The Best Cruise I’ve Taken (So Far), Part II

In Part I of The Best Cruise I’ve Taken (So Far), I left you on the island of Sao Tome, off the West coast of Africa.

Once we left Sao Tome, our next stop was in the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria) followed by a day in Tenerife; both great islands on which to spend a day. We were hoping for better weather in Tenerife as we had planned to spend some time at the beach. As it was, we still went to the beach and shivered in the cool weather. I popped into the ocean just to try it out and spent the rest of our 40 minutes there huddled under my towel.

Following our visit to the Canaries, we made another island stop in what would prove to be one of my favourite destinations of the trip … the port of Funchal on the island of Madeira. We crammed so much into our day there. We started our day with a beautiful gondola ride (don’t miss it), followed by a sled ride down the steep roads of Funchal … it’s a locally famous mode of transportation. We rounded out the rest of the day wandering around, managing to fit in not one, but two visits to local eating/drinking establishments! Oh yeah, we also had a chance to try some port wine while we were there; it’s something that the island is famous for.

The next stop that deserves a mention is Casablanca. It was another day that we managed to fit in alot of sightseeing; beginning the day with a 1/2 day guided tour of the city. Wanting to see more of what Casablanca had to offer, we left the tour before it headed back to the ship and checked out Ric’s Café (done up like the café in the famous movie Casablanca). We enjoyed a lovely meal there with some fellow cruise ship passengers then we headed off to the outdoor market.

The market in Casablanca was extensive and somewhat like a rabbit warren. To the “sense of direction”-challenged, like myself, it was a bit intimidating, but hubby saved the day; somehow using his inner sonar-radar to keep track of our way out. We ran into a gentleman who was lost in the maze and stopped to ask us for help. Hubby pointed him in the right direction; and we watched as the gentlemen went off in another direction (maybe hubby wasn’t convincing enough?)

We wandered around checking out the sights until it was time to head back, at which point we started walking in the direction of the ship, however, we failed to notice that the road we were on veered slightly to the right (so much for that sense of direction!); and by the time we neared the water (maybe 45 minutes later), we realized we weren’t nearly as close to the ship as we needed to be, and time was running out.

We were in a rather deserted industrial area; it was at that point we course corrected and headed toward the ship, knowing that there was no way we were going to make it on time. Fortunately, one lonely taxi passed us by and we were saved! We’ve had a few close calls like this over the years and luckily (touch wood), we still haven’t missed a sailing!

Our next stop was in a place called Ceuta (we were told it’s pronounced Theuta). What’s interesting about this little place is it’s a Spanish territory located on the north coast of Africa and has more of a Spanish feel than an African feel. I really enjoyed this little area. It was lovely; we spent quite a bit of time touristing and eating. There’s lots to share, but what sticks in my mind is the time we spent at the water park (Parque Marítimo del Mediterráneo). It’s 55,000 m² (so … large) with three artificial salt water lakes. We wandered around and enjoyed the afternoon relaxing and frolicking in the water.

This may be a good place to leave my second installation of “The Best Cruise I’ve Taken (So Far)”. Stay tuned for the next (and final) installment where we’ll be visiting Malaga, Lisbon, Rouen and Dover!