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Portuguese Island Cruise from Durban
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Portuguese Island is a small uninhabited island situated at the edge of Maputo Bay, very close to Inhaca Island. There are numerous cruises from Durban to Portuguese Island on the MSC Sinfonia & Opera. Email cruises@southafrica.to for assistance with a quote. The cruises are mostly in November, December, January, February, March and April months.
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Portuguese Island is sandy with light vegetation. The beachsands are great for going for a walk on, but do wear shoes, as the sand can get very hot in summer.
Portuguese Island was previously known as "Portuguese Elephant Island", because of its role as a spot for storing the ivory of elephants. Elephant trade is no more, and the name of the island has been happily shortened.
The MSC Portuguese Island Experience
MSC transfers passengers from the Opera and Sinfonia to Portuguese Island on "zodiacs", which are hard hulled rubber ducks. If there's any chance of the weather worsening during the day, go as early as possible, as the Captain will not hesitate to stop transfers to Portuguese Island if there's any risk involved.
On the Island MSC chefs braai meat and cook food to be served to the many passengers. As there can be over 2000 passengers and almost everybody wants to get off the ship, facilities can get a bit crowded, but there's plenty of place on the island for those willing to venture off.
Activities include snorkelling on the reef off Inhaca, going for a walk around Portuguese Island (takes about 2 hours) and visiting Inhaca. The best thing to do, though, is to relax in the calm warm waters.
Travel Review
2013-05-06 Rating 5/5 4’Oclock in the morning, how can anyone be up so early and be so happy (me thinking this of my hubby Eddie Pillay). It was not long and I started smiling and thinking how awesome this trip was going to be after the year he'd had - he really needs to relax and take it easy…lol not my hubby. By 9’O clock we had landed in Durban airport and were waiting for the transfer. I couldn’t wait to show Eddie my gift to him, you see Eddie was in hospital for 1 week in July and 2 weeks in September… all I have to say is he made it, by the grace of God he is still here today and this trip was to celebrate life!
This was my 3rd cruise & the 1st for Eddie, and believe me, I knew I would get sea sick like I did before this but nothing could stop me from being on the ocean, I just love it. The excitement in the air at the airport as we wait for the transfer, the people and the stories they tell you, of how many of trips they had gone on, makes it just so much more exciting. Seeing the excitement in Eddie eyes as he is taking in everything like a child in a candy store made getting up early worthwhile hehehe. As we entered the port, this beautiful big ship standing there waiting just for us to explore her, to have fun and be happy on for 3 awesome days, this would be our home with no care in the world just us on this beauty. As I watched my hubby looking at this ship in wonder as if it was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, I knew this was the perfect gift. When we went to our suite it was awesome, I dropped our bags and we made our way outside to go explore the boat, so many things were happening at that time out there, they were dancing on the 12th deck making everyone feel welcome, and the entertainment went on till the next morning. On our first night I got sick, yes & I got it bad, like stay in bed bad, but this did not stop me at all - we went to dinner, took in a show, we stayed entertained by all the things going on around us and we walked around on the boat. Our night was great!
Portuguese Island with its warm blue waters and tropical fish swimming in the waters - it was like being in a semi-warm bath - you just wanted to stay in it. Watching Eddie, how he enjoyed himself, was priceless - talking to the locals, making friends, getting to know all about the island, taking in everything he could step by step. We took a very long walk on the white hot beach exploring every dune and checking out everything we could in the short time we had to do so. The unspoiled beauty of the island made me think how lucky most of us are, at being able to enjoy this - so blessed, to afford to come here. I know God is close to us and seeing this place so beautiful just made me more aware of how blessed we are. This is one of the most memorable trips we ever took, doing things together - the experience and memories will last a life time.
Our last day onboard this beauty, sad but yet existed, knowing it will not be our last. Anchored in the deep blue sea, sitting on our balcony just enjoying being by ourselves with these awesome surroundings is what peace is all about, no stress just total peace.
As we disembarked I still felt the excitement of being on the trip - the next phase of which would be to share with all our great experience and to plan our next boat trip. As we set foot on SA ground we found Eddie's bag was lost hehehe - ok it was not lost just misplaced for an hour and a half. I can truly say after a hard year behind us this was a great and awesome trip, oh yes, all was well, bag was found and we continued on with the other part of our holiday a week in PMB.
No matter how hard you have it, God always has a place in mind where you can go and have peace, be at one with what He has created for his people to enjoy, we just came from such a place the “MSC Sinfonia” and its adventures. ;-)
From Ingrid and Eddie Pillay
Portuguese Island Cruises are rated 5/5 based on 1 customer review
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