Goodbye NCL Dawn, Hello 'Long Street' Airbnb!

Day 068:  We knew this day was coming.  Our 12-night cruise from Mauritius to Cape Town couldn't go on forever.  We had a chance yesterday to check out the location of our Airbnb.  It's on Long Street right in the middle of downtown Cape Town.

We had a relatively leisurely morning although NCL kicked us off the ship at 8:30 am!  Normally, one can leave the heavy luggage in front of the one's cabin door the evening before departure.  It all magically ends up in the terminal as soon as one exits the ship for the final time the next morning.  That morning was today.  

We went up for our last breakfast at around 7:45 in the morning.  So by the exit time, we were ready to walk into the Cape Town Cruise Terminal.

We walked out to the taxi stand and agreed on a $US10 taxi ride to 'the decks'.  Uber said it should cost around $4 but I guess we could easily consider this surge pricing.  The convenience was definitely worth it.  At the building's reception, we picked up our key fob from security.  It was in an envelope with Jay's name.  Then we took the elevator up to the 11th floor.

         

We found the place perfect for our four-week stay.  How thoughtful to have some essentials such as milk, yoghurt and new jars of coffee in the fridge and cupboards.

By 9:15 am we already felt at home.  The summer weather is perfect with a temperate of around 25C.

 

We found a great supermarket and have filled up the fridge and cupboards with everything we'll need for a while.  The TV has a zillion channels, and the kitchen is well stocked with cooking utensils.  We're ready to explore Cape Town and the surroundings over the course of the next month.

Cape Town, South Africa: Victoria and Alfred Waterfront / Evening Walk in Downtown

Day 067:  Today we officially made it here!  Luckily we didn't have to scramble off the ship today as it will stay overnight.  So we got a chance to see a bit of Cape Town, South Africa.  The activities of the day resulted in us being really happy at our plans of staying for one month based in this city.

As soon as we'd eaten our breakfast, we walked off the ship.  The Cape Town Cruise Terminal is near the newly renovated waterfront.  In the morning we spent a few hours walking at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

How beautiful on this great summer day!  It reminded me a bit of Vancouver although it's on the Atlantic Ocean and not the Pacific.  It's also in the southern hemisphere.  Lastly, it's dry here too as can be seen by the commanding mountains.  Regardless, the new construction near the ocean felt familiar. 

 

         

By the time we walked back towards the ship it was lunch time, so we reboarded to eat.  Then, as is our custom we spent a bit of time napping.  However, we wanted to see a bit more closely the city where we will check into tomorrow's Airbnb apartment.

We eventually found Long Street and found the entrance to our building.  It was nice to check out the area and see if we could locate useful supermarkets and other amenities.  We surely did a fair amount of walking as Fitbit reports we hoofed it 15 kilometers today!  

   

    

This was one of the last dinners aboard the ship.  We relaxed in the Garden Buffet and had more than our fill yet AGAIN.  I do have my bathroom scales with us.  I've regained about a kilo and a half over these past 11 days on the NCL Dawn.  I still marvel at the quantities and variety of the food on this ship.  We are used to eating too much on cruises but it's been especially easy since we left Mauritius.  

In the evening, Jay and I looked out at the city from our comfortable ship and felt excited about the month we will spend here.

 

Mossel Bay to Knysna

Day 066:

Tour of Port Elizabeth

Day 065:

A Grey and Windy Day

Day 064:

 

Sea Day 3/3 - Food, Food, More Food!

 Day 063:

Sea Day 2/3 - Overeating Between Madagascar and the African Coast

Day 062:  The weather should be getting a little cooler as we slide out of the tropics and down between Madagascar and the African coast.  However, that hasn't been noticeable yet.  When we do disembark in Cape Town on the 17th, South Africa will be in the midst of its summer.

I took my weekly injection of Ozempic on Thursday, but there's only so much any drug can do.  Norwegian Cruise Lines sure makes eating easy.  All in such great quantities and qualities!  We have been walking 6 or 7 kilometers even on sea days.  Still, I think my weight is headed in the wrong direction.  Perhaps I'll need to spend our two months in South Africa getting back on track.

Sea Day 1/3 - Shore Excursion Tickets - Visiting the Stardust

 Day 061:

Nosing Around Nosy Be, Madagascar

 Day 060: 

In Search of Red Tsingy

 Day 059:

Heading East Towards Madagascar

Day 58:

 

A Day in Réunion

Day 057:  By the time we got out of bed, our ship was already docked in Le Port on the island of Reunion.  We found that the shuttle bus just took us from the busy port section to the terminal outside by the highway.

Jay and I decided we wanted to travel further than just the town next to the port.  We wanted to see the capital, Saint Denis.  After all, that is such a great sounding place!

We found a single taxi waiting to take us 20 minutes along a highway created in front of steep cliffs. It cost nearly Euro 45!  We hopped alone in a large, eight passenger van and drove through sudden drizzle to the capital city.  We had a map given by the tourist office at the terminal.

The weather changes quickly and eventually we saw both rain and sun.  We walked to the famous places on the tourist map.  We saw the whole pedestrian street.  We ducked into a supermarket.  We had an ice cream sundae at McDonalds.  This island is entirely a part of France.  Therefore, the currency was the Euro. We withdrew some cash from an ATM.

We ended up down by the waterfront and thought it might be easy to get a taxi and a big hotel here.  A receptionist organized us into a van returning to the port area with a group of another five guests.  There were no taxis running around the streets.  I'm happy we were able to get back to the ship in plenty of time as we were supposed to be onboard by 4:30.

We walked over ten kilometers today.  We enjoyed eating in the main dining hall and saw a show with a blues singer from South Africa / UK.  Boy, what a set of lungs!

Finding Our Way Around the NCL Dawn

Day 056:  I had downloaded the local ride-share app before we arrived.  We didn't really use it until today.  A few days ago, I set up a ride to Port Louis.  It took around 45 minutes but we arrived early because our driver found us a bit early.  He was a polite, young fellow and brought us in a way that buses didn't travel.

We wanted to arrive to check into the Norwegian Dawn at noon.  Our earlier arrival didn't impact us much.  We sped through the rather antiquated system just as quickly as those at large ports.

 

It's always fun to learn a new ship.  This one holds around 2400 passengers plus half that many as staff.  We like the additional outdoor space on the Dawn.  It clearly will work nicely in warm climates.  Today and tomorrow will be over 30°C.  It took a little time looking around because we are more familiar with Holland America's ships.  I have to admit I like this one perhaps more than those of our recent experiences.

We pulled away from the port late but it is of little consequence as we will be at the French island of Reunion all day tomorrow.  

We watched practically the same sunset this evening as we've been seeing in Flick en Flac for a month.  In fact, we were scanning the island at around this time in order to spot our recent, temporary home.  Later, we ate in one of the two large dining rooms.  Food aboard this ship is plentiful with a large variety of choices.  Our dinner was sufficient enough, so we didn't stop by any of the places to eat aboard at 3:00 in the morning!

We're in Mauritius until the 5th of January.

Day 039:  I was sitting on the balcony this afternoon with my tea and I got a ping from my phone.  It was verifying some information.  Norwegian Cruise Lines allowed check-in the other day.  It signifies how we'll be leaving Mauritius as we're not going by airplane.

A cruise ship, the Norwegian Dawn, will take us to Cape Town, South Africa over a trip of 12 days.  We're scheduled to leave on January 5th. 

The itinerary has been modified since we bought passage last year.  It will not stay a night here but depart on the day of our boarding.  We do see Reunion Island before heading to two ports at northern tip of Madagascar.  We already spent time there but had no chance to get to the north, so that works out well.   Yet, we do not get a chance to stop in Mozambique, I assume because of the political troubles the country is experiencing.  We will also skip Richard's Bay, South Africa.  Therefore, we have three days at sea in a row that was not in our original itinerary.  We do get an overnight in both Port Elizabeth and in Cape Town.  So we can scope out the location of our Cape Town Airbnb the day before we get kicked off the ship.

We, then, have a month in Cape Town and nearly another month in Durban.  We are travelling to Johannesburg and will spend four nights before we board our flights to return to Vancouver in the middle of March.