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Our day started at 20N 20W with warm sunshine and a slight chop. With 322 miles to go shearwaters are skimming the surface of the ocean as we get nearer to landfall on Sao Vicente. The Portuguese discovered an colonised the islands and at their first settlement of Ribeira Grande were granted the monopoly of […]

Breakfast was at 08:45 and the port side of the ship was bathed in brilliant sunshine reflected from a steely grey ocean. We are now well into our Atlantic crossing and heading roughly southwest to Cape Verde having travelled 177 miles from Tenerife. We are following the route of the Navigators and Slave Traders. Slave

At 08:15 we were awoken by the announcement of our arrival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The town is built on and around lava flows, fumeroles and on the slopes of the Tabarno Volcano. During the morning we explored the area off the Avenida Maritima and Plaza Espana. Here the mixture of modern, Art Deco,

At 08:00 on a calm, rippled sea in bright sunshine we were off the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands are 620 miles SW of the Iberian Peninsula and are an archipelago of 13 volcanic islands. The group’s name is thought to have derived from the dogs (canis) seen there

At 08:30 we were at 33N 12W on a virtually flat sea and under bright sunshine. Today’s journey is down the Atlantic in a southwesterly direction towards the Canary Islands. We are following in the wake of Prince Henry the Navigator. Before the well-known explorers such as Columbus and Drake there was Henry. Some historians

We were on an early morning call for breakfast before our walking tour of Portimão. At sea the sun was rising but as we approached the port we were surrounded by thick fog and were advised by the Captain that zero visibility was preventing our entry. He said, “the pilots cannot board to help us

Early in the morning we explored the area near the Praça do Comercio, the area of the 16th – 18th century royal palaces. The area was rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake and it became a trading and slave centre. Close by are the remains of wharves and fish curing sheds. Also close by is the

Our smooth flight from London Heathrow was only interrupted for a short time by a moderate turbulence from the remnants of a tropical storm in the USA. The landing at Lisbon was spectacular as we approached low over the city and especially over the Tagus (river) bridge and the statue of Christ.

We will depart Lisbon by ship to travel south to Cape Town in the wake of Henry the Navigator.

After a day and night of moderate chop we slipped under the sunrise into Dover at 6:00 a.m. We had ventured the furthest north possible without ice-breaking vessels and travelled around 4,500 miles. Then the hardest part of the journey returning to Manchester with only one train an hour!