Christmas in Africa

Come along with me as I visit South Africa at Christmastime. My husband Larry and I are onboard the Norwegian Jade for twelve days cruising the southern tip of Africa.

The Norwegian Jade was built in 2006 and refurbished in 2022. After extensive upgrades, Norwegian Jade returns to the fleet with modern décor and design, and refurbished staterooms. She’s a big ship weighing in at 93,558 gross tons and is 965 feet in length. She carries 2,402 passengers with a crew of 1,037. She will cruise between Africa and the Mediterranean.

We’re staying in a balcony stateroom (we tried for a junior balcony suite but couldn’t get one) and it suits us fine except the suite would have had butler service and a coffee maker (the coffee maker was the selling feature). The only difficult thing is to type on my lap instead of at a table. Aside from the inadvertant typos from the trackpad, I’m holding my own in these primiative conditions.

We boarded the Jade in Cape Town, South Africa on Wednesday, December 21. Over twelve days, we’ll visit two countries (South Africa and Namibia), seven ports of call, and five days at sea. We’ll visit four private game reserves in hopes of seeing African wildlife. The rest of the tour is intended to be a time of retreat for relaxation and time to indulge in personal writing.

This is a bucket list adventure my late father didn’t get to take. So we dedicate this trip to my father. I hope to “shoot” the big five African animals and have come “loaded to shoot” with a new camera Larry gave me as a Christmas gift. More about that in my next post.

As it was on other trips, wifi is spotty especially at sea (despite paying and arm and a leg for it.) So be sure to sign up to receive notifications when I post so you don’t miss out on what I’m up to. Note: I will not be posting this content on Facebook or other social media. Another reason why you should follow my blog and register to receive the blog via email.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about going on safari on a hunt to see the big five animals of Africa. Can you name the Big Five? Tell me in the comments section below.