25-Day South Atlantic Isles & Southern African Gems

Founded in 1536, Buenos Aires was administered by a Spanish viceroy for nearly three centuries before winning its independence in 1816. A sleepy port town for most of that time, it wasn’t until the turn of the 20th century that the city finally emerged as an important shipping center. Today, Argentina’s democratically elected government has made it South America’s safest (and most expensive) country. This cosmopolitan city is characterized by broad boulevards with huge shade trees, beautiful residential districts, plazas containing monuments and fountains, interspersed with 20th-century high-rise buildings. It is a truly great walking city.

Founded in 1536, Buenos Aires was administered by a Spanish viceroy for nearly three centuries before winning its independence in 1816. A sleepy port town for most of that time, it wasn’t until the turn of the 20th century that the city finally emerged as an important shipping center. Today, Argentina’s democratically elected government has made it South America’s safest (and most expensive) country. This cosmopolitan city is characterized by broad boulevards with huge shade trees, beautiful residential districts, plazas containing monuments and fountains, interspersed with 20th-century high-rise buildings. It is a truly great walking city.

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha including Gough Island.

Nightingale Island is an active volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, 3 square kilometres in area, part of the Tristan da Cunha group of islands. They are administered by the United Kingdom as part of the overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

Richards Bay is in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, the traditional homeland of the Zulu people on the Indian Ocean coast. Not surprisingly, most visitors are attracted here by interest in the Zulu culture and the indigenous wildlife of the region. Richards Bay offers Seabourn guests opportunities to experience both. The Zulu Nyala Private Game Reserve is one option, for an evening including a game drive and a dinner on the reserve. The Dumazulu is a fascinating living museum of traditional Zulu life and culture, populated by members of the group and endorsed by the tribal authorities. Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve is famous for its population of rare white rhinos, while a cruise on Lake St. Lucia gives visitors a view of two of South Africa’s most notorious animals: hippopotamus and crocodiles, on the iSimangaliso Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The interests of the Portuguese in Africa were the earliest of any European power. And the independence of Africa’s Lusophone colonies was invariably the most bitterly disputed during the revolutions of the mid-20th century. As elsewhere, the departing colonials took much of the value and the skills with them when they fled. Maputo has been slowly rebuilding itself into a city worthy of its setting along the Indian Ocean coast, and you will be among only a few travelers to see the architectural treasures of its past and the spirit of its future.

At its founding in 1835, the city was named in honor of the then Governor of the Cape, Sir Benjamin D’Urban. Sugar cane transformed Durban into a vital port city, and its attractive parks and meticulously groomed gardens continue to testify to the land’s richness. Today, the city sprawls along the coast, its golden beaches hugging the ice-blue Indian Ocean.

South Africa’s Garden Route is among the world’s most attractive destinations, and Mossel Bay will welcome Seabourn guests to the heart of it. Those interested in wildlife will be thrilled with a visit to the Botlierskop Private Game Reserve for the chance to spot a rare white rhino and interact with huge, gentle African elephants at a feeding. The Diaz Museum Complex is named for Bartolomeu Diaz, the Portuguese explorer who was the first European to set foot in South Africa right here. It contains historical displays including the famous Post Office Tree that served as the message station for early sailors, a maritime museum and an aquarium. Another option is to travel along the coast to the famous seaside resort community at Knysna Heads and up into the arid, scenic Outeniqua Mountains.

Nestled at the foot of Table Mountain and flanked by Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head, Cape Town is known by South Africans simply as ‘the Cape,’ an acknowledgment of its uniqueness and its status as the Mother City. The first area to be settled by Europeans in the 17th century, it is today a major seaport and the legislative capital of South Africa. The feeling here is not African but cosmopolitan, and a sense of history remains.

Nestled at the foot of Table Mountain and flanked by Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head, Cape Town is known by South Africans simply as ‘the Cape,’ an acknowledgment of its uniqueness and its status as the Mother City. The first area to be settled by Europeans in the 17th century, it is today a major seaport and the legislative capital of South Africa. The feeling here is not African but cosmopolitan, and a sense of history remains.