At Sea on the Zuiderdam - Oct 10 to 30th!

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On our cruise around the Continent of Africa!



Well it has been a challenge getting wifi and finding the time to work on my travelblog! The travelblog website that I have used over the last 20 years is not working properly. I can’t consistently upload my photos. So this will be my last travelblog on this website. Unfortunately it is without my photos!!! I apologize for that to all of you! I will post some photos on facebook but sadly travelblog.org doesn't respond to my calls for help!



I wanted to let everyone know that we are safe and sound and now past the war zone in Gaza and past the pirate waters off Somalia! Holland America Cruise lines have been extremely cautious and are looking after our welfare on this trip. As a result of the war, they cancelled the main highlight of this 73 day Cruise for me – the chance to see Petra in Jordan! But better safe than…



So going back to when we embarked on our cruise on October 10^th in Fort Lauderdale. It took 7 days to cross the Atlantic and arrive at Madeira, Portugal off the west coast of Africa. We love this island and remember fondly our frenetic ride in a toboggan careening down the windy narrow roads with a driver that controls the ride only with a brake! This is, something that everyone should experience at least once! This time we only had time for a lovely stroll down the streets from the Port (since this was our first access to Wi-Fi). It was a very pretty walk and I arrived just in the nick of time to save poor Darold from a fierce but very colorful fish on the bank! (missing photo of fish (public art made out of recycled materials) biting off Darold's foot!)



Our next stop was in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. A lovely stop with a beautiful boulevard to walk by the ocean with public art statues and a historic castle that is now a museum.



On October 20^th we did our first stop in Morocco at Agadir then the next day Casablanca where we met our dear friends from Seascape Manor where we live in Nanaimo. It was a wonderful coincidence that they arrived in Casablanca for a 10-day land tour on the same day that our ship was in Casablanca. We had a lunch and explored the downtown Market together. We plan to share stories when we get back home to Nanaimo.



After 2 days at sea, we stopped in Tunisia at a port near Tunis. We were careful to avoid the protests of the war in Gaza that were happening at the Israeli consulate in downtown Tunis. Instead, we booked a taxi and explored the ruins of the Roman port city that was destroyed in the second century. There were 9 stops; we saw the amphiteatre, the Theatre but the best and most complete ruins were the Antonin Baths that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea – Gorgeous!



Next stop was in Chania on the island of Crete in Greece. We worked in Heraklion in central Crete back in 1985 dancing in the Bouzouki clubs so this stop brought back many fond memories. What a beautiful harbour and the shopping was incredible! The port was so stunning that a fellow cruiser bought a crossword puzzle of it that we all worked on and completed! So far our favorite port!



Limassol, Cyprus was our next stop. I was in this country in 1977 with the UN where we entertained the Canadian forces at Christmas. I recall riding in a jeep with the enlisted men along the green zone which separated the city between the Turks and the Greeks. Back then it was pretty scary as we saw guns everywhere but today the conflict has settled down but the green zone still exists in Nocosia separating the Greek side from the Turkish Side. We stayed in Limassol and enjoyed their market and lovely ocean front boulevard! We even stopped for a beer at the Hagen Daas restaurant in the Marina!



We had a bit of good fortune at this time. Our inside cabin developed a disgusting sewer gas odor that lingered for 5 days while the crew tried unsuccessfully to rectify the situation. After several complaints, we spoke to the lovely Guest Services Manager, Theresa (who we discovered was born on the same day as our Anniversary (October 15^th) exactly 48 years ago – the day we moved in together in 1975)! We bonded over this and she was amazing and moved us into a new cabin with a balcony!



The next 4 days were at sea and traveling through the Suez Canal. There are no locks like in Panama so it is basically a really long ditch that they built to connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. Interesting history, bridges that go to nowhere (the desert and thus are not used much), the world's largest swinging bridge (that is no longer being used) and green on one side where they are reclaiming the desert but nothing but sand on the other side! For those of you who are my friends on Facebook - watch for future photos and post! I sadly bid adieu to Travelblog.org!

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