This is very much a transitional post about our journey from Mauritius to South Africa. As you may have read previously we quite enjoy taking a cruise to cover the distance between two distant points. Karen managed to find a reasonable costing cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) from Mauritius to Cape Town, South Africa. It was scheduled to stop in Reunion, Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa. We thought we had hit the jackpot.
Well, sometimes things are too good to be true. The cruise was an unfortunate event. It started with 32ºC sunny weather, hundreds and hundreds of confused, frustrated passengers, zero organization, and not a soul from the cruise line to help out. This is a shot from our cabin after we got on. Most of the chaos had settled by then, but suffice to say, everyone was angry. Additionally, before the cruise started we had been informed that Mozambique had been cut from the itinerary with no plausible reason given.Our first stop was the island of Reunion. It is a department of France and is a beautiful little gem. The view from our cabin when we awoke was lovely.We chose to take the shuttle bus to one of the beaches and enjoy some sun and sand for our day ashore. The beach was wonderful and the water divine. The whole outing went reasonably well. Mainly due to the Reunion Tourist Board organizing the shuttles.As we departed Reunion we should have noted the proverbial storm clouds gathering.Our first glimpse of Madagascar was of the lighthouse as you start to head toward our destination of Antsiranana in northern Madagascar.As we saw these local fishermen hard at work the Captain came over the intercom to announce that due to problems with the depth of water in the port he was cancelling this port of call due to safety concerns. Thus, we turned around and headed out for another day at sea.On day 5 of the cruise we finally got ashore at Nosy Be, Madagascar. It is a small fishing port so we had to be shuttled ashore in tenders.We had been fortunate enough to meet a lady the previous day who invited us to join their private small tour around Nosy Be. While waiting for them at the pier it was wonderful to watch the locals loading a ferry that was heading to the mainland. Their patience and problem solving was quite interesting to watch.
Initially I had planned to be quite scathing in this post about the abysmal performance of NCL and the low quality of the cruise. However, as I was organizing the photos (specifically the ones here on Noisy Be) that I wanted to share, I was struck with how incredibly fortunate I am and perhaps the focus should be on the people here and not on our minor inconveniences.
The roads here are quite beyond anything you find in North America and we were intensely happy to have a local driver. It had been raining heavily the previous weeks so the quality of the mud was epic. This wasn’t our van, it was just part of the drama as we headed to our first stop on our tour.The guide took us, sadly, to a zoo. We were supposed to go to an island and look for lemurs there, however we were told that the poor weather had caused the cancellation of those plans.Lemur Land is an area where they have rounded up the endemic animals for easy display.It was good to see many varieties, but not quite what we had hoped for.It hurt my heart when we saw the three ancient tortoises they had there. We were told the oldest was over 325 years old. This one had been shot sometime in its past.Despite our requests not to, the guides would tease these amazing creatures so they stood up as to look better for photographs.
It goes against everything I believe in when it comes to dealing with wild creatures. But by the time we left the island I absolutely understood why the guides did it and why this Lemur Land existed. Madagascar is amongst the 10 poorest countries in the world. The people here do whatever they can to feed their families and make a living. As we drove to our sights to see I couldn’t help but try to photograph what we observed as we drove through towns and villages. People are incredible how they adapt and live in some of the harshest places on earth. The next set of photos are just a snippet of what we saw on this tiny corner of Madagascar. They were taken through a somewhat dirty window while driving over rough roads so I apologize for the lower quality, but I had to share.
You can see the natural sun screen on the girls face in the back.
We were taken to a Sacred Tree which is part of the local Animist beliefs. Yes, that is all one tree.I was more taken with the local children out fishing the shallows with nets.
It was quite humbling to see how everyone was involved in finding food. The best part of the tour was simply being allowed to see the people living here and trying to make their lives better. Sometimes better is simply having enough to eat.
Soon it was time to head back to the ship.As we boarded the ship and returned to the chaos of the cruise things were put into a different perspective. Yes, the NCL cruise was lousy and ill managed, but our lives are still incredibly soft. I appreciate that more now.
We arrived in Cape Town on February 1 after a couple more stops along the coast. Will we cruise again, yes. However I can safely say my shadow will never darken the doorway of a Norwegian cruise ship again.
The look on this street dog’s face sums up how we felt at the end of the cruise. We are so looking forward to better times and new experiences in South Africa.
Thanks for sharing Pete, it is nice that we get the chance to put things in perspective every now and again and see how good we actually have it.
Sorry you had such a crappy cruise. We have sailed on NCL 3 times now and they were all fantastic. From the smallest to one of the largest ships in the fleet, eastern and western Caribbean and Alaska.
Maybe it was the location you sailed from or just crappy luck.
Thanks Rob. The cruise ended up just being one thing after the other. Many unfortunate combinations. The communication breakdowns were the nail in the coffin for us. Several other people on the cruise told us what you just mentioned. The thing is with so many choices I would have trouble bothering to give them another go. Here is to great travels in the future. And remembering how lucky we truly are.
It sure puts things in perspective when you see this kind of poverty. Thanks for sharing your experience. Looking forward to hearing about South Africa!!
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