Today we are signed up for the 8 ½ hour Cape Peninsula tour that will take us to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, and to Boulders Beach to see the African penguins. Our last stop is the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. The Cape of Good Hope is the rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of South Africa. There is a common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of South Africa because it was once believed to be the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Actually, the southern most point is Cape Agulhas, about 90 miles to the east-southeast. The Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet at the point where the warm water Agulhas current meets the cold water Benguela current, about one kilometer east of the Cape ... read more

Buckle up...this is a lot of photos! In the couple days prior to our arrival in Richard’s Bay, the arrangements for our safari were finalized. Once we docked in Richard’s Bay, South Africa, our group of eight was taken to the Richard’s Bay Airport where we boarded a 10-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan for our 90-minute charter flight to the Mala Mala Camp private airstrip. We were met by Ryan, our ranger, driver, wake-up call, and about everything. He ate meals with us, took our food orders, brought us drinks, you name it. Actually, Ryan was responsible for Annette, Doug, Charlie, and Elizabeth; and Greg his counterpart ranger, was responsible for Evy, Mike, Bruce and Kathryn, as you’ll see in the photos. We were split-up four in each of the 4x4 Land Rovers. Ryan and Greg were ... read more

After two days at sea, having left the Seychelles with a whole new direction and itinerary, we spent time working out the details of a possible safari with Norm Pieters and the other six. It was a bit challenging for Norm as he was coordinating and putting everything together with his son in their Florida office via his phone, texting and email. Things were coming together but he needed to be sure we were all committed. The ship was still working on several things, so they did keep us in the loop, but in the final analysis, the eight of us all felt that Norm’s deal was definitely the best, most reasonable and easiest, as we had a charter flight from Richard’s Bay directly to the Mala Mala Camp airstrip. He felt this was one of ... read more

We’ll begin this episode by actually re-winding the clock back till the evening of March 31st, as we are sailing the Indian Ocean about 24 hours from Port Victoria in the Seychelles. We’re watching FOX News in our suite and an announcement comes on about the U.S. Navy capturing five ‘suspected’ pirates off the Seychelles Islands after gunfire exchange. HOLY SMOKES! The guided missile destroyer USS Farragut fired on and sunk the pirate mother ship after it attacked an oil tanker off the coast of the Seychelles, and they reportedly captured 5 pirates. The Farragut is part of Combined Task Force 151, a multinational task force established to conduct anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. GO TEAM! Well, it was the talk of the ship the next day…Happy April Fool’s Day! NOT! So, we arrived ... read more

We arrived in Penang this morning about 8:00am and by 9:00 we were on a coach headed for our excursion, Penang’s Spice Trail. Locally, Penang is known as Pulau Pinang, and is the northern gateway to Malaysia. It is the country’s oldest British settlement. The word “Pinang” in Malay refers to the areca nut palm, which provides the betel nut, an essential ingredient in a delicacy chewed by millions in the Far East. Penang is an island state off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula with the capital being Georgetown. It is a major vacation destination and in July 2008 was formally inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Known as the Pearl of the Orient for its natural beauty, Pulau Pinang has a mixture of very gracious colonial architecture, vibrant Chinese communities, Indian temples, ... read more