Cruise Specialists Blog

Making Your Travel Easier

  • Cruise Lines
  • Cruise Destinations
  • Cruise News
  • River Cruises
  • Ship Reviews
Blog Home / Hosted Cruises

2018 Grand World Voyage: Namibia & Angola

Steve and Wendy Bodenheimer

Cruise Specialists hosts Steve and Wendy Bodenheimer are taking us along on another amazing journey. This post outlines two Cruise Specialist tours hosted by Wendy and Steve for a small group of our clients.

 

WALVIS BAY, NAMIBIA

 

What a surprising port! The town is very flat, has a large deep-water harbor, and is the gateway to salt flats, sand dunes and wetlands with an amazing array of birds. We found the town to be extraordinarily clean and the people friendly. The houses here were quite modern, many with sweeping views of the ocean. The tours offered included AWD adventures, boat trips to Pelican Point to see dolphins and seals, visits to Sandwich Harbor where the dunes meet the sea, and even a visit with locals in Mondessa Township.

We hosted a tour to the charming town of Swakopmund, a nearby 19th-century village founded by the Germans, where we visited the local museum, a craft gallery and a weaver’s shop. Namibia is known for the gemstones mined here, so a visit to the Krystall Gallerie was a group favorite. We stopped at Dune 7, a 400-foot-plus high sand dune that is a popular spot for climbing and sandboarding. Lots of young people were having fun struggling to get up the steep hill. At our final stop at the Walvis Bay Lagoon, we watched thousands of pink flamingoes feeding in the water. They are such majestic creatures.

 

LUANDA, ANGOLA

 

After two days at sea, we arrived at the rarely visited port of Luanda, Angola, which we were surprised to learn is the most expensive city in the world. Don’t believe us? A half-gallon of ice cream cost $31USD, while a hamburger, fries and a soda cost $71USD. We were the only ship to arrive here in over a year, and they were clearly not used to Western visitors.

A Portuguese colony until 1975, this city of five million people was packed with gorgeous colonial-era buildings. But it’s a city in transition, as beautiful modern skyscrapers and five-star hotels are rising next to tenements.

The sights we loved most were the San Miguel Fort, the Iron Palace designed by Gustave Eiffel, the Agostinho Neto Mausoleum, and The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré, a national monument.

 

THE PASSING POINT

 

Back aboard the ship, we headed toward The Gambia in Western Africa. On our way, we had the most unusual experience of passing through the point that registers zero latitude and zero longitude—where the Equator meets the Prime Meridian. The Captain altered course slightly so we could reach the exact spot. A “pajama party” was organized by the ship’s staff to witness the event, but some of us wanted a quieter experience. So those who were interested positioned themselves outside on Deck 8 a little after 11:00 pm, and similar to anticipating the ball to drop on New Year’s Eve, we waited for the coordinates to get to zero (S 00 00.000 and W 00 00.000).

Why did we get so excited? As our friend Mark expressed it, for a fleeting moment, we would all cross from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere, from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere and from autumn to spring. It was truly an unforgettable moment.

 

This series shows you what you can expect on a Holland America Grand Voyage. Here are previous peeks: Grand voyage send-off, what to expect at sea, Polynesia,New Zealand, Western Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Mozambique and Victoria Falls.

 

More from my site

  • Iceland: It’s Become a Must Visit Spot for Good ReasonIceland: It’s Become a Must Visit Spot for Good Reason
  • 2017 Grand Voyage: The Canary Islands2017 Grand Voyage: The Canary Islands
  • Grab Your Dancing Shoes for 2018 Regent World CruiseGrab Your Dancing Shoes for 2018 Regent World Cruise
  • 2016 Grand World Voyage Exploring New Zealand2016 Grand World Voyage Exploring New Zealand

Hosted Cruises

SEARCH ARTICLES

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Maggie Blehert

Her ideal travel day: venturing to a new place, learning something interesting and sharing a smile.
View My Blog Posts

Steve and Wendy Bodenheimer
Cruise Specialists Voyage Hosts reporting on their round the world journeys.
View My Blog Posts

Ralph Grizzle

The Avid Cruiser. Well-traveled and insightful. Helping you make informed cruise decisions.
View My Blog Posts

Article Categories

  • Amusement Parks
  • Cruise Destinations
    • Africa Cruise Reviews
    • Alaska Cruise Reviews
    • Amazon Cruise Reviews
    • Antarctica Cruise Reviews
    • Arctic Cruise Reviews
    • Asia Cruise Reviews
    • Australia/New Zealand
    • Baltic Cruise Reviews
    • California
    • Canada/New England Cruise Reviews
    • Caribbean Cruise Reviews
    • Cuba Cruise Reviews
    • Europe Cruise Reviews
    • Galapagos Cruise Reviews
    • Grand Voyages
    • Hawaii Cruise Reviews
    • Iceland/Greenland
    • Mediterranean Cruise Reviews
    • Mexico Cruise Reviews
    • Panama Canal Cruise Reviews
    • Scandinavia and Northern Europe Cruise Reviews
    • South America Cruise Reviews
    • South Pacific Cruise Reviews
    • Transatlantic Cruise Reviews
    • World Cruise Reviews
  • Cruise FAQs
  • Cruise Lines
    • Abercrombie & Kent
    • AmaWaterways Cruise Reviews
    • American Cruise Line Reviews
    • American Queen Steamboat Company Reviews
    • Aqua Expeditions
    • Atlas Ocean Voyages Reviews
    • Avalon Cruise Reviews
    • Azamara Cruise Reviews
    • Celebrity Cruise Reviews
    • Celebrity Galapagos Cruise Reviews
    • Crystal Cruise Reviews
    • Crystal Expedition Cruise Reviews
    • Crystal World Cruise Reviews
    • Cunard Cruise Reviews
    • Cunard World Cruise Reviews
    • Disney Cruise Reviews
    • Holland America Line Cruise Reviews
    • Holland America World Cruise Reviews
    • Hurtigruten
    • Lindblad/National Geographic
    • Norwegian Cruise Reviews
    • Oceania
    • Oceania Cruise Reviews
    • Oceania World Cruise Reviews
    • Paul Gauguin Cruise Reviews
    • Ponant Cruise Reviews
    • Princess Cruise Reviews
    • Quark Expeditions Reviews
    • Regent Cruise Reviews
    • Regent Seven Seas Cruise
    • Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
    • Royal Caribbean Cruise Reviews
    • Scenic Eclipse Discovery Yacht Reviews
    • Scenic River Cruise Reviews
    • Seabourn Cruise Reviews
    • Seabourn Expedition Cruise Reviews
    • Silversea Cruise Reviews
    • Silversea Expedition Cruise Reviews
    • Silversea World Cruise Reviews
    • Star Clippers Cruise Reviews
    • Tauck Cruise and Tauck Land Tour Reviews
    • UnCruise Adventures
    • Uniworld Cruise Reviews
    • Viking Cruise Reviews
    • Viking Expedition Cruise Reviews
    • Viking Ocean Cruise Reviews
    • Virgin Voyages
    • Windstar Cruise Reviews
    • Zegrahm Expeditions
  • Cruise News
  • Cruise Ports
  • Cruise Specialists Benefits
  • Crystal Cruises
  • Group Travel
  • Hosted Cruises
  • Hotel and Land Travel
    • Luxury Hotels
    • Palace Resorts Reviews
    • Shore Excursions
    • Tour Review
    • Trains
  • Ralph Grizzle
  • River Cruises
  • Ship Reviews
  • Solo Cruising
  • Specialty Cruises
  • Theme Cruises
  • Tom Mullen
Visit Vacation.com Insider's profile on Pinterest.

FOLLOW US ON

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter