Cruising the Indian Ocean

Sorry I’m posting this belatedly. I took too many photos!

After Madagascar we went to the small island of Mayotte and then on to Zanzibar, an island in Tanzania, know for the birthplace of Freddie Mercury. While the population on the mainland is largely Christian, the island is 99% Muslim with mosques on every corner.

We took a excursion to the east coast of Zanzibar which has a spectacular reef.

That night we had the White Night Party on the ship where everyone dresses all in white and the ship’s officers serve dinner on the deck followed by some great local entertainment.

From Zanzibar we headed up the coast to Mombasa in Kenya. We did a great tour in Mombasa, starting with the famous tusk arches.

Then we had a tour of Fort Jesus. It was built between 1593 and 1596 by order of the Spanish king, who also reigned as king of Portugal and the Algarves, to guard the Old Port of Mombasa .

Fort Jesus was the only fort maintained by the Portuguese on the Swahili coast and is a testament to the first successful attempt by the West to establish influence over the Indian Ocean trade. The fort was captured and recaptured at least nine times between 1631, including when the Portuguese lost it to the Sultan of Mombasa, and 1895 when it fell under British rule, who converted it into a prison. 

After the fort we visited a woodworking commune on the outskirts of Mombasa. The commune employs 3,000 people who carve beautiful objects from ebony, rosewood, and other woods. As we walked through the workshops the people were so welcoming, all greeting us with “Jambo!”

After walking through the workshops, we finished at the shop where we could purchase the carvings. Each carving had a tag that indicated which of the groups in the commune did the carving, so that a portion of the proceeds from the sale go directly back to them. What was so surprising was how inexpensive they were. We wish we had more room in the luggage!

Lastly, there was a stop at the spice market.

The ship departed for our last stop in the Seychelles.

There was a nice boat trip through the islands but the stay was too short.

Next, onto the safari!