Moss took this sunrise picture through the verandah door of the stateroom . . .

. . . and this picture of Squeekie looking at the approaching coast of South Africa.

We are looking DOWN at the chopper as they begin to lower the pilot to the deck.

The pilot has successfully and safely reached the deck of Rotterdam; the white lines are a reflection on the glass through which we had to photograph.

Now we were ready to enter Richards Bay, which we were approaching rapidly.

This dance troupe performed traditional Zulu dances for us, which was interesting . . .

. . . but had an undercurrent of warfare, which is fundamental to the Zulu culture.

These vendors were lined up on the dock, displaying their wares.

As our shuttle bus returned from the mall, this is how the Rotterdam appeared to us.

The Zulu dancers who performed aboard the ship on the first night in Richards Bay did modern interpretive dances.

This is what northern KwaZulu-Natal looked like from our bus window as we drove toward the game preserve; it was not much different from parts of California.
This was the traffic jam caused by one elephant sticking his behind out into the roadway.

While the bull elephant (left) watched his extended family grazed back near the trees . . .

. . . so I put on my telephoto lens to get this view of the mothers and young elephants.

This elephant presented his most colourful side to the camera!

Squeekie, the National Geographic photographer, takes pictures of the zebras . . .

. . . and this is what she saw . . .

. . . and so was this thoughtful face.

After lunch we saw a family of giraffes . . .

. . . including this young one under a year old . . .

. . . a family of impalas who crossed the road ahead of our Land Rover . . .

. . . and this mommy and baby warthog family . . .

. . . overseen from a distance by the daddy.

This Cape Buffalo watched while. . .

. . . a heard wallowed in the mud while crossing a stream.

Another elephant blocked the road with its behind—this was twice in one day!

Roy enjoyed the game drive, but was hungry for some meat.

Rotterdam departed Richards Bay at sunset; while the local pilot (left) offers information on local conditions . . .

. . . Captain Olav (right) maneuvers the thrusters to back away from the dock.

As Rotterdam turns and maneuvers out through the harbour, Captain Olav watches the radar and manipulates propellers and thrusters.

Finally, his job done, the pilot is winched up into the hovering helicopter to be flown over to another ship to repeat his job.


Eighty-seventh Day (Thursday, April 16, 2009)-- The sunrise over the Indian Ocean was especially beautiful this morning as we arose in time to watch Rotterdam’s arrival in Richards Bay, our first port in South Africa. Originally, we had been scheduled for just one day in this port, but when, early in the cruise, our stop at Mayotte was cancelled (as I recall, it was for reasons of political uncertainty), another day was added here. (Mayotte is one of the islands lying to the northwest in the channel between Madagascar and Africa.)

A tiny bit of history, first-- Richards Bay is South Africa’s largest harbour. It is located on an eleven and a half square mile (30 square kilometer) lagoon at the mouth of the Mhlatuze River on the northern coast of Natal (now called KwaZulu-Natal) Province on South Africa’s northeaster coast. Its first use as a harbour was makeshift during the First Anglo-Boer War of 1879, when Sir Frederick Richards, Britain’s Commodore of the Cape (in charge of Britain’s naval forces guarding the Cape Colony and the sea route to India via southern Africa), improvised a temporary harbour. Its use in such a capacity slowly grew over the next half century. In 1935, the Richards Bay Game Sanctuary was created to protect the ecology in and around the lagoon; in 1943 this became Richards Bay Park. (Today the southwest area of the lagoon remains Richards Bay Bird Sanctuary.) In 1954 a town was laid out on the shores of the lagoon, which became an official municipality in 1969. In 1976 Richards Bay was converted into a deep water harbour with a railway and an oil/gas pipeline linking the port to Johannesburg. (I believe that this was a reaction to the civil war in Mozambique to the north which closed the traditional railway route from the Johannesburg-Pretoria area out to Maputo, which I wrote about in my last blog entry.) Later, an aluminum smelter and a fertilizer plant were built at the harbour. In addition, titanium is mined from the sand dunes close to the harbour, so a substantial amount of industry has developed around the harbour (although, fortunately, it has not become especially dirty on the ground or in the air). The railway continues to play an important role in this area, connecting Richards Bay to the Witwatersrand industrial region in the interior of South Africa, and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal is at present the largest coal export facility in the world; all this has been done without upsetting the ecological balance of the sanctuaries in and around the harbour area.

The Zulus are the predominant cultural group in Natal (northeast South Africa), now renamed KwaZulu-Natal to assert the Zulus’ dominance there. This famous (or infamous, depending upon who is doing the talking) ethnic group is the largest in South Africa, numbering some 10 million persons. The Zulus first become important in regional history when in 1816 they formed a powerful state under King Shaka, who united what had been a loose confederation of tribes into an strong empire. They dominated the region now known as Natal (KwaZulu-Natal) and deflected both the Boer migration north from the Cape and the British expansion. In 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, the Zulu, using mainly spears and some muzzle-loading rifles, defeated the British at the Battle of Isandlwana, one of few times during the late nineteenth century European colonial expansion that native peoples defeated better-armed Europeans. However, the British won that war with two subsequent major victories, the Battle of Roarke’s Drift (the subject of the 1960s’ movie Zulu), and the Battle of Ulundi. The victorious British divided the Zulu Empire into 13 “kinglets,” with the subkingdoms fighting each other until Zululand was fully absorbed into Cape Colony. Under apartheid, the homeland of “KwaZulu” was created for the Zulu people, the term “Kwa” meaning “place of.” Since the end of apartheid this region has been unified into the former coastal province of Natal. The rural Zulu economy is based upon cattle raising and agriculture; their main diet is beef, corn, yams, and various vegetables and fruits, with their unique beer as a special staple food. Beadwork is a form of symbolic communication that is a national source of pride

Back to our adventure-- We got dressed and went forward to the outside overlook on Deck Six to watch the arrival in Richards Bay. We enjoyed the view for a few minutes until a ship officer asked us to leave the deck “because a helicopter is coming to drop off the pilot.” We were both disappointed by this event, a first on our world cruise, but then I suggested that we go up to the Crow’s Nest on Deck Nine where we could look out over exactly the same area, but from behind glass. So up we went and settled in to watch our arrival at the mouth of the port and the arrival of the chopper as well. Around 9am the helicopter approached the ship, circling and then hovering just off the port bow. The chopper actually lowered its elevation to the point where we were looking DOWN at it! Its side door opened and a man—the pilot—was lowered on a cable down the the big “H” painted on the forward deck. It was very exciting to watch all of this as we had not yet seen anything like it on any of our cruises. It looked very dangerous to me (many of you know I have no love of flying). Squeek opined to me, “I didn’t know that “dare devil” was one of the prerequisites for being a pilot!” I got to thinking if this was any more or less safe than when a pilot had to transfer from a little boat onto a bigger one in a storm when the waves were big and rough, and the wind was blowing very hard. At any rate, it was an interesting entertainment for the morning.

We were in no special hurry to leave the ship as we had no excursion scheduled for today. Instead, we went down to Deck Three to watch as a Zulu dance troop performed their welcoming dance (if you can consider waving spears and shields to be welcoming) on the pier beside where the gangway had been put out. We learned that the port authority was providing a shuttle bus “into town to the mall.” After the ship was cleared, Squeekie and I decided to go down on the dock, look at the dancers (who were still performing), take a look at the vendors already displaying their wares beside the ship, and then take the shuttle into town. So that is what we did.

The shuttle bus took us out of the port area and past many industrial facilities which I initially took to be coal mines (I know that coal is mined in Natal), but which I subsequently learned also included the aluminum plant and a paper mill, among other things. I was particularly interested when the bus took a bridge over the railway yard and I got to see the extent of railway use here; this was no semi-obsolete remnant of colonial days such as I saw in Kenya, this was, despite its narrow, “Cape Gauge” (3-foot 6-inches), a heavily-used freight railway.

What we did not see out of the bus window, however, was a town—at least not in the traditional sense. There were some industrial facilities, and occasionally some other buildings, but there were also large areas of undeveloped land, green with the vegetation of coastal Natal. We never saw a “town” such as one would expect, with a bustling downtown central area and suburbs, etc. Instead, after about 20 minutes of driving we came upon a mall complex out in the middle of nowhere—well, there were other structures and a few residential tracts scattered about within view, but there also was a great deal of undeveloped land. Yet, right there, was this mall of the type that one sees in suburban America, looking very similar except for the names of the stores.

So Squeekie and I spent several hours at the mall, getting a taste of what I consider to be “reinterpreted suburban American culture,” that is, how other countries restate in their own terms what Americans have done. We “hit” a few stores (I found two bookstores and purchased a number of books and maps), and had lunch at a local restaurant. It actually felt nice to be off the ship for a while (the ground did not rock and roll!), and to be in an environment that was more familiar than strange. . . . Eventually we took the shuttle back to the ship. We shopped among the vendors on the dock beside the ship. Squeek bought some Zulu-crafted wooden jewelry and we got something for Leslee—a hippo, I think. I walked down the line of vendors and paid little attention to the carvings, fabrics, and boxes which predominated. But I was interested in the beadwork which, I have learned, is an important way for Zulus—especially the women—to express their feelings and opinions. I saw some amazing and very complex bead “necklaces” (I call them that because I don’t have another name for them) which were worn by women to advertise their availability for marriage; they were worn around the neck but also served to accentuate chests and breasts. I loved the belts, but unfortunately they do not make stuff in my waist size, although Squeekie got one. Finally, I came to a short young woman on crutches who had her beadwork laid out on a blanket on the ground because none of the other vendors would share a corner of their tables. (I have not seen many crippled people in the various places we have visited on this cruise, and suspect that many cultures still “hide” such people even as we used to do.) Her work was simple yet complex; she didn’t use an elaborate array of colours in her beadwork but she wove her beads in patterns that were interesting and I suspect difficult to make. I saw one small bracelet that really got my attention, and decided to get it for Suzie to wear as a necklace. When the woman quoted me a price I did not even haggle, for I thought she deserved “full price.” The price she asked for was 30 Rand, but I only had a 50 Rand note. It was difficult to get the money broken down to pay her because none of her fellow vendors wished to even speak with her much less help her. In the end, however, we did get the bill changed and I bought the beadwork from this woman.

After all of this shopping and our effort to support the local economy of KwaZulu-Natal, it was back aboard the ship for the evening. I really like this aspect of cruising—your hotel goes with you! After dinner we went to a show that was announced as “traditional Zulu music and dance,” but which turned out to be interpretive stuff about modern life, with a strong undercurrent of sexual suggestion. I don’t usually enjoy dance shows anyway, and didn’t like this one. Oh, well!


Eighty-eighth Day (Friday, April 17, 2009)-- Today was the day I got to see African animals in their natural environment. When I saw animals from the train window in Kenya exactly one week ago I first became aware of how fascinating they could be and began to shed my disinterest. Then, seeing Squeekie’s safari pictures, I realized what I was missing. As a result I was very interested in the safari Squeekie booked for us at a game reserve outside of Richards Bay. We were scheduled to take a bus for some distance to the northwest, to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve (the first word is pronounced shoo-shoo-wee). The drive away from Richards Bay provided us with some nice views of Natal’s scenery. I only wish that our bus driver had not thought that he was driving a Ferrari!

When we arrived at the game preserve we separated into smaller groups and boarded our Land Rovers for what South Africans call a “game drive.” I really was excited to do this, and also to experience Land Rovers in what I consider to be their natural environment! The terrain and flora here was somewhat similar to what we have in Southern California, which indicated a similar rain pattern, I suspect. There were trees and a covering of chaparral-like vegetation which varied from thin to thick depending upon access to water. In the valleys between the hills, where water flowed for much of the year, our guide told us, the cover was thick enough to provide plenty of hiding places for the shy, more timid animals.

For the first few minutes of the drive we saw very little of wild life, save for birds and one lone giraffe in the distance, but then, to our surprise and my amusement, as we came up over a hill we saw that our road was blocked by a congestion of vehicles caused by one bull elephant who had stopped with his backside stuck out across the road. The rules of the game preserve assert that motor vehicles cannot force the native animals to move. Eventually, after over 10 minutes, the elephant walked into the brush; he was keeping his eye on his extended family of mothers and calves which was grazing several hundred yards further on against some trees.

After more driving our driver-guide parked in a rest area so that some could use the toilet. There were some zebras (he pronounced the word “zeb-ras,” using a short “e” that rhymes with “reb”) of an unusual pattern of brownish stripes—they were called Birtcher Zebras we later learned. Squeekie walked around the rest area photographing the zebras while I photographed her—oh, she is my favourite National Geographic photographer!!!

There had been relatively few animals to be seen in the first part of our drive, but the number increased after the rest stop for reasons I do not understand. We barely saw two gazelle does who were hiding from our view in the bush. Several dozen Cape buffalo were wallowing in a big mud hole. Giraffes were munching away in the shade of some tall trees. Another elephant chomped its way through the brush while another one decided to take a nap in the middle of the road for awhile. Warthogs scampered here and there trying to escape from our view. Impalas were drinking from a puddle in the roadway and sprinted away from our vehicle as we approached. Some zebras, one of them pregnant, were also taking a late morning stroll on the road in front of us. Our driver searched for rhinos and hippos but they successfully hid from our view today. This may seem like a large number of animals, but there were many we did not see primarily because they only come out at sunrise or sunset, or in the nighttime hours. Still, I was pleased with what we did see, and it got me interested in coming back to Africa to see more someday. At the end of our game drive we stopped at the park headquarters for a light lunch before reboarding our bus for the trip back to Richards Bay.

After returning to the ship we spent most of the remainder of the afternoon looking at the game photos we ad just shot. Ah, the joys and benefits of digital photography! Then we worked on our laptops, Squeekie doing her journal and I writing my blog. Late in the afternoon the Zulu dance troupe returned to perform more dances on the dock, so Squeek and I went down to Deck Three to watch. After this I went up to the Crow’s Nest to resume writing on the computer (this is the area where we prefer to work on at sea days because, although busy with dancers and drinkers late into the night, during the day it is nearly empty and quiet. Squeekie stopped by our room to get some stuff, and while she was there the telephone rang. It was the Front Office telling us that we had been given an invitation to come up to the Bridge to watch the departure from Richards Bay, and we should report to the front office at a stated time to be escorted to this location on Deck Seven which normally is absolutely off limits to guests on the ship.

Squeek ran up to the Crow’s Nest to tell me this exciting news, and you can guess that we both were VERY EXCITED!!! At the stated time we both reported to the front office, where one of the staff girls escorted us up to the locked door at the forward section of Deck Seven, where she rang a bell. An officer opened the door and led us into the bridge area, where we met Captain Olav, First Officer Joost, and the Richards Bay pilot, who was a brave man as he would have to be taken off the Rotterdam after dark by a helicopter. The bridge was already darkened and the red lights were on . . .

But I will let Squeek tell a bit of this story:

The light in the Bridge was very dim, and Olav and Joost were standing in the starboard wing drinking coffee while watching the men on the dock prepare for the ship to leave. I asked Olav which of the many instruments on the panel before him was used to make those fascinating 180 degree turns. He showed me the lever and then instructed all of us (there were five of us passengers) not to touch anything. Only he pushes the buttons! Even while working, he still shows his sense of humor. He requested a few details about distances from other ships docked nearby (crewmen are stationed at key points around the ship with hand-held radar devices to specifically measure crucial distances, and they report by radio back to the bridge) and then asked the pilot for permission to leave. Three long blasts on the whistle and we were backing away from our position on the dock. When we reached a wider area, Olav started the turn. The ship’s position was instantaneously updated on a monitor which showed the port and the position of every vessel. The ship slowly turned while Joost kept constant contact with the aft Bridge which is the eyes at the rear of the ship. Olav focused on the ship’s progress all the while continuing to provide further instruction and request details. All communications were formal and serious. Before long, the ship had cleared the last buoy and the pilot prepared to disembark. I had forgotten that he would be leaving the same way he arrived—via helicopter. He put on coveralls and harness, shook hands with the Captain, and left the Bridge for the forward deck. Shortly, a helicopter appeared in the darkness and a cable was dropped to lift the pilot, and in just a matter of moments this flurry of activity was complete. Our sea voyage had begun.

This event was a wonderful cap to the day! We had finally been allowed into that most secure and off-limits area of the ship, the Bridge at a crucial time, departure from a port. After this Squeekie and I were not very interested in getting dressed for dinner in the dining room, so we just went up to the Lido for a more casual dinner. Tomorrow we would be in another port in South Africa, which was proving to be of real interest.