Trading a Tent for a Tropical Cruise Along the African Coast

The Cape Town to Mauritius cruise was the perfect palate cleanser after weeks of overland camping. We traded dust-caked safari vehicles and tents for a real, pre-assembled room on the Norwegian Dawn—and it was even bigger than the cabin on our last ship! We needed the break, especially since we scored the whole 12-day journey for an unbelievable $550 USD. You just can’t say no to that kind of deal. This wasn't just a travel leg; it was a mini-vacation before we plunged into the adventure of Sri Lanka and, eventually, made the big push home to see our new grandbaby.
After our overland African camping trip and a few days in Johannesburg, we flew to Cape Town. We stayed at the ONOMO Hotel Cape Town Foreshore before boarding the ship on January 17th. Our first order of business was to celebrate being back at sea, especially since our friends, Dean Brealey and Liana Livingston, surprised us by joining us again! We met them on the last cruise, and their presence ensured the party started immediately. Proof? We won the first trivia night on the ship!

  
Part 1: Hugging the South African Coast

We sailed around the infamous Southern Cape, which thankfully wasn’t too rough, making our way along the coast for our first few stops.

Mossel Bay: Our first port on January 18th was a gorgeous town—definitely our kind of place. The coastline was stunning, and the town boasts the beautiful St Blaize Trail hiking route. We saw some lovely tile work outside the aquarium, and while we skipped going inside, the penguins were Nicola's fav. We saw a lot of Kudu on our overland travels, but here they had a food truck serving them—a curious sight!
   Port Elizabeth: We stopped here on January 19th. While another lovely coastal town, I didn’t think it was quite as charming as Mossel Bay. The beach, however, was super calm, which was a bonus. Our mission here was serious: we went to an Apartheid Museum to learn more about the difficult history of non-white removal from their land. No matter how much we learn, there is always so much more to grasp; it is a very complicated situation. The man running the museum was so sweet, he even wanted to get a picture with us. Dean and Liana treated us to a Brazilian steakhouse meal on the ship to celebrate Nicola being "old" and our new grandbaby!

   Richards Bay: We hit this port on January 21st after a relaxing sea day. This was our reality check. Richards Bay is a big coal town, and the main sights (like the safaris we were avoiding) were an hour away. The port area was definitely not picture-perfect. Nicola posted a photo on Facebook just to remind everyone that not all the places we see are lovely! But hey, that's real life on the road. After this, we had three glorious days at sea to recharge and prepare for our return to Madagascar.

Part 2: Madagascar and the Call of the Lemurs

The journey took us across the vast Indian Ocean. We did catch the tail end of a typhoon through the Mozambique Channel, which made the seas a bit rough one day, giving Nicola an exciting view from the treadmill! We had three sea days (Jan 22-24) after Richards Bay, making the arrival at Madagascar on January 25th even sweeter.
Nosy Be, Madagascar: We were overjoyed to be back in Madagascar! When we were here in 2019, we never figured we would be back. Nicola stated, "Sorry for the picture overload, but I love the lemurs sooooo much!" Getting to the island felt like a proper tropical welcome. We headed straight for a lemur park. They are like teddy bears with hands that are sooooo soft and gentle—a genuine surprise. We had some proper lemur selfies and made friends with Julian from the movie Madagascar. We even saw an ancient, 124-year-old tortoise!

      We explored the local life, seeing the Zebu (hump-backed cow) used for transport, and visiting the local Ylang Ylang fields where they extract the oil used for Chanel No. 5. Our attempt to see a waterfall was spoiled by so much rain the night before that the road was totally flooded.   So, we did the next best thing: plying local kids with candy and chocolate instead. I bought some candy because I knew from our previous visit to Madagascar that the kids would come up to us and say "Vasa, bon bon" They were very pleased! We also saw the local Tuk Tuks that arrived from India three years ago, now everywhere on the island.

Antsiranana, Madagascar: This second port on January 26th, which had recently changed its name, was an entirely different experience. The mayhem getting out of the port was genuinely intimidating. There were sooooo many people selling tours and goods that some people actually turned back to the ship. I told myself to look straight ahead and firmly say "no, thank you" as we were followed quite a distance. Our reward for surviving the throngs? A cold THB (Three Horses Beer) at a central hotel that was a beautiful oasis. I also treated myself to a massage. We enjoyed the French architecture on the way back once the streets had cleared out, and even found some good local vanilla for a great price. Nicola bought a bunch to give to friends and family as gifts.

Part 3: The Volcanic Islands and the Finish Line

After a sea day on January 27th, the final days saw us hit Réunion and Mauritius.

Réunion Island: Next up was the French island of Réunion on January 28th! We rented a stick shift car with Dean and Liana and drove around the gorgeous, volcanic island. The driving was a bit... challenging, especially when the car in front of us couldn't get going, but the payoff was worth it. The car in front of us decided to change drivers on the side of an extremely steep hill. It made it hard for me to go forward without rolling all the way down the hill. This island is volcanic, featuring stunning black sand beaches (most were off-limits for swimming due to sharks). It truly felt like a tropical France, complete with a stunning patisserie where I devoured the most chocolaty mouse ever—it was so rich! Nicola finally got to use the snorkel she’d been hauling for six months at one of the beaches protected by a reef.
      

Mauritius: Our last stop on January 29th—and where they kicked us out!—was Mauritius. We had spent a week here previously, so we only had one night this time before our flight to Sri Lanka. We stayed at the CHILLpill Guest House near the airport. The car rental people were amazing; they picked us up at the port and met us at the airport the next day to collect the car. Mauritius is much greener and less volcanic than Réunion, and you can swim on the beaches here. We saw a lot of families out celebrating the holiday (it was Chinese New Year). After Jeff enjoyed a quick dip in the pool at our conveniently located airport hotel, the rains came hard.

Final Leg: Chai, Security, and the Big Boy Seats

We were up early for our flight on January 30th to Sri Lanka. From the window seat, I saw a bright blue spot as we took off—it was the famous underwater waterfall! I wish I had taken a better picture, but it was amazing to see.
Our journey continued with an IndiGo flight (6E 1862) to Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a stopover in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India. The security in Bangalore was intense. They funnelled us transiting passengers into a special area where they were incredibly thorough, going through everything. There was even a behind-the-curtain wand check for Nicola (I had mine out in the open!). It took a while, but they were friendly.
We grabbed some fantastic Indian food (Nicola had to have the chai!) before boarding. She was so lucky to get a row of three seats to herself—she wished she had this on the 6-hour flight, not the one for 1.5 hours! I was behind Nicola in the "big boy seats."

The cruise was a successful reset button, taking us smoothly from the African overland challenge to the exotic pull of Asia. Sri Lanka, here we come!