Homeward Bound
We’ve begun our trek across the Atlantic and have left Africa behind. Over the next 2 weeks each of our last 6 ports will get us closer to Fort Lauderdale. We’ll make the most of each port but are also looking forward to getting home.
St. Helena is a British Overseas Territory and one of the most isolated places in the world, located more than 1,200 miles from the nearest landmass (Africa). Because of its remote location it became the place of exile and death for Napoleon (1815-1821) after his defeat at Waterloo. We were able to visit his former home, Longwood, in the mountains as well as his former tomb (his remains have since been moved to Paris).
The island is quite beautiful with green lush mountains, vertical cliffs and V-shaped valleys. The weather is moderate with the annual temperature somewhat over 70 degrees. There is no airport and the only mode of transportation and import of goods is by the islands ship which returns every two weeks. The town of Jamestown where we were tendered into is located in a v-shaped valley between two mountains. One of the most unusual and daunting sights is “Jacob’s Ladder.” This is a long improvised very steep stairway leading up the sheer mountain to a plateau with some homes above. It was originally built by the military to link the fort above with the town of Jamestown. The ladder is 900 feet long and has 700 steps. If you climb it you get a certificate that states you were dumb enough to do it. Unfortunately you also have to climb back down. Well, we were surprised to find hundreds of our ships passengers and crew climbing the ladder. Marie did it and I filmed her. I opted out when one of our friends that we had done the ATV’s with 3 days before passed out halfway up. He was helped down and we all had a Beer together afterwards. He didn’t get a certificate.
We spoke to several of the town’s people including our taxi driver, the proprietors’ of the local hotel and a guy that was the former Magistrate. They all agreed that the town was like living in the 1950’s, with no crime, few interferences from the outside world, a beautiful climate, scenic vistas everywhere and an 18 hole golf course. They said that the 6,000 residents were not interested in what we call “progress.” We understood that and found the place to be as close to Shangri La as we’ve encountered. I cannot imagine living in such an isolated place but if you were born and raised there it would make for a very comfortable life. 
The landscape of Namibia in West Africa is not what we expected when we envisioned Africa. The great Namib Desert makes up much of the overall land mass; however, it has great wildlife and is distinctly African. The land is desolate but has something very special---diamonds. The first person to purchase land from the natives was Adolf Luderitz, founder of this town. Luderitz was the first German settlement in Southwest Africa and in 1884 the German military took over the port. There were several wars between Germany and the allies during WWI and WWII. South Africa to its east also claimed it for some period of time. Finally in 1990 Namibia became independent.
Diamond mining has driven much of the areas economics. We met a couple in Luderitz who managed the operations of the de Boers diamond mines nearby. As with the rest of the world, diamonds have fallen on hard times because they are a luxury. The company has over a year’s supply of inventory on hand and has shut the mines for 4 months giving all employees a fully paid leave of absence. So, even in the little town of Luderitz our U.S. housing market collapse has affected this local economy.
Luderitz and Kolmanskop
Luderitz was our first Port of Call in Namibia and in the morning we headed out to Kolmanskop, the first diamond mine. In the 19th century Jan Kolman was traversing the desert when he began finding what appeared to be diamonds on top of the sand. From there the town was founded and the Germans began to arrive. It is now a Ghost town with the Sand trying to reclaim what’s left. It operates as a museum and we found it pretty interesting to see how these 400 people lived while digging for diamonds. They built an ice house, sausage factory, bowling alleys and a medical clinic. They were able to use shovels since the diamonds were very close to the surface and large equipment had not yet been invented. After the 90 minute tour we found our taxi driver and began the trip back to Luderitz. On the way, he announced that the fee he had committed to was only a one way fare and that he wanted double the price. I told him to take us to the tourist office and we would straighten it out. He finally agreed to a $5 tip. These guys are in training for a New York City taxi job.
As you can see from the pictures of Luderitz, it’s a very pretty seaside town. It sits on rocky shores and reminded us of Maine, although it’s much drier. The buildings are painted bright colors and most of the roads are sand. They’ve begun some work to attract tourists along the waterfront with a few shops and restaurants. We had a delightful day walking in the spring like weather and ate lunch overlooking the harbor. The ship was unable to moor alongside the pier because of tides. The Captain also announced that the Rotterdam would have been the largest ship ever to enter the harbor and he did not feel good about that. So, we tendered in from the outer harbor.
Walvis Bay and Swakopmund
Walvis Bay (Whale Bay) our Port is about 350 miles North of Luderitz, also on the Atlantic. Our destination this day was the Sand Dunes about 20 miles North in Swakopmund. We had agreed with some shipboard friends to rent 4 by 4 ATV’s and take a guided tour of the Namib desert. We didn’t know what to expect but all agreed that it ranked high on the “most fun” scale when we were done. The dunes can reach 1,000 feet high and as the group of 15 followed our guides we all became more confident—probably a mistake. The dunes became more like the moon and much of the time we travelled on virgin sand with the Atlantic off to our West. The Weather was perfect and after 2 hours of non stop action we were ready for lunch and Beer at a German Brew house in Swakopmund.
When we returned to the port we found out that the ships Dentist had to be medivacked. He took the ships excursion on the ATV’s and flipped over shattering his collarbone. We’ll pray that we don’t have a toothache on the way to Fort Lauderdale.
But for us it was a great day and a good send off as we left the African continent for St. Helena in the mid Atlantic. Luderitz and Kolmanskop
Swakopmund and Namid Desert
Cape Town, South Africa has been one of the ports we’ve been most anxious to visit since the beginning of the trip. According to Frommers travel guide, Cape Town is considered ,by many, to be the most beautiful city in the world. We would agree with that assessment. It’s the 3rd largest city in South Africa and lies at the foot of Table Mountain (3,750 feet) and on the shore of Table Bay. Most of the former dock area is now a commercial and tourist waterfront area with museums, craft markets, and restaurants. Cape Town is the tourism capital of South Africa with the largest number of tourists of any South African city.
We encountered rough seas since leaving Durban which got worse as we rounded the Cape of Good Hope on our way to Cape Town. We were scheduled to spend 2 ½ days there (longer than any other port) but upon arrival the Port Authority would not allow the ship to enter the harbor because winds were gusting to 60 knots. So, we rode at anchor in the bay from 10:30 AM until 9:30 PM when we were finally allowed to enter the harbor. That simply meant that we had some time to make up, which we did.
Our first day in Port started out with a visit to Robben Island, a former prison for political prisoners and now a museum. Actually, what this means is that it was a former prison for Blacks that were campaigning against Apartheid. Among the most famous of these inmates was Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in prison for spearheading the African National Congress (ANC) as a legitimate party. He was released in 1992 and became President of South Africa in 1994 with the ANC becoming the majority party. Robben Island is 9 miles off the coast of Cape Town which you reach by boat. The ride out is quite beautiful and takes about 30 minutes. Once there we were given a tour of the island by bus, after which we were introduced to a former prisoner, who was our tour guide for the remainder of our internment on the island. We were brought inside the prison and shown how he and others had lived. They lived in 8 by 10 foot cells with no mattress and only 2 thin blankets. There was no toilet, no desk—no anything. They only had a bucket which they emptied out in the morning. One of the cells we were shown is Nelson Mandela’s, which I have included a picture. During the day they were driven to a limestone quarry where they worked at hard labor all day. Many went blind from the light of the limestone and others have severely damaged eyesight, as does Mr. Mandela. This reminded us a bit of Alcatraz which we had visited a number of years ago. It’s within sight of Cape Town (vs. San Francisco) which prompted some of the prisoners to attempt escape. There were a few attempts but no survivors. The only residents left on the island (other than the employees of the Museum) are a Penguin Colony that has been there for years.
After returning to the harbor we decided to attempt to get to the top of Table Mountain (over 3,000 feet) which had been closed in the morning because of wind. You get to the top by Cable Car and luckily it had reopened. The cars rotate 360 degrees on the way up the mountain which gives you a spectacular view of Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula. Once on top there are stone paths to walk for various view points. Actually, it’s pretty extensive since Table Mountain is over 3 miles long and ¼ mile wide with a mostly flat top (hence “table” mountain). The winds were howling and it was pretty cold (it’s late Fall here) but we managed to walk most of the paths and after 90 minutes took the cable car back down to the base of the mountain (which is still halfway up the mountain from the harbor). From there we went back to the harbor to visit some craft shops and have our first local beer of the day (Castle).
For our second day in Cape Town we hired a private guide along with 2 other couples to visit the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Peninsula (about 2 hours away). This is the Southern tip of Africa and is where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic meet. The guide, “Niels” was half the fun because of the stories he told. The short version is that he is a white South African who was orphaned at the age of 2. He mostly looked after himself and lived just outside Kruger Game Reserve, South Africa’s largest. His early occupation was “Poacher” in the park and later Poacher of Abalone and other illegal sea life—pretty nice guy huh? Well, he claims that after a few days in Jail as a young guy he learned his lessons. For sure he had a lot of stories to tell and knew the area really well. On the way to The Cape we stopped at Boulder Beach the site of the largest Penguin Colony. These are Jackass Penguins and were a lot of fun to watch. Once at the Cape of Good Hope a Cable Car takes you to the top. You then get to climb another 160 steep steps to the Lighthouse on top (what fun). The pictures I’ve posted show the fantastic views. In fact, Marie and I can’t remember a more beautiful setting. On the way back to the ship we stopped at a Winery for some tasting and even though it was early we decided to follow Niels direction that, in South Africa “we drink when we’re thirsty.” The wine was good and Cape Town a highlight of our trip. We left for Namibia later in the afternoon where we’ve rented 4 wheelers to tour the Namib Desert. We’ll let you know how that goes in our next Post.
Robben Island Prison
Table Mountain
Harborfront
On the way to the Cape of Good Hope
