West Africa on the Cloud

[Fletcher]

DAY 12: LUDERITZ, NAMIBIA

We awoke this morning with the Cloud racing along to make up a bit of time lost by bunkering delays at Walvis Bay. There is a fair swell and we like to feel a ship move; the Cloud rides the waves beautifully. The sea is glorious this morning, deep blue with white horses everywhere to the horizon where there is the faint outline of land.

 

There are quite a few sea birds, the occasional dolphin and dozens of Cape fur seals. We really miss the expedition ships and their teams of naturalists. On those ships people always make announcements such as ‘there’s a pod of humpback whales on the starboard side right now’ and there is always a bird expert to say what sort of booby or noddy that is. No one on the Cloud seems to care about such things. The announcements are all about quizzes, casino events and wine tastings.

 

Luderitz was utterly charming. The approach was sensational, a surreal vista of ocean and sand dunes. The town itself was part of Deutsch-Sudwestafrika and its affluence was due to the discovery of diamonds. Consequently, Luderitz has many architectural vestiges of its German colonial past, including several impressive mansions, a lavish railway station and an old shunting yard which even has the remnants of a turntable. There are also dozens of period houses. Most importantly there is an impressive kirche which stands in a commanding position above the town. I’m afraid I had to ask the churchwarden to move her Fiat Panda which she had obligingly parked right in front of the church to ruin everyone’s photos. Why do people do this? Anyway, she moved the car with little more than an indifferent shrug. Very German, that.

 

Taken as an architectural ensemble, Luderitz should be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is talk of a new rail link to Cape Town and the construction of new hotels. There is much to see and do here - there are flamingo and penguin colonies - and it was just so much better than Walvis Bay.

 

The morning at sea and the afternoon in this lovely town made for the best day of the entire cruise.

 

Tomorrow we are at sea and I’ll be posting my final thoughts about the ship before we reach Cape Town.

Edited December 16, 2015 by Fletcher

[Fletcher]

DAY13: AT SEA

Before we get into Cape Town I think now might be the right time to sum up everything I feel about the Cloud and Silversea. It’s a sea day so you’ve nothing better to do than read on.

 

A little over a year ago I climbed aboard a Seabourn ship in the Caribbean. I wrote a similar thing as I am doing now and, I have to say, I created a lot of foam and froth and received some quite abusive comments. It’s been much quieter and more polite on the Silversea forum, for which I thank you, even though it has perhaps been less interesting as a journalist exercise.

 

When I got aboard that Seabourn ship and reached the reception desk the first thing I noticed was a plaque on the wall. It announced that a Seabourn Ambassador Extraordinaire was a man called Donald J Trump. I must say I thought of walking off the ship. I couldn’t think of a worse ambassador for a company with an image to polish. Well, I suppose Nespresso could replace George Clooney with Robert Mugabe. I didn’t notice anything like this on the Silver Cloud, so that’s a brownie point for Silversea right there.

 

However, I think you’ll know that the Cloud wasn’t quite right for us. We’ll never do another big ship again and, it’s true, we should have done this trip on the Explorer, except it sails at the wrong time of year for us. Big ships are inflexible, as our pathetic attempt to visit Sao Tome showed. And ships cannot possibly match a hotel for luxury, or a fine restaurant for food. They do, though, match anything for pretension and the Silversea ethos was nothing if not pretentious.

 

We had doubts about the whole butler thing, though I have to say the friendliness and efficiency of all the staff we encountered was excellent, including of course our own butler. Butlers in the traditional sense are the majordomos of domestic service. They supervise the male staff of a great house while the housekeeper supervises the female staff. So the butlers on Silversea are not really butlers at all but a combination of valet and footman. I think they are there to persuade coarse American passengers (like Trump) that they can aspire to be English gentlemen. If only for a week or two.

 

We could live with the pretence and the butlering. We couldn’t live with the food which was generally disappointing and sometimes downright awful. The fact that Silversea has standardised its menus right across the fleet sends out a terrible message, I think. I see a huge warehouse somewhere, producing millions of boxes of ready-meals. On the Cloud, the chefs had no idea how to construct or garnish a dish, adding half-cooked carrot, cauliflower and broccoli to virtually everything. Lunchtime buffets were seriously monotonous. Sauces were either absent or a gloopy flood. Seasoning was unknown, as in an utterly abysmal lentil soup and a dried-up, tasteless, stringy osso bucco. For someone like me, who has been eating out in high-end restaurants for 40 years, the food on the Cloud was simply mass catering of a fairly low order. On a parallel thread this week someone said they would happily go ashore for a KFC given the chance. I would have gone with them.

 

And Silversea simply has to rethink their policy on smoking. Allowing smoking in areas where food is served is wholly unacceptable these days.

 

The social aspect of cruising passed us by on this trip. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I’m not into criticising fellow passengers (except when they smoke when I’m eating) but our perception this time was that passengers were rather different to the crowd we usually get on the expedition ships. I thought most people on the Cloud were there for the ship, not the ports of call. On expedition ships you are really thrown together, all like-minded souls, with shared enthusiasms for wildlife and culture and just a passion for going to every wild and wacky country in the world. You get to meet everyone, there is a camaraderie, a collective stamp of adventure that was totally absent on the Cloud. It seemed designed for couples.

 

We booked our cruise directly with Silversea in London, initially by phone and then by email as well. Our guy at the London office was excellent and never failed to reply to a query. We also liked the online ‘My Silversea’ facility which was new to us. The way you could book up tours and dining venues was a superb innovation and simple to navigate.

 

Fortunately, our Silversea guy was ill-informed about a certain aspect of our trip. We asked about visas and he said the cost of all of them was included in the price of the cruise. We didn’t really believe this and asked him to check very carefully. He came back to us and said he’d made a mistake and that the cost of the visas would be added to our shipboard account. To compensate us for his incorrect advice he gave us a $500 credit. He said the $500 would probably cover the visas - about $50 per person per country was to be expected, he said. In the end our total shipboard bill for visas came to $22!

 

I’d also like to add here a personal note about anti-malarials. We saw many being consumed at breakfast. We did not take any malarial protection on this cruise and we haven’t on any cruise for many years and we’ve sailed through the Solomons, New Guinea, Indonesia and many other malarial areas. Doctors will look at a map and a list and say you need them. We don’t bother because you are on a ship and you will be aboard by the time the little critters come out to play. Being in the dry season helps and even if we were going to Madagascar this Jan-Feb in the wet season we still wouldn’t bother. We just take a bug spray with a high deet content and wear long sleeves and long trousers.

 

Now we’re off to bed, planning to wake early for what promises to be the most spectacular arrival of all - Cape Town and the end of the cruise.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Fletcher

[Observer]

Thanks again for your thoughtful, highly literate, often humorous posts. You were occasionally quite harsh about Silversea, but I think you were generally fair.

[Ithaca]

I agree with Observer, thanking you for your insightful posts, and preparing for our next SS cruise with a reality check. That, however, will absolutely not deter us. Well, it's close to a year away!

[RachelG]

Fletcher, having sailed on Explorer many times, I am pretty sure it would have been more to your tastes. For one thing, the people who book explorer know they are on an expedition ship, and have proper expectations.

 

I too hate the standardized menus. I have discussed this with a couple of the head chefs on explorer and spirit, and they agree. It is really hard to find quality ingredients for every dish in every part of the world. They should be able to use local produce more and have more say in altering the menu to fit the location and season. I don't serve the same menus at home in July that I serve in December. And I am in just one spot.

 

Anyway, if you ever decide to try our Explorer or Galapagos or Discoverer, I hope to meet you onboard.

[Fletcher]

JOURNEY’S END: CAPE TOWN

It was Sunday 6 December 2015 and we had sailed on the Cloud for 13 days and 2995 nautical miles. And now we had almost reached the southerly tip of Africa. We had never been to Cape Town or South Africa before and a major part of the appeal of the trip was to sail into Table Bay and see the iconic mountain and the city spread beneath it. We woke at 5.30am and looked out. Nothing. Visibility was perhaps 50 yards. Thick fog. Oh dear. The Cloud wasn’t moving. The pilot was due aboard at 5.45am and we were due alongside at 7am.

 

At 9am we still hadn't moved and we were told the port was closed. Oh God, we thought, not another bloody lunch. Then the fog started to lift, the pilot came aboard, the engines hummed into action, we were going in. And then, like a curtain going up, the fog was suddenly gone and there was Cape Town in all its table-topped splendour. Wow! And there were even a few passengers on deck to witness our arrival, suddenly released from their cruise-long tropical torpor. To my great delight, we berthed next to that historic ship, the RMS St Helena, which will be decommissioned next year.

 

We stayed two nights at the Table Bay Hotel and enjoyed that view from our room on the 7th floor. Table Mountain was fascinating to look at - by day it was always clear but early morning especially was strikingly beautiful, with clouds behaving like a waterfall. We had booked a two-night extension with Silversea and assumed we would be part of a small group of people who were on the ship. It turned out that it was just the two of us, with a car and driver/guide at our disposal.

 

We did the things tourists usually do in Cape Town - the Chapman’s Peak drive, the penguins, the Cape of Good Hope, Simon’s Town, Kirstenbosch and the stunningly beautiful Winelands where the classiest place for tastings and lunch might be Rust En Vrede which reminded us of Cloudy Bay in New Zealand. As far as downtown hotels are concerned, the Cape Grace has the reputation for being the best but we thought it looked a bit dark and stuffy. The traditional, colonial era Mount Nelson (the Nellie) looked absolutely wonderful with beautiful public rooms and gorgeous grounds. We never saw the Taj or the One and Only. As for our hotel, the Table Bay, while it is a bit packagey, it has a fabulous location and possibly unrivalled views. I’d happily stay there again.

 

The V&A waterfront rather reminded us of Covent Garden in London. That is to say, it’s very touristy, buzzy and crowded. It’s also rather attractive with that magnificent backdrop. As our sightseeing was pretty intensive - out with our guide for seven or eight hours - we didn’t really want to travel far for a restaurant. So we simply walked out of the hotel and ate at whatever restaurant took our fancy - Baia for the first night, where our table had a jaw-dropping view, and Harbour House the second night. Both places were more than fishily acceptable and because of the exchange rate dinners for two with fairly pricey wines came to about £40 for two.

 

People who go to Cape Town and confine themselves to these tourist sights might come away with the idea that since the fall of apartheid everything is wonderful and that Cape Town is a sort of Beverly Hills in Africa. It can look like that as you drive down the Atlantic coast towards the Cape or eat out at the V&A. Except that you hardly ever see any black people. So I’d like to share two of my less cheery experiences with you:

 

Near the penguin colony we had a pre-paid lunch at a restaurant called Seaforth. I’m happy to name it. We got on well with our driver, a man in his early 50s, and asked him to join us. In the apartheid era he was what you would call a ‘Cape Coloured.’ The three of us entered the restaurant and a young black waitress showed us to a dark, pokey inside table. We asked to eat outside on the lovely terrace. ‘Do you want to eat with him?’ she said, rudely pointing at our guide. ‘The guides usually eat over there,’ she said, indicating a side room. We were flabbergasted. We insisted and we all went outside but this unpleasant incident cast a shadow over the lunch. Our guide explained that apartheid isn’t dead because the blacks feel superior to the coloureds while the whites just carry on owning and running all the businesses. The government pretends they are in control and merely try to minimise their levels of corruption. The economy virtually collapsed while we were there, due to some scandal or other.

 

On our last day our guide was to have driven us to Kirstenbosch gardens, then Stellenbosch for lunch and finally the airport. Nothing else was on our itinerary. We visited the gardens and headed for Stellenbosch. Or so we thought. It turned out we drove straight to a place called Khayelitsha. Perhaps because of our lunch experience the previous day and our reaction to it, our guide had decided we needed to see a township, to see how things really are, away from the Maseratis and million-dollar apartments of Cifton, Camps Bay and other gated white ghettos. Well, it was absolutely shocking to see this vast city, a combination of squatter camp and shanty town, with more than a half a million people living in crumbling tin shacks or hovels surrounded by garbage, a miasma of putrefaction, conveniently built next to a sewage farm and near a beach famous for lethal rip tides.

 

Khayelitsha has 80 percent unemployment and a horrendous reputation for crime, drugs and drunkenness. The government is trying to replace the shacks with huts but the more they build the poverty and desperation just gets bigger. South Africa has a massive migrant crisis - people from the DRC, Malawi, Zimbabwe and elsewhere are arriving by the million.

 

Khayelitsha was just as bad as anything we saw in Angola but somehow it was even more shocking to see it in South Africa, the rainbow nation. You only need to get a few imams into Khayelitsha and the whole place could become a hot zone of radicalisation. As much as we liked aspects of our trip to Cape Town we came away with the distinct impression that it was a powder keg waiting to explode.

 

And I guess that’s what this cruise was all about. It wasn’t fun, it wasn’t even enjoyable in the traditional sense. It was . . . something else.

 

Thanks everyone for following these maritime meanderings and thank you for all your comments.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Fletcher

[TLCOhio]

Appreciate so much for these added details on Cape Town, the Silver Cloud, etc. Very, very interesting. Keen insights and observations!! Excellent writing style!!

 

Are you open to any added follow-up questions Cape Town, the Cloud, etc.?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 129,052 views for this posting.

[Fletcher]

Yes, of course, Terry. I'll try and respond to anything people want to raise.

[Critically Cruising]

I'm trying to figure out how the ship changed so completely once you left in Cape Town and we boarded.

 

Then again, we actually like other people. And not just curling up with a book in our own little world avoiding any interactions.

[mike@sea]

Some of the responses , like the last one from "critically Cruising" , make me dislike this whole website for quite some time now.

This site is called CruisecCritic, however the critic part seems widely unwanted here. In every forum withe every topic. Sad!

Only for posts like yours Fletcher, the website remains worth checking from time to time. Your style, excellent expression in words, seasoned with humour and a lot of background information incl world politics and economics, made this a real pleasure ro read.

 

Thank you for this and the time you took to write it all. I wish more people would leave their personal travel experiences here, instead of the tiring praise of one´s cruise line (with leaving aboslutely no room and acceptance for anybody elses criticism). Why do so many people feel the need to always leave a negative comment here after another person´s post? It´s all about personal opinions and experiences, so other´s must not leave a comment to that at all.

If you don´t have anything nice to say to a person, don´t say it.

 

I enjoyed to be part of your African Journey onboard the Cloud and appreciate hearing your very own personal thoughts and experiences on this (not so) luxury cruise. Thank you once again for sharing this!

Michael

Edited December 19, 2015 by mike@sea

[Major Pete]

Some of the responses , like the last one from "critically Cruising" , make me dislike this whole website for quite some time now.

This site is called CruisecCritic, however the critic part seems widely unwanted here. In every forum withe every topic. Sad!

Only for posts like yours Fletcher, the website remains worth checking from time to time. Your style, excellent expression in words, seasoned with humour and a lot of background information incl world politics and economics, made this a real pleasure ro read.

 

Thank you for this and the time you took to write it all. I wish more people would leave their personal travel experiences here, instead of the tiring praise of one´s cruise line (with leaving aboslutely no room and acceptance for anybody elses criticism). Why do so many people feel the need to always leave a negative comment here after another person´s post? It´s all about personal opinions and experiences, so other´s must not leave a comment to that at all.

If you don´t have anything nice to say to a person, don´t say it.

 

I enjoyed to be part of your African Journey onboard the Cloud and appreciate hearing your very own personal thoughts and experiences on this (not so) luxury cruise. Thank you once again for sharing this!

Michael

 

Well said sir!

[TLCOhio]

[bCAPE TOWN[/b] the fog was suddenly gone and there was Cape Town in all its table-topped splendour. Wow! We stayed two nights at the Table Bay Hotel. We did the things tourists usually do in Cape Town - the Chapman’s Peak drive, the penguins, the Cape of Good Hope, Simon’s Town, Kirstenbosch and the stunningly beautiful Winelands The V&A waterfront rather reminded us of Covent Garden in London. That is to say, it’s very touristy, buzzy and crowded. It’s also rather attractive with that magnificent backdrop. People who go to Cape Town and confine themselves to these tourist sights might come away with the idea that since the fall of apartheid everything is wonderful and that Cape Town is a sort of Beverly Hills in Africa. Our guide explained that apartheid isn’t dead because the blacks feel superior to the coloureds while the whites just carry on owning and running all the businesses. The government pretends they are in control and merely try to minimise their levels of corruption. The economy virtually collapsed while we were there, due to some scandal or other.

 

Fletcher: Yes' date=' of course, Terry. I'll try and respond to anything people want to raise. [/quote']

 

Appreciate your many details, comments and background for what you did and experienced in and around Cape Town. This will be our first visit, both to Africa and Cape Town. I really liked you comments on the V&A Waterfront for how it might be a little too touristy and crowded. We have adjusted our choice for where we stay to be a little closer to Green Point area and not as much in the heart of the busy V&A. Your insights/comments/experience on the Black vs. Colored vs. White for the power/cultural was super fascinating!!

 

Fortunately, we have five days in Cape Town before starting our Feb. 2 Silver Cloud sailing. That added timing allows us more flexibility to see a wider range of options, sights, etc., there. This includes visiting a "township" area to better see and experience aspects of the Apartheid era, etc. We will also do the route down the Cape Peninsula and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. Here are a few of my questions for your reactions and/or any others experienced for Cape Town to share more:

 

1. SAFETY?: How did things feel and seem for walking around in most of the areas of Cape Town where you were at? For V&A, City Centre, nearby, etc.?

 

2. ROBBEN ISLAND?: Many urge going here. You did not. Was that just due to limited time or any specific reason for it not being as a higher priority? Some have told us that this tour can be a little rushed/crowded.

 

3. TRAFFIC?: As I understand you were not driving (we won't be either), but did things overall seem super congested or did things move fairly well for getting around in these areas of Cape Town?

 

4. WINELANDS?: Many strongly suggest this option. You did not. Was that just limited time or any specific reason for it not being as a higher priority? Many have said that the architecture/history makes things "special" to see and experience, plus the beauty of the settings, nature, etc.

 

5. CITY CENTRE?: Is this Central Business District that interesting, important and fascinating? Or, just another typical downtown with older government buildings, commerce, congestion, etc.?

 

6. KIRSTENBOSCH?: Was Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens that special and worth it? About how long does it take to get a decent sampling there?

 

What else is important that have I not asked?

 

THANKS so much for your help, comments, sharing! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 190,578 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[Fletcher]

Terry, thanks for the questions. You have my full attention as it's a rather dead Sunday here.

 

1: Safety. Walking around the V&A waterfront and the Central Business District poses no problem at all. We never felt the slightest suggestion of trouble. At night the V&A is perfectly OK though I have heard other central areas aren't so safe at night.

 

2: Robben Island was of no interest to us at all.

 

3: Traffic seemed free-flowing in the city centre. We encountered heavier traffic on the motorways outside city, towards the Airport and Stellenbosch. We also saw two major accidents. Road safety is a big problem here.

 

4: We did a day in the Winelands and if we ever go back to SA I'd probably stay in this area for a few days and rent a car. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful. We are also huge fans of the Cape Dutch architecture. Stellenbosch has many fine examples though we thought the town itself was just too crowded and busy to be enjoyable. It was also swelteringly hot, about 95F.

 

5: City Centre. We walked around a bit, admiring the colonial era buildings that are clustered around a park called Company Gardens. This is a pretty area. It even has a big statue of Cecil Rhodes (there's a big debate right now about statues of this man). The Mount Nelson Hotel is also right there. Afternoon tea seems to be one of the best things to do here. No safety concerns in this area during daylight. Good heavens, we saw several Ferraris, Aston Martins, even a McLaren. A bit like Monaco!

 

6: Kirstenbosch is world famous, SA's answer to Kew Gardens. We spent two hours here. It's not quite as big you think. It's busy with school parties. It concentrates on indigenous flora, the fynbos, and as far as garden design/landscaping is concerned, it's very old school. The backdrop of mountains is superb. We are very keen gardeners and visit many gardens all over the world. We were a little disappointed with Kirstenbosch as it's all a bit samey. In fact, you get a better and far more natural appreciation of the Cape Flora on the road down to the Cape of Good Hope. Several stops down there provide a breathtaking landscape.

 

We are aware that if you want to see the flowers at their best you need to visit Kirstenbosch, Namaqualand and the Western Cape in Aug-Sep.

 

I've just read an interesting blog by my favourite food critic, Andy Hayler. He has just been to Cape Town to sample a few restaurants. He went to this place, The Test Kitchen, and had to pay a street gang protection money to save his car from being trashed or stolen. It's an interesting read.

 

http://www.andyhayler.com/blog

 

I'm here for follow-ups if you think of anything else.

 

And thank you Mike@Sea for your welcome comments.

 

Finally, I have begun putting my photos of the cruise on my Flickr site, here:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?rb=1&path=up70mm&nsid=&page=&details=1

Edited December 20, 2015 by Fletcher

[TLCOhio]

Terry, thanks for the questions. You have my full attention as it's a rather dead Sunday here. I'm here for follow-ups if you think of anything else. Finally, I have begun putting my photos of the cruise on my Flickr site.

 

Super appreciate your wonderful and detailed responses coming back quickly. Great added info and background. Have copied and saved this info to my trip/computer file. Will do some checking on your Flickr site. Glad to hear that you loved the Winelands so much. Great tip on The Test Kitchen. A friend has suggested that dining experience. Will check on getting a reservation there. I am sure that I will have added questions. Great sharing and insights. My good luck catching you on a "dead" Sunday. BUT, your writing skills and smart brain are very ALIVE!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 207,404 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[TLCOhio]

I have begun putting my photos of the cruise on my Flickr site, here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?rb=1&path=up70mm&nsid=&page=&details=1

 

WOW!! Very much appreciate this link to your flickr posting. Clearly, you are just starting on your Africa pictures. Look forward to seeing the Cape Town visuals.

 

In looking at your so many interesting and great pictures, I noticed a number of the pictures from Venice as one example. Great pictures from there. Did you use HDR or high dynamic range to create certain of these photo "looks? Other visuals effects used?

 

Although I am a Nikon guy with a D7100, I noticed you using a Canon EOS 6D with a EF70-300mm f/4-5.6L lens. Any special and added photographic comments, ideas, suggestions, tips, etc.?? Especially for Africa?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 33,533 views for these postings.

[brimary]

Some great advice already for Capetown adventures.It is a fabulous place to enjoy a five day stay.Re Robben Island .......we did this tour independently by ferry from the harbour (regular service) which drops you at the entrance to the prison.We were given a fascinating insight into the history of apartheid by an ex prisoner who served 25 years and is now a tour guide.A very balanced view from someone who had suffered and been incarcerated at the same time as Nelson Mandela .We visited Mandelas cell which he was confined to apart from 1 hour per day,difficult to comprehend but an experience that will stay in the memory bank for ever.The ferry to and from provides wonderful vistas of Capetown and Table Mountain.A great experience at very low cost which left us with lifetime memories. Hope this helps in the wonderful oppotunities choice available in the beautiful city of Capetown.Enjoy your trip Terry.

[Viv0828]

Thanks to the author of this thread and the helpful contributors. We plan to visit Southern Africa next winter - not by ship though - and I found the posts interesting and helpful. I will save this thread for future reference.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Viv0828

[Fletcher]

Terry - We took two cameras - my Canon EOS 6D and my wife's Nikon D3300. For maybe 30 years I used a Nikon but did the switch to Canon two years ago and haven't regretted it. For this trip I took 24-105mm and 70-300mm lenses. I'm going to Rome in January and will take a 12-24mm. My wife just has a 24-105mm on the Nikon. As for processing, I use a variety of computer tools - on my Macbook I have Aperture and Photomatix which is a HDR system though you can create interesting effects by simply tone-mapping single image in Photomatix and refining it in Aperture. I think you need real discipline using these systems to preserve a degree of realism. On my desktop I have Lightroom 6. To create genuine HDR you need a tripod and I just can't be bothered to lug that abroad unless I'm travelling in our own car. Some of my recent Scottish pictures are genuine HDR.

 

You can get very techy/nerdy about cameras and stuff. I think probably I am. But I do believe you need an eye for a shot rather than a fancy camera. Hence the often stunning images people create on their phones. At least they are inconspicuous. And that's a big plus for Africa unless you are on safari of course. A lion isn't a camera snob.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Fletcher

[TLCOhio]

Terry - We took two cameras - my Canon EOS 6D and my wife's Nikon D3300. For maybe 30 years I used a Nikon but did the switch to Canon two years ago. For this trip I took 24-105mm and 70-300mm lenses. I'm going to Rome in January and will take a 12-24mm. As for processing, I use a variety of computer tools - on my Macbook I have Aperture. To create genuine HDR you need a tripod and I just can't be bothered to lug that abroad. I do believe you need an eye for a shot rather than a fancy camera. That's a big plus for Africa unless you are on safari of course. A lion isn't a camera snob.

 

brimary: Robben Island. We were given a fascinating insight into the history of apartheid by an ex prisoner. We visited Mandelas cell which he was confined to apart from 1 hour per day' date='difficult to comprehend but an experience that will stay in the memory bank for ever. The ferry to and from provides wonderful vistas of Capetown and Table Mountain. Enjoy your trip Terry. [/quote']

 

Appreciate this wonderful added background about your camera tools, laptop technology, etc. I may take a very small, handy tripod and do some true HDR efforts in Africa. Agree 100% that the right "eye" for good photography is more important than the "tools". Like with an artist or cook, it is not always the quality of the paint brushes or pots and pans making the difference. It's the skill, attention to detail and interest of the camera user.

 

Glad you have some good Nikon history and connections. There are lots of excellent cameras out there from several key companies, including Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc.

 

Agree that Lions are not worrying too much about your camera brand and type. Yes, iPhones, etc., can produce some very good visual images.

 

THANKS to brimary for this excellent info on Robben Island, etc.! Keep it coming. Great background and expertise to help build the excitement for this adventure.

 

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

If Venice is one of your future desires or past favorites, look at this earlier posting for many options and visual samples this city that is so great for "walking around", personally seeing its great history and architecture. This posting is now at 55,615 views.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

[jpalbny]

 

Agree that Lions are not worrying too much about your camera brand and type. Yes, iPhones, etc., can produce some very good visual images.

 

They all taste pretty much the same... :p

 

**

 

Have to jump on and add my compliments to OP. This has been a greatly enjoyable thread!

 

Even though we enjoy Silver Cloud very much and we've never failed to have an excellent time on board, I enjoyed your perspective.

 

**

 

Can't wait to get back to South Africa. We have a trip planned to Madagascar next year, and hopefully we'll find extra time at the end to tack on another visit to Stellenbosch. It's gorgeous. And all of you who have just been, or will be there soon, are just killing me!

Edited December 21, 2015 by jpalbny

[swindy]

TLCOhio

 

As we say "horses for courses"......thats what is interesting, that we all have different likes and preferences. So here are a few of mine

 

1. I would definitely visit Robben Island.

2. We prefer Franschhoek over Stellenbosch. Especially the beautiful drive through the mountains to Hermanus with stunning views over the Franschhoek valley.

3.We've always felt safe to walk around on the V&A Waterfront and there's always entertainment going on at the small outdoor arena.

4. City sightseeing do a fantastic 2 day package which is even better value with the high Rand at this time. It has 3 routes, does a Township visit, an evening trip up to Signal Hill for the sunset and also a wine tour which visited two wineries on our last visit. Absolute bargain....

5 Kirstenbosch gardens are beautiful with lots of stunning statues.

 

We have visited a number of times and also travelled the Garden Route quite a few times to visit Game Reserves in the malaria free Eastern State.

 

Hope this helps

[Catlover54]

Appreciate your many details, comments and background for what you did and experienced in and around Cape Town. This will be our first visit, both to Africa and Cape Town. I really liked you comments on the V&A Waterfront for how it might be a little too touristy and crowded. We have adjusted our choice for where we stay to be a little closer to Green Point area and not as much in the heart of the busy V&A. Your insights/comments/experience on the Black vs. Colored vs. White for the power/cultural was super fascinating!!

 

Fortunately, we have five days in Cape Town before starting our Feb. 2 Silver Cloud sailing. That added timing allows us more flexibility to see a wider range of options, sights, etc., there. This includes visiting a "township" area to better see and experience aspects of the Apartheid era, etc. We will also do the route down the Cape Peninsula and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. Here are a few of my questions for your reactions and/or any others experienced for Cape Town to share more:

 

1. SAFETY?: How did things feel and seem for walking around in most of the areas of Cape Town where you were at? For V&A, City Centre, nearby, etc.?

 

2. ROBBEN ISLAND?: Many urge going here. You did not. Was that just due to limited time or any specific reason for it not being as a higher priority? Some have told us that this tour can be a little rushed/crowded.

 

3. TRAFFIC?: As I understand you were not driving (we won't be either), but did things overall seem super congested or did things move fairly well for getting around in these areas of Cape Town?

 

4. WINELANDS?: Many strongly suggest this option. You did not. Was that just limited time or any specific reason for it not being as a higher priority? Many have said that the architecture/history makes things "special" to see and experience, plus the beauty of the settings, nature, etc.

 

5. CITY CENTRE?: Is this Central Business District that interesting, important and fascinating? Or, just another typical downtown with older government buildings, commerce, congestion, etc.?

 

6. KIRSTENBOSCH?: Was Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens that special and worth it? About how long does it take to get a decent sampling there?

 

What else is important that have I not asked?

 

THANKS so much for your help, comments, sharing! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio . . . [snip] "

 

Terry, DH and I started a 15-day Capetown-Capetown cruise on the Europa 2 a few days ago (so as not to go off-topic, you can go see my separate thread under "special interest -- luxury cruising", called "Out of Africa on the Europa 2, Capetown-Capetown". I have a couple sets of pictures linked to on Photobucket so far, more will come, including from Capetown, and Namibia. We found waterfront Capetown very safe, the Cape Grace Hotel and its Signals Restaurant very good, Harbour House restaurant very good, and Kirstenbosch gardens very beautiful and great for a walk and picnic and photography. Table Mountain was stunning (lucky with weather), Signal Hill interesting (see the pics). I am sorry we did not have time for Robben Island. Try and also check out the Titanic Artifacts musuem (we had a great pre-cruise visit there, complete with boarding passes for a couple that went down with the ship:)

[Fletcher]

The Cloud arrives in Cape Town -

 

 

I've tried maybe a dozen times to load this photo so you can see it on the thread but I comes out so large it's impossible. I just don't understand how you get photos on to Cruise Critic.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Fletcher

[Keystonetraveler]

The Cloud arrives in Cape Town

 

I have enjoyed following your journey on the Cloud. I will be doing it in reverse order in March as well as the following leg from Ghana to Barcelona. I had convinced myself that I would probably enjoy the cruise even though it was not what you had hoped for.

 

Then, I get this picture. I am so glad that you could not download it to cruise critic and gave us the flicker link. Not only can I see your arrival in Cape Town, but also all your other pictures from the trip as well as your other journeys. I have concluded two thing. You have an excellent eye for pictures and know how to technically use a camera well. Also, I assume you probably have a very good camera.

 

The pictures are fantastic, and I am even more convinced that I picked a trip that will give me a better understanding of West Africa.

 

Thanks

[fizzy]

Your pictures are enthralling.