The Grand Age Of Travel

[WAB]

My aunt and uncle went as missionaries to the highlands of New Guinea in the 50’s. They were there for 45+ years. I recall they and my cousins coming home on one of their furloughs as passengers on a cargo ship. As I recall they had quite an adventure of it.

 

[Hogpatrol]

If you do the Panama Canal, IMHO southbound transits are the best. Suggest disembarking on the Atlantic side, Colon/Gatun, doing a lock tour and taking the train across the isthmus.

 

[Red Leg]

Lots of posts lately about the hassles of getting to Africa via umpteen stopovers, luggage issues, cancelled flights, or just one leg messing it all up. And endless wretched airports. Enough to get you reaching for a Gin and Tonic.
Imagine the age when one booked on a passenger liner, like the Union Castle, packed generously and of course included your on-board fare, especially the hat. At the other end, probably Cape Town, one boarded a train, ensconced in a comfortable carriage ready to head out into the interior. Fine food all the way, evening airs, wonderful! All you needed was time, and the world could wait a little.
That age overlapped well into the transcontinental flight era, you would be surprised - 12th August 1977 the Windsor Castle set out for the last time.
i was equally surprised to learn that many freight carriers also carry passengers today. And all over the world there is a resurgence in luxury train travel, southern Africa included. So here is a possibility for the good Mrs P and I - steamer from Walvis Bay or Durban to Cape Town, Rovos Rail to Pretoria, and then on to Victoria Falls, staying in the magnificent Victoria Falls Hotel. Finally a hunting trip in the Matetsi, in a Land Rover of course!

For sure. But very few from the States or UK were headed for Cape Town.

Their destination would have been Mombasa - the gateway to East Africa!

 

[wesheltonj]

As I have mentioned before, my father sailed Liberty Ships during and after WW2. He referred them to them as floating jails. It’s not like modern cruise ships that have lots of activities to keep you distracted from realizing that he was right, floating jails.

 

[WAB]

As I have mentioned before, my father sailed Liberty Ships during and after WW2. He referred them to them as floating jails. It’s not like modern cruise ships that have lots of activities to keep you distracted from realizing that he was right, floating jails.

Well Liberty ships bounced like a cork. All the sailors hated them. I’ve been on receptions on a few of the new super tankers. Different world altogether.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

458, I couldn't agree more that the trip is all part of it, I suppose why it is actually good fun to drive the Series 1 for 7 hours down to the Save. Anyway, I have now done some homework with the help of @mark-hunter (thanks Mark), and this method of travel is not only do-able but very reasonable. So, I am going to give it a try just as soon as a covid window opens! I agree, the hell with airports, or the very minimum anyway.

@Kevin Peacocke
Only one problem with land rover they don't come with the much needed chiropractor and massager and that's only after the first hour in the mongrel things.
Bob

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

@Kevin Peacocke
Only one problem with land rover they don't come with the much needed chiropractor and massager and that's only after the first hour in the mongrel things.
Bob

True Bob, but you can still smile with a sore back! . It's boats and pounding waves that did mine though, make the Landy feel like a Caddilac.

 

[mark-hunter]

As I have mentioned before, my father sailed Liberty Ships during and after WW2. He referred them to them as floating jails.

Morever, for Liberty crew expecting torpedo or air attack, it was like a "green mile" serving on the ship. If joining a ship 1941, you could get home in 1945, under condition you survived and depending where you end up on wars end. So, it would be like a "pardon" of sentence after 4 years on steel without air condition.
.
But things change.

Today, as a passanger on cargo ship, you can expect following:

You wake up as at 07.00 lt, scroll down to the officer mess for a nice English breakfast.
After breakfast, take a coffee on the go, on the way up to the bridge, just in time to see 3rd mate taking over the watch from ch. mate.

Have a coffee on pilots chair, and have a small chat with 3rd mate about latest weather report, vessel ETA, and take a peak on radar screen and electronic charts.

By 10.00 am, your room and bed are made, by mess boy, you could just go down to your cabin, to change to swimming pants.

Ch. mate had an order from captain, in his watch 04.00 - 08.00 lt, to fill up the swimming pool for the only passanger on board. So you take a swim, and refresh your self.
.
By 11.30, you could send a message home, so you go up to radio room, and send few emails. Check the news, on internet. You will have your account.

O, well, by now, its time for lunch!

So, you go down to officers mess, and have a lunch, served on officers table.

After the lunch, you have a coffee or drink in officers lounge, and then skip back to your cabin.

Owners cabin, will be yours, probably between captains and ch. enggineers cabin, top deck.

On the way to cabin, you may just stop by the library, and choose some cd/dvd movie to watch in the cabin, while taking afternoon rest.

At 15.00, movie is done, you might take a walk on the deck, so you pick up he phone and just inform OOW on the bridge, you will be going on the deck, nice weather, no problem.

At 17.00 you have one more hour to kill, before the dinner.

Maybe you will have a talk and a small chat with a captain in his office, or on the bridge, or maybe you will just spend an hour in the gym.

Dinner time, 18.00 lt. Officers mess.

After that a time for movie again, or evening visit to the bridge, or reading a book in the peace and quite of your owners cabin, while having a cold freezing beer from your full fridge in the cabin. It is easy to keep fridge full, from the slopchest store.

And tommorow is another day! You have great plans for tommorow:

After busy port calls and coastal navigation, finally you get to crossing the ocean, and see wide horizons.
And time time for crew of 20, to relax a bit.

So, for tommorow captain organised a barbiqoue for all the crew, (except poor few, on duty) on ships stern.
Fire will start at 16.00 pm, tommorow.

And chief mate promised you for tommorow, after his morning watch, he will take you for a guided tour around the ship, to see engine room, stores, forecastle, ballast room, galley.

So, not really like a jail in old days.
And also, a difference from cruise liner, where socialising with crew is not allowed.

We can compare it to air travel?
Check in queue?
Security checks?
Luggage restrictions?
Squeezed seats, and restrained by seat belts.
Small flickering screens, reduced movie list.
No smoking sings all over.
Plastic meal set, and choice between lamb biryani or fried chicken on the menu.
Queue, again, on luggage pick up.
Security check again.

Except the air travel is much faster of course.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Morever, for Liberty crew expecting torpedo or air attack, it was like a "green mile" serving on the ship. If joining a ship 1941, you could get home in 1945, under condition you survived and depending where you end up on wars end. So, it would be like a "pardon" of sentence after 4 years on steel without air condition.
.
But things change.

Today, as a passanger on cargo ship, you can expect following:

You wake up as at 07.00 lt, scroll down to the officer mess for a nice English breakfast.
After breakfast, take a coffee on the go, on the way up to the bridge, just in time to see 3rd mate taking over the watch from ch. mate.

Have a coffee on pilots chair, and have a small chat with 3rd mate about latest weather report, vessel ETA, and take a peak on radar screen and electronic charts.

By 10.00 am, your room and bed are made, by mess boy, you could just go down to your cabin, to change to swimming pants.

Ch. mate had an order from captain, in his watch 04.00 - 08.00 lt, to fill up the swimming pool for the only passanger on board. So you take a swim, and refresh your self.
.
By 11.30, you could send a message home, so you go up to radio room, and send few emails. Check the news, on internet. You will have your account.

O, well, by now, its time for lunch!

So, you go down to officers mess, and have a lunch, served on officers table.

After the lunch, you have a coffee or drink in officers lounge, and then skip back to your cabin.

Owners cabin, will be yours, probably between captains and ch. enggineers cabin, top deck.

On the way to cabin, you may just stop by the library, and choose some cd/dvd movie to watch in the cabin, while taking afternoon rest.

At 15.00, movie is done, you might take a walk on the deck, so you pick up he phone and just inform OOW on the bridge, you will be going on the deck, nice weather, no problem.

At 17.00 you have one more hour to kill, before the dinner.

Maybe you will have a talk and a small chat with a captain in his office, or on the bridge, or maybe you will just spend an hour in the gym.

Dinner time, 18.00 lt. Officers mess.

After that a time for movie again, or evening visit to the bridge, or reading a book in the peace and quite of your owners cabin, while having a cold freezing beer from your full fridge in the cabin. It is easy to keep fridge full, from the slopchest store.

And tommorow is another day! You have great plans for tommorow:

After busy port calls and coastal navigation, finally you get to crossing the ocean, and see wide horizons.
And time time for crew of 20, to relax a bit.

So, for tommorow captain organised a barbiqoue for all the crew, (except poor few, on duty) on ships stern.
Fire will start at 16.00 pm, tommorow.

And chief mate promised you for tommorow, after his morning watch, he will take you for a guided tour around the ship, to see engine room, stores, forecastle, ballast room, galley.

So, not really like a jail in old days.
And also, a difference from cruise liner, where socialising with crew is not allowed.

We can compare it to air travel?
Check in queue?
Security checks?
Luggage restrictions?
Squeezed seats, and restrained by seat belts.
Small flickering screens, reduced movie list.
No smoking sings all over.
Plastic meal set, and choice between lamb biryani or fried chicken on the menu.
Queue, again, on luggage pick up.
Security check again.

Except the air travel is much faster of course.

And all the time the delicious sea air. I have asked for some information Mark, lets see what they say.

 

[mark-hunter]

Looking forward, it works out for you! (covid restrictions, might complicate the things a bit)

 

[Cam Moon]

I think the jails have got much nicer too! LMAO

 

[evamitabha]

None have talked about Air conditioning. Crossing Egypt was considered the most miserable part of the boat journey east.

And there is no A/C in an old land rover either. It might be pleasent in the highlands of Kenya but......

 

[mark-hunter]

None have talked about Air conditioning. Crossing Egypt was considered the most miserable part of the boat journey east.

In goneby era, you had long wide wooden passanger decks for refreshment.
Old ships were beautiful.

But in the age of great geographical discoveries and sailing boats, the things were quite different.
Good film to watch wood be "Master and commander", with Russel Crowe.

And for the grand age of travel: movie "Titanic", although some minor details were not correct, but gives an insight of the luxury of travel in that time.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Morever, for Liberty crew expecting torpedo or air attack, it was like a "green mile" serving on the ship. If joining a ship 1941, you could get home in 1945, under condition you survived and depending where you end up on wars end. So, it would be like a "pardon" of sentence after 4 years on steel without air condition.
.
But things change.

Today, as a passanger on cargo ship, you can expect following:

You wake up as at 07.00 lt, scroll down to the officer mess for a nice English breakfast.
After breakfast, take a coffee on the go, on the way up to the bridge, just in time to see 3rd mate taking over the watch from ch. mate.

Have a coffee on pilots chair, and have a small chat with 3rd mate about latest weather report, vessel ETA, and take a peak on radar screen and electronic charts.

By 10.00 am, your room and bed are made, by mess boy, you could just go down to your cabin, to change to swimming pants.

Ch. mate had an order from captain, in his watch 04.00 - 08.00 lt, to fill up the swimming pool for the only passanger on board. So you take a swim, and refresh your self.
.
By 11.30, you could send a message home, so you go up to radio room, and send few emails. Check the news, on internet. You will have your account.

O, well, by now, its time for lunch!

So, you go down to officers mess, and have a lunch, served on officers table.

After the lunch, you have a coffee or drink in officers lounge, and then skip back to your cabin.

Owners cabin, will be yours, probably between captains and ch. enggineers cabin, top deck.

On the way to cabin, you may just stop by the library, and choose some cd/dvd movie to watch in the cabin, while taking afternoon rest.

At 15.00, movie is done, you might take a walk on the deck, so you pick up he phone and just inform OOW on the bridge, you will be going on the deck, nice weather, no problem.

At 17.00 you have one more hour to kill, before the dinner.

Maybe you will have a talk and a small chat with a captain in his office, or on the bridge, or maybe you will just spend an hour in the gym.

Dinner time, 18.00 lt. Officers mess.

After that a time for movie again, or evening visit to the bridge, or reading a book in the peace and quite of your owners cabin, while having a cold freezing beer from your full fridge in the cabin. It is easy to keep fridge full, from the slopchest store.

And tommorow is another day! You have great plans for tommorow:

After busy port calls and coastal navigation, finally you get to crossing the ocean, and see wide horizons.
And time time for crew of 20, to relax a bit.

So, for tommorow captain organised a barbiqoue for all the crew, (except poor few, on duty) on ships stern.
Fire will start at 16.00 pm, tommorow.

And chief mate promised you for tommorow, after his morning watch, he will take you for a guided tour around the ship, to see engine room, stores, forecastle, ballast room, galley.

So, not really like a jail in old days.
And also, a difference from cruise liner, where socialising with crew is not allowed.

We can compare it to air travel?
Check in queue?
Security checks?
Luggage restrictions?
Squeezed seats, and restrained by seat belts.
Small flickering screens, reduced movie list.
No smoking sings all over.
Plastic meal set, and choice between lamb biryani or fried chicken on the menu.
Queue, again, on luggage pick up.
Security check again.

Except the air travel is much faster of course.

@mark-hunter
That boat sound boring as Batshit, where's the down the line trap on the stern and a few thousand rounds to fill in the time. I would jump overboard before we left port. That's why I don't cruise.
Bob

 

[mark-hunter]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen

Hi, Bob
When was thew last time you read "war and peace"?
Well, this is a chance to do it. Plenty of time.
But there are people who love that way of travel, and some people who dont.

And in the modern, politically correct world, modern shipping companies and flags ban the guns.
So no trap range on the stern. (I would love to have one)

No guns on board, not even when passing piracy area, for the PC concern that guns on ships will "escalate violence at high seas".

US flag is with different approach, especially after the case of captain Phillips, of Somali coast.

 

[Pondoro]

As I have mentioned before, my father sailed Liberty Ships during and after WW2. He referred them to them as floating jails. It’s not like modern cruise ships that have lots of activities to keep you distracted from realizing that he was right, floating jails.

In addition the Liberty ships had a tendency to break in front of the bridge due to welding imperfections..

liberty ships breaking in front of bridge - Google Search

 

[mark-hunter]

And some modern ships, break in half, too.
But in real world it does not happen often.
There is a reason for weak spot midship.
Liberty ships saved the ww2 efforts, and they would not made it, if they were breaking appart regulalrly. Winters in north Atlantic are rough.
Decommissioned after the ww2, they were sold, and helped building post ww2 mercahnt fleet in several countries. Italy, and Greece especially. If they were breaking apart, they would not made in that role as well.

 

[Hogpatrol]

As a young buck, spent about nine months on this and her sister ships as a deck hand. I also got to socialize with all of the crew and anywhere on the vessel. Food was good.

Read books, played cards, watched movies and smoked too many cigarettes. Days off were in the middle of the ocean. Money was great but after the first trip, except for going slow in fifty foot swells, looking out the hatch and seeing everything underwater except the midship house, bored out of my skull. It may be better now with the internet but how much hacking can one do? At least I was working eight hours a day. Twenty four hours of open time? As far as having conversations with the captain, mates and engineers, better hope they're sociable. It's a different breed that makes their living on the sea. First hand experience with that. My FIL was a captain on a VLCC.

One can have the cargo ships that carry passengers. I'll take the Greyhounds with wings any day.

Ship

 

[Zambezi]

Hi GBflyer, quite possibly, Lawrence Green is where I get all my travel stories from. Way back in the mid sixties as a teenager I caught a train all the way from Salisbury as it was then to East London in South Africa. 2nd class, so the carriage was unspectacular. But what I vividly remember was the meals in the dining car, quite special. By the way I also did Mbeya to Dar es Salaam on the Tazara rail in 1989. Old British made 1st class carriage with leather bunks and a metal oscillating fan that still worked. The third chap in the carriage with my colleague an I was a local, and after the meal they served in the carriage he brought down a cardboard box, took out a chicken and it pecked up the rice he had spilled on the floor!

In the late '90's we travelled from Bulawayo to Kitwe, Zambia and I can tell you the change over at Vic Falls was like night and day. The first leg to the falls was still in the old Rhodesian Railways carriages complete with brass fittings, etch emblems on the windows, crisp clean bedding and a a lovely meal in the dining car. Truly a train journey from a bygone era!

Then came Zambia Railways from Vic Falls to Kitwe via Lusaka.... The cabin was a tip that was "cooled" by a small desk fan bolted to the ceiling which promptly stopped working before Kolomo about an hour out of Vic Falls! The rails were in such a state of disrepair that when you watched the scenery go by the carriage swayed so much that one moment you were looking at the gravel next to the lines the next instant you were looking up at the sky... then the carriage would bounce every so often from the uneven track joins. To make the fear factor increase ever so slightly, every now and again you would see carriages lying in the bush from previous derailments!

The dining car was not an option so we chose to order and eat in the cabin. We decided to go for the "safer" option of chicken and chips. This was served in a paper plate with plastic cutlery and a folded paper napkin - they forgot to mention to us that the salt and pepper for the undercooked chips consisted of two pinches of salt and pepper inside the fold of the napkin. Opened the napkin and watched helplessly as the two piles sprinkled to the floor. Much like Zambia Railways supper was a disaster...

As with life nature called and it was time to stagger down the corridor of the wobbly lurching carriage to the toilet cubicle. Made there without incident but what witnessed when I opened the door made we wish I had just peed out the window! The normal household porcelain toilet was cemented into the carriage floor with enough cement to repair a fair sized dam wall. The toilet seat was either stolen some time in the last 40 years or never existed in the first place! I was pondering the state of this first class bathroom while at the same time wondering if I was prepared to stand in what I was hoping against hope was just water sloshing around the floor... Oh and the light didn't work in there either. I would venture a guess and say that the excessive roll of the carriage combined with the lack of light and comfortable seating lead to the watery water closet!

A second journey months later was from Bulawayo to Johannesburg. Decent train and tracks this time but two incidents were somewhat surprising. Once again the train from Bulawayo to Beit Bridge was comfortable and hassle free with great game viewing in southern Matebeleland (even better than the Bulawayo - Beit Bridge road trip that I have done about 40 times since the age of 4). Then it was all change to South African railways from Musina to Johannes burg... All good so far.

The train goes around the back of the Soutpansberg mountains and we are settling into a nice lazy rhythm of beer and conversation. Time to put down the table that was hitched to the wall between the two windows. Man can women screech when about 100 cockroaches scatter all over the wall! No problem, out with the can of deodorant and a cigarette lighter and you have a pretty effective flame thrower... that solved about 41% of the problem (sorry forgot to take trophy pics).

About an hour later my wife had just settled in again and was watching the scenery and the train comes to a halt in the middle of nowhere. It is obviously a planned stop because vendors of all sorts materialise from the ether. We have no need for curious and live chickens so I sit back and light up a smoke, wife keeps looking out the window as the train begins to pull off. An indigenous kid around 10-11 years of age starts making gyrating gestures to the wife so I stand up to have a word with him. He pulls out a homemade gun (and believe me it wasn't just a piece of wood with an elastic band) and points it at my face... cheeky shit!

Gotta love travelling in Africa!

 

[sgt_zim]

I hope we will get some feedback, after you return for the trip.

Kevin,
Let me add some touristic highlights, to give you some ideas:

Of all large known canals, to me, Panama canal with flooded locks technology is more interesting then Suez. In Panama lakes, you can still see from a ship deck, a croc sunshining near the water.
In Suez, less dynamic,a day long passage in convoy, with few relics and monuments from last war, few burned tanks, and a monument (on west side).

Kiel canal, Corinth canal worth seeing, but for small vessels only, out of major shipping routes.

Then, of course there is the Rock (Gibraltar) near where most southern European religious building is built (a mosque), on Europa point.
In Gibraltar the only European species of monkey lives. (Barabry Macaques), but most probably you will not see them from ship.

While Gibraltar in the north of strait remains British, across the straight to the south, Ceuta remains Spanish, a small European enclave on African soil.

Passing Nicobar islands on the way east, it was considered as true gate to far east. And then follows entering main shipping route to far east, Malacca strait, followed by Singapore strait, known as piracy black spot, even today. (turning down south, to Jakarta after S'pore strait I had unsuccessful pirate atatck, years ago. unsuccessful because I was on the watch )

Entering the New York Harbor will give you nice view to statue of Liberty.

Visiting Long Beach, California will give you a chance to visit near by museum ships, 10 minutes walking from main port: Hotel/museum Queen Mary, and near by, a Russian sub, decommissioned and bought (I think) from Indian navy, foxtrot class (conventional sub), you can see live and loaded torpedo tubes, peak through periscope, pass the sub bow to stern, etc.. (if you watched "the hunt for red october ", or "K19 the widow maker" - this is a must see)

Getting to Yokohoama, Japan, you wil see a FUji mountain just above, with its known snow cap, from fotocamera adds.

From World wide shipping routes, the one I've never seen is Magellan passage, rarely used, ever since Panama canal is open in 1914, .

So, the toughest part will be to choose, where you want to go.!

I can attest to the grandeur of the Panama Canal.

Taken from an observation deck at the Miraflores Lock in 2017, ships headed north to the Pedro Migel Lock, then Lake Gatun, then the Gatun Lock, then on to El Caribe.