In Pelhurinho you will find a charming maze of cobblestone streets that are easy and rewarding to wander around. In addition to the many shops, galleries, and cafes, there are a few incredible old churches well worth a visit, including Largo Cruzeiro de S. Francisco. It gives new meaning to the term “Gilded in Gold.” Almost as impressive as the gleaming gold walls is the wonderful blue tile work near the entry. Next door is the Ordem Terceira de Sao Francisco Church and it’s beautiful facade.

There are plenty of opportunities to shop for everything from jewelry to painting to your usual tourist junk. However, it’s definately not the cheapest place to buy your souveniers. If you’re looking for tourist items, catch a ride from H Stern back down the hill and ask them to drop you at the Market. A short walk along the waterfront from the ship, the Market is filled to the brim with tourist items, and while not the bargain that Fortaleza was, the prices are much better than at the top of the hill.

Be careful leaving the market and walking back to the ship. Walk with others if possible. During our day in Salvador 2 ladies were walking back from the market and right at the terminal building, in front of a security guard, 2 young teenage boys mugged the women stealing their purses. The security guard fired a gun at them and they were caugh by police. But, it’s still not a good way to end your stay in port.

As the story above illustrates, as enchanting as the old city is – the modern area at the bottom of the hill, where the port is, is is not a very nice place. It’s dangerous. Don’t walk around by yourself, and take a taxi – or the the free H Stern bus to get up to the old city and back. While the elevators that run up the side of the hill are intriguing, they’re not worth getting mugged or shot.

Sailing out of Salvador de Bahia is well worth being on deck for. You get a wonderful view of the entire city. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many churches.

After a morning espresso and checking email at the internet cafe we hopped back on the shuttle and head for the beach. The main beach is Boa Viagem, and you will find a similar setup to the beach in Fortaleza, cafes on the beach providing patrons with chairs, umbrellas, and beverages. No food. For food you have strolling vendors that roam the beach, and occassionally stop and join in an impromtu game of football (soccer) or hackisack. There are showers and nice toilet facilites available along the beach.

The beaches in Recife has a reef not far off shore – do NOT go past the reef! As the sign on Boa Viagem states “BATHERS IN THIS AREA ARE AT A GREATER RISK OF SHARK ATTACK”. We’re not sure who they have a greater risk than… but we don’t want to find out either. This is also a great beach to people watch. All of Recife comes here to play.

After our day at the beach, we caught the shuttle back to the ship. As the bus makes its way back across the city to the port you’re afforded lovely views of Recife’s many bridges that connect all the little islands that make up the city.

Sailing out of Recife is well worth being on deck for. In addition to another sprawling, never ending row of highrises backing long strands of beach, you are treated to the view of Olinda perched on it’s hillside overlooking Recife.

An alternate plan for a day in Recife: Not into sand and sun? Prefer a little history instead? Head to Olinda and spend your day wandering its 17th century streets. Located just outside Recife on a hillside, Olinda was founded in 1530 by the Portuguese and in 1982 it’s historic core became a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Mercado Central is one stop shopping, eating, ATM, Bureau de Change, and (if it’s open) internet cafe. If you’re arriving on a cruise ship they usually have a shuttle (for a fee) to the Mercado. If you want to see a little something more than the Mercado and the Beach, the Cathedral is just across the street.

As for shopping – Stock up here, it’s more expensive the further south you travel in Brazil. Ladies – you will find wonderful, easy care easy wear casual dresses in the main market. They’re twisted and then tied in a knot (look for baskets full of them) and run about $5 each – they’re 2 to 3 times that elsewhere in Brazil. You’ll also find all types of emroidery, weaving, and your usual tourist t-shirts and such. If you want there are several little restaurants and coffee bars throughout the Mercado you can get a quick bite at. My advice, have coffee but save lunch for the beach.

When you’re done shopping, head to the beach. About a $5 taxi ride from the Mercado. You want to head toward Praia de Iracema and/or Meireles. Have the taxi driver drive along the beach road, called both Avenida Presidente Kennedy and Avenida Beira Mar and have him stop when you see a beach restaurant that looks good. The beach restaurant you choose will take care of you for the rest of your day at the beach. You get beach chairs, and food and beverage service during your stay at the beach (a completely alien concept to American Beach goers – we really need to adopt this idea, it’s wonderful. Although, the Thais have truely perfected it.). Sometimes there’s a small fee for using the chairs, and sometimes they’re free if you drink and eat. The food’s usually really good, and both the food and drinks are cheap So, relax and enjoy.

The water off Fortaleza is warm, and fairly clean – however, you will find some liter swimming with you. I wouldn’t recommend swimming here after a heavy rain storm. There is one golden rule to follow at almost any beach anywhere in the world: If the locals aren’t getting in the water, there’s a reason… and you shouldn’t get in it either. Our day at the beach, the locals were in the water and so were we.

Toward late afternoon we flagged a taxi down along the beach road and headed back to the ship. The fare was around $10. The sail out of Fortaleza is remarkable. The coast appears as a never ending stretch of highrises backing long strands of golden sand. The view only gets better as the sun set.

Driving on Lanzarote is easy, it’s a small island. A friend from the ship had decided to come along with me and we head for the volcano for our first stop. Arriving at The National Park of Timanfaya we parked the car and got on one of the buses that takes you on the tour of the park. The road is winding and the view is desolate. There’s a very good naration about the park during the ride presented in several languages. Although they claim there are 180 different plant species, they must be mostly microscopic. I don’t think we saw 180 plants on the entire tour… When you get back to the visitors center don’t miss the geizer that is to the right and in front of the center. It frequently catches unsuspecting tourists off guard.

Note: Get there early, by the time we left there was no parking and a long line to drive into the park.

After leaving the park we headed toward Puerto Del Carmen and a drive up the coast with lunch along the way. I’m still trying to figure out why there are so many Tex-Mex Restaurants (usually right next to an Irish Pub) on Lanzarote… We had a wonderful lunch at a seaside cafe and then continued on up the coast back to Arrecife and the Marco Polo.

Originally a couple friends and I had discussed trying to visit Taroudannt, but decided it was a little too far (about 2:30 hr drive) from the ship. Instead we hired a taxi for a quick tour around town and then a stop at the beach front to have a look around. I recommend just going straight to the beach and spend a few hours there. Have a nice lunch, and if it’s warm enough enjoy the sun and sand.

His friend picked me up at the port and we headed for our first stop – the Hassan II Mosque. This is the only Mosque in Morocco that non-Muslims are allowed to enter. Upon arriving at the Mosque I met up with my guide, who was leading a group through and had me join them. The location of the Mosque on the water with one entire wall with a series of doors that open to the water, and the sheer size are awe inspiring. One of the largest modern relgious buildings in the world, I’m not sure which is more impressive: the detail and handcrafting of the incredible woodwork, or the fact the Mosque was entirely built from DONATIONS. There were NO State funds used.

After visiting the mosque, the driver took me to the most interesting stop of the day – the old Catholic Cathedral. Now a museum featuring exhibits on the various desert tribes of Northern Africa. While the exhibits were very well done, the most interesting feature of the church were the stained glass windows. Most weren’t religious, including a wonderful series featuring the signs of the Zodiac. This is one stop that if I hadn’t been with a guide I would have missed completely, and it was the highlight of Casablanca. None of the tours from the ship stopped here either.

Leaving the church we went for a scenic drive around Casablanca and picked the guide up again, now that he was done with his Tourism Board duties and we head to the resort/beach area of Casablanca for a lovely lunch at a seaside hotel. The setting was great, and my guide was very interesting company. Seems he used to hang out in the bars in Tangiers back when Jimmy Hendrix was there.

Finishing lunch we continued on to do some shopping stopping at a couple of stores that I’m sure were owned by a relative (that figures for this part of the world), and ending up roaming around the Central Market. I found a couple inexpensive paintings, always a good souvenier. They don’t weigh much and they’re easy to pack if they’re not too big.

After returing to the ship, we were treated to an incredible sunset as we sailed out of Casablanca. The sky looked like it had been lit on fire and glowed behind the Hassan II Mosque. I couldn’t have asked for a better farewell to my day in Casablanca.

The city offers wonderful cafes and numerous shopping streets including their own version of the Ramblas with the Catedral de Cadiz at one end. The Cathedral features an impressive collection of treasures.

For those with a little more time, and the will to rent a car, the villages surrounding Cadiz are some of the most picturesque in Spain famous for their whitewashed buildings. Seville is approximately 2:30 by train.

Arriving at Hotel Grand Central, they didn’t have my reservation in the computer, but I had my confirmation and they had no problem putting me into the type of room booked at the rate booked. Everyone at the hotel is wonderful. Friendly, helpful and professional. The night porter brought my bags right up to the room, and later also delivered my roomservice (good food). The look of this boutique hotel is very “stylized.” The corridors are dark with accent lighting, and the lobby is very modern and minimalist. It works. The rooms are smart and functional, and the size you would expect in Europe (if not a little larger), but small by American standards. The beds are comfortable and large, a nice flat panel TV, a complimentary minibar, a nice desk, the bathrooms are well appointed, and there’s plenty of closet and drawer space along with a safe. The coolest thing in the rooms are the remote control blinds. You just push a button and you can put them up or down. My room was on the corner and overlooked the street with a charming side view of the cathedral.

Location wise the hotel is ideally situated for exploring Barcelona. Less than a block from where the Bus Touristica stops, the Cathedral is across the street, and Placa Catalunya (the start of Las Ramblas, & KFC) is an easy 5-10 minute walk. In the immediate area there is an abundance of restaurants, small bodegas, and shops.

For dinner, I admit I should have done something more “local”, but the KFC near Placa Catalunya just smelled way tooo good. If you’re in the mood, I highly recommend it. I’m not sure what the difference is between the Spanish version of KFC and the US version – but the chicken is really good. They probably use a different oil.

After a wonderful night of sleep I had the morning to explore some more before heading to the port and boarding the Marco Polo. I decided to spend it wandering around the Ramblas and watching all the street performers. It amazed me at the ingenuity of some of them. My favorite was the guy with bike and peddaling skelaton. He had a lot of fun with everyone that stopped to watch. Toward noon I picked one of the many restaurants lining the Ramblas and had a wonderful pizza for lunch while continuing to people watch.

After a short walk back to hotel, my luggage and I were off in a taxi to the port to board one of my favorite cruise ships of all time, Orient Line’s Marco Polo.

Nairobi does have a few quiet, beautiful places. In the hills that border one side of Nairobi is a fairly wealthy area. Near there is Karen Blixen’s former home. The picture to the right is part of the grounds of her home. Though the farm was broken up long ago the house and the main grounds around it remain. There are beautiful views of the surrounding hills from her house. It really is a lovely spot, and the green everywhere is a nice contrast to the last three days travelling through Tsavo and Amboseli. The house is well taken care of, though as with the grounds, nothing like the farm pictured in “Out of Africa,” I can’t imagine that it ever looked the way it was portrayed in the movie.