Africa Grand Voyage 2023: LEGO Day Calendar

To prepare for a 74-day cruise around Africa on Holland America's Zuiderdam, I packed a box of LEGO accessories, outfits, and bricks so I could enjoy my hobby onboard. Every day, I took apart the previous day's display and created a brand new one. I had a lot of fun commemorating this amazing trip by creating little stories in 8x8x8 LEGO spaces. Feel free to share this page or to take copies of the pictures and use them as you wish. If you want to see more of my creations, here's another series of tiny scenes I built earlier in 2023: Lego Monochrome Habitats

Bon voyage!

Crossing the Atlantic

Merpeople at sea

Sailors on the bridge

Halfway across the Atlantic - unleash the krakens!

Sunday brunch

Captain's Gala dinner

Doing some light reading

On the Flower Island of Madeira, spending some Euros and eating our last McDonald's French fries for a while

Catching rays on Lanzarote

Rocking the Kasbah in Agadir, Morocco

Casablanca

Looking at the Rock of Gibraltar

Having a drink at the bar

Had to go with Star Wars in Tunisia since this is the country where they filmed Tatooine scenes in several of the Star Wars movies

Casino night!

Dressing Greek for Crete

A day at sea spent catching up on sorting pictures on laptops

Swimming in Cyprus

Shopping at the Halloween store to get ready for the big night

Transiting the Suez Canal

Let's see Egypt!

Halloween (observed a day late)

Pub crawl

Last day in the Red Sea

In pirate territory!

Good thing I packed my LEGO camel for this unexpected stop in Oman! I wish I had packed my Oman flag tile too though!

Formal night (and also happy half-year anniversary to my daughter and son-in-law - that white tile on the right wall is one of the custom-printed tiles that they gave out to wedding guests as party favors)

LEGO Debbie is the captain now

Yee haw, it's a barn dance!

LEGO Debbie and Tom helpfully show where we are as we cross the equator

Snorkeling in the beautiful Seychelles

LEGO Debbie and Tom have agreed to never leave the Seychelles but they disagree on what method to use to notify friends and family back home - postcard or message in a bottle?

On this episode of "The Love Boat," LEGO Tom sadly goes to the promenade deck because that cute girl he met at the pool wasn't at the Masquerade Ball. Or maybe she was there all along...

LEGO Debbie and Tom are taking their malaria pills

It's not the most seaworthy LEGO boat but luckily plastic floats, so LEGO Debbie and Tom are enjoying their dhow cruise in Zanzibar

Checking out the colobus monkeys in Zanzibar

Ice cream social!

LEGO Debbie et Tom adorent les croissants et les baguettes à Mayotte

LEGO Debbie and Tom had a great time in Madagascar both above and below the water

Glamping!

It's haircut day for LEGO Tom (and real life Tom)

In Maputo, Mozambique, some of our shipmates went on overland safari adventures

In Durban, real-life Tom and I visited the Gateway Mall; LEGO Debbie was excited about visiting the LEGO store and LEGO Tom was excited about visiting the McDonald's

Happy Thanksgiving!

To celebrate the first holiday cheer event of the season onboard, LEGO Debbie and Tom got out their first holiday outfits

In Cape Town, LEGO Debbie and Tom were excited about visiting the South African winelands

LEGO Debbie and Tom spent a little time with their South African animal friends

Heading north from the Cape, we looked for sharks and only saw these two

LEGO Debbie and Tom were looking forward to visiting the sand-covered town of Kolmanskop but had to be content with looking at Namibia from across the water due to high waves and strong winds

LEGO Debbie and Tom had fun on a catamaran tour of Walvis Bay that featured oysters, champagne, flamingos, and thousands of seals; that's Dune 7 in the background behind LEGO Tom

Prost! It's German Biergarten time!

On December 1, LEGO Debbie and Tom remind you to open the first day of the LEGO Star Wars advent calendar that you brought along in your luggage

Visiting Fortaleza de São Miguel in Luanda, Angola

It was a night of music onboard the Zuiderdam

LEGO Debbie and Tom are enjoying a relaxing day at sea

LEGO Queen Amphitrite and King Neptune welcomed us to Null Island

LEGO Debbie and Tom had an adventure at Kakum National Park on the tree canopy walk

After long days in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, LEGO Debbie and Tom were ready to rest

A delicious dinner at Rudi's Sel de Mer

LEGO Debbie and Tom had a great time at the holiday mixology class in the Pinnacle Bar

LEGO Debbie and Tom were lucky enough to visit the bridge

Safe from shipwrecks in Dakar thanks to Les Mamelles Lighthouse

Delicious Indonesian rijsttafel and Indonesian tea

It's LEGO Debbie's birthday! What better place to celebrate than in Cape Verde?

LEGO Debbie and Tom are dressed in their orange best for the Orange Party

Santa needs all the help he can get for Christmas this year, so LEGO Debbie and Tom are on the job

It's Hollywood Night!

LEGO Debbie and Tom are big fans of the Lido Market, especially the theme lunches like Tex-Mex Fiesta and Pies! Pies! Pies!

Where should LEGO Debbie and Tom go next? So many choices!

LEGO Debbie and Tom went through immigration in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with their tiny plastic passports

LEGO Debbie and Tom are big fans of rays

LEGO Debbie packs while LEGO Tom sadly looks at the interactive map on the TV he's tracked regularly for 73 days

The party's over, folks! Time to go home

Some of the wonderful officers and crew were kind enough to pose for photos with LEGO Debbie and Tom: