Intrepid Beauty of Africa & the Indian Ocean

Danielle Fear cruises on Fred.Olsen's Bolette ...

It was an itinerary I’d dreamed of since I first started cruising back in 2007, a voyage around Africa that set sail from and returned to Southampton. How could I say no? A truly incredible voyage of 93-nights taking in destinations including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Mauritius, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mayotte, Seychelles, South Africa, Ghana, Togo, Senegal Portugal and more.

In November 2023, I set sail on this cruise of a lifetime with Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, aboard the beautiful flagship, ‘Bolette’.

As we journeyed from port to port, we were left in awe of the experiences we had along the way. Each place had similarities, but they were all also very different. I’d booked a wide variety of tours, so I could get the most out of each place and see more than just the local markets or city streets – I wanted a taste of everything from the elaborate to the humbling.

The biggest highlights for myself included Karnak and the Valley of the Kings, from the port of Safagaa. Having been fascinated by ancient Egypt since I was a child, this was the chance of a lifetime. To step foot in the 62-acre temple of Karnak was simply breath-taking. Built over 2000 years by generations of pharaohs, the site was dedicated to the God Amun. The Valley of the Kings was just as impressive and walking through the magical tomb of Rameses IX felt surreal. The detail in the artwork was superb, and it was hard to believe they were thousands of years old and still in such fine condition.

Safari experiences were high on my list of things to do, and they did not disappoint. My choices were Tala Game Reserve in Durban and Addo Elephant Park in Port Elizabeth. Sadly, I didn’t see any lions on my tours, but that was fine because the abundance of other animals more than made up for it, especially the volume of beautiful elephants at Addo. At one point, a female elephant and her calf were just a few feet away from our safari jeep – it was a moment I’ll never forget. These gentle giants weren’t phased by our presence, but we were all certainly in awe of theirs.

In Walvis Bay, Namibia, a visit to the Mondesa Township and Democratic Resettlement Community (DRC) gave us an insight into an entirely different way of life. Mondesa is a suburb of Swakopmund that was originally a township for the black people in the area. The DRC is in the Erongo region and was founded in 2001 as a temporary resettlement community for people waiting for subsidized housing. The city is mostly built from reclaimed waste materials from the city landfill and in 2003 was officially declared a slum district by the city administration. Although these people are incredibly poor and there’s very little sanitation and no electricity, they welcomed us into their space with huge smiles, warm hearts, and open arms. It was a very humbling experience.

Mauritius brought a little taste of paradise in the form of île des Deux Cocos, an uninhabited private island that’s accessed by boat from the very south of the main island. It offered beautiful views of the ocean to the south and the Blue Marine Maritime Reserve to the east. Here, the time was ours to do as we wished and for me that included a short boat ride to the reserve for some snorkelling. The fish were of all different species and colours, it was wonderful to see how unbothered they were by us and how close they would come to people in the water. Sadly, most of the coral is bleached, but the marine life is still thriving, and the waters were crystal clear. We had a BBQ lunch on the beach and time to soak up the sun on the sand and swim in the calmer waters to the right of the island.

In all, we visited no less than 35 ports of call in 21 countries across the 93-days.