Tuesday 11 November 2025 – Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Roger
It was about 7am when the ship did a 180 degree turn and sidled into the berth at Santa Cruz. I watched from our balcony as the crew threw thin lines to those onshore, to which the heavy ropes were then attached and pulled ashore, then attached to the steel bollards on the wharf. Large winches then tensioned up the lines to hold the ship in place. There are five or six of these lines at each end of the ship holding the 30,000 ton vessel in place. Round discs are put on the ropes to stop the local rats getting on board.
At 8.30am Maria, our driver-guide for the day, met us at the bottom of the gang plank for a short walk to her Mercedes van. She drove us around the town pointing out various landmarks, including the rather spectacular opera house that was built here between 1997 and 2003 at a cost of 72 million euros. Designed by Santiago Calatrava Valls it is recognised as one of the great engineering feats in the world. There was also a large drilling platform nearby, which was here last year when we visited; apparently they come here for refurbishment.
Maria drove us around the old part of town pointing out various buildings and a statue of Franko, the Spanish dictator who came to power during the Civil war (1936-1939) and ruled until his death in 1975. Originally a water feature, the water has been turned off as the young people of the island want it gone. They just don’t have the money to remove it or so the story goes.
Next we headed to San Cristobal de La Laguna. This old town with neatly laid out streets was originally the capital, built in 1496 and strategically planned with a Renaissance influenced grid system. It became a supply base for ships travelling to the Americas. With a cathedral and buildings painted in various pastel colours it’s quite an attractive place to visit. We were probably lucky as ours was the only ship in town. Yesterday there were seven large cruise liners in Santa Cruz. I am sure it would have been a mad house.
From there we began heading for the hills and up into the mist through a large cedar forest. This had recently had a fire through it, which the trees survived as their bark somehow closes up and can withstand temperatures of several hundred degrees. Maria was stuck on send and had talked non-stop since she had picked us up. Sylvia had a polite word to her and we were privileged to some moments of silence. At around 1900 meters we came out of the mist into clear blue skies. We continued up the hill, stopping from time to time to look at the views across the mist below. At one point we could see the top of La Palma, a nearby island. Lots of cyclists were heading up and down the hill, one of whom was getting some repairs from the local ambulance after he had come a cropper. In places we could see the layers from the different eruptions over hundreds of years.
At about 2000 meters there were a number of observatory buildings standing out with their bright white paint. Apparently they belong to a number of different countries as the dry air here makes for clear night skies. We saw the odd parasailer head off the hill and disappear into the mist below.
We arrived at a packed car park and were dropped off to wander a short distance to look down on a valley that looked a bit like the surface of Mars. It was here that NASA did a number of trials on the Mars rovers and related instruments. It is really quite rugged with many varieties of rocks and boulders that have been thrown from the crater some thousand plus meters above.
Heading further along the road we saw trampers heading off up to the crater. Apparently there is a small hotel part way up the hill where they spend the night before the climb to the top. They come down on the cable car, which we passed shortly after seeing them. The cable car stops short of the top of the volcano crater. During the winter they get snow here and apparently one can see the fumeroles which omit sulphur gas year round.
Passing the bottom of the cable car, which was surrounded by hundreds of vehicles we continued on, Maria constantly complaining about the tourists parking their cars in the wrong place and walking on the wrong side of the road. Reaching Canada Blanca we turned down a short road to Torrotito, for a look out over a valley where apparently a number of movies have been shot. It’s a lot cheaper to shoot here and the scenery is similar to some locations in the US.
We then headed back the way we had come to the beginning of the park, then taking a road down to Puerto de La Cruz, stopping only once to look at a rose shaped formation in a rock face.
Reaching the town we then took the motorway back to Santa Cruz early enough not to be caught in the late afternoon traffic. We were back on board by 3.30 in time for afternoon tea in the Horizon Lounge, where once again the cello and violin accompanied our tea and scones.
It was bang on five when the ship pulled away from the wharf. We have to make sure we are back on board on time as they don’t wait for anyone. With the ship holding our passports it would be quite a challenge if one got left behind!!
Wednesday 12 November 2025 – At Sea: Sylvia
Today was another relaxing day at sea. We have been incredibly lucky with the weather and the sea was remarkably calm, even though there has been a bit of wind.
It would be easy to do nothing on a sea day except eat… but we opted to balance that out with a bit of exercise. I did a cardio session before joining the sunrise stretch and Roger also started the day in the gym. After breakfast I went to my second Bridge lesson. I am really starting to see why people enjoy this game. Then it was time for a bit of a rest and a catch up before lunch.
After lunch we did several laps of the walking track. There are always a number of different people doing this, at varying speeds. There was even one guy up there doing laps with his walker at one point today. There are also always lots of people lolling about on sun loungers on the pool deck. After attending a talk on how to use the iPhone camera more effectively and a bit more rest and chill time I headed back to the gym for a weights session and then did several more laps of the track while Roger enjoyed a cigar and a gin and tonic.
This evening we had a reservation at Red Ginger, the specialty Asian restaurant on board. This is the first time we have had dinner this trip and it was absolutely delicious. I know some of you have shown interest in the food. We both had a lobster and avocado salad, followed by Miso-glazed sea bass and then Steamed Ginger pudding with apple and cardamom ice cream.
This evening the clocks go back so we will have an extra hour to sleep off the meal before we start all over again tomorrow.
Thursday 13 November 2025 – At Sea: Roger
Today was once again a sea day. Sylvia headed to a stretch class while I clocked up a few kms on the elliptical machine. This was followed by a walk around the walking track on deck 10, which overlooks the pool on deck nine; 13 laps is one nautical mile or ~1800m.
All the movies I have seen with the Atlantic Ocean in them depict huge waves and rough water. That is not the case around this part as the ocean is just about flat, and with some 4000m of water under the keel the chances of running aground are zero.
After a coffee at the cafe, Sylvia headed to her bridge lesson while I retreated to our cabin to listen to a book. Then it was lunch time in the grand dining room, followed by a few more laps of deck 10. We saw one small sailing boat in the distance, just a spec on this large ocean several hundred kms from land.
I headed down to the not-very-inspiring photography lesson in the Sirena lounge. Sylvia turned up after that to join the Salsa class, which I watched for a while. A little later Sylvia headed of to a Pilates class while I headed to the bar for a gin and tonic.
The day finished with a rather nice sunset off the starboard bow and very quickly we were in darkness.
Friday 14 November 2025 – Cape Verde: Sylvia
Just before 7am I headed up to the gym for a stretching class, followed by an ab workout. Roger headed up to use the elliptical trainer. We watched from the gym as we entered the harbour at Mindelo, with the sun rising over the surrounding hills. It looks a pretty place but very barren.
After a quick breakfast back in our room we headed off the ship and walked along the port to meet Adriana, who would be our guide for the day. She speaks impeccable English and after showing us a map of the island and our route for the day, we headed off. Mindelo is the largest city on the island of Sao Vicente, one of the several islands that make up the country of Cabo Verde. Only about 85,000 of the ~610,000 inhabitants of Cabo Verde live on Sao Vicente, and of those about 80,000 live in Mindelo. It is quite a striking town with brightly coloured buildings clinging to the hillsides.
We headed straight out of the city, passing lots of half finished buildings along the way. Apparently these belong to Cabo Verdians who have travelled overseas for work. When they return they build their houses as they can. We headed up a narrow, winding cobbled road to the top of Mount Verde, the highest point on the island at ~750m. It seems every tourist follows a similar route as there were many buses, vans and taxis along the way. We even saw a few brave souls making the trek on foot. I was grateful that we had pre-booked a private guide and weren’t stuffed in a bus with a whole lot of others. We made several stops along the road to the top to take photographs of the surrounding countryside and the views back over Mindelo. I was struck by how large the Sirena looked in this small port, given that it is actually a fairly small cruise ship.
Cabo Verde is a volcanic country although only one island has an active volcano these days. It made for some striking scenery with rough, craggy mountains, set against the sparkling blue ocean. The island receives very little rainfall. Usually they only get a couple of days of rain during their rainy season and none in the dry. Sadly, on 11 August this year there was a major storm with seven straight hours of heavy rain. In the resulting floods and mud-slides 4 children and 5 adults lost their lives; another 2 remain missing. As we drove around the island the scars from this storm were evident in washed out roads and collapsed houses. Some parts have already been rebuilt but in other parts the work is ongoing.
Towards the top of the mountain we stopped at a small hut, where the warden uses grog (Rum made with sugar cane) to make a couple of other flavoured alcohols, and also brews tea and coffee for the visitors. He has an ingenious setup to catch water. The mountain is often covered by cloud and there is a system to capture the water vapour and have it run to a small cistern. He uses this water to grow a few vegetables in a small garden area.
From this point we walked up the rest of the way to the actual top of the mountain. There are a number of satellite dishes and aerials at the top, guarded by a small group of military personal who rotate in and out.
We jumped back in the van and headed down the mountain to the small fishing village of Salamansa. It is obviously pretty tough living in this place. Most houses do not have running water and we passed the water station where desalinated water is trucked in every day and people pay a small amount to fill up their plastic containers to take home. Apparently there are many here earning a minimum wage of about 17,000 escudo (~NZD315) per month.
From the nearby beach we could sea a couple of small fishing boats returning to land under sail. The original sand on the island is black due to the volcanic nature of the land. Many of the beaches are now covered with fine white sand that apparently blows over here from the Sahara desert.
We drove a little further to another fishing village, Baia das Gatas. This small village hosts the largest music festival in Cabo Verde, drawing local and international bands and thousands of visitors every year. The town only has a population of about 500, with many holiday rental homes. The town boasts a very sheltered, safe swimming area and a large stage area for the music festival.
From there we headed to Praia Grande (Long Beach), with its huge sand dunes. I could not get over how soft and fine the sand was. This is also a swimming beach but one needs to watch for rips and currents. At certain times of the year turtles come to nest on the island.
We drove a little further to another fishing village, called Calhau. There is a very small turtle sanctuary in Calhau where they help stranded baby turtles to recover until they are healthy enough to return to sea. There are two large adult turtles that are not able to be rehabilitated, one male that lost a flipper to a shark, and a female that was attacked by a dog and blinded. Whilst I applaud their efforts, the life of these two adult turtles in a tiny pool looks pretty bleak.
The area around Calhau showed some of the worst of the storm damage.
We stopped at Restaurant Hamburg, a very popular place, for lunch. It seemed that every tourist tour that included lunch stopped at the same place. I can see why it is popular. We had a very tasty lunch of pork chops with salad, vegetables, rice and fries. Roger enjoyed a couple of local beers. We could have had dessert too but declined.
After lunch we followed the back road past the only agricultural area on the island. There is a small area of land that has well water for irrigation and is able to grow a few meagre crops. The majority of food on the island has to be imported, either from one of the other islands in the group, or globally.
We arrived back in Mindelo and did a quick drive through the city, stopping to take a photograph at the main beach area, before heading back to the Sirena. I had a bit of a hike as we had left our euros on board and had to pay cash for the tour.
Still, we were back on board in plenty of time to enjoy the special cup-cake afternoon tea up in the Horizons Lounge. It would be easy, but dangerous, to get used to this sort of thing.
At 6pm we headed back up on deck to watch as we pulled away from the port and left the harbour, with the sun setting behind the hills and bathing us in a warm glow. One of the most interesting lighthouses I have seen guards the entrance to the port area.
While we had been docked we had noticed a 5-masted sailing ship, the Club Med 2, moored alongside us. It headed off at about the same time as us, making an interesting addition to the scenery.
Sunday 16 November 2025 – At Sea: Sylvia
Clocks went back an hour overnight, which was rather weird as we had only moved them forward two days ago. Today has been a bit windier, with quite a few whitecaps. Although we have had a bit more boat motion today it is still incredibly calm overall.
It has been a very quiet day. After stretching and abs classes, and several laps of the walking deck early this morning, we headed to Barrista’s for a light breakfast, after which I headed to my bridge class and Roger went to a talk about Dakar, where we will be tomorrow. I did a load of laundry and then we enjoyed a buffet lunch in the Terrace Cafe. After another few laps of the walking track we headed back to the cabin to relax.
Late afternoon Roger had his usual cigar and G&T… We had a 6:30pm reservation at the Tuscan Steak specialty restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner overlooking the stern of the boat.
