Fri May 9th - Sat May 10th - Sea Day and Luderitz, Namibia

May 9th - At sea 
Our first real day At Sea day brought us massive swells and people waddling around as if they had downed a few too many drinks... pretty rough seas. We just lazed around and headed to watch an afternoon movie (The Book Thief)... we got  all gussied up for the first formal night. Switching to the 8 o'clock dinner seating, seemed to be much better... more time to enjoy the day and then have a pre-dinner cocktail before heading to dinner... lovely meal and great wait staff (Janos and Marta)

May 10th - Luderitz, Namibia - Kolmannskuppe

Early morning- first sight of Namibian coast

Coming in to harbor

Pilot guiding us through

Our first port of call - Luderitz Namibia

Walled graveyard in desert

Like a moonscape

We woke to blue skies and a view of Luderitz, Namibia, as we backed the ship into dock. We had breakfast on our balcony.  After immigration clearance which took an hour, we headed off to Kolmannskuppe... a ghost town from the diamond era.(1908- 1928) While there are still diamonds in the area, bigger finds further afield resulted in this town being deserted in the mid 1900's ... it is quite eerie to see the homes and Main Street being taken over by the desert sands. We tried to imagine such extreme wealth where all water was brought in by rail sufficient to support a town of 1,300 people complete with ice making factory, butchery and bakery. Much of the tile work and machinery came direct from Germany ...delivery 9-12 weeks! The biggest house was owned by the shop keeper!!!! Life in this pure, arid desert was certainly not easy.

We had a quick walk through the town on the way to the ship ...it is very dry and dusty, makes Arizona seem like the wetlands. On board for a light lunch and spent the afternoon updating the blog after watching  the sail away. 

And here we are - Middle of nowhere!!

The sand taking over ghost town

Two ghosts in the ghost town!

Skittle-alley.. remnants of a vibrant German town

Poser.!! Homes deserted around 1950

Sand taking over

Shopkeeper's House

Desert Landscape.. bath anyone?

Outside Mine manager's home

Inside mine manager's home

Beautiful exotic wood floors under the sand

Reflection in Police building back in Luderitz

Monkeying around

Our cabin, right-hand side of very centre.

Leaving Luderitz

Late. but welcome, birthday celebration onboard

Walking track as we leave Luderitz

Panning from balcony

Colourful town indeed

Bye Luderitz - Next Stop - Walvis bay

Wed/Thur May 7th- 8th - Johannesburg to Capetown - Ocean Princess, Cape ofGood Hope.

Wed May 7th - Johannesburg to Capetown - Ocean Princess

Shanty towns - Capetown

Table Mountain - Capetown

Arriving at the ship - Yey!!

We checked out of the Africa Sky Guest house and flew from Johannesburg to Capetown and were met by our driver Walter who was kind enough to drop by a liquor store so we could pick up some wine and water for the ship. He drove us past the big stadium, huge areas of shanty town and table mountain on our way to the ship. Boarding was the easiest we have ever had and we soon settled in to our aft stateroom #7121. Uneventful afternoon and evening unpacking and exploring the ship, dinner with 4 other passengers who were experienced cruisers. We got some tips and shared stories.
Thur May 8th - Cape of Good Hope and departure

Road hugging the cliffs- great drive

Looking back toward Capetown on way to Cape

Here we are ...

View from Funicular

We took a bus tour to the Cape of Good hope - Cape point! It was about a 2 hour drive, so we had very little time to get the funicular to the top and back down, before leaving for lunch at a large beachfront restaurant. We had 'line fish' and the best calamari we have ever tasted. Straight back to the ship to clear South African immigration for departure. We had dinner with a few people who lived in the states, but were originally from Jamaica... great group. Saw a short comedy show before settling down for the night. 

Cape Point - Cape of Good Hope

Made it to both capes now!!

The Actual Cape of Good Hope... looks lovely

Great walk up and down to Lighthouse

Surprise spotting from Bus on way back down.

Lunch Spot

They served the BEST Calamari ever

View across valley near Capetown

May 6th - Last drive... back to Johannesburg

 May 6th - Last drive... back to Johannesburg

Judas.. the best tracker in the world!!

And off we go

We started out extra early as Don really tried to make our last drive memorable. In radio contact with others we searched in vain for cats for about an hour and a half. Then the radio really came to life and we were off at racing pace to another area. We cannot quite describe the thrill of racing through the African bush at breakneck speed, bouncing around and hanging on for dear life.. better than a roller coaster!!!!  In contact with  others we finally found another land rover on the edge of a thicket. They waved us in and there inside was a young male leopard devouring an Impala. So Don says "it'll be here a while lets go" whaaaat!!! Apparently he had heard rumours that there was a Cheetah in the area. Just 5 minutes away, and to the awe of all of us including our tracker and ranger, we were treated to a very special find.... a wonderful sighting of a Cheetah, set up on a 5 foot high mound surveying the area around and watched by us and another land rover. We were in awe for about 90 seconds and then it just decided to move on, stealthily through the brush and it was gone. What superb timing. Only a minute either side and we would have missed it.

We returned to our leopard who continued to enjoy his feast and stayed there for some 20 minutes, totally enthralled. It didn't seem at all gory even though it was a fairly graphic sight. Don believed that the cheetah downed the Impala, but it was stolen by the Leopard, such is the hierarchy of nature in the bush. 

After we left the Leopard to his meal, we saw Giraffe, elephant, zebra, Wildebeest, Impala, Warthogs, a beautiful lilac breasted Roller (bird), and a huge water buck before arriving back at camp. We said goodbye to Judas and went to pack before final goodbyes and a beer on the deck, where we saw some guinea fowl and a Cape buffalo, grazing by the deck.  Our driver arrived to take us back to Nelspruit airport for our uneventful flight back to Jo'burg. We chatted with him about today's big national election... he was definitely an ANC supporter for life! Back at Africa Sky we had dinner, packed, sat by the Boma and had a reasonably early night.
 

Final elephant sighting!!

Water-buck... HUGE horns

Wildebeest grazing with Zebra-lesson for humans!!

Wildebeest and Impala also sharing the land

Looking happy but sad to say goodbye

Packed and ready to go!

Relaxing on the main deck before leaving

Bye Will.. it's been a blast!!

Guinea Fowl below the main deck

View from the deck

Cape buffalo from the deck

Local market on way to Nelspruit

Wished I had bought on of these now!!

Our chariot awaits again!!

Cruise here we come