Spirit of Adventure - Africa & the Atlantic Isles

My outside cabin was perfectly adequate and I soon got the hang of being greeted by ‘ Good Morning Missy Buckyham’ at 7am every morning as my steward Roland brought in my coffee.

When Spirit is full she only carries around 320 guests and it takes no time to find your way around. We felt a bit of a swell on our first night but there is a medical officer on board who can soon sort that out and heels aren’t the order of the day until the first formal night.

We flew to Tenerife but our first port of call was Gran Canaria. Our excursion included Casa de Colon – Christopher Columbus’s house which is now a museum. There are charts all over the walls detailing his voyages, local life then and explains his links to the Canaries (a woman!) We also had a quick walk along the promenade, went up to the viewpoint at Santa Brigida and were back on board for lunch…

For people who don’t choose one of the included daily excursions there's deck quoits, card school, shuffleboard & table tennis on offer followed by afternoon tea and a choice of port lectures.

The Captain’s Cocktail Party was our first opportunity for formal dress. If you didn’t want to dress up for dinner, the same menu was available in the Verandah as self service and you could sit indoors or out by the small pool. The evenings on board were very informal and usually there was a film shown outside at the ‘Top of the Yacht’ where the crew would provide you with popcorn and a blanket on your lounger – and drinks of course!

Early start! A huge part of Lanazrote is still volcanic and we visited a black sand beach that was used filming Star Wars before going to Fire Mountain in Timanfaya National Park and wine tasting at the Vineyards of La Geria. Much of the park is restricted access because of volcanic activity and the guides throw buckets of water into holes in the ground that produce steam geysers 30ft high. We were due to cast off early from here so didn’t get a chance to see the golden beaches on the other side of the island.

With an afternoon at sea there were two lectures on offer in the Sirocco Lounge and the library was busy offering DVD’s for people to watch in their cabins if they didn’t want to soak up the sun on deck. I opted for the casual dinner and watched Slumdog Millionaire on deck before having a nightcap in the Yacht Club listening to the resident cocktail pianist, Clive.

Africa – Agadir! The fish market was full of the early hustle and bustle of preparation for the days’s trading and the fruit & veg was stacked high. This is Berber country and our tour finished with a folklore show featuring horsemen, snake charmers and mint tea before driving past the glorious beaches of the modern hotel zone with the obligatory McDonalds.

Back on board for lunch and I’ve got the Sudoku bug – didn’t make the line dancing! George, the executive chef holds a galley tour – can’t believe they can provide such good food in such a small space which gleams like new!

Casablanca – play it again Sam! Apparently there are at least six bars in Casablanca that claim to be ‘that’ famous bar. Our morning was spent at the Hassan II Mosque which is an amazing feat of architecture followed by a traditional Moroccan lunch with accompanying belly dancers.

All day in Ceuta – a Spanish enclave in Morocco. It’s a beautiful, clean city, full of pretty Spanish buildings with a harbour & beach. The Mediterranean Park has a minimal entry fee and is a huge tropical water park. There are no flumes or thrill rides here but it’s a lovely haven of peace with a few bars, restaurants and resident lifeguards.

Granada's Alhambra Palace. This is a full day ashore and the gardens and Palace are stunning. It’s not a place to be hurried so once you’re inside you can take your time.

A farewell cocktail party tonight & a lovely end to our trip. I never did make it into the Spa and we never did win the quiz – maybe next time!