April 6 – 15
Welcome to the tropics!
After being in cold climates for the first two segments of the trip, temperatures gradually warmed up in South Africa and have now become downright hot. In fact, it is uncomfortably hot and humid. But who are we to complain when we can view sunsets like these!
We arrived first at the island of Mozambique, followed by the Comoros islands, then Madagascar and finally several days in the Seychelles.
Mozambique
The first thing that struck us about the island of Mozambique is the poverty here. The ship was met by men in ragged canoes who had paddled out for 30 minutes or more to where we dropped anchor to beg for people to throw them food from their balconies or to sell their wares. Once on shore, people were surrounded by children begging for money as well.
The island was our first introduction to a type of boat that is common here called a dhow.
Canoes are used heavily here for fishing or just transportation.
Cormoros Islands
After Mozambique we went to Grand Comoros island where we were the first cruise ship to visit them in ten years. Not sure of the exact reason why that is, but they have recently become focused on encouraging tourism and upgrading the island to support it. We were all welcomed at the beach with a contingent of native women, male dancers and multiple hosts. The infrastructure of the island still has years of work to be sustainable for tourists and there are no modern hotels yet. There were a few hiccups during the day, but the enthusiasm of the people on the island is contagious.
Madagascar
We visited two islands in Madagascar, Nosy Komba and Nosy Be. The islands grow several crops such as vanilla, rice and the ylang-ylang plant that contains the oils used to make Chanel No 5 perfume. It is also home to a place called Vallee de Mai which contains a dense population of trees that are home to the coco de mer, the largest nut (like a coconut on steroids). These weigh between 30 and 70 pounds! The inside fruit does not have any general use but the shells are used by artisans for making bowls and such.
Madagascar’s main attraction is the native lemurs. The lemurs are very sociable and will make themselves comfortable on your shoulder, your arm or your head.
There is also another creature that is found on the island. I figured I might as well pose with one. Eva, however, was less enthusiastic about the idea.
The Seychelles
The Seychelles are home to thousands of native giant tortoises, many of whom are believed to be over 300 years old as well as giant bird populations, including the frigate bird with a bright red pouch hanging from its beak and the red-footed booby. The highlight here for me was the snorkeling which I had not done for quite some time. The islands had a major bleaching event several years ago that killed 90% of the coral but there are still a few spots that support a high population of tropical fish, rays, turtles and some sharks.
I hope the photos below give you a taste of this segment. We are now at sea for 4-5 days where only the 42 of us going from pole to pole are on the ship until it reaches Oman, the start of the next formal segment. We are really enjoying the quiet time.
