Our cruise had three stops planned for Madagascar, best known for lemurs. One in Antsiranana (formerly known as Diego-Suarez) at the top of the big island and two in Nosy Be, since we were on a back to back cruise. Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions, the captain cancelled the Antsiranana call where we had …
After visiting nearby Zanzibar, we arrive in the big city of Dar es Salaam, the largest city and financial centre in Tanzania. A group of Tanzanians dressed in traditional garments perform a song and dance for us before we hop on our bus for our tour. You notice immediately the tall buildings of the city …
The hot and muggy weather still follows us as we arrive in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. The ship has to tender in as there is no port large enough to accommodate it. We meet our guide Charles, who brings us to historic Stone Town, …
We arrive in Mombasa, Kenya in the early morning around 5:30 am. There is no need for an alarm clock as we can hear loud African drums and singing outside our stateroom. A large singing troupe dressed in right colourful African wear greet our arrival. Opting for a private tour of the city, we meet …
We arrived in Port Victoria on the island of Mahé in the Seychelles in the early morning pass the wind turbines and there is a distinctive smell of fish in the air. As we make our way out of the ship, we see why—a fish processing plant is across the bow of our ship. Later …
There are a lot of things to do in Dubai, one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates. It is the most populous city in all of the Emirates at over 3.6 million of which only 15% are UAE nationals the rest being expats mostly from Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines). There …
We arrive in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, in the morning and opt for a tour of the city on the Hop On Hop Off bus which is conveniently located at the cruise port. The day is sunny and warm so we scramble up to the open air top.The first stop that we …
This is the jewel in the crown of our travel stops. A full day in St-Émilion, a small wine village and area within the wine region of Bordeaux. Our guide René whisks us from our apartment to spend a day learning about Bordeaux and its wines. It isn’t long that he explains to us that …
We leave Porto behind to catch a flight to Bordeaux, France. The arrival at the airport in Porto is different than when we left North America. No masks are required in the airport nor on the plane. It has been the normal for our trip so far. Evidence of COVID restrictions are mainly gone in …
It’s an early morning rise to meet our driver Marta who is taking us to Porto, a coastal city in the northwest of Portugal and a 3.5 hour drive from Lisbon. Porto, or O Porto in Portuguese, is the second largest city in Portugal and is also synonymous with the Port wine. But first we …