Zanzibar, Tanzania Day 23 11th February 2020

Zanzibar, Tanzania. Tuesday 11th February

Zanzibar is a tender port, therefore we needed to be up early to meet our tour group and collect our numbered tender tickets together (by having the sequenced tickets we all travel on the same ship’s shuttle and arrive in shore as a group). Now to make things a lot easier, we gained another hour during the night so we weren’t as rushed getting ourselves ready.

Greeting at the wharf

                                                             Now which boat?

                                                          Leaving the main island.

Our private tour on Zanzibar started with a boat ride across the waters to a nearby island called Prison Island, which later changed its name to Quarantine Island. Originally the ruling Sultan bought the island from its former Arab owner and built a number of cells to house prisoners but by the time it was completed; a decision to use the site for a quarantine station was made. Zanzibar was the main East African Port and needed proper control measures for vessels and their passengers to avoid the risk of an epidemic in the Zanzibar Archipelago. The main concerns of infection were the Bubonic plague from Bombay and cholera from Egypt.

                                                        Onbard our island boat.

The island has is now called Changuu Private Island Paradise, home to the endangered Aldabra Giant Tortoise. We visited the area were these tortoises are looked after.

              Endangered species Aldabra Tortoise on Changuu (Prison) Iasland

                                    Some of the tortoises are nearly 200 years old

                                                            Various baby tortoises

Our return boat trip to the island was what I would call a challenge. We had to wade out from the shore line to the stern of the boat, and then climb up a three rung ladder to access the boat. Well, me will my lack of agility managed to crawl onto the deck before sitting down, DH had the same technique with same success. Mind you, after firstly boarding the boat, I then knew there were 3 more times this would happen. This was when most of our group climbed the ladder and then stepped onto the boat to walk along before sitting down. It was all worth it.

When we left the island, all these bats had arrived. Initially we were the first there.

                   Outside where Freddie Mercury grew up. It is now a museum.

Alleyways of Stone Town.

Inside the Old Fort where organizers were setting up a stage for a concert.

Once back to the main island we walked around the historical Old Town of Zanzibar. Memorial Museum, House of Wonder (built in 1883 and got its name by having different coloured  lights in the tower visible to people approaching from the sea at night), Old Arab Fort, Slave Market and the house where Freddie Mercury from Queen, lived.

We lunched in Lukmaan Swahili cuisine café/restaurant, just a dozen doors from the slave market site. It is always a conundrum deciding what to select from the menu of a foreign country. The dilemma in this instant, of converting shillings to USD, then to AUD, just to know a dish’s cost. Then making sure we have enough USD to pay. Not only that, we also needed to consider if the food had been prepared hygienically: washed in clean water, cooked correctly, stored in hygienic containers and refrigerated.  DH and I have experienced food poisoning and wish to avoid the experience again!

                                                        The Swahii Restaurant.

                      Cathedral Churt of Christ alongside the Old Slave Market site.
Also where Dr Livingstone willed his heart to be left after his body had been                                                   returned to Scotland to be buried.

Hot, tired but happy to have experienced our day in this exotic port, we made our way back to the ship via one of the ship’s tender boats. Once back on board we celebrated our day with a cold beer and in my case a swim in one of the ship’s pools.

Day 20 Seychelles 8th February 2020

Seychelles 8th February 2020

Our new adventure and port is Port Victoria, on the main island of Mahe’, and the capital of Seychelles. We had a comfortable private tour of this island with 8 other passengers in a 15 seater van, totaling 10 passengers, driver and guide.

The night before arriving in the Seychelles we had to turn the clock back an hour to align with our passage travelling west. It is very easy to take an extra hour every few days. In total if think we have gained 5 and half hours since leaving Adelaide. So when we need to be up at 6.30 am, and the clock has been turned back an hour, we are waking up at 7.30 am, so sweet.

I am unsure if I should use this phrase but here goes. I think I have found the closest country to Utopia. I really have only one day’s experience but what I saw and encountered really left me with the feel that Seychelles is pretty well an ideal country to inhabit.  Firstly it seems like a tropical paradise surrounded by shimmering beaches hugged by vegetation up to the shoreline, or rocky granite boulders nestling the waterline. Abundance of fish, even John West has its tuna factory here! The local’s main diet would be fish, though in the market we saw trays of eggs and chickens which would supplement.

                                                                 Social Housing

                                              In the mall before market place

Fresh tuna anyone?

This is where the pirates came to bury their treasure; apparently a French Pirate (La Buse)’s treasure is still to be discovered. Mentioning pirates, there are several Somali Pirates imprisoned here, the last lot were caught and trailed in 2012 and are serving their 15 year sentences.

                                                                 Pirate Le Buse

Our guide was Creole, an example of the legacies of European colonists blended with African slaves and subsequent settlers from Arabia, India and China. I had the feeling everyone is content with their heritage.

The government supplies social housing to its citizens with the understanding that after paying 15 years of rent the house is handed over the occupant. Our guide explained the only homeless are the drug users who wish to live on the ‘streets’. (Apparently there is a strong drug taking culture here, though not mentioned by our guide). Health Care and education is free. There is a fiber optic cable which travels over 3,000 kilometers from Africa, so every house has access to internet. Power and water is also connected to all the homes here. We did not see any graffiti.

When we drove into Victoria, the capital, the roads were jammed with tourists and locals. We were heading to see Victoria Clock Tower, a replica of Big Ben in London and a testament and tribute to Queen Victoria’s reign, then traveled into the Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market to explore the various stalls featuring fruit, vegetables and fish cleaning. The place smelt fresh, especially the fish cleaning area, surprising me, especially considering the warmth and nature of the product. The reason for the busy roads happened to be a yearly Hindu Festival where devotees paraded through the streets with various statues, making their way to the temple. Our guide decided to high tail it out of town and into the countryside.

                                          Clock Tower; a gift from Queen Victoria

Countryside, did I say countryside? More like hillsides’ or mountainsides’.  The little narrow, well maintained roads wound their way up and around the steep mountains. OMG, there was little room the pass in some areas and the side of the road sometimes dropped away hundreds of meters. Other times the dense foliage crowded the edges. Coconut, paw paw, mango, cinnamon, avocado, banana and lime trees grew, uncontrolled and accessible to all who wanted to pick.  Then there is the imported weed Morning Glory, which is smothering most of the natural vegetation and locals are trying to rid.

                                            View of Sun Princess from mountain

Some stunnibg views of coastline

                                           Very steep, winding and narrow roads

It seemed the local vehicles were all short wheel based and small. Understandably the long ones would not be able to traverse the sharp and narrow bends in the roads. So no 44-52 seater buses here!

Our tour over the mountains took us to breath-taking vistas through the stunning natural scenery to coastlines and tiny islands all surrounded by various shades of blue waters. The sheikh of Abu Dhabi has his holiday house (castle/palace) built on top of the highest mountain. It seems such an enviable picturesque location, though I would helicopter there and back in preference to driving up what would be a steep and windy road. Apparently a lot of wealthy Russians have their holiday houses here as well. There are 15 international flights to Seychelles daily, two being Emirates.

We stopped at a local tea plantation for a break. Although the factory was closed (as it was Saturday), we enjoyed its amenities and vista. Then off to the ruins of Venn’s Town Mission. It was built to care for the children of the slaves around 1878 to 1889 when it closed down. A lot of children died (as I presume would be many adults) of dysentery, diphtheria and other ailments which modern medicine has prevented. In 1972 Queen Elizabeth visited.

                                                       Ruins from Venn's Town

                                   Car park challenge, all the tour buses, including
                                     Princess Tours seemed to be here all at once.

                                  The trunk of a cinnamon tree where the bark has
                         been scratched off to show it can be used in cooking as well.

Once on the other side of the island we visited many idyllic beaches, saw the famous double coconut, ate a yummy fish curry, a local dish, then traveled along the beaches to see a historic plantation house build during the colonial times when the coconut industry was a fundamental pillar of Seychelles economy.

                                      Coconut Plantation homestead of the 1800's

Seychelle's famous double coconut.

                                           Rescued tortoise about 150 years old

Lastly we visited an old creole style house which is now used as a restaurant and a haven to a group of rescued tortoises.

To top off our visit DH and I sat on the back deck as the Sun Princess sailed out of the harbor and the last rays of the sun exposed the heavy rain clouds hugging the island ridges.

I hope I manage to remember this remarkable country in years to come.

Colombo, Sri Lanka 4th February 2020

Colombo, Sri Lanka 4th February 2020

Day 16 on our Indian Ocean cruise. Today’s forecast is sunny and 30C, just warm enough to require a/c on the bus and a hat to wear when walking outside.

                                            Our approach to Colombo, Sri Lanka

                                         Photo from our TV monitor of our sail in


It is a National Day holiday and we are unsure how heavy the traffic would be getting around the capital city of Sri Lanka so decided to head out on a Princess Tour instead of a private one. We were concerned there may be a chance of being caught up in the holiday traffic and the ship leaving without us.

We booked a Tea Plantation tour, travelling 2 and half hours south from Colombo along a well maintained 2 lane highway. Once the bus turned off the highway it followed a windy road up into the hills, past various farm lets growing rice, coconuts, tea, rubber and various spices of nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and peppers. Sri Lanka is such a green and fertile land, a complete opposite to where we live in Australia.

cloves

                                                                    tea flower

Tea Plant tips used to make tea.

Dotted around the farm lets there would be several water buffalo grazing in the green areas which may have been covered in water a month ago. We saw a lot of incomplete houses, some housing the residents in the finished bottom rooms, the rest just incomplete upper floors. It looked like they hadn’t been worked on for a long time, years in fact. Our guide explained the people are so poor; they just haven’t been able to complete their homes.

Our guide explained the highest form of income for the country is the export of their people to work in Arabia as house maids or workers on building sites, sending their spare money home to support their families. The second being factory workers making clothes for the Chinese businessmen, third is tourism and fourth; export of rubber, gems, tea and spices. The civil wars between the Tamils and ruling government has supposed to recently ceased, giving hope to the increase of the country’s economic earnings and stability. However China and India are investing heavily in the country but at the moment the debts are falling overdue causing handover of precious land.

The Galaboda Tea plantation we visited was established in 1935 by the grandfather of the existing generation growing organic teas on 39 acres in sedimentary, slightly acidic soils. Tea plants prosper in areas with foggy mornings, balmy days with temperatures of 28C-34C degrees and a heavy yearly rainfall. The tea bushes produce tea for up to 50 years. This year their dry season, which we are in at the moment, has been exceptionally dry and the owners are hoping for a good wet season that starts later this month. I wonder if this is also part of the dry weather Australia is experiencing during this period.

We found it interesting watching the pluckers, then withering and rolling process of the plucked leaves. Once shown the process we headed over to the tasting area to sample the various blends then had the afternoon snack and a ‘cupper’.

Another 2 and half hours in the bus back to the ship where we arrived in plenty of time to refresh and head out to back deck 11 for sail away with the mandatory bottle of wine. The ship left just after sunset so we were watching the lit skyline of Colombo recede as we sailed away.

                                                             'tok tok's in Colombo

                                                      pluckers picking tea leaves

                                   tea leaves, the first lot of leaves are picked

                                                                    Tea factory

                                                              Tea leaves drying.

                                                           Rolling of the leaves.

                                                                Finished product.

Tea sampling.

                                                                    Rice paddy's

Phuket 1st February 2020

Phuket, Thailand. 1st February 2020

Up early this morning to walk Promenade Deck and watch the ship arrive in Phuket.  Firstly the sun had not risen so I could discern the area only by the lights from the resorts on the coast and the 3 small freighters anchored nearby. Then 10 minutes later there was enough light to see the ship had actually stopped proceeding up the marked channel and shortly after tugs were pushing the ship back out of the channel to standby whilst we waited for the ship to continue its sail in.

It was interesting to see what was going on board. Passengers all dressed and equipped for the day, were starting to arrive at the designed meeting points for various tours around the ship, unaware of the delay unfolding outside. The ship was scheduled to dock at 7am but it was now 7.45am and we were still hovering outside the channel.

Finally with the help of the two tug boats we traversed backwards along the channel to the deep sea port of Phuket to arrive just over an hour late. I am not sure what caused the delay but think it may have been either the strong winds or fast running tide, or both to alter the way we arrived.

DH was still recovering from our day in Singapore, so we decided to stay on board. We had already visited Phuket several times before, so felt we weren’t missing out. I ventured ashore to wander around the markets which had been set up on the wharf.

Then on sail away we headed to the rear deck to watch as the ship left. It was such a perfect occasion sitting back in the shade, wine glass in hand, a warm breeze fanning our position whilst Thailand receded from our view. How lucky are we!

We the decided to head up to deck 12 to have some pizza and watch firstly the Australian Tennis Doubles’ Final and then a movie on the big outside screen. A perfect warm balmy night.

Singapore 30th January 2020

Day 11 Thursday 30 January 2020 Singapore

Weather wise, today has been a good day to visit this usually hot and humid country. The temperature is still warm to hot but a gentle breeze fanned this clean modern city, keeping the humidity to a minimum.

We headed out to catch the MRT (underground train service) to Little India. The underground transport is beautifully air conditioned and easy to navigate. We changed lines Dhoby Ghaut to travel onto Little India. A cost of SGD2 each.

We checked out the Veeramakakiamman Temple where worshippers rang little brass bells on entering. DH and B ventured in but R and I waited outside. Those entering needed to be barefoot and as I had been to similar temples considered I could see as much from the entrance as going in. The colourful statues of animals and people decorating the facades of this Hindu Temple stood out to the backdrop of the high rise buildings built around. The temple is dedicated the wife of Shiva who Hindus believe destroys ignorance and protects by maintaining world order.  By now we were looking for a cool spot to recharge in order to continue for the day. It was about 10.45am and most of the little restaurants in the area were just setting up but we managed to talk a restaurant owner to sell us a Tiger Beer which we shared whilst sitting in a shaded outdoor seating area.

Back on the train for Chinatown. SGD 1.80 each. We had an interesting walk around the shops before heading to a Hawkers Corner type eating area where most of the locals eat. This week is Chinese New Year so the streets here were decorated in a lot of red and gold. We spoke with a local gentleman who is a pilot for Singapore Airlines who described his life to us and an interesting point he made was that Singapore is an expensive place to live. We found there is a 10% tax and a 7% GST on food and beverages.

Our last train trip took us to Bayfront, the station for Marina Sands Hotel. Train cost SGD 1.80 each. We headed to the First Tower where we ascended 57 floors to the Italian Restaurant on top. Once there we enjoyed a coffee and magnificent views. The best scenic spot for Singapore and I think a little known venue.

By this time of the day we all decided to catch a taxi back to the ship. Singapore is famous for its inexpensive taxis so when we were charged SGD55 for the short ride we all nearly fell over backwards…….what? The car we caught was signed as a taxi but it was actually a chauffeur van with a minimal cost of SGD55.  OMG we won’t be caught again with that! We were so careful in saving on costs then BAMM. I will say no more!

To top off our day, we sat on the ship’s back deck 11 which overlooked to skyline of Singapore. The sun had set and a gentle breeze circulated around our deckchairs. We quaffed our wine while we waited for the city’s Chinese New Year fireworks to start. It was just perfect.