I guess the best way to describe Cape Town is WOW!! It is so nice, clean, upscale, beautiful beaches, majestic mountains, etc. We’re having perfect weather which sure helps as well. The sail-in was gorgeous, one of the nicest cities to sail into. We even had the friendliest humpback whales and seals right next to the ship for a special greeting. It’s so convenient being able to just walk off the ship and be right in the Waterfront area where there is shopping, restaurants, nice hotels etc. This is a very “happening” area of Cape Town. We’re docked adjacent to Table Bay hotel for those familiar with Cape Town.

Last night there was a cocktail party for all the Gold, Platinum, and Titanium members onboard (basically this is the entire ship) at a beautiful hotel called Hotel Mount Nelson. This is an old hotel that seems right out of The Great Gatsby.The hotel and grounds were magnificent. There were local musicians playing during the party…nice touch! We stayed after the cocktail party and ate dinner there with friends. Today we did the Hop on and off bus which is a great way to get a good overview of the city. We rode the cable to the top of Table Mountain and lucked into clear weather for the great views. We just came back to the ship and discovered 6 seals sleeping on the dock right next to the ship. Some like the sun, some like the shade. They seem so familiar with humans.

Today ended segment 1. Almost 200 people got off… many old friends we had sailed with before as well as new friends we had made that we’ll miss so much. The new Segment 2 passengers are now onboard and once again, the ship is full.

Tomorrow we leave at 5:45am (ugh) for our safari to Mateya. We’re so excited about this. Our guide is coming onboard this evening to meet everyone and answer any questions. We are really looking forward to our first safari….a preempt to ROAR 2 :banana:

Here are a few pictures of Cape Town. I’ll check in again when we return to the ship in Richards Bay in several days.

Sailing In was Beautiful!

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/CapeTown-1.jpg?t=1170515245[/img]

The ship is docked here at Waterfront, nice view both day and night from our balcony!
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/CapeTown-2.jpg?t=1170515333[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/CapeTown-4.jpg?t=1170515391[/img]

Going up the Cable Car to Table Mountain

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/CapeTown-1-1.jpg?t=1170515468[/img]

The beautiful beaches and coastline of Cape Town [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/CapeTown-3.jpg?t=1170515622[/img]

These lazy guys awaited us when we walked back onboard! Some love the warm sun, some are hiding in the shade so look closely.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/CapeTown-2-1.jpg?t=1170515742[/img]

Marcie,
Your cruise just gets better and better. Thanks so much for the report and photos. Cape Town sounds wonderful!
Enjoy your exciting safari. Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

Marcie, you are so right. WOW! This city looks beautiful. I had no idea it was THIS gorgeous. Looking forward to your safari photos and report.

It looks like the most perfect place to be right now!

Marcie - WOW is right! Oh how I would love to be there with you! Have a great safari. Hopefully you will have a PM from me when you get back! ;)

Brings back wonderful memories...have a marvelous time on your safaria and we want reports on Mateya!!! Thanks for reporting in, Marcie.

Marcie, Love the photos. It sure is nice to be in a pretty port compared to all the container ports there are in the world.

Hi Marcie,

I stayed at the Mount Nelson years ago. Glad it is still there. Beautiful picture of Table mountain. Seems like you had a clear , beautiful day.

Have a great safari!

Cape Town looks beautiful Marcie! Enjoy the safari! :)

What great photos...definitely brings back some wonderful memories! I cannot wait to hear about Mateya, and I certainly hope you will have fantastic sitings on your safari!

Marcie, Cape Town really looks like a WOW! Please keep sending your wonderful reports and pictures, we are enjoying them sooo much. I certainly know now what we are missing. :mecry: But we do love traveling with you, its the next best thing to being there.

Sigh...I'm teary eyed here. The pictures bring back so many good memories and I really did leave part of my heart in Africa :app:

Oh, Marcie!!! What gorgeous pictures of Cape Town. I will be so excited to hear about your Mateya adventure. ROAR 2 just cannot come soon enough, can it?!?!

Marcie, thanks for posting and sharing your great pictures, they are wonderful. Enjoy your Mateya adventure.

Best, nancy

If I squint "just so", I think I can see BAIA.

It looks like you're having a great cruise so far. I'm enjoying every post from you. How wonderful for you to get a preview of Mateya. Please post a full report as that's where we'll be staying.

Pam,

We had dinner at Baia last night - it was fantastic! Oysters, crawfish, rock lobster . . . one of the best dinners ever.

Peggy

For all you ROAR 2 people that like to read there's a terrific new book out on S. Africa that's hard to put down. It's called "The Syringa Tree" by Pamela Gien. Check out the library or local book store.

Pam,

You definitly can see Baia from the ship. It was a 5 minute walk from where we were docked.

Were you the one who recommended Baia? If so THANKS!

Peggy

thanks, Suzie, will get it.

Peggy,

Our ROAR group had dinner at Baia and we all raved about the meal. We have another group dinner planned for ROAR2. It's just great. (Edit to add that Ngaire discovered Baia when she was exploring the area preparing for ROAR. She couldn't say enough good things about it.)

Betty and Al kept asking where the ship would dock, but nobody seemed to know. I'm so glad you docked in that area; it's beautiful there. We all stayed at Cape Grace, but we are staying at the Radisson next year.

I knew I had read about Baia here but couldn't remember the details. Anyway, thanks to all - and especially Ngaire - for the "hint".

Peggy :app:

Hi Pam (and everyone else, too!)

Yes, we had wondered where we'd dock. Ngaire thought at the time we'd likely be off to the west a ways, so we were thrilled to see where we were actually docking. The ship just barely fit into the space -- Captain Dag spent quite a while inching it in.

Baia really was just a few steps away. Al and I did eat out the second night, but at another of the resturants along that row just for a change. It, too, was very good. It was great, though, being in an area with which we were so recently familiar.

We just returned from Mateya. The lodge was spectacular, even nicer than Singita. The art work was indescribable, and the staff wonderful. However this is now mid-summer -- the equivalent of the first week of August at home. It was VERY hot -- 95 when we first got there. Luckily the safari vehicles here had canvas canopies, so that helped shade us from the sun. We didn't see as many animals as at Singita -- I'm unsure how much that had to do with the heat, and how much it had to do with location and the restrictions about driving off-road. Here, they're not allowed to go off-road except for a confirmed big-5 sighting and then only 1000 feet from the road.

We're glad we went, but we were very glad to come back to the ship tonight (minus one piece of luggage that they're promising before morning). Reliable air-conditioning is a wonderful thing!

Tomorrow we're sleeping in after three consecutive days of 4:45 wakeup calls!

Betty

Hi Betty!

So glad you are having fun; we ate at OYO, at the Victoria and Albert one night and it was really good.

Interesting review on Mateya; the "no off-road" is a little worrisome, when we all got so spoiled to knocking down trees and plunging through ravines. I'm glad you had a good time, for high Summer.

Hmmm. Certainly hope that we get some good sightings and that it is merely the heat that prevents not seeing the animals. I agree with you Pam. Are you going to Mateya too? One other thing, Betty, was the ac not reliable? What animals did you see?

Andi, we are going to Madiweki or however you spell it. But Ardis mentioned the 1000 feet in her report about her stay there, so apparently it's in effect both places.

Madikwe and Mateya are at the same park -- about 10-15 minutes apart -- so they're both subject to the same rules.

Sorry, Andi, I didn't mean to imply that the ac at Mateya was not reliable. Of course it was in the individual cabins. However much like Singita a good part of the public spaces are open air. It's as they should be, I think, after all you're there to see Nature! But it was hot outside. We located four vents in the floor of the main lounge and I would often stand over one of those when we were in the lounge at meals or before drives. I admit I'm a real weenie when it comes to heat.

Betty, at Singita we had the same restriction that they could only go off-road for the Big 5. I didn't here anything about a 1000 foot rule, though.

Marc, did it have to be a confirmed sighting? I remember being offroad, when Nick and Willis thought they knew where lions were, but we didn't find them at that point. We found them elsewhere that day (that was the day they were all out in the road).

Pam, I don't know. I think we, too, went off road in search of leopard.

Clarity for everyone on the "off road" business. There are more and more restrictions about off road driving as it is destroying the bush.

In Botswana - in Chobe National Park for instance you cannot put your wheels one inch off the road no matter WHAT the situation. I really found that frustrating.

In Madikwe Hills Game reserve, no more than 1000 feet off road for a "exceptional" sighting. It is my understanding it does not have to be a big five. In fact I know we did many off road trips for Cheetah.

In the private Game Reserve of Sabi Sands they are also supposed to limit off road activity. It will be more flexible than in a public reserve.

I have found that this varies with the drivers, both in Madikwe and Sabi Sands, some push the envelope and others follow the rules totally.

Although it was hot at Mateya it would have been even hotter at Singita. THis is NOT a good time to go. Rainy and humid and mosquito season. I chose Madikwe Hills for the world cruise safari over a lodge in Sabi Sands as it is higher and therefore cooler and also non malaria area. No malaria pills required for a short two day safari.

The animal sightings in Sabi Sands are the best PERIOD.

Madikwe offers good sightings but the key here is that it offers some variance from Sabi Sands. It is a different topography. For instance Cheetah almost guaranteed and possible Wild Dog. It also offers great value for the quality of the lodge.

Having experiences in two different areas is really a good thing to do.

Ngaire, thanks so very much for the clarification! Mark and I were talking last night, and we decided that we probably didn't go more than that 1,000 feet offroad except maybe once, but truly couldn't remember. We do remember that the number of vehicles were limited when viewing the lions, even on the road.