Cosmopolitan Cape Town is the starting point for this 27-day adventure from South to East Africa. We go first to Mossel Bay, a lively coastal town on South Africa’s Garden Route, where you might glimpse whales and dolphins. Then come the beautiful beaches of Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) and the wildlife-rich game reserves of East London. Stops in Durban and Richards Bay bring more of South Africa’s glorious coastal scenery and marine life into view, before we cross into Mozambique to visit its capital, Maputo. Two sea days take us further up Africa’s east coast to the Island of Mozambique. Connected to the mainland by bridge, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site with fascinating architecture. Another sea day takes us to the dreamy island of Zanzibar, followed by Mombasa in Kenya, the gateway to awe-inspiring safaris. After two more lazy days at sea, we reach the Seychelles: Mahé for a first glimpse of the famous other-worldly granite boulders strewn like giant marbles across its beaches; then glamorous sister Praslin, one of only two places where the curious Coco de Mer fruit grows; and peaceful little La Digue for an authentic taste of Seychellois life. We head back to sea once more to encounter the Maldives, an impossibly beautiful necklace of coral islands beloved by scuba divers, where we overnight at Malé, the capital. Next, Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, to browse the boutiques and galleries in the Pettah neighborhood and visit the National Museum. Then we arrive in India, at Mormugao, still guarded by its 17th-century fortress, and make for our final stop, the 24-hour city of Mumbai.