Goldring Travel’s 2025 Culinary & Cultural Journey – Botswana Safari & Expedition Sailing the West Coast of Africa (Abercrombie & Kent + Silversea Silver Wind)- Part X: Cape Verde, Canary Islands & Morocco

It is hard to believe, but with ten days remaining on the Silversea Silver Wind “Adventure Cruise”, it feels like the beginning of the end rather than what normally would be the beginning of a nice ten-day cruise. That is, I guess, what happens when you combine an eight-day Botswana Safari with a nineteen-day Silversea “adventure cruise” and then extend the experience for another twenty-one-day cruise because it has been so intellectually and spiritually fulfilling.  All that travel that will bring this journey…and a journey it is…to forty-nine days.

At this point, my Silversea Silver Wind experience is transitioning from an “adventure cruise” to a “classic cruise”. In other words, more expected cruise ports and optional tours, whereas earlier, there really were no options to head out independently. This was either because of logistics or safety…usually both, but heavily on logistics.

After two sea days, we arrived in Praia, Cabo Verde (Cape Verde). As my friend was heading home from there, there was a bit of chaos. Why? Because someone at Silversea – not on the ship – decided that I was to disembark as well. What!  Fortunately, Silversea onboard and in the United States were amazing, and I was allowed to stay on. Whew!

After heading to the airport – and it was a surprisingly nice airport for such a small place – I went back to the ship and then took a Silversea shuttle into town. That’s right, just like on a classic cruise.

After wandering through the local market and the streets a bit, I figured the right thing to do is what I normally do: Eat Local!

As I wandered, I started to look at what people were eating, and then, lo and behold, there were some of the crew, including my butler, Jamal.  They said the food was good and, without hesitation, Jamal stood up, grabbed a chair, reorganized a private table for me, and said with a smile, “Always at your service!”  Honestly, the crew and staff onboard Silver Wind have – and this is uniformly felt by the (non-Apex Travel) guests – are a notch above any other ship’s.

I ordered a local beer, and when I asked for a menu, the server pointed to a poster with the various Cape Verdian dishes. Rather than wondering what was in each dish, I pulled out my phone, took photos, and then submitted them to Chat GPT. It is an amazing, even if somewhat imperfect, tool.  Both were delicious, and, to be honest, with Portuguese music (with a Fado style) playing in the background, it was kinda perfect.

The next day, we were in Porto Novo, Cape Verde. As my frustration with the Apex Travel people, most of whom really cannot hike but insist they can and, thus, frustrate the real hikers, I skipped the longer hike of the Paul Valley and took the shorter one in the South Canyon. There was almost no similarity between the excursion description and reality (including that there literally was no hike), but it wound up being a beautiful and scenic experience and an overall wonderful and relaxing day. No complaints. Just observations.

(Oh, and once again, Silversea’s lunch experience, including wonderful Portuguese music and excellent dancing, was great.)

After two more sea, I mean work, days we arrived at Las Palmas, Grand Canary Island. I chose the Azuaje Valley Discovery Hike, which, once again, to Silversea’s credit, was split up into two separate groups with different departure times. It was a beautiful 1.5-mile steep hike down into the valley floor. There were some who were struggling, and a few falls, but with an incredibly charming and interactive guide and the natural beauty, it was a nice saunter (not at a hike’s pace).

Afterwards, we headed to the historic town of Firgas for a lunch with traditional Canarian food (nice, but not up to the amazing standards of the other Silversea lunches…again, just an observation; not a complaint) and then a short tour of part of the town.

Unfortunately, a guest who claimed to be a geologist decided to give some short lectures…exposing that he actually didn’t know anything about volcanoes. My guess is that he was as much of an expert on volcanoes as I am about booking a Princess cruise! I am sure none of the other guests would ever know his information was wrong, but as I whispered to the guide after she corrected him, “He was really full of it, but you were so sweet as to how you subtlety corrected him.” to which she responded, “I was as kind as I could be doing it.”

Silversea really needs to let its expedition team and the local guides put on the show, and allow not Apex Travel or a random guest to take over. It is not fair to guests who do want to learn, and for me, it was kind of insulting. To be fair, however, many regular (not Apex) guests are truly upset by how much “they” have impacted their Silversea experience, and, at this point, my patience level, like others, for such things is not great.

In fact, the next day in San Sebastian on La Gomera, Canary Islands, Silversea made a valiant attempt to address the situation by splitting a 4.5-mile Garajonay National Park hike into two, with a shorter, 2.2-mile hike being offered separately. I originally signed up for the long version, but after it was disclosed that there would be a 1,200-foot elevation rise, I feared I would be too frustrated with those who were struggling yet refused to take the shorter hike. So, I changed to the shorter hike. And then I was, “Ya know. Why set myself up for frustration? Usually wandering in a small town can be magic,” so I canceled the hike.

After getting some work done, I headed out for a morning stroll in a charming town, eventually finding a little bakery. You know how that wound up!

And after doing a bit more work, I was off to a small rustic restaurant, El Pajar, for paella. (Pajar means hayloft, and, to be sure, this place could have once been just that!). I had mentioned both the bakery and the restaurant to some of the crew, so shortly after I ordered, some of the crew arrived. Sweet!

When I ordered the paella, I was told, “Paella for one is impossible.” Clearly, they did not know who was ordering. I said, “No problem. Paella for two!” He smiled and asked if I wanted a drink. Again, he clearly did not know me. Yes, please. First a beer, and then a few glasses of verdejo wine. Perfect!

Needless to say, a long nap and not much of a dinner followed.

The last day in the Canary Islands was on the island of Lanzarote. After docking in the capital, Arrecife, it was off to some lava tubes. The Lanzarote Through Manrique’s Eyes was an interesting cruise excursion with a focus on the Lanzarote artist and his efforts to use art to promote and develop the tourist industry. There were two venues, with one being an expected moderate lava tube and one converted into what looked akin to a five-star hotel; something I eventually found was on-site, along with a 1,000+ theatre.

While the focus during the day was on the artistry of a man, during dinner, the artistry of nature was on full display as I dined at La Terrazza!

My final two ports are in Morocco; first Agadir and then Safi (for Marrakech). To be brutally honest – am I ever not? – I am sucking it up and doing cruise tours rather than something more independent. Why? Because I have only heard from others what a grueling 12-hour day the Marrakech cruise tour experience is, but first-hand experience matters. (And, as I repeatedly say, “This is my job.”

Agadir itself isn’t a remarkable city, being more well-known and dependent on its terrible overfishing of sardines.  I took the Silversea city tour of the souk, kasbah, and an argan oil cooperative run by Moroccan women. I did buy some delicious argan oil, honey, and almond butter!

Other than an insufferable local guide who constantly repeated the words “Agadir” and “argan” along with praises for the King, who he insisted has made Morocco so very welcoming for everyone, it was fine. The souk wasn’t the best, but I returned to the ship with the argan products and a fun piece of “art”.

That evening, like many, I dined al fresco at La Terrazza. While I do enjoy the cuisine, nature’s show is the main reason I do!

The last day was the dreaded 12-hour excursion to Marrakech, which included three hours of driving each way. I was not looking forward to it, so I came up with a few ideas. First, get on a bus first, so I had the seat looking forward with nobody in front of me. Second, what if I were able to peel off from the guided tour and get lost in the souk for a couple of hours on my own? Third, how should I prepare for sitting on a bus for six hours?

Taking the third plan first, I made sure my Bose noise-canceling earbuds were fully charged and my T-Mobile international high-speed data plan was on. Then I filled my Silversea water bottle with water and my A&K water bottle (that has a sipping straw) with South African Chenin Blanc wine. Oh, and just in case, I tapped into the snacks I have acquired over the past weeks.

Now for the second plan.  I spoke with the Expedition Team about my idea a few days earlier. The idea sounded good, but how can we make it happen? They came up with the idea of having a separate bus for the more intrepid guests, but incredibly (maybe not so), only eleven other guests on the entire ship signed up for it, so that was a “no go”. Ugh. Eventually, the expedition team said that if they gave me a meeting point, I could take off at any time and just meet them at 4:00 p.m. for the bus ride back to the ship. Perfect.  Well, almost perfect, as you will see.

During the three-hour ride to Marrakech, there was, if you looked, a lot to see. Planted argan forests, donkey-pulled carts, sheep herders, old Berber settlements, overall high-quality roadways, and such. But, I noticed that there were no shanty towns and very few occupied decrepit buildings. Curious. That quandary was soon answered.

Morocco undertook a plan to eliminate all shanty towns near Marrakech and involuntarily relocate that population into modern “condominium” housing. Thoughts of whether forcing people out of their culture and lifestyle into something totally foreign was a good thing flooded my mind. I thought back to the shanty towns in southern West Africa where many people looked at peace, if not prosperous…and the follow-on question of what is “peace and prosperity”? I thought of how similar approaches (though on a much larger scale) in New York City failed miserably.  Alas, it was hard to see how well occupied the condo cities were, as, let’s face it, having cars in the parking lots was not going to be a relevant measure.

As we neared Marrakech, it was a bit of a shock seeing so many new, uniformly colored buildings there were. No high-rises. The 1960 earthquake and subsequent ones made it clear that new construction was necessary, as many buildings, including those in the Medina, had collapsed. The result is a city, at least the parts I saw, that was far more modern than I anticipated. Alas, it really felt like any other city…and the tour pretty much supported that view.

First up was a visit to the outside of a major mosque. For me: ABM. (Another bloody mosque, as opposed to ABT – another bloody temple, as opposed to ABC – another bloody church.)

After that, we headed over to the Bahia Palace, built in the 1860s. Our guide was not shy in mentioning that we were in the former Jewish Quarter and that the Jews brought gold, jewelry, silk,  fine fabrics, and more to Marrakech, and the Andalusians (now Spain) brought architecture and cuisine.  Most certainly an interesting mix with the mostly nomadic Berbers!

While of architectural interest for some, the crowds overtook any chance of appreciating its grandeur, and the lack of any furnishings to better express the intent of each room left it, for me, fairly uninspiring.

Afterwards, it was time for another Silversea lunch and, once again, Silversea did an amazing job!  All of the buses (there were four that had been split into different itinerary timings) met up in a beautiful riad (courtyard) for a delicious lunch of chicken tagine, vegetarian couscous, and Rfissa au Lait (similar to a mille-fleuille with sweetened milk).

With traditional Moroccan musicians playing, things got a little “showbiz” with fire-twirling belly dancers (not a Moroccan thing), which eventually started to sound like being in an Istanbul disco with house music thumping away. However, no complaints as it was fun and the guests loved it!

As I was about to depart for about a mile walk to the Medina and Souk, Alexandra of expedition team stopped me and said I shouldn’t walk because our amazing guide (when was the last time you heard me say that!) said she knew how to make my option of immersing the souk available to everyone: Take everyone to the meeting point and then those that wanted to continue with the tour could and those that wanted to go independently could and just meet back there. Perfect!

I hate to mention Apex…yet again…but I need to. My bus of 27 guests was mostly made up of Apex people. Of all of these arrogant, obnoxious, self-centered people, not a single one chose to leave the side of the guide. When I combine that shocking statistic with their historical inability to comprehend (after so much travel), there are different kinds of palm trees, etc., as well as their refusal to acknowledge their physical inability to walk or hike any distances, it is clear that the “Apex Cult” is just that. Tick off places to brag they have physically appeared yet never really “travel” in…just rebook the next cult meetup.

Anyway, I was off into the souk and was looking to purchase only one thing: Spices. I recently had some work done on my kitchen and, with a new spice rack, I wanted some exotic spices to help fill it. First, I went to what seemed to be a nice shop with a nice younger man, hidden fairly deep in the souk. Twenty or thirty dirham for 100 grams was the going rate  (US$2.00-$3.00). After that purchase and a bit of a wander, I came across another, but different, spice shop. He wanted fifty dirham, so the bargaining was on, ending at twenty + some surely fake saffron. And, then, finally, an old man with the nicest of shops. I knew I would be effectively ripped off, but we had so much fun bantering while hardly understanding each other. I took a hit at around forty dirham, but it was worth it…and scored some freshly ground ras el hanout (a mixture of many spices, each with a different profile).

Days before, Joshua, the Future Cruise Consultant, had suggested to me that I find a place overlooking the souk for a glass of the traditional mint tea. Well, you know me. After wandering the main square of the souk, sad I would not be there at night when the real food experience is ot be had, I looked around and found a place, L’Adresse, with a commanding view of the souk, and it looked like a table was open right by the glass balcony.  Up the stairs, mint tea was poured immediately, and I was then handed a very interesting menu with a beef tagine with apricots and prunes catching my eye. I told the waiter I only had 35 minutes, so could I get the tagine in time? “Five minutes!” OK, it was more than five minutes and I had to rush eating it, but it was a perfect moment to end my Marrakech day.

I met our group and headed to the bus for the three-hour ride back to the ship. I drank my water, sipped my wine, listened to music, caught up on emails, and then alternated between watching TikToks and gazing at the scenery.

Do I think the 12-hour trek to Marrakech was worth it? Probably not. There was little offered that made me go “Wow” or seemed truly unique. If I were to do it again for the first time, I probably would fly in for two days and get out or do something as a customized private experience.  There just isn’t enough to warrant more time there when there is so much more to experience in Morocco. 

As I was sitting on the bus, it struck me that I have gone from game drives to beat-up old van drives, to heart-stopping bus drives, to zodiac drives, to luxury coach drives, all on this journey. And what a journey it has been!

Next up: Reflections!