SEASONAL CURIOSITIESHop on board with PONANT and set sail for the Land of the Rising Sun to discover a multi-faceted Japan, from ancestral traditions to majestic landscapes and futuristic cities. The ‘people of the sky’ are descended from the Bantu, who arrived in Southern Africa around 500 AD. One man would change its destiny. His name was Shaka, a fearsome warrior nicknamed the ‘Black Napoleon’, who founded the nation in 1818. Since then, the culture of South Africa's largest ethnic group has continued to be present in music, dance and ritual ceremonies, as well as at the heart of the country's politics. Nestled between the ocean and a desert, Lüderitz stands out for its Bavarian architecture. The village is named after the tobacco merchant who bought this land from the Nama people in 1880. Since then, the oldest town in South West Africa has become a thriving fishing port with a unique atmosphere: its colourful colonial buildings, part Imperial German and part Art Nouveau, contrast with the arid landscape and jagged granite rocks that surround them. Imabari Castle is a stronghold located on the shores of the Seto Inland Sea, on the island of Shikoku. Its history dates back to the great battle of Sekigahara in October 1600. A local lord, Tōdō Takatora, received the plot as a reward and had the first keep built. Surrounded by a moat filled with salt water, Imabari Castle was destroyed and then completely rebuilt, and is one of the archipelago's three mizujiro, or ‘castles in the sea’. Curieuse Island in the Seychelles lives up to its name: as you head along the footpaths, you will come across hundred-year-old tortoises wandering around the coconut palms. This national park is dedicated to protecting these fascinating reptiles, both marine and terrestrial, including the Aldabra giant tortoise. Also known as the ‘elephantine’, this native species is the largest in the world and can weigh in at over 300 kg. Itineraries: Madagascar and South Africa and Namibian and South African coastlines, p. 85.Itinerary: Namibian and South African coastlines, p. 85. Itinerary: Authentic Japan, p. 82. Itinerary: The essential Seychelles, p. 84.Lüderitz, a hint of Bavaria in Namibia Imabari, a ‘castle in the sea’ Curieuse's hundred-year-old tortoises Japan with PONANT The Zulu epic 79
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