World Cruise: April 2026 South Africa to Portugal

Day 103: 04/01/26 Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa

Port Elizabeth is known as the "windy city". There was so much fog that we were delayed almost 2 hours to get into the port. The area was settled by the British in 1820 mainly to strengthen the border region between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa tribe. This lady had her baby strapped on her back.

We took a bus tour around the city stopping at Fort Frederick, Donkin Park, and Hobie Beach. It was very cold and windy, and I didn't have a jacket.

Jim's vlog: Learned a lot about Port Elizabeth today. Chefs Table main course was springbok venison that was delicious. Entertainment was Cornelia David, our multi-talented cruise director.

Day 104: 04/02/2026 Sailing the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean

Today we crossed from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean at the Cape of Good Hope. We had a beautiful brunch today with Daniel singing and our friend Greg Boyer.

Jim's Vlog: Theme for attire for today's brunch was elephants while for dance mob was colorful. Had a small gift waiting for us when we returned to our room to go to bed. Early morning excursion tomorrow.

Day 105: 04/03/26 Cape Town, South Africa

Arriving into Cape Town! Table Mountain in the distance is the oldest mountain in the world at 500million years old. Lion's Head. Tons of seals playing in the harbor.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his fight against apartheid. Interestingly, apartheid started gradually in 1948 but became fully in place in 1963, when the oppressed group became the oppressor. Apartheid ended with the country becoming a democratic state in 1994 with Nelson Mandela elected as the first black president. The statue of Mandela is exactly where he gave his speech at city hall after being released from prison. We walked through the "Company Garden" from 1652 which has a still producing pear tree and several albino squirrels. The incidence of an albino squirrel is 1 in 100,000. The selfie was taken at Maiden's Cove where the women were allowed to enjoy the seaside without males.

Jim's vlog: 105 Seals in the harbor, world's oldest mountain, 370-year-old pear tree, albino squirrels and African musicians.

Day 106: 04/04/26 Cape Town, South Africa

Today was a beautiful day! We walked around the wharf and watched the seals playing, browsed through some local artists creations and enjoyed the day! We saw orcas playing along side our ship as we left port!

Jim's vlog: Free day in Cape Town. Only penguin we saw was metal and wearing a water bottle on his back. Orcas wave goodbye as we leave the port.

Day 107 4/5/26 Sailing the Atlantic Ocean

Jim's vlog: Happy Easter everyone!!! New dance routine is to ABBA music. More chocolate than you can shake a stick at (whatever that means). Supposed to be rough seas tonight although we're not feeling it. The crew has proactively secured many items around the ship so that we don't have any breakage of items like last time.

Day 108: 04/06/26 Luderitz, Namibia seen from afar

Unfortunately, the high winds prevented us from reaching the port today. We anchored for a few hours then we were unable to get our anchor loose. We rotated around to try to dislodge and in the process got hit by a couple of large waves during lunchtime. Lots of breakage and a few people hurt although not seriously. We were not in our room so we lost our water carafe but everything else was OK. Captain sent the tender boats out and with their help we were able to retract our anchor and head to our next port of call. 

Jim's vlog: High winds and large waves equals a lot of broken glassware! Happy birthday to my sister, Grace! Forgot to mention that it was South African night in the restaurant, so we ate kudu, antelope and wildebeest tonight. Tasty!

Day 109: 04/07/26 Walvis Bay, Namibia

Country #22 (Namibia)

We had a late arrival into Namibia as the port pilot was delayed. We arrived into Walvis Bay "Whale Bay" in Afrikaans. We decided to take a walk on the pier and then the shuttle bus to the mall. Namibia was formerly a province of South Africa called West South Africa and only gained it's independence in 1990. The British occupied the area in 1884 but the German settlers established the coastal city in 1892 with the support of the Kaiser.

Viking hosted a fabulous dinner under the stars in the desert. We boarded a bus before sunset and drove for about 45 minutes into the desert to this beautiful venue. Jim walked to the top of the sand dune to get a sunset pictures. 

There were traditionally dressed women, traditional music, and a barbecue of Namibian food. During dinner, we had fire dancers. I forgot my sambal sauce, but Putuh was there to save the day!

Jim's vlog: Delayed getting into Walvis Bay. We suspect it was an MSC Cruise Ship that was late leaving. Climbing the dune to get pictures of the sunset was tiring! Amazing food and amazing Viking crew. An experience to remember!

Day 110: 04/08/26 Swakopmund, Namibia

Today we took an early morning trip to Swakopmund (means mouth of the Swakop river). This colonial town was full of German architecture from the early 1900s. The whole area was clean and tidy in the middle of the desert! There is a 6 month jail sentence for littering! We toured their museum and took a walk along the seashore. They have just discovered oil off this coast and are in the process of starting to produce it. Another interesting fact is that their main export is salt. They take seawater and through a process extract the salt.

Jim's vlog: Namibian history lesson at Swakopmund Museum. Singer sang "Memories" from Cats in Dutch, French, German and English.

Day 111: 04/09/26 Sailing the South Atlantic Ocean

We watched many seals playing and traveling today. 

Jim's vlog: Seals splashing in the ocean everywhere. Late night jam session in the Torshaven lounge with the Viking Band.

Day 112: 04/10/26 Sailing the South Atlantic Ocean

Jim's vlog: No Baggo again but won movie trivia. Jessica Sims sang her heart out. Yesterday's overtime trivia question about dimples on a golf ball, we originally had 372 but changed it to 272. Everyone else had less. I don't remember the correct answer but it was around 360.

Day 113: 04/11/26 Luanda, Angola

Country #23 Angola

We arrived into the port this morning to a welcome performance by locals. We are told that this port carries a "very high" risk for safety and that we should not go out without an organized tour by Viking. Luanda is the most populous Portuguese speaking capital city in the world. It was founded in 1576 and is one of the oldest in Africa. Independence was achieved in 1975. 

The highlight was the Fortress of São Miguel built in 1576 for defense. Inside the fort, elaborate ceramic tiles tell the story of Angola from early years. It housed weapons going back to the 1500s. I thought this "Flecha" arrow was interesting since it means arrow in Portuguese. You can see the entire bay and city from the top of the fort.

We also stopped at the Church of Our Lady of Nazareth built in 1664. However, it was undergoing renovation so we could not enter. We also saw the memorial and Mausoleum dedicated to Angola's first president, Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto.

The resident vocalist performed tonight. We posed with Emily...our dance teacher on the ship.

Jim's vlog: Learned a lot about the history of Angola and their recent civil wars. Then dinner, show and dancing as usual.

Day 114: 04/12/26 Sailing the South Atlantic Ocean

Jim's vlog: Art class watercolor horror! It's jazz for the entertainment!

Day 115: 04/13/26 Sailing the South Atlantic Ocean

Jim's vlog: Some improvement in art class. Tonight's entertainer sang songs from musicals she's been in. She played Killer Queen in "We Will Rock You" and Ursula in the "Little Mermaid". Ina's thoughts on the show were "meh".

Day 116: 04/14/26 Null Island, Gulf of Guinea

We arrived to Null Island at ~6:30am. Null Island is one of the most interesting "places" on modern maps, even though it does not exist. The captain stopped the ship for us to take pictures and enjoy!

The name refers to the geographic point where 0" latitude and 0" longitude intersect crossing of the Equator and Prime Meridian in the Gulf of Guinea, off the west coast of Africa.

Jim's vlog: Gyros for lunch then watched a bird make lunch out of flying fish. Art turtle needs work.

Day 117: 04/15/26 Sailing the North Atlantic Ocean

Jim's vlog: Moroccan tile coasters in art class., UFO rainbow, and Ina finally gets her scallops for dinner (Jim had to settle for lobster and cherries jubilee + ice cream for dessert).

Day 118: 04/16/26 Sailing the North Atlantic

Jim's vlog: Tiny flying fish. African owl in art class. Sam sings show tunes. Can you name the songs and the shows?

Day 119: 04/17/26 Sailing the North Atlantic

Jim's vlog: No comet in sight. Ina loves her art class bracelet. Dinner was Renaissance-style lamb filet with sweet potato mash, glazed carrot medley and quintessential jus. Dessert was 21st century nut brownie with pistachio ice cream.

Day 120: 04/18/26 Praia, Ilha de Santiago, Cape Verde

Country #24 Cape Verde