Mozambique / Wed Mar 6

Today we're docked in Maputo, Mozambique - our first stop in Africa.

We took a ship's tour as we'd heard that it may not be safe to be on our own. We took a walking tour of the city. Our guide met us at the ship and right after we left the port, he informed us that we were in the 'Red Light District' and were not allowed to take photos. He also told us to hold our phones tightly as the area was not safe.

Next we walked to the Maputo Fort. Originally built by the Portuguese at the end of the 18th century, it was a strategic point in the Indian Ocean. Today it holds whatever was left behind by the Portuguese when the island became independent from Portugal in 1975.

After visiting the Fort we walked past a mosque and other areas of interest. At one point our guide pointed out a place where many of the homeless live. He said it's a very violent area ... so violent that the police are too afraid to enter.

Although there were many warnings about crime and violence, we felt safe walking with our guide but I don't think that would be the case if we were on our own. In fact, on ship tours there's usually a local guide and a staff from the ship who accompany you. On this walking tour there was an additional man who accompanied us for security.

Our next stop was the local market where you could find produce, fish, handicrafts and lots and lots of wigs and hair extensions. We were able to freely roam in there without our guide and we felt quite safe.

Our final stop was at the train station which was designed by Gustav Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame. It's considered to be the third most beautiful train station in the world.

On a final note here are a few more pictures from Maputo ...

The mosque

An apartment building

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Dakar, Senegal / Wed Mar 27

Today we docked in Dakar which is the capitol of Senegal. We took one of the ship's tours since we weren't sure what to expect safety wise. Surprisingly, the tour bus was pretty modern complete with air conditioning and our local tour guide's English was good. We spent about 4 hours going to some of the highlights of the city. We didn't always stop for photos and the windows of the bus were quite dirty so there aren't that many great photos to share. Dakar has many modern high rise buildings, well paved roads and a decent highway system yet there is so much poverty. People are set up almost everywhere selling their goods and piles of garbage are all around. On one corner we saw someone selling bed frames and in another area, selling refrigerators. There are modern cars on the road as well as horses, wagons and goats. You can see how developed the road system is in the city... We saw a number of small, colorful buses on the roads. T

Busselton / Tue Feb 19

We tendered in Busselton, Australia today. Busselton is best known for the the Busselton Jetty which was built in 1865. It's more than a mile long and is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. At the end of the jetty is an underwater observatory. You can get to it by walking the length of the jetty or by taking the Jetty Train which looks like a Victorian locomotive but is powered by solar panels. We spent the day in Busselton with two other couples. We sat on the beach for a couple of hours then walked into town to explore. We met Walter who was quite the character. After that we had a snack at a local restaurant then took the train to the end of the jetty and toured the underwater observatory before walking back to the tender. Fun day!

Parting Thoughts and More ...

It didn’t take too long to re-enter our normal lives. Although I did miss having our linens changed daily, Larry was delighted to get back home so he could eat dinner wearing shorts (not long pants) ... which he couldn’t do on the ship. Because I get sea (and motion) sick I used the scopalomine patch on this cruise. Usually Bonine is enough but the cruise started in rough waters (crossing to Hawaii from LA) so I decided to use the patch. It worked really, really well with no side effects so I continued using it. When it was prescribed (by two different doctors) I asked each if using it for almost 3 months would be an issue and both said 'no.' Well, I should have done more research as it turns out you can get addicted and experience withdrawal .... and I did. I wasn't able to get off it until the 3rd time I tried and even then it took about 3 weeks to be free of all symptoms. After going online to find out how to withdraw, I saw that some people have much more trouble t

Opals and Romeos

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