A Cornucopia of Color: An Interview with Jack Grove
September 28, 2011 | Tags: Jack GroveZegrahm Expeditions cofounder and marine biologist Jack Grove, recently took time to answer some questions about the Seychelles. Learn about his most memorable journeys to the exceptional archipelago, below.
How many times have you been to the Seychelles?
My first trips to the Seychelles were prior to the formation of Zegrahm Expeditions. I have not counted but I think it’s safe to say I’ve been at least 12 times since 1984. It is one of my favorite destinations.
What is the most memorable experience you’ve had while visiting the area?
Aldabra and Astove Atoll are my two favorite destinations, though the most beautiful beach in the world is on La Digue. Snorkeling at the World Heritage Site of Aldabra is unsurpassed. Leading a group of snorkelers on, what I refer to as, a high adrenaline drift snorkel, surrounded by large fish that have no fear of you, through a channel adorned with healthy corals and sponges—is amazing.
Astove Atoll has a special place in my heart; it is uninhabited by humans and home to one of the largest nesting areas for green sea turtles in the Indian Ocean. The seas surrounding the atoll are crystal clear and few people get to visit this natural wonderland, because it is so remote. I have been involved in trying to get it accepted as a new World Heritage Site, which has included meeting with the World Conservation Union and the World Wildlife Fund, discussing the value of this isolated marine habitat.
What is your favorite activity to do there and why?
There is no doubt that I have a bias toward marine life and given a choice, I'll use a mask and snorkel rather than a pair of binoculars. One of my favorite fish in the Seychelles is the radiant blue surgeonfish—it will knock your socks off. It’s called a powder blue tang; to swim among a school of such brilliantly colored fish is to be enveloped in the beauty of nature. A cornucopia of color!
Can you explain the difference between the northern islands of the Seychelles versus the outlying southwesterly islands and atolls?
The archipelago is dramatically different from north to south. The islands were spread out like pearls across the western Indian Ocean as Pangaea split up, and the Indian subcontinent drifted to the northeast, eventually colliding with the Asian continent giving rise to the Himalayas. The granite rocks that comprise the northern islands have been sculpted by millions of years of weathering, and the Salvador Dali-like sculptures afford the most incredible seascapes in the world. In the central area of the island group, the islets are low-lying and surrounded by lush sea grasses where sea turtles abound. But for a guy like me, the real gems are in the south where submerged granite has been encrusted by luxuriant coral reefs, growing in concentric forms called atolls. There are no more beautiful, serene isles in the oceans of the world. I can hardly wait to return.
What’s unique about the Seychelles that can’t be replicated any place else?
White sand beaches embroidered by surreal pink…granite boulders and palm trees with the world’s largest coconut…the giant tortoise…and several World Heritage Sites including the fabled Valle de Mai, home to the coco de mer. It is one of those places you have to experience firsthand in order to believe it is real…Come join us and you will know that the Seychelles are more than unique—these islands are out of this world.
Join Jack on our Ultimate Seychelles with Aldabra Atoll expedition departing January 13, or join Zegrahm cofounders Peter Harrison and Shirley Metz on our Classic Seychelles with the Comoros & Zanzibar expedition departing January 24. Plus, check out our exclusive conversation with Peter regarding his love for the Seychelles on our Facebook page.
Jonathan Rossouw's South Africa
September 28, 2011 | Tags: Jonathan RossouwPerhaps I'm slightly biased, growing up as I did in the wild parts of South Africa, but it seems to me that no country lays greater claim to this oft-quoted title of ‘the World in One Country.’ Without even taking into consideration the fascinating, multifaceted complexity of its human history, from Australopithecus to Zuma, South Africa is unique.
To understand this uniqueness, you need to start with its geographical location, a lop-sided triangle of land straddling the Tropic of Capricorn at the southern tip of the "Mother Continent.” The central part of the supercontinent of Gondwana, Africa maintained its position when the Indian Subcontinent, South America and Madagascar took off for new destinations. Creaking along its edges, it pushed up the ancient seabed into ranges of wildly contorted geology, today famous as the Drakensberg, or “Dragon’s Mountains,” and the scenic Cape Fold Ranges of South Africa. At the foot of this escarpment, in the east, lie the endless thorn country of Zululand and the fertile upland grasslands of Natal, merging gently southwards through the cool forests of the eastern Cape to the wondrous Cape Floral Kingdom. Here, evolution reaches its apogee with a botanical diversity unprecedented in the history of life on our planet: the fabulous fynbos, or fine bush, of the Cape Floral Kingdom, home to over 12,000 plant species in an area smaller than Connecticut, with some surveyed plots of one square mile hosting more diversity than the whole of Britain!
To these terrestrial riches, add a marine component. Fan the east coast with a tropical, southward-flowing oceanic stream (the Agulhas Current), supporting the world’s southernmost coral reefs and providing the humid air that keeps the hinterland lush and green year-round. Add a frigid, plankton-rich stream from Antarctica (the Benguela Current) up the west coast, creating a Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters that foster all that botanical diversity… and some of the world's finest wines!
This is the geographical tableau against which our South Africa ship voyage unfolds. Beginning in the northeast, we follow the Agulhas Current southwards from Durban, along the dramatic and little-visited Wild Coast. Arriving in the Eastern Cape, we’re treated to a wealth of wildlife in the form of visits to the world-famous Addo Elephant Park, where we’ll experience primordial pachyderms in their most southerly refuge, and the Gondwana Game Reserve, with its populations of the “Big Five,” along with such lesser known, but no less interesting mammals, as Cape Mountain Zebra and Cape Grysbok. We’ll also marvel at the moss-encrusted forests of the famous Garden Route, and enjoy our first taste of the immense botanical diversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom. Continuing our pilgrimage, we round Africa’s southernmost point at Cape Agulhas, before passing the infamous Cape of Good Hope to Cape Town. Here, mountains, beaches, flora, vineyards, and a rich tapestry of human history collide in a magical juxtaposition that has rightly earned South Africa’s Mother City the title of “One of the World’s Most Beautiful Cities.” (Forbes 2010.)
The cool oceans along the Cape’s west coast are home to rookeries of charismatic Cape Fur Seals, often alongside equally raucous colonies of Jackass Penguins, Africa’s only representative of the penguin tribe. For those with a particular interest in things marine, we’ll venture out to a Cape Fur Seal rookery in search of one of the world’s most notorious marine predators, the Great White Shark. We’ll also watch for the scarce and localized Heaviside’s Dolphin, a handsome endemic entirely restricted to the cold Benguela Current.
On land, our explorations will offer ample opportunities for appreciating some of the botanical wonders for which the region is famous, along with a rich assemblage of endemic birds, such as the dapper Cape Rockjumper, jewel-like Orange-breasted Sunbird, and extravagant Cape Sugarbird.
Interested in the history of this fascinating country? Read David Conrad's thoughts, here.
To learn more about our incredible South Africa & Namibia by Sea expedition, visit our trip page.
David Conrad's History of South Africa
September 28, 2011 | Tags: David ConradIf you are anything like me, exploring a country means not only appreciating its aesthetics, but also getting to the core of how its people and culture have shaped its history. And, the amazing part of Zegrahm’s upcoming expedition to South Africa is that we’ll see its rich history come to life. Our journey is punctuated by encounters with the local people—enjoying their food, language, and customs—and visits to some of the country’s most historically significant places.
Acknowledged as a cradle of the human species, South Africa is also regarded as the source of human creative art. This fascinating fact is based on several findings that attest to the time-depth of South Africa’s cultural history. Imagine the discovery of 75,000 year-old snail shells drilled with holes, indicating they were meant to be strung as a necklace; paintings on flat stones by San people that, in some cases, may be 26,000 years old; and cave paintings dating to around 10,000 bce. The San, who were mainly hunter-gatherers, and the culturally similar Khoikhoi, who were mostly pastoralists, were the only indigenous inhabitants of South Africa’s western Cape. The eastern Cape, south of the Limpopo River, was home to Bantu-speaking black African cultures including, among several others, Zulu in the north and Xhosa in the south. During our voyage we’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a traditional Xhosa lunch, after visiting New Brighton Township.
In the mid-seventeenth century, South Africa’s human history changed drastically as the Cape became a station for re-supplying Dutch ships bound for the East Indies. A colony of Dutch farmers (eventually known as “Boers”) was established, and they were joined by smaller populations of English, Scandinavian, and French settlers. To produce commodities cheaply enough to make a profit, they all acquired slave labor from West Africa, the East Indies, and local Khoisan groups. Essence of the French and Dutch will be especially prevalent during our time in Franschhoek and Stellenbosch with distinct architectural styles and tastings at wineries, where the settlers originally brought French grapes over to create their vineyards.
The language of Dutch seamen and elements of other European settlers’ vocabulary mixed with local African languages and those of imported slaves, gradually developed into the Afrikaans language of today. The scarcity of white women within the European community led to the mating of white settlers with nonwhite slaves and indigenous folk, producing a mixed class of “Cape Colored” people who became a major population group also known as “Griqua.”
By 1805 the Cape was under British control, and the rest of the nineteenth century saw conflicts of varying intensity between antagonists competing for land, cattle, and political power. Boer slave owners fought against British abolitionism, and both Boer and Griqua skirmished with Xhosa and other Bantu farming and cattle-herding populations. Several great African leaders emerged using armies to establish their own states. Three of the most talented and successful of these were Shaka, the famous Zulu leader, Moshoeshoe, who founded what eventually became Lesotho, and Mzilikazi, who became king of a Zulu group called Ndebele. Conflict between British and Boer settlers led to the latter’s “Great Trek” northward across the Orange and Vaal rivers, and establishment of two independent Afrikaner republics, the Orange Free State and Transvaal. Nearby, in a disputed region called Griqualand West, diamonds were discovered, and in 1871 the British joined the northward movement by annexing that territory. The 19th-century influence of the British is quite obvious as we explore the Victoria and Albert Waterfront during our overnight in Cape Town.
Success in the diamond fields led to vast wealth for Cecil Rhodes who became Prime Minister of the Cape in 1890 and influenced events that led to the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Despite the Boers’ military defeat, Afrikaner nationalism gained strength until the Nationalist Party was voted into office by a white electorate in 1948 and apartheid became official government policy. Opposition by the African National Congress (ANC) evolved into increasingly militant resistance with the appearance of a new generation of black leaders led by Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, and Nelson Mandela, many of whom were imprisoned in the mid-1960s. Decades of vicious white nationalist oppression ended when Mandela gained his freedom and in 1994 became president of an ANC-led Government of National Unity. A particularly interesting excursion is a visit to Robben Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the prison where Mandela was incarcerated for 18 of his 26 imprisoned years.
Interested in the nature of South Africa? Read Jonathan Rossouw's description, here.
To learn more about our incredible South Africa & Namibia by Sea expedition, visit our trip page.
On Location: The Danube River
September 26, 2011With a fiery orange sun rising above the sea to our stern, we maneuvered into one of the main channels at the mouth of the 1,750-mile long Danube River. The delta of this river covers an amazing 5,000 square kilometers and, as we looked out over the ship’s railing, we came to realize that we were completely surrounded by extensive reed beds stretching out to the horizon. Huge flocks of white pelicans fished in the marsh, while the appropriately named pygmy cormorant perched conspicuously on snags along the river’s edge.
We traversed nearly 40 miles of the delta on our way to the town of Tulcea, waving along the way to locals fishing along the shoreline, and admiring the spectacular Romanian countryside as we steamed past. Upon arrival, we boarded small local boats to investigate the lakes and channels more closely. Swans and their nearly full-grown cygnets stretched their long necks under the water to forage on aquatic plants, while countless frogs basked in the sun on floating aquatic vegetation. Just as we were about to arrive back at the small dock, four species of heron were spotted up in a single tree, the perfect finale to our exploration of Europe’s best-preserved river delta.
Not just a culturally exciting expedition, check out our incredible staff all dressed up!
On Location: The Danube River
September 26, 2011 | Tags: Danube RiverWith a fiery orange sun rising above the sea to our stern, we maneuvered into one of the main channels at the mouth of the 1,750-mile long Danube River. The delta of this river covers an amazing 5,000 square kilometers and, as we looked out over the ship’s railing, we came to realize that we were completely surrounded by extensive reed beds stretching out to the horizon. Huge flocks of white pelicans fished in the marsh, while the appropriately named pygmy cormorant perched conspicuously on snags along the river’s edge.
We traversed nearly 40 miles of the delta on our way to the town of Tulcea, waving along the way to locals fishing along the shoreline, and admiring the spectacular Romanian countryside as we steamed past. Upon arrival, we boarded small local boats to investigate the lakes and channels more closely. Swans and their nearly full-grown cygnets stretched their long necks under the water to forage on aquatic plants, while countless frogs basked in the sun on floating aquatic vegetation. Just as we were about to arrive back at the small dock, four species of heron were spotted up in a single tree, the perfect finale to our exploration of Europe’s best-preserved river delta.
Not just a culturally exciting expedition, check out our incredible staff all dressed up!