Mauricio, Madagascar, Reunion, Zanzibar...

[elcano]

Hi!

 

We have just booked a cruise with Voyages of Discovery for Dec. 2014. This

 

exotic itinerary includes those islands above. I would like to receive any

 

tips / information about them and their " things to do ", if you have been there.

 

Thank you.

[Birder1]

Hi, Elcano!

 

I've not traveled previously to this region, but will be booking this cruise as well as the MSC Sinfonia, similar itinerary in De 2013 (different regions of Mad & Tanzania).

 

I'll watch this post to learn w you!

[paul929207]

In Madagascar, we docked in Nosy Be. We took a tour to see the wildlife, primarily Lemurs.

 

In Reunion Island, we took an island tour. The lava fields from the 2007 (or so) eruption were amazing.

[elcano]

Hi, Elcano!

 

I've not traveled previously to this region, but will be booking this cruise as well as the MSC Sinfonia, similar itinerary in De 2013 (different regions of Mad & Tanzania).

 

I'll watch this post to learn w you!

 

Thanks for joining. Like us, I can see you are interested in exotic or " alternative " itineraries. Happy travels!

[elcano]

In Madagascar, we docked in Nosy Be. We took a tour to see the wildlife, primarily Lemurs.

 

In Reunion Island, we took an island tour. The lava fields from the 2007 (or so) eruption were amazing.

 

Thank you Paul for the interesting information. Let me ask you if you were there in winter time as well? Did you find rough seas?. I am a bit concerned about this because We are cruising on a small ship. Thanks in advance.

[paul929207]

Madagascar - Visited in October.

Reunion Island - April.

 

We were on the 680 Passenger Ocean Princess both times. I do not recall rough seas. The first trip we went way out of the normal sea lanes to avoid the pirates. There were 6 attacks in the Seyshelles in the two weeks before were were scheduled to be there. From Nosy Be, we shouls have gone north to the Seyscheles and then continued north to Oman. Instead, we went east about 500 miles, then north and finally west to Oman.

[Birder1]

Thx, Elcano; yes, that's the only way!

[Birder1]

Thx for the info, Paul! My former coworkers were convoying in sailboats w/in the Indian Ocean, one port-of-call in Mad. One of the sailboats deviated from the group & as you may have heard, the couple was captured by pirates & murdered. However, I've sailed on several, small cruise ships in those vicinities...some precautions taken by cruise lines; lucky so far...I was on a cruise (HAL Rotterdam), in Apr 2008, disembarking Senegal when several, motorized pirogues approached, but were "harmless."

[moggyhill]

The tours in Madagascar to see the lemurs were incredible. The village people on the island were lovely.

[elcano]

Thx for the info, Paul! My former coworkers were convoying in sailboats w/in the Indian Ocean, one port-of-call in Mad. One of the sailboats deviated from the group & as you may have heard, the couple was captured by pirates & murdered. However, I've sailed on several, small cruise ships in those vicinities...some precautions taken by cruise lines; lucky so far...I was on a cruise (HAL Rotterdam), in Apr 2008, disembarking Senegal when several, motorized pirogues approached, but were "harmless."

 

That was very sad... I was in Kenya on a beach resort and the only annoyance

of people approaching you was the "beach boys" trying to sell something...They are lovely in general.

[elcano]

The tours in Madagascar to see the lemurs were incredible. The village people on the island were lovely.

 

One more vote for a wildlife tour! Thank you.

[paul929207]

We also loved the lemurs and other wildlife

[Birder1]

Thank you, Elcano.

[soccerref]

Hi!

 

We have just booked a cruise with Voyages of Discovery for Dec. 2014. This

 

exotic itinerary includes those islands above. I would like to receive any

 

tips / information about them and their " things to do ", if you have been there.

 

Thank you.

 

Hi, we did an Indian Ocean cruise with Costa this February and these are extracts from my review which might have some relevance to you. We loved our cruise and hope you enjoy yours as much as we enjoyed ours.

Mauritius

Mauritius is a large and beautiful island with a vast diversity of landscape, flora and fauna. We were there at the height of summer and it was very hot and humid with short lived but heavy showers. I did the ‘Beautiful Mauritius’ tour which included a trip to the market, a colonial plantation house, the botanical gardens and some viewing points. My husband did the ‘Enchanting landscape of Southern Mauritius’ and he has some wonderful photos of the volcanic scenery, waterfalls, the 7coloured rocks and the Black River Gorge.

· The international airport is in the south of the island and ships dock in the north at Port Louis, the capital city. It is, approximately, a 90minutes journey across the centre of the island from one to the other.

· The dock was just outside city and appears to be a new enterprise as the terminal building was a temporary marquee on the edge of a large field. There was some building work going on in the area so I’m assuming that this area will eventually become a proper terminal.

· The city seemed to be about 1½miles from the dock and not an easy walk as the land was quite rough and muddy.

· There were taxis available at the terminal.

· Port Louis has a pleasant waterfront with cafes and restaurants. There is also a vibrant local market where you bargain for souvenirs.

La Reunion

La Reunion is a relatively unknown destination for many of us. It is a smallish volcanic island to the south west of Mauritius and is officially part of France so it has a very French feel to it. The road system is modern and the area of the island that we visited seemed very prosperous compared to the mixed fortunes of the people on Mauritius.

We did the ship’s tour to the one of the 3 volcanic calderas: Cirque de Mafate. It was a 4½ hour trip that took us from the port along the coast and then up into the mountains through some picturesque villages and forested areas before reaching the caldera rim. The views were truly spectacular.......what a gem of an island.

· The ship docked at the industrial port called La Port. This is, at a guess, 20km from the island’s capital St Denis.

· There was a compulsory shuttle bus from the ship to the port entrance and then a free shuttle to the nearest town. I don’t know what there was to see at the town as we didn’t go but it was a very long walk from the dock exit through deserted scrub land..

· The currency is Euros.

· The tour buses were modern, clean and comfortable.

· There were taxis available outside the port gate.

Madagascar

We were so excited to be going to Madagascar as it always sounds so exotic. We went to the most northerly point of this very large island and docked in Diego Suarez. The sail in was lovely as the town is at the heart of a large bay and the sun was just peeping over the hills as we got to the bay. I think everyone was amazed to see the huge crowd of local people sitting on the hill just outside the port watching our approach. I believe there are very few cruise ships that visit this area so we were obviously a great attraction!

There were only 3 tours offered by the cruise line as, actually, there is not a lot to see.

I did the ‘Highlights of Diego Suarez’ and came back to the ship realising that, in our terms, this is a desperately poor area but the people we met were charming, happy to see us and really pleased to show us what they had. We were taken to a beach, a local craft market, the town market and a small souvenir shop.

My husband did the ‘Amber Mountain’ tour and had a wonderful adventure when the late afternoon torrential downpour turned the dirt road to a skating rink for the 4x4 vehicles. The vehicles were skidding all over the place and many got stuck. The local people were very helpful and used ropes and brute force to get the vehicles out of the situation. The ship’s laundry cleaned my husband’s dirty clothes as a goodwill gesture. The group got back to the ship over 1 hour after the designated sailing time. Thank goodness it was a ship’s tour or he might still be there!!!

· It was approximately a 30 minute walk up hill into the town centre.

· There were a few bars and cafes as you got near the centre. There was also a small supermarket set back from the main road.

· Tuctucs and taxis were available from outside the port but the condition of these was generally very poor.

· The condition of the tour mini-buses also left a lot to be desired but I’m sure we had the best of what was available.

· Most roads were unpaved dirt tracks.

· The souvenir shop and craft market took Euros and US dollars.

[Birder1]

TY V much, Soccerref, for the detailed summary!

[elcano]

Thank you, soccerref.