Final Africa Cruise Port – Barcelona

Saludos, mis amigos!

On this beautiful May 27th, 2023, we arrive in Barcelona, Spain. We disembark the Sojourn for the last time! We fly home to Florida today!

Let me step back two days to share some of the events of our sea days in transit from Casablanca, Morocco, to Barcelona, Spain!

On the afternoon of May 25th we entered the Mediterranean Sea. Everyone anxiously awaited the opportunity to see the Rock of Gibraltar! It is deceiving how far into the Strait of Gibraltar the Rock is located! The closest point of land is Tarifa, Spain, not Gibraltar. But we finally saw the Rock.

As we continue west the Rock of Gibraltar shows how long it is! A note for anyone expecting to see the rock face shown by the Prudential Insurance “Own a piece of the Rock” logo and commercials, that is the view from the north looking at that far end of the Rock of Gibraltar. You won’t see that from the sea.

On May 26th the ship hosted the final Galley Luncheon of the voyage! We are taken to our table in the restaurant dining room, then we walk into the ship’s galley to choose our lunch items! Consider this the largest buffet on board!  Here are a few of my happy-snaps, starting with the soup and deli cold cuts!

The Galley decorated beautifully with fresh produce!

Specially carved fruits also make beautiful decorations!

The Italian section creates made-to-order dishes. I love the spaghetti spray! I can’t imagine how long it takes to prepare that!

My favorite part of the Galley line is seeing Captain Karas serving Baked Alaska!

I didn’t get a decent photo of Harry Ter Horst, the Hotel Manager, serving fish and chips, but here is Greta, a waiter from Lithuania, serving the steamed seafood! She’s pushing lobster tail!

The final table is desert! We usually sample three or four goodies from this table!

After dinner it’s time to put our bags out for collection. Those are ours with the purple straps! A half hour after this shot the hall was completely lined with bags, both sides!

Now it’s May 27th. Early morning! It’s 5:40 AM, and we’re already at dock!

We have a real terminal for this final port. Almost everyone disembarks today – a few folks are continuing on the next leg. One couple revealed that one leg gets them the last point they need to achieve Diamond status with Seabourn so they chose to extend their World Cruise another week!

Steve Selka is staying in Barcelona for a few days. He’s going to the W Hotel visible from the port!

As we head into the terminal we stop to say goodbye to our veranda! Yes, 829 is the one outlined in red!

A short bus ride later we are at the Barcelona International Airport. Our plane back to the US is waiting! (Sorry, the airport’s window screen doesn’t help!)

And I wrap up with our first sunrise back at home!

This brings the 2023 Africa cruise on the Seabourn Sojourn to an end!

We visited the lands of twelve countries with eighteen ports of call and several overnight stays!

We saw many of the amazing birds and animals of Africa, met some extraordinary people and witnessed their resilience in the harsh environments and extreme unemployment, saw incredible poverty and opulence with the same cities, saw rainforests and stark deserts, and learned more about the slave trade and Nelson Mandela than we ever envisioned! More than an adventure, visiting Africa was educational!

And I became an official Emerald Shellback, initiated at the 0, 0 null point!

Thank you for following along, thank you for your patience as I wrap up this series, and please find an opportunity to visit Africa yourselves!

TTFN! (Ta-ta for now!) Look for our next adventure!