years.Today Cartagena is a major tourist destination and cruise port. One of the major attractions are the unearthed buildings from the Roman era, including a 7000 seat Roman amphitheatre.

Today we joined a walking tour from the ship into downtown including a visit to the Roman theatre. The City has an abundance of old historical buildings. The streets are all paved with slate tiles, which makes it very nice to walk on. From the get go my camera was busy shooting pictures from all the old history all around us. We shortly came up to the entrance of the old Roman theatre. This site was not discovered till 1987 during the excavation for a new building. The excavation was completed and opened to the public in 2007. It is a very impressive site. All over the City are ruins of sites which still have to be excavated. It is literally an archaeologist’s candy store. The remaining part of our tour was visiting 5 different establishments for tapas and a drink of sangria or vino. We surely enjoyed all those treats. After our last tapa stop we returned into the city for some souvenir shopping. Our walk to the ship was easy, as we were docked right downtown.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 10, 2025

When I woke up this morning, we were approaching the port of Gibraltar , nicknamed the Rock. Gibraltar is a British territory, with a population of approximately 38,000. The British sovereignty has been disputed by Spain on many occasions. Many people in Gibraltar speaking Spanish we noticed. Approximately 15,000 Spanish workers cross the border daily to come to work in Gibraltar.

This morning we booked a small tour to take us up the rock. The rock raises up 426 meter above sea level. Our small bus took us up the narrow roads , making stops at the most southerly point at the light house and Michels Cave. On the way down we spotted numerous monkeys on the side of the road. The monkeys love to get their little hands inside your backpack and take stuff. Luckily we were inside the bus. Apparently fellow tourists were chased by the creatures for food. After we were down the mountain we drove towards the border with Spain, did a U turn and drove through the new tunnel underneath the runway back to the city center. Before the runway tunnel was completed, the road was crossing the runway and traffic had to be stopped when an airplane arrived or was taking off. we had the bus drop us off in the town center instead of taking us back to the ship. The downtown was a lively plaza with adjoining shopping streets with cafes and stores . There seem to be a lot of Liquor stores , likely because of the tax-free status here in Gibraltar. Having spent a couple of hours downtown, taking in lunch and coffee, we started to walk back to the boat, which took us probably 25 minutes.

Gibraltar, really surprised us with all the historical places to visit and all the modern shopping streets.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 8, 2025

Another port today. No Seaday’s in between ports to rest our legs. Today we are visiting the Canary Island of Lanzarote. The City we are visiting is called Arrecife. Population for the City is 68,000 . Population for the whole island is 163,000 .

As we are docked in the port area, a shuttle is provided to transport us to the local marina area in walking distance to the city center. It was a very pleasant walk into town, following the shoreline of the local lagoon. The lagoon is a mooring place for numerous small boats, you wonder if they are ever leave their mooring spots. A few noticable differences with yesterday’s visit in Santa Cruz is, all the buildings here are white. By building code, no high rises are allowed here. We spend the morning walking all the narrow streets,  occasionaly peeking in the odd store.The old cathedral was open today, which gave us an opportunity to have a look inside. We ended up at an old structure on the foreshore, build out of nice old stone. After more walking we stopped for lunch at the shores of the lagoon. We had some Sangria, Cold beer and a dish called a varity of croquettes. It was so nice sitting on this patio overlooking the lagoon,with just perfect weather. After we returned to the shuttle pick up point we checked out some local vendors which had set up stalls selling leathers and linens. Shortly after , we boarded the shuttle back to the ship.

This was another great visit in a beautiful City, worth of spending more time.

For you who are interested, you can go back in the blog to April 4 2023 and read about the island tour we did at that time.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 7, 2025

This morning we are visiting Santa Cruz on the Canary Island of Tenerife in Spain. Tenerife with a population of approximately 970,000, from which approximately 211.000 reside in Santa Cruz. The climate is almost perfect here, 18-20 C in the winter and 24-26 C in the summer months. The cost of living is very affordable here.

For today we are not going on a bus tour of the island, which

we did two years ago. At that time we didn’t have time to take in Santa Cruz. This morning we walked up the main street, as far as we could see. After reaching the top of the street, we took a coffee break. We planned to have some nice lemon cake with our coffee but when we put our fork into it and tasted it, we realized the cake was made out of potato. That explained the mayonnaise which was served with it. It actually tasted OK. After our potato break, we explored more small streets and more shops, occasionally stopping at a historical church or another historical building. Doing all this walking, it warranted a stop for a refreshment at one of the numerous street side patios. By now we were back at the port area and having put on over  10k steps, our legs were telling us that was good enough for a day.

What a beautiful city this was, combined with beautiful weather. A city where we could easily spend more time in.

For you who are interested, please feel free to scroll back in the blog to visit our April 3th 2023 visit here.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

April 4, 2025

After 5 Seaday’s, we finally set foot on land. The feet felt a little wobble during the first steps on Cape Verde soil. Today’s stop is at a City called Praia on the Island of Santiago in the Cape Verde Archipelago which consists of 10 Islands. The total population is approximately 600,000. The Island of Santiago is volcanic and mountainous. Sandy beaches are hard to find on this island, compared to the Island Sal which is predominantly flat and surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches. Sal is frequently visited by Europeans looking for sun and beach holidays. Cape Verde is also known for its excellent coffee and the birth place of Cesaria Evora also known as Cize. She was  a Grammy winner in 2004.

Today we took the free shuttle bus into Praia, the Capital of  Cape Verde with a population of 270,000. The bus dropped us of near downtown. From here we ventured off through the main street  observing the daily life of the locals, carrying large supplies of produce and goods on top of their heads. especially the woman, they are very skilled at it. We tried the local coffee at a small street side patio, which didn’t disappoint us. Next on the list was a visit to the local market, where a lot of fresh produce was offered for sale. After the visit to the market we stopped at a few stores to purchase coffee to take home. By now we approached the noon hour and stopped at a small restaurant for lunch. It didn’t take long to get our drinks, but it took forever to get our food. I guess that’s all part of the experience of travel in a foreign country. At least the price of the meal was very reasonable. After lunch we visited a couple more historical buildings and view points, before we returned to find our shuttle bus to take us back to the port.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

March 28, 2025

Good Morning. Today we are visiting the country of Namibia. It’s kind of a funny stop over, as we do not arrive till Noon. Then we have to do the immigration clearance going off the ship and the same getting on the ship. As we made a stop here 2 years ago and at that time did a day trip to the German town of Swagamund, what appears to be one of the main tourist attractions here, we decided to stay on board. One of the reasons we stayed on board was the scheduled performance of the Bernard Northkanp Center children’s quare. HAL has been supporting the school every time Walvis Bay is on the itinerary. The school is a 5 hour bus ride away from the port. The approximately 50 kids came on board as soon as we docked, they do their show rehearsal and enjoy a lunch and time in the pool. The 4PM concert drew almost a  full theatre. The concert was fantastic. over the last week the passengers had been raising money for the school through silent auctions and donations. At the end of their performance, the school was presented with a check of $25,000 for the school operation. On top of that many cruise passengers had brought school supplies from their homes for donation. After a few snacks from the dining room, the children and their teachers left the ship for their 5 hour bus ride back to the northern City of Windhoek.

Overall, watching the concert and seeing all the big smiles on the kid’s faces made up for our decision to stay on board today.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

March 26, 2025

Our second day in Capetown. For today we planned a small tour to visit Robben Island. This is the Island which occupies the prison, which was in use from the mid 17th century till 1996. This is also the prison where former South African President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.

We had a group of 15 people which had signed up for the 5hr tour. We made our way on foot from our ship to the Ferry Boat, a 15 minute walk. After we got all on board the Catamaran ferry boat we left the harbour for our 25min trip to the island. After arrival  we were loaded onto what looked like white prison busses for a short drive to the Prison, passing by the lime stone quarry where prisoners worked during the day exposed to the hot sun. After exiding the bus, we were greeted by our guide who had been imprisoned on the island for 13 years. For nearly 50 years the prison was used to house political prisoners who opposed the apartheid regime in South Africa. Life in the prison was very harsh, only 2 visits a year were allowed. The visits were 1 hour each and the language used could be only Afrikaans or English. If that language was not spoken the prisoner and visitor were just staring at each other for the whole hour. If they attempted to speak in their native language, the visits were reduced to 1/2 hour visits. We toured through the prison and saw Nelson Mandela’s cell. The prison and grounds are well maintained and form part of the museum. The Island is also named a Unesco World Heritage Site. The Island also houses a small colony of African penguins. Besides the prison, there is also a collection of houses on the island. The houses were previously used by the prison wardens, and are now used by maintenance workers of the museum. After our prison tour we walked back down the hill towards the harbour for our ferry ride back to Capetown.

It is hard to imagine what prisoners had to endure while imprisoned here. In most cases you were imprisoned for speaking out against the apartheid regime.

After getting back to shore in Capetown, we decided to explore the waterfront instead of going back to the ship. First of all we went for a late lunch at a waterfront restaurant named Den Anker. Here we consumed fish and chips, bitterballen and a few beers. Carol went for the prawns and chips. Excellent food for a very reasonable price. That’s the thing here in South Africa, everything is a lot cheaper than we are used to. After lunch we explored the waterfront some more window shopping and listened to some street music. By 5:30 we walked back to the ship and did our mandatory passport checks.

Overall a couple of very good days in Capetown. Even though it was our second visit here, there are still many more sites left to explore.

Cheers

Cor and Carol

March 25, 2025

Very early this morning we must have arrived in Capetown. When I opened the curtains at 6AM we were all docked and tied up downtown. The weather was overcast, which prevented us from seeing the top of Table Mountain. This is our second time visiting here.

For today we had a tour of the wine country of Stellenbosch and Fransch Hoek. After getting on our bus, we entered the Highway getting us away from Capetown. It took us 45 minutes to arrive at our first winery called Rhebokskloof. Here we were welcomed and offered to sample 4 different wines, 2 whites and 2 reds. They were all remarkably tasty. We had an option to purchase wine here. I was surprised by the price of the wines , they were all between 6-7 $US per bottle. That’s a hell of a lot cheaper than what we pay at home for good wine. After our wine tasting , we made a quick stop in a town called Frans Hoek, named after the French Huguenots who emigrated here in the 17th century. We were given 30 minutes to stroll around in this small town. After our stop we were off to our next winery called Boschendal. At this winery we were served  a picnic lunch served in a nice wooden box filled with meats, bread and cheeses. of course they served wine with our lunch. Soon after we finished our lunches , more wine bottles were brought out to start the wine tasting. These wines were all excellent. We were allowed to bring one bottle each back to the ship for consumption. For any additional bottles you would be charged a $20 corkage fee per bottle. Our next item on the program was a one hour stop in the town of Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is a university town. The streets are lined with many artsy stores and small boutique restaurants and coffee shops. We decided to stop for a small coffee at one of the cafes, to wash away some of the wine we consumed. After this stop it was time to find our way back to Capetown. On our ride back to the City we passed by many tin sheds villages where many of the less fortunate are living. Despite the living conditions, the kids seemed happy being busy playing their game of soccer near the highway. After being stuck in rush hour traffic we eventually arrived back at the port around 6:00 PM.

Cheers

Cor and Carol