May 10 - Africa

 May 10 Africa

May 10

Nosy Be is an island, which is part of the very large island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa.  It is known as the Perfume Island.  The population of Madagascar is 33 million.  It is 1,000 miles from north to south and 350 miles wide.  We anchored in the bay and took an early lunch to get ashore for our 12:20pm excursion.  Once onshore, we immediately notice this is a very poor country.  The first buildings we see, for our first impression, are run-down, poorly built, and poorly maintained.

We boarded a smaller bus.  This is usually an indication of narrow winding roads.  We traveled just a few miles and stopped at a house called the ghost house.  It is just the ruins of a three-story building, completely overgrown with branches and roots from giant ficus trees.  It appeared to be made of concrete, but our guide told us it was built of coral, honey, and eggs in the 15th century in the historic Arab-Indian Marodoka village.  It is known locally as the former home of Karim Djikak, the richest Indian trader in the area, it is surrounded by legends of ghosts and spirits.  Quite amazing and spooky.

   

Next, we drove to Lemuria Land Park to see the Ylang-Ylang Distillery, which distills oil. The production process of turning flowers into a valuable essential oil.  For such a primitive culture, this is a very impressive operation.

   

Attached to the distillery is a nature park surrounded by lush but overgrown tropical plants.  The park houses many animals and birds including crocodiles, giant tortoises and turtles, Lemur monkeys, cameailans and giant lizards.  Thankfully, we did not see any Madagascar cockroaches.

Our guide told us about Madagascar.  It is desert in the South, green and tropical in the east, and dry on the western side of the island.  It is a very poor country, and almost everything is made by hand [very little machinery]. They have had problems with electricity for the last 16 years, with long periods of blackouts, and water is scarce.  Many of the population can only afford to eat one meal a day.

We visited a school, just a large open building, and we were given a demonstration of the local customs, songs, and dance by a group of colorfully dressed young ladies.  Being a Sunday, the children were not in school, but everywhere we went they were many, many children on the streets.  Large families seem to be very common.  Other than flip-flops, shoes seem to be a luxury.  I was told that over 65% of the population is under 30 years old.  This is alarming.

 

On the way back, we stopped at a beach home that could host 40 tourists.  They provided snacks and drinks overlooking the beach.

As we traveled through the streets, we saw cattle on the road, several horses and carts, and endless tuk-tuk taxis.  Also, the deplorable home conditions.

   

We stopped at a set of roadside souvenir stalls.

That evening, we sat on our balcony and watched the clear stars in the dark sky.  Merry spotted the Southern Cross [the southern hemisphere's equivalent to the North Star]

 

May 11

Mayotte is a group of four main islands and dozens of small islands belonging to France, located between Madagascar and East Africa.  This was an anchor port, so we needed to take the ship's tender to get to the pier.

I [Rod] chose to go out on a speedboat to visit a private beach for swimming and snorkeling.  On the way out, the French-only-speaking skipper took us way out to sea and found several pods of dolphins who seemed delighted to see us and swam around and alongside the boat as we traveled.  The beach was on a small island off the coast and was a spectacular stretch of sand with warm, turquoise water.  It was very refreshing.  Those who snorkeled found a coral reef and tropical fish.  I was happy to cool off in the crystal-clear water.  Refreshments were provided, and we stayed about 90 minutes before returning to the pier. 

     

I [Merry]took the tender early in the morning to avoid the heat, actually the humidity and it never works, it was hot..but I had wonderlust …..It was an easy ride; we sat at opposite ends of the tender, and Rod was off to his group while I wandered slowly off.  I had arranged to wander with another couple, so off we went.  We had not gone far before we asked someone for directions to shopping and their ideas and mine were at different points (I had suspected this would happen) I wanted to go left, they wanted to go right….we traveled two short blocks together and parted.  I found the place I wanted to go to, it was a huge shopping center, filled with stall after stall after stall – you get the idea, so many ways to go, so I selected a route and went.  Shoes and more shoes… all sandals (and most natives were barefoot!!) spread out before me… the photo I grabbed as I had time does not show them, sorry.  There were stalls with baby things, stalls with pots and pans, stalls with shoes and more shoes, and all were packed tightly together.  

I finally found something I wanted and tried to talk. We were told to bargain, and at first he said ten dollars and very quickly said five.  So quickly that I thought the two were almost one word, but from there the bargaining became one-sided, mine!  I said NO and walked away.  Only after I had bargained to where I was comfortable did I find out that not having their currency left me in the cold!!!  I decided I didn’t want the product enough to try to find out where I could get their money.  I had spent quite a bit of time, and I was dripping with perspiration, so I went back to the dock, then to a tender, then to our waiting ship.  A cool shower never felt so good!! 

The pictures of the women in “costume” were just that, pictures of people whom I encountered along the way, so that you would have an idea of what natives wore…even in the heat!! 

     

May 12 & 13 Seadays

 May 14

A new continent- Africa.  Our first stop is Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique.  The population of Maputo is just over 1 million, and the country as a whole is six million. 

We had signed up for a walking tour of the city in the afternoon.  When we arrived at 10am, the weather was dry, but a dark cloud looked ominous.  Sure enough, it soon started to rain.  We hoped it would clear up by 2pm.  As we joined our group, there was a light drizzle.  We headed off to see the Maputo Fort, a National Monument built in 1785 by the Portuguese to defend against the indigenous people.   Our guide was soft-spoken and had a very strong accent, so we did not catch much of what he said.

As we walked to our second stop, a café that served soft drinks and a custard tart, the rain turned into a heavy downpour.  

The roads and sidewalks soon became flooded, and the heavy traffic became impatient.  We were well prepared with hooded coats and umbrellas, but somehow this seemed to be inadequate.  Added to this, we had been warned about pickpockets and not to get separated from the group and be alone.

After the café, we walked, and swam would be a better word!!! to the indoor market.  Fruit, veg, and souvenirs at reasonable prices, but I did not have the heart to haggle as they desperately needed the money. That is Rod speaking. I had decided this was the place to haggle, and when we met again, we had both purchased a similar item, mine being the less expensive!  Oh well, we were at least unpick-pocketed.

As we walked to the final stop, the heavens opened to another heavy downpour.  I was at the end of the group, my usual spot being somewhat slower,,,,and a man approached me holding a full, tall, slender picture. Now our walls are FULL, but I assumed that a picture 6 inches wide would somehow fit…especially since he was saying he only wanted a dollar.  Making sure my camera was secure, I decided to say ok. After fumbling through my purse, I handed him the dollar, folded the picture to fit in a zippered pocket, and hustled to catch up to the disappearing group.

A tour bus that had just finished its tour took pity on us and gave us a ride to our last stop, the train station; they say it's the best in South Africa.  

Merry and I stayed on the bus, and we soon ended up back at the ship, soaked, absolutely soaked!!! It was a good thing it was a warm rain as we scampered back to the ship.  I hoped the 30-minute shower didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the prolonged stand under controlled water!!!

Even though the day was wet, we got to see the inner city and its people.  We did enjoy the day but wished we could have spent more time and gotten to see more of the city and beyond. 

May 15

The main task was packing for our five-day safari tomorrow.  We arrived late in the afternoon in Durban, South Africa, at an impressive cruise terminal.  Everyone was required to go through passport inspection when we arrived, and then to dinner.

May 16

We gathered our bags and joined our group to head off to the airport for Kruger National Park.  Our group of 16 took a 30-minute shuttle bus to the airport and received some information from our tour guide. We were only permitted to take one soft travel bag and one shoulder bag because we would be traveling on a small charter plane.

Our guide told us that Durban is called South Africa’s playground, with a population of 4.5 million, and includes its famous golden mile beach on the warm Indian Ocean and lush green countryside.  It is the start of the winter season.  In 1994, South Africa became a democratic nation, ending segregation.  We see a lot of development, including many big-box stores and efficient freeways, but the country has a 34% unemployment rate.

At the airport, we went through the usual security screening as a group, then headed straight to a gate for a short bus ride to a waiting twin-engine charter plane just big enough to fit all 16 of us and our modest luggage.  Once aboard, the co-pilot gave us an abbreviated safety instruction, and off we went.  Merry and I were in the front two seats, giving us a great view of the cockpit and everything needed to fly safely for the 90-minute flight at 25,000 ft.  The plane was a Kingair 1900D.

 

    

We landed at a military airstrip, and I was glad to see it was well-paved.  Two jeeps were waiting to take us to the park resort, less than a mile from the landing strip.  The ride in the jeeps was very comfortable, which is good as we will be spending a lot of time in them over the next five days. 

   

On arriving at the resort, we were given a welcome talk and a tour of the five-star resort and its extensive grounds, which were enclosed by a simple fence keeping us safe.  

After dropping our bags in our room, we found a lovely lunch waiting.   This was a good time to get to know our fellow travelers.  Next, we had half an hour to freshen up before we gathered for our first game drive.  

Watch this space to see the next posting of the blog, all about our safari adventure.