West Coast of Africa with an Explorer.

[drron29]

Some took the fast route across the salt pan but we took a slower route-

.

 

Which meant I got to see my first springbok-

 

It was amazing what survives in the dessert,a lizard and a burrowing gecko-

.

 

But soon the desert seemed far away-

[jpalbny]

Nice wildlife pictures! Amazing how barren the desert looks, until you get up close and see - did the Gecko try to save you some money on your car insurance? ;)

Edited April 4, 2013 by jpalbny

[patnlcc]

Hi Ann and Ron. We are in Miami and boarding a cruise in the next hour or so (not Silversea !) thanks for the comments on the veggie food. We are really enjoying your posts. Continue to enjoy! Pat and Bill xx

[duct tape]

patnlcc, have a great trip!

[bohaiboy]

Boyhaiboy I spoke to the Sommelier onboard who says there is no list of complimentary wines-though he must obviously have one.However the wines do come from Silverseas own inventory and he said will be much the same across the whole fleet.I have photographed the premium wine list and the cigar list and will post a little later.

 

Back to the cruise.Day 2 was a sea day and what did we see,we saw the sea-

.

 

As you can see there was a moderate swell but was coming from the stern so no problems.We had lectures on the history of the sea and Ethnobotany.This was more enjoyable than it sounds.That night was the Captain's reception and dinner and we dined with Toby the botanist who not only is a good speaker but a great dinner guest.

The next day was an early arrival at Luderitz.

 

There was quite a delay in getting the the ship cleared but when we did Immigration the Namibian officials where much more efficient than their South African brothers.So soon it was off to our first expedition,the ghost town-

 

We started in the community hall which is now a small museum with a shop and cafe.Here are the ovens used for catering-

.

 

More to come.

 

THank you, looking forward to the osting. Pics are great BTW. We leave for Lisbon for the SS Explorer sailing on the 29th.

[drron29]

So some more of our dune bashing.It is amazing having a desert so close to the sea-

.

 

But the dunes are impressive-

.

 

At the firthest point of our journey we stopped for a beautiful afternoon tea,with beer of course-

.

[duct tape]

Yum! Namibian oysters.

[drron29]

And fortunately there were more of those oysters to come.

But now back to the dunes.We all fell for a Namibians trick-pretends there is a problem with accelerator cable so connects his shoe laces to the carb and pretends acceleration is by pulling on the lace-

 

Later in the lounge at Accra a group of South Africans had a good laugh at us falling for this old trick.The highlight of the morning may have been the majestic flyby of pelicans-

 

Or some of the steep dunes you went down-

.

 

All agreed it was a great experience.

Then back to the ship for a soak in a hot tub to give the old muscles some relief then cappucinos with scones,jam and cream for room service.

 

Then that evening one of the highlights-dinner in the canyon.Another hour and a bit in a 4WD to the canyon.On the way you get a different perspective on the massive dunes-

.

 

More to come.

[drron29]

We approached the canyon as the sun set.Also some wonderful rocks-have to put this in to keep on the good side of Stefan the geologist who is going to be the Expedition leader on one of our voyages next year.

...

 

We were met by some musicians and then the choir was waiting-

.

 

The place was magic-

[drron29]

The sun rapidly set bringing some stunning images-

.

 

The choir sang beautifully-

 

then the moon added it's magic-

.

 

And the party became lively-

[drron29]

The organisers of the dinner were however able to better even nature's superb display-

.

 

The dinner was buffet style and did include some local dishes such as Kudu.A sauvignon Blanc from South Africa was the perfect accompaniment for us.Then unfortunately it was one of the oldest 4 wheel drives back to the boat.To save my knee I hopped into the front with the driver.The Chinese group then hopped into the back with Rojaan leaving her with no one to talk to.Our butler the next morning was happy to learn that her disposition on return to the ship was because she was cranky with me and not some mistake by he or SS!

 

The next morning was a cruise around the harbour.The flamingoes showed us another side of their nature but then they got cranky with each other-

.

 

Someone went to great lengths to protect their pride and joy-

 

The cormorants certainly appreciated the effort-

[duct tape]

Thanx, Ron. We are SOOOOOOOO looking forward to next winter!

[bohaiboy]

Dr Ron, quick question. We are on-board the Explorer in 15 days from Lisbon. What has been the dress code? Any coat and ties or more formal, or just kind of smart casual?

[drron29]

Smart casual is fine.There are 2 informal nights-Captain's welcome and farewell nights.It was suggested a Jacket for men but at least 50% did not.

I of course wore a jacket and bow tie just because I like to.Only one other fellow wore a tie.The crew were basically the only ones wearing ties.

 

Updates will be sparse for the next 2 weeks as being spoilt in Botswana!

[jpalbny]

Enjoy Botswana! It's on our list, some day... Have enjoyed your pictures and commentary. The dinner in the canyon looked spectacular!

[duct tape]

Botswana is one of my favorite places on the earth. Enjoy!

[drron29]

Sorry Bohaiboy this seems to be my first reliable internet access in 6 days.I have put pics of the fine wine and cigar list from the Explorer on the web.Not great quality.No brandy list but pics of that section of the bar-

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/ron.dolton/SilverExplorerFineWinesAndCigars#

 

Enjoy your cruise.

If this access keps up there will be some updates soon.

[duct tape]

Oh good! I did not miss much while I was missing for a few days.

[drron29]

Finally it does look like some reliable internet access so here we go on the boat cruise around the harbour at Walvis Bay.

You dont go far before a seal hops on the boat-

 

However he is recognised as unfriendly and dispatched.He feels cheated and tries to catch us with a neat bit of surfing-

 

The next on board is obviously female and takes to our expedition leader-

 

But she found his deputy more to her liking and he obviously fell for those eyes-

.

 

Meanwhile the gulls were hoping for a little of the fish the seals were getting-

[drron29]

We cruised to the other side of the harbour where there were lots of these fellows in the water showing off-

 

Many more were on land-

.

 

And we were treated to a flamingo flyby-

 

We then went out into the atlantic.There were some dolphins but not very close.We came back into the harbour and unfortunately there were many of these-

 

decimating the fish stocks and sea birds.But we soon salved our conscience with some champagne and these little beauties-

[drron29]

It was then back to the ship for lunch and then Immigration formalities.The next 2 days were sea days.But first there was the sunset-

.

 

the first sea day was Good Friday.I spent it going to lectures,organising photos,eating,sleeping and being bad at trivia.

The lectures on this cruise were of high quality and gave us a good grounding for all the adventures we had had and would share.

 

On Good Friday the lunch was a seafood buffet-lobsters,prawns and some more of those delicious oysters.I felt the food on this cruise was at least equal to all our other Silver Seas experiences.The meat came just as you ordered and was always tasty and tender.The fish was also always beautifully cooked and moist.There were more vegetarian options than usual and I became a vegetarian on a couple of days because those options appealed to me and didn't let me down.

 

Of course the chef was Australian and his offsider a New Zealander.Grant and Kyle.Grant leaves the Explorer in Dakkar and after a couple of weeks transfers to the Cloud.

On Saturday night after dinner everyone returned to their suite to find a basket of Easter eggs.A nice touch especially as we came with our extended surrogate family with children 9 and 13.And I am proud to say they became the ships favourites and others took up the role of nuisances.

 

Easter sunday and I saw the sunrise!

 

As we came into Lobito the cliffs showed magnificent striations-

 

This picture is here in case the Geologist Stefan reads this report-he will be the Expedition leader on one of our cruises in 2014.Actually a few of the crew do read Cruise Critic.

Then a local fisherman out early-

 

Before the city of Lobito came into view.

 

Lobito is next.

[jpalbny]

Awesome pictures of Conrad and Daniil with the seals! Glad to see them again. Now stop having so much fun while the rest of us are at work...:mad:

[ging466]

As a seal lover, those pics are just marvellous. I got my seal fix whilst in the Galapagos but having one jump into your boat like that, well I'm just lost for words...wow what an experience! :)

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[RachelG]

Love the seals!

[drron29]

We had our first TIA moment in Lobito.The pilot was ordered for 5am but boarded at 0630.Immigration officers were to board at 0700 but arrived 0730.We were then told that there was no need for a face to face Immigration check but at 0745 we were told face to face was mandatory.

 

We had docked near some large commercial vessels-

 

in a very beautiful part of town-

 

We were a little late leaving the ship but were welcomed by a contingent of local scouts.First we were taken to the Zaire on which the first President journeyed during the Civil war-

.

 

We noticed the odd South African tourist-

 

Before passing an old Portugese church-