April 8th – Exploring The Ghosts of the German Empire from Luderitz

As we walked down the decaying main street of what was once one of the richest boom towns in Africa, its crumbling buildings slowly being consumed by the desert, it felt like we'd entered a film set of the Wild West. Wallpaper fluttered in the breeze, doors hung off their hinges and huge piles of sand crept in through glass-less windows. It was hard to believe that this spooky little settlement in the barren desert had once been an opulent boom town that produced 20% of all the world's diamonds, but now was forlornly succumbing to Mother Nature.

We were visiting the ghost town of Kolmanskop, about a 15-minute drive into the desert from the port of Luderitz – one of the most evocative reminders of the brief German Empire in South West Africa, and a reminder of the time when enormous fortunes were suddenly made out in the barren desert when vast quantities of diamonds were discovered just lying in the sands.

When diamonds were discovered in 1908, people flocked to Kolmanskop to make their fortune and a town quickly sprung up from the sand, a town whose luxury was out of all proportion to its location. Water had to be shipped in at enormous cost all the way from Cape Town, yet we were able to visit the ice-making plant using the latest in early 20th century technology, to help keep the town cool. Life out in the burning desert must have been pretty comfortable – the houses were fitted out with all the latest mod cons of the times, while we visited the bowling alley, the theatre, champagne bar, cigar room, butchers and bakers, and even an enormous open-air swimming pool.

But, what makes Kolmanskop so remarkable is that the town curled up and died almost as quickly as it sprung up, as a bigger supply of diamonds was found elsewhere. So, by the 1930s, the town was pretty much abandoned, and its once-grand houses and buildings were left to be taken over by the desert. We could explore its ghostly houses, entering into its rooms enigmatically taken over by great drifts of sand that had forced their way in through the windows, as we tried to imagine what life was like out here in the desert.

There weren't many people around, so it was a slightly spooky feeling walking around these abandoned houses, all noise deadened by the sand apart from the occasional squeaky floorboard or rush of wind from the desert. Some of the houses were so taken over by the sand that you had to stoop to get through the internal doors, while climbing the stairs, you felt like the floor could give way at any point. If I were going to write a post-apocalyptic zombie movie, this would be a pretty good set for it.

If any place can be described as desert-ed, then this is it. This was one of the most evocative set of ruins that I've ever visited – maybe because it was just so recent that the town died, but you could almost hear the conversations of it inhabitants.

So, after our fascinating visit here, we returned to Luderitz – a town that also did pretty well from the diamond boom (as the array of grand early 20th century German buildings attested), but which didn't go into quite as terminal a decline as Kolmanskop. The colourful set of old German buildings all seemed at odds with the bleak surroundings of cold seas and bleak sands, but at least there was some life out on the streets.

Namibia is normally a place that's all about nature (not surprising in the second most unpopulated country in the world), but today was proof that this young country has a fascinating history.

April 6th – Journey To The End of The World at Cape Point

On our final day in Cape Town I joined a tour that was heading down to the stirring landscapes of the Cape of Good Hope at the very point of the Cape.

A lot of people assume that the Cape of Good Hope is the southernmost part of the African continent, but that accolade actually belongs to Cape Agulhas, a bit further along the South African coast. But, what gives Cape Point its distinction is that this was the stormy peninsula that western explorers had tried and failed to round for decades before the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias finally rounded the Cape in 1488. Once they'd got around that Cape, the route to the East was now opened up to the Europeans, and so set off the great global empires of the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British. So, the sign at the Cape is careful to point out that this is "The Most South-Western Point of the African Continent".

We didn't have to face any stormy seas to get there, but the drive down to the Point was fairly spectacular - the road hugs the cliff edge as we passed a succession of gorgeous white beaches below us. On one of them, the spectacularly wide Noordhoek Beach, Tracy was doing her first ever horse ride – she said that it was quite gentle, and she wasn't walking like John Wayne when we got back to the ship.

We were incredibly lucky with the weather – the wind had made sure that the skies were razor sharp, while those stormy seas that the area's famous for never made an appearance. So, there weren't any elemental conditions to contend with, but there was an end of the world feel to the place, as we looked South and knew that the next piece of land you'd hit was Antarctica.

After catching the funicular up to the top of Cape Point, and enjoying the magnificent views, we headed to the other side of the peninsula, to visit Simons Town – home to the South African Navy, and more relevant to our visit, home to a gregarious colony of African penguins. Having seen all the African Big Game on our safaris over the previous days, it seemed odd to be viewing penguins out here in Africa, but these ungainly penguins are always fascinating to watch as they waddled about and quarrelled grumpily with each other. You couldn't help but make up the conversations in your head that they could be having with each other as they lumbered around on the beach, before staggering over to the incoming waves and suddenly transforming themselves into graceful sea creatures.

When you get up close to a penguin colony, you quickly realise that their seafood diet makes them pretty stinky, so for lunch we decided that if you can't beat them, join them – so, we had a lovely fish dinner.

After a whole load of food and a couple of drinks, our stamina for sightseeing was waning a little by now, but we just about kept the energy levels up for a visit to the beautiful Kirstenbosch Gardens back in Cape Town, before it was time to get back to the ship.

Many of the passengers have commented that our three days in Cape Town made this their favourite port of the World Cruise so far. We had time to do this wonderful city in depth, and to explore its wonderful range of sights in depth. It's a great place for urban sights and history, or natural sights and wildlife, while if you just want to go shopping, or eating, or drinking, then Cape Town has all of those covered off. What a great place!

April 5th – Exploring Cape Town

Whenever we've been to Cape Town, we've always done at least one day on its excellent Hop-on Hop-off buses – they're really cheap (scarcely more expensive than getting a couple of taxis), and a great way (and a safe way) to get around. Plus, as it was Easter Sunday, not too many of the museums or city centre shops were open, so it was a good way to get the most out of our day here.

So, from the V&A, we caught the bus into Downtown and did a bit of a walking tour around some of its most historic sights. We spent some time in the Company Gardens – the place where the Dutch East India Company first planted their vegetable gardens to supply their ships on the way to the East. The gardens are now a lovely city centre park, and they were busy with lots of families enjoying an Easter Egg hunt. We stopped off for a coffee in the trendy cafe in the centre of the gardens – it had a very European atmosphere and a fairly upmarket clientele. It felt like we were in "yummy mummy" atmosphere of Kensington or Clapham back home. I'm not sure if central Cape Town is always this relaxed and family-oriented, but this was the most chilled out and friendly that I've ever experienced it.

Next, we walked past the extravagant City Hall (the place where Nelson Mandela made his historic speech to 200,000 people on his release from prison), and headed over to the impressive Castle of Good Hope – the sturdy castle built by the Dutch back in the 17th century to protect their valuable possession on the Cape. Inside its solid fortifications, there was lots of history to discover, and some great views across the city from its walls. It was strange to think that the castle once guarded the waterfront, but was now around a kilometre back from the sea, as landfill has extended Cape Town into the sea.

It was time to hop back onto the bus, to take us to Camps Bay for lunch, but first it took us up to the cable station at the foot of Table Mountain. Fortunately we didn't have any plans to catch the cable car, because strong winds meant that it was shut; but the views across the sprawling city in front of us were pretty good anyway.

So, it was Camps Bay for lunch – for me, the most "liveable" part of Cape Town. When you have as beautiful a beach as this, a line of trendy restaurants facing onto it, with a stunning backdrop of the Twelve Apostles behind it, it's a winning combination. We had a delicious lunch, soaking up the relaxed atmosphere – it felt like a combination of South Beach in Miami, Brighton in England, and the best of South Africa. My only worry was that it was still almost pre-dominantly whites only (apart from most of the people working there) – 20 years on from the end of apartheid, it still seems that the races still socialise separately. Even if the falling value of the rand made the prices seem pretty cheap to me, I'm sure that the prices would have been beyond the majority of the Capetonians. However, it was a great place for a relaxing afternoon.

After the bus for a couple more stops, we decided to walk along the lovely beachfront promenade down to Green Point – this was much more multi-cultural, and again had a really good vibe to it.

Our day in Cape Town has once-again proved to us that this magnificent city has all the ingredients to make this one of the most liveable cities in the world – it has plenty of problems to overcome along the way, but it seems to be heading in the right direction.

April 4th – High Tea in CT

For our arrival in Cape Town, a cool wind was blowing in and Table Mountain was hiding behind a thick layer of cloud, however over the course of three wonderful days in this cosmopolitan city, the weather just got better and better.

The "new" cruise terminal in Duncan Dock is still not very prepossessing, but it's just a quick 10 minute walk to the vibrant Victoria and Alfred Wharf, with all its bars, restaurants and shops. By the next time we come, that walk should be much nicer, because the huge old grain silos we pass by are now being totally redeveloped to turn them into a multi-million dollar art gallery.

After a morning of exploring the V&A and doing a spot of retail therapy, we got ourselves ready for another World Cruise Experience, which was taking us into the centre of Downtown Cape Town for an opulent High Tea. The event was being staged in a beautiful old Victorian bank building that's now been turned into a really cool venue.

We were greeted by a fabulous female jazz trio on stage in the middle playing electric violin, electric cello and saxophone. The music was wonderful, while the fact that they also happened to be incredibly beautiful managed to keep the interest of most of the male guests. Later, they were joined by a fantastic vocalist – when she first started singing I thought that it must have been a backing track, it was that good. It all contributed to a really good vibe.

That vibe was certainly helped by the copious tastings of South African wines that we were downing along the way (there was also a tasting of 6 different teas, but the wines were more popular). This was also washing down a massive range of cakes, sandwiches and every possible choice of tea food you could think of.

The idea of a High Tea was a simple one, but the execution of it all was excellent – great food, great drink, great music, and just a great atmosphere. I wouldn't say that I'm a major frequenter of teas, but I don't think I've ever had a better High Tea.

April 2nd – Messing Around on the River In East London

The town of East London doesn't have a huge amount going for it, so today I joined the ship's tour that was taking an intrepid group of adventurers for a canoeing trip up the Nahoon River.

When we were given our briefing, the guides recommended that the heaviest person go in the back of the canoe, so that its "rudders" would catch the water, and we'd be able to steer straight. Unfortunately, I don't think that the weight was correctly distributed in my particular canoe, because we constantly appeared to be heading off to the left – no matter how much I tried to compensate, we were always heading to port. That meant that while everyone else was making good progress along the river, we were zig-zagging haphazardly around, constantly ramming into our bemused fellow canoe-ers. We must have travelled twice the distance of anyone else!

In spite of our steering problems, it was great fun (and great exercise), as we passed rocky cliffs, and some very posh houses wherever the bank came down to the river, (not like the rather ramshackle houses we'd left behind around East London's dilapidated centre).

At the end of the trip, everyone else of course steered smoothly to the disembarkation point, while we veered off to the left and got stuck on some rocks. As I attempted to dislodge us, our "un-capsizable" canoe began to lurch alarmingly, and I had to sacrifice myself by falling in. We had already been assured that there were no hippos or crocodiles in the river, so I wasn't fearful of my life, but the thick mud that I was now knee-deep in wasn't very pleasant.

At the end of the trip, everyone else was slightly sweaty from the exercise, but looking good and feeling fit – in contrast, I was bedgraggled, soaking wet and covered in mud, and limping along with a cut on my ankle, minus one shoe which was now stuck for good in the mud of the river. Even if the trip had turned into a version Deliverance (for me), it was excellent fun.

PS. Tracy did a tour of one of the East London townships – a few pictures attached.

April 1st – Tala Game Reserve From Durban

Durban is one of those places that seems to have it all – miles of golden beaches right in the city centre, a fabulous sun-kissed climate and fertile soil, beautiful landscapes outside of the city, fascinating Zulu culture, plus of course it provides access to some great game parks to view yet more of South Africa's fabulous wildlife.

I joined the ship's tour to the Tala Game Reserve, about an hour's drive from the port. On the way there, we passed through the slightly chaotic centre of Durban – about half a million people are bussed in every morning from the townships outside of town, and the streets around the bus terminal were a frenetic hive of activity, markets and plenty of rubbish on the streets.

After that, we passed through the beautiful rolling green landscapes of the Valley of a Thousand Hills, before we got to Tala, which has been set up on converted farmland which has been brought back to its original native flora. It's not a huge reserve (rhinos are the only one of the Big Five they have here), but it is extremely well managed. Because they don't have any predators here (which obviously helps keeps up their numbers of animals), the wildlife is less worried about cars getting up close, and they generally know where everything is.

So, we got some great close-up views of a herd of 12 giraffes munching away on some acacia trees, lots of beautiful zebras, plus wildebeest, ostriches and plenty of different antelopes. It was a totally different experience to the more genuinely wild landscapes we'd enjoyed the day before in Hluhluwe, but here we didn't have to drive around for hours to find things.

This was my last fix of game drives on this world cruise, and while it couldn't compare with Ngorongor, it didn't disappoint – Tala offers an "easier" version of safaris, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Ps. Tracy went to a Zulu Cultural Village in the Valley of a Thousand Hills - a few of her pictures are featured.

March 31st – Rhino Spotting at Hluhluwe

The wonderful Hluhluwe-Umfolozi National Park bills itself as the best place in the world to see rhinos, and today confirmed why. There was such an unbelievable concentration of white rhinos in the park, that it felt like we were coming across them every ten minutes. On a whole day in Ngorongoro we only saw one dark speck in the distance which purported to be a rhino, but here they were regularly crossing the road right in front of our jeep, close enough to smell, and also to witness their many bodily functions.

Getting to see these magnificent armour-plated creatures lumbering by so closely to our jeep, only made it seem more disgraceful how many of them are brutally slaughtered every year for their horns. Apparently, last year, over 1,300 were killed in South Africa by poachers, and 300 have already been killed this year – as a result, the white rhino is approaching extinction.

However, the rhino preservation programme is going so well at Hluhluwe that its rhinos are being exported to game parks around Africa to help the survival of the species, and there are about 2,000 of them living here in the park.

In addition to the rhinos, we only saw one other of the Big Five – the buffalo, which was present in great numbers. Other jeeps also saw elephants and lions, but we weren't lucky on this occasion. However, we did get close to seeing a lion, because we saw the half-eaten carcass of a huge buffalo that had been taken down that morning. Unfortunately, the lions had gorged themselves so much, that they were too busy sleeping off their breakfast to come to see us.

As ever, the landscapes were magnificent, rolling green hills of grassland, dense jungle and gurgling streams – populated by a wide variety of impala, nyala, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, wildebeest, and many other exotic animals. In the distance, standing silhouetted on a hill, we even got to see the incredibly rare black rhino – my first ever sighting of one.

By the end of the day we were even getting blasé about rhino sightings – what a great thing that is to say. Let's hope that the work of the evil poachers can be killed off, and that this wonderful animal can survive for future generations to admire as much as we did.