Month: April 2024

at Sea

Another hot day as we travel along the coast of Africa. It was raining at breakfast and the seas are a bit rough.

The ship has a few photographers that try will take photos of folks on formal and dressy nights. I rarely see anyone posing. No one really wants to see themselves growing old. They are also out on the port capturing photos of people as they get off of the ship. These are displayed for everyone to see and if you like them they are for sale. Times have really changed since most folks carry a digital camera on their cellphone.

There is a photo contest for passengers. Best photo in a few different categories. Best animal, place, person taken during this cruise. Terri submitted her leopard photo. It looks like it came right out of an encyclopedia. The current submissions are displayed on the wall next to the photos taken by the professionals.

On our 2022 Africa trip, we had to miss Banjul, Gambia. The Captain made this decision right out of the port in Ft. Lauderdale. After looking at the tide tables he said that the tides will not support docking there. Today the captain spoke of similar issues but thinks we can make it to Banjul as long as the wind subsides. His clearance from the bottom of the ship is only 4 ft in the Banjul port.

Team trivia. How many legs does a lobster have? (10) Brontology is the study of? (Thunder) Which SE Asian country is completely landlocked? (Laos) Wing levers and screw pills are what? (Wine bottle openers) What are the three Greek Column types? (Corinthian, Doric, Ionic) What did Fonzie have a secret fear of? (Liver) What does it mean to nictate? (Blink)

Today we had to choose how will leave the ship on May 11. We are going to carry off 2 bags, send the clubs with the ship staff to be collected at the port and 4 bags to be shipped home by luggage forward. We will pick those up in the port, carry them past customs and put them on a FedEx truck. The clubs and 2 bags will go with us on the plane. A HAL shuttle bus will take us to the airport. It is so well organized and they make it so very easy.

Lightning trivia was with Victoria today. She does have an accent but not as bad as Thomas. What is the official language of Austria? (German) Who was the wife of Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten? (Nefertiti) How many bones does a shark have? (Zero, all cartilage) What does a yellow flag signal in a car race? (Caution) Where is Wembley stadium? (London, England) What boy band was Justin Timberlake a part of? (*NSYNC) The Sun is about 91% Hydrogen. What is the second most abundant gas? (Helium) How many feet is a fathom? (6ft).

We finished the day with some cards up on the Lido deck. Tomorrow will be a long day.

…

at Sea

One more day until we arrive in Banjul, Gambia. We have an all day HAL tour in this port. Temperature is supposed to peak at 101 F. We are doing a canoe paddle as a part of the trip. Maybe this will keep us a bit cooler.

We received an invitation to the Mariner Awards event on May 5th. We each will be recognized as Silver Medallion Awardee. This is in recognization of 300 days sailing with Holland America. Gold Medallion is awarded for 500 days and Platinum for 700 days. I’m not sure there is any benefit other than a handshake and the Silver Medallion. This program is different than the star program. We are already at the highest 5 star status and do receive benefits from this status. Priority boarding, free laundry, discounts on internet and drink package’s and others.

Breakfast can be fascinating to watch what and how much people consume. I’ve noticed that the folks that are the most particular in the way their breakfast is prepared seem to carry the most weight. We have breakfast at the same time and sit at the same table as most other folks do. There is a rather large gentleman with a waist size of I would guess at 80 in. His first round (his words) is generally a stack of pancakes with seems like a stick of butter and a generous slathering of syrup. His second round is a carefully ordered preparation of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and sausage. He places his order and stands back to observe the preparation and will “help” the cook prepare if needed. The third round consists of pastries. Croissant’s, cinnamon buns, bagels (toasted just right)and maybe a bowl of fruit. Kind of a dessert to top off the breakfast. He does get some exercise at breakfast by traveling up to the food counter for every round. It is a real effort carrying all of those extra pounds with you where ever you go. He represents what I see as the larger folks ordering their breakfast. I have a bowl of Raisin Bran with milk every day. I used to have blueberries pancakes once a week but that was back when teaching was a hobby while my real job was construction. Times have changed.

We have lunch near the main pool on the Lido deck everyday. The service folks in this area work very hard satisfying all of the passengers and cleaning the tables when they leave. It is important that they get recognized and that is easy to do that on the Navigator app that is used onboard for all kinds of things. I believe that all of the workers work by contract for a period of time. Much like a self employed person back home. I know that when a passenger makes a positive comment, they are recognized by the ship staff and the corporate office.

Group trivia. The Spanish Islands near the coast of Africa are called? The greatest race horse of the 20th century was? (It wasn’t secretariat). The motto at the end of Merrie Melodies was? The only sport that allows player substitution during play? What color was the White House before it was white? What was the name of wooden plane that Howard Hughes owned? What film depicted Loretta Lynn’s life story? We are realizing that the teams that consistently win have members that have been playing this for years. I guess there is only so much trivia to learn.

The waiter and assistant waiter at our table or the two Francis’s as they are known have changed a lot since they have come aboard. The first one has stopped sweating so much and the second one no longer wears makeup and nail polish. The first Francis is really in over his head. The second Francis is turning out to be a great waiter. Very fast and very good.

Lightning trivia after dinner. Who wrote Le Quattro Stagioni? What byproduct does Coca Cola sell to pharmaceutical companies? Who was the youngest president? (No to JFK) What is the day after Christmas called in England and Canada? What is another name for a mouth organ? How is the speed of computer mouse measured in?

We finished the night on the back of the Lido deck playing cards.…

at Sea

Today we enjoyed more very hot weather. I did laps around the promenade and Terri did the treadmill. There are three more stops but the talk amongst many passengers is packing, number of bags, exchanging contact info, exchanging excursion photos and the next cruise or stop in the endless tour of retirement. It is difficult to relate to the younger people who are on “sabbatical”. I think that was a result of the pandemic. Lots of “work from home” people lived a very lonely life and want to get out and enjoy it now. It’s difficult to “enjoy the journey” when you are working alone. Gone are the sarcastic comments at the water cooler or teachers lounge.

Today I took a tour of the galley. Very large. Very clean. Fascinating from dishwashing to preparation. It is hard to imagine that the ship goes through this much food.

The galley tour started in the dining room which is located at the back of the ship and goes all the way to mid-ship.

Fascinating tour.

Today we did a wine tasting instead of trivia up in the crow’s nest. Terri set up a dinner for everyone that was on our Shalati Train tour. Bill, Chris, Kathy, George, Marcus, John, Anita sat with us. Only Eve did not make it. We had some laughs and traded some photos. Oscar made sure we had pazcki’s for dessert.

Cards to finish the evening..…

at Sea

Today we arrived in Ghana at around 8 am. We had no plans for the day and decided we would go out to the port area where locals set up some shopping. Takoradi is a city we visited in 2022. Nothing to see other than poverty.

It was near 90 degrees when we went outside. The shops along the port area all carried similar items. Bright colored clothing, strange hats, handmade jewelry. We spent about 30 minutes here and were ready to go back to the ship. This is the first time that we haven’t gone to visit something in the city. There really isn’t anything here. I would love to see the $75 that every passenger and crew member had to pay to the government go directly to the people. There is also a port fee that HAL has to pay and I know it is expensive. There are port fees and piloting fees. Fees for this and fees for that. Fees to keep the port running I can understand but the Visa fees are ridiculous.

At lunch, the immigration officials were in line for food. They crowded around one of the counters like they have never eaten before. There were 16 officials. I’m sure these were the folks doing the visa stamping aboard the ship. Muffins during stamping were probably not enough. I’m sure that the promise of lunch made everything go very smoothly.

No team trivia after lunch today but I am guessing from what I saw, most passengers stayed on board or just visited the market set up on the port.

Looking ahead, we have a HAL tour in Banjul, golf set up in Cape Verde and nothing yet in Puerto Rico. These are the final stops on the tour.

Lightning team trivia after dinner. All of the questions had to do with the Netherlands. Which countries border the Netherlands? What Hollands the most famous beer? Which 4 countries make up the Netherlands? What is the Netherlands longest running airline? 2 paintings were show. One was Van Goghs Starry Night and the other was a Rembrandt. What did the King do as a part time job with his King duties? (He was a pilot for KLM)

The evening entertainment was comedian Mark Sampson. He was billed as a comedian that would take us around Africa clockwise. I thought it would be fun to see him. We arrived 20 mins early and he was already in the audience with a microphone chatting with folks. His show started at 7:30. He began to show us a trip that he took around Africa with his family that took 6.5 years. He traveled in a motor home and he said he didn’t use a drop of fossil fuel. He ran his vehicle on used frying oil. It turns out that this trip was all about climate. I’m not sure how burning frying oil helped the climate. What I remember from his trip is that he rebuilt his engine 3 times, his kids hated him after the trip and his wife divorced him. Great trip? If we didn’t have seats in the middle of a row, we would have left mid-show. He has never been to these United States yet he spoke with some negativity towards them. I don’t mind HAL bringing aboard these kinds of folks but adjust the playbill to reflect who they are and what they are presenting. George Carlin does a similar kind of show but I know that going in. We couldn’t get out fast enough.…

at Sea

The excitement aboard today was racing to find “null island”. This is an island that doesn’t actually exist. It is the intersection of the grand meridian and the equator. The Captain or “it’s me” said we will arrive at about 2 pm. He is going to stop the engines when we arrive. I’m not sure how this is exciting. Folks were crowding in the Crow’s Nest where there a display of our location. All were trying to take a picture of 0 lat 0 long. It doesn’t get much more exciting than this. Imagine telling your friends that you were at this location! The heck with Manchu Pichu or the Pyramids of Giza.

There was also a celebration of King Neptune coming aboard since we crossed the equator. It would be fun if the grandkids were here.

We spent the morning in the gym which was a good use of time. We are trying to book a round of golf at our last stop. Puerto Rico. We don’t arrive until 3 pm. It will be difficult.

Team trivia. Who was Sherlock Holmes archenemy? What alloy is made from copper and zinc? “Think Different” is used by which company? What is the center of the earth called? Who director the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and what was the name of the computer? The seeds of which fruit have the greatest amount of cyanide? What is the name of the stick used in a relay race?

Dinner was great as usual. We will be home in 2 weeks and we are enjoying not shopping for food, not preparing the food, and not cleaning up afterward. It is easy to get used to living like this and it will take some getting used to when we get back home.

The cruise seems to have gone by fast but when we think about Brazil we realize it has been a long time. We have seen a lot and it is easy to forget. Only this blog and photos can jog the memory at times.

Lightning trivia. What was a living room called in the 19th C? What does TCAS refer to in airplane speak? What do the letters BBC stand for? Which decade was a poodle skirt worn? What was the name of Beethoven’s only opera? Who founded Motown? What color are professional football goal posts? What makes a martini dirty? Who was elected prime minister of England in 1999?

Cards to finish the evening. We arrive in Takoradi, Ghana at 8 am tomorrow.

…

at Sea

Seas are moderately rough but we are really moving fast which makes it much more stable aboard.

We have set up a dinner for those that were on the last overland excursion on April 28. Oscar promises to bring pazcki’s.

We received more travel bags from Holland America. These are large duffel bags with wheels. I think we will pack one of these and include them with the other three packed bags that we brought. We will take our clubs on the plane and check them.

We went to the port talk this morning hosted by Kimberley. She spoke about our next port of call, Takoradi. We didn’t learn anything new and it confirmed for us that this is a very poor country and they is very little of interest to see. It is not easy to blend in with the community to be on the safer side. People from the cruise ship stick out here more than any other country that we have been to. Most of the folks we spoke with are staying aboard the ship if they do not have a HAL excursion. There is very little in the positive sense on the West Coast of Africa.

We will cross both the prime meridian and the equator tomorrow. We will move one hour closer to the time at home and will be only three hours ahead.

Group trivia. What was the most popular boy’s name in 1960, 1970, and 1990. Which bird is the state bird for 7 states. Which ingredient makes up 60% of Velveeta? Which Elvis Presley racing movie has Ann Margaret saying “I want you to check my motor, it’s whistling”? What is 37.8 C in F? The numbers at afternoon trivia seem to be down. People generally like to do trivia to learn something but Thomas has different views on this. I think he gets irritated that everyone teases him on pronunciations. His first language is Dutch. Some pronunciations are hilarious.

We sat out on the promenade deck today. Our balcony didn’t have much airflow and was getting too warm. We like sitting out here and on our next cruise we will have a lanai room that opens to this deck. Much like our cruise in 2019.

We keep seeing people that look like they just got on. Probably in Maputo or Zanzibar. It’s not that you can recognize everyone but newcomers seem to stand out because they are not used to how things run. Every ship runs a bit differently.

There was a display of artwork and other things on the Lido deck last week. They were there to raise money for a charity. All of the items were auctioned off. Some of things were unusual. One was to co-host team trivia with Tomas. The opening bid was $25.00. I bid $26 but the winner bid $80. Today, the co-host did the evening group trivia. Thomas made up all of the questions and they took turns. Thomas made questions for himself that were ridiculously easy. Which day follows Saturday? The cohost, which he referred to as Thomasina had very difficult questions, some were in Dutch. The trivia event was a mess. The co-host didn’t know how to use a mic, could barely pronounce or mis-pronounced some common words. Can I get my life back? I wanted 45 mins back.

The evening entertainment were the Zuiderdam singers and dancers. We skipped that and played cards.

…

at Sea

We did breakfast and the usual abdominal class at 7:30 am. Some interesting exercises but there is a lot of moaning and grunting from the group. Many if not most can’t do the exercises correctly. Maybe they should do a a fewer number of reps. There is no pressure from anyone to do anything but I think they feel doing the same number of reps as the instructor is the most important thing. I think the form is the important thing.

I sent a note to a golf course in Cape Verde and we were able to book a tee time for 8:30 am. We arrive at 7am and leave at 2:30 pm. Strange schedule but we probably have to get the ship out of port for another ship.

The Captain is heading toward “Null Island” which is not an island but a location in the sea. It is at 0 degree longitude and 0 degree latitude. Exciting stuff.

We are passing many unfriendly countries on the way to Ghana. These countries are missing the opportunity to host a group of people that are more than willing to buy locally made junk.

Group trivia. Which tiny European nation is known as the sunny place for shady people? Which Aussie made it to the finals in Wimbledon Singles finals two times, twenty years apart? What is the C word in military speak for a prematurely cancelled flight? Which city offers 24 hour weddings? What was advertised as the cosmic candy car bar ? Which celestial body appeared as a good luck charm for William the Conqueror?

Dinner was to be a taste of Paris. I thought maybe a croissant would be a starter. No such luck. The menu was good but didn’t remind me of Paris. The piano trio played and that made it nice. It would be nice if they played in the dining room every night.

After dinner lightning trivia was al about mixed drinks. A few of the drinks we have never heard of. The questions were along the lines of the main ingredient. What is the main ingredient of a Tom Collin’s? A Margarita? What is the main drink of Jamaica? We did quite well. I think one group got a perfect score.

We finished the evening with some cards on the back of the Lido deck. It is getting a lot warmer as we head closer to the equator.…

at Sea

Project Linus is a non-profit organization that provides handmade blankets to children 0-18 in the United States who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. Folks on the ship have been knitting blankets since we started the cruise back in early January. The number produced on the cruise is over 500. Today they were on display on the Lido deck.

We did the gym, lunch and then group trivia. Thomas did settle down a little bit after all of the complaints yesterday. General knowledge is what people want. No one wants a specialty question such as which key signature has four flats. That is not any fun. What is a funambulismo? Who was the star of “The Fugitive” television series? What does IMF stand for? Which country grows the most fruit? Which acid is found in a car battery? Who composed Madama Butterfly? Which movie did Robin Williams appear in drag?

We began researching our next few stops for golf. Takoradi, Ghana does have a course but no one answers the phone. We have been in this city back in 2022. We are guessing that the course is closed. This is a very poor country and we are considering staying on the ship. This is one of the countries that charges for a Visa even if passengers do not get off of the ship. 2 years ago it cost us $85 each. I would rather go into the city and spend the $85 so the people of the community can benefit. If it weren’t for the tours about slavery, no ship would ever stop here. It is another country that should really develop a relationship with the cruise lines.

Mindelo in Cape Verde appears to have a course. We will investigate that. There aren’t many stops left and we are starting to prepare to come home. May 11 is the day we arrive in Ft. Lauderdale.

At dinner, Oscar surprised us with ship made Paczki’s. Delicious!! What a treat. He spoke with the chef weeks ago about making these for us but they didn’t now how to spell it and couldn’t find any information on them. We have found no crew or passengers on the ship that have ever heard of these. There just aren’t enough Polacks in the world. The chef made enough for Roger and Kathy who share our table. They aren’t the 20lb pazcki’s that I grew up on but they were great.

This kind of treatment on a world cruise is not unusual but it is still very nice. There is no request that goes unnoticed and most of the times the request is honored.

Victoria did lightning team trivia after dinner.. Which group did Brigham Young lead? What instrument does the concert master play? Where was check point Charlie? Which constellation is Polaris a part of? Who is on the 2 dollar bill? Which track and field event has a participant throwing a spear? The only country that begins with an “O”. 26 out of 30 for us.

We played a game with Clare and Susie called Rummikub. It is the same game I knew as a kid called Rummy-O. I think we used the scoring rules of Rummy O. The winner is first to use all of their tiles.…

Walvis Bay, Namibia

Walvis Bay is another stop we did on the Africa trip in 2022. The most exciting excursion here is to see the coast line and ride a jeep up all of the sand dunes. Stunning photos from the dunes when we did this.

We tried to book a round of golf. I did discover that the course is closed on Sunday and Monday. We thought about going on the course anyway and walking.

When we arrived there was a very dense fog. I’m surprised the ship was even able to dock. The fog eliminated the chance for any golf. We decided to take the shuttle bus to a shopping mall at the edge of town.

Walvis Bay is really a desert. Where the small city ends, there is nothing but sand. The main industry in Walvis Bay is the production of salt. Outside of the city, besides the sand dunes, there isn’t much to see other than huge piles of salt.

On the way to the mall we passed the driving range that was next to the golf course. The range was all sand. I don’t remember any grass on the tee box. I’m sure the course was similar but it was behind some buildings and it couldn’t be seen from the road.

The shopping mall was nicer than I thought it would be. The houses in this city didn’t give me the sense that people here purchased anything high end but some high end stores did exist.

The exchange rate here was great for the USD 1 USD = 19 Namibian. This made things incredibly cheap. We wandered from store to store and did make several purchases. Lot’s of goods made in South Africa and also from China.

We stopped at restaurant in the mall for lunch. When a great tasting 20 oz beer costs $2.12, you know you have arrived in the right place.

Even with the 15% VAT and tip, the lunch was incredibly cheap and the food and drink great. We took the shuttle back to the ship and we passed a large group of people selling souvenirs from a street corner just outside the port. We did stop and enjoyed the haggling.

Back on the ship, it was time to go through the customs agents again to turn in our exit form and get our exit stamp. Waste of valuable time but I guess it is a job for someone.

All aboard was 5:30 pm. This was a change from 4:30 pm that was scheduled months ago. This change really doesn’t give anyone more time as excursions have been planned weeks or months ago. The cruise director constantly pestered people to see the port agents to turn in their forms. Once you turned in your form your passport was taken by the ship and you couldn’t go back into the port. I’m not sure why all of the pestering before 5:30 as some of the folks could have been enjoying their time ashore. The hurry, hurry, hurry was really wasted. We didn’t leave until after 9 pm

We did team trivia after dinner. Hardest yet. What city is considered the birthplace of jazz? What is the full name of Eminem? What is the greatest selling album of all time? What year was Woodstock? Who is the lead guitarist of Guns and Roses? Lead singer of Aerosmith? Year and month Elvis died? Which guitar did Jeff Buckley use? Who sang the tune “One of these nights?” We did fair.

The evening entertainment was musician Gary Sletcher. Gary was from South Africa and played the penny whistle and the saxophone. He also sang. South African Music was his thing. The music was interesting but he was only a fair entertainer. He really had trouble communicating with the audience. Many folks left before he was finished. I’m always willing to see it through. I’m glad I went to his show but we won’t be doing a repeat. 5 …

Luderitz, Namibia

Luderitz is name for Adolf Luderitz, founder of the German Southwest Africa Colony. Diamonds were discovered in 1910 but today the mining has moved to a different area of the country.

The area off the coast is shallow and rocky and this is a tender port. The ship arrived at 8 am. Customs officials boarded the ship and every passenger needed to have a face to face meeting with an official. This of course was done in the dining room so the people of importance could have their cookies and muffins.

Every country has their own method concerning immigration and visitation. The United States probably has the strangest of them all. Try to immigrate legally and it is one hassle after another. However, cross the border illegally and you are invited to fly to different cities in the US where you will be given food and shelter.

A city like Luderitz should be paying the cruise ship company to have its ships stop here. Instead they hassle them and require forms to be filled out. Question #17 on the official Immigration Control Form is “Kindly state the amount of money you intend to spend during your visit?” Who comes up with this stuff? Of course I put 79 cents.

We waited in line to hand in the forms that went into the pile. A trash can should have been the place they were placed. After turning in the form it was time to get the “official stamp”. 2 official stamps in the passport book. I ordered the book with the extra pages. It is actually possible to be refused entrance if one does not have enough blank pages in the passport book to receive the official stamp and my book is getting quite full.

We are making two stops in Namibia. Tomorrow we stop in Walvis Bay. When we are done with the day we have to turn in our official departure form. Another form that will go directly into the trash.

Today we planned to have lunch at the Barrels Bar and Restaurant and also visit the Premium Namibian Cigar Shop. I visited the web site of the Cigar Shop but I wasn’t able to check out prices as every time I clicked on a cigar type I received a “sold out” message.

The tender ride was a little longer than most. The port had a narrow walkway when we got off the tender. Lot’s of sand in this town. Winds keep shifting the sands all over. The roads were covered in sand. We were able to visit today because there was little wind. We missed this port in 2022 because of the winds.

Some of the buildings had some great architecture. I’m not sure who actually lives in this little town. We started our walk into the town and stopped in a small store to buy a few items. Things were very cheap. Most things were made in South Africa, not China.

We went to a store and Terri found a much needed baseball cap. The clerk said they only take Namibian Dollars. We decided to stop at an ATM for some local cash and come back later.

We found the place that sold cigars. I asked the clerk where the cigars were. We are completely sold out, she said. The store doubled as a local art store also. We need nothing here. We went to the restaurant we had planned to stop at. It was only 10:30 but there wasn’t much to do here. The restaurant was closed on Sunday.

We passed other ship people up and down the streets. We saw Richard from our trivia team and he was with Mike, a friend he met on the ship. We decided to go to the Portuguese Fish Market Restaurant and have a drink and maybe some food.

It was a nice place that had tables outside. We sat and had some drinks. A beer was $2.62 USD. Hard to beat that price. We decided to have some lunch also.

We sat and chatted with Richard and Mike. Richard was lawyer and Mike a doctor. The usual banter between these two professions took place. The talk then turned to wine and our wine tour. Two young ladies sat down and decided to join us. One was curious about why I get a headache from smelling wine. I tried to tell her that I can smell the wine and know that it will give me a headache if I drink it. The whole talk of the table seemed to turn to wine and sulfites and the cause of headaches. I told everyone that I just didn’t have any interest in wine.

The one young lady called the men uncle and the women aunt. She told us that she was angry that her father died and left her. He had pancreatic cancer but didn’t fight hard enough, she said. She also told us about all of the racism and tribalism in the USA. It was clear after she spoke that she was very racist. The Germans killed almost all of her people. The Germans represented white people. She didn’t care for white people but here she was chatting with them.

Many more people from the ship joined us at the other tables. The owner was there and he seemed happy with the turnout.

We finished up with lunch and said our goodbyes. We stopped in a few stores on the way back as I had a $200 Namibian bill (about $10) to spend. The store with the baseball cap in it was closed. At another store, I found a cotton sweatshirt that said “Detroit, Michigan” on it. It seems that South Africa has capitalized on the USA branding. Lots of NYC apparel and I saw other Michigan apparel also.

We took the tender back and the pilot had trouble with the motor. Seems that the gas tank was empty. He started and stopped the tender many times and did make it back to the ship. No way to maneuver the tender when he was near the ship so he just gently crashed into the docking area of the ship and threw over the ropes. Interesting tender ride.

We …

at Sea

I’m not sure what time we pulled out of port last night but I know it wasn’t 9:15 as the captain had planned. Announcements were being made for a couple that still hadn’t had their passports stamped prior to leaving the country just before 9 pm. The captain did speak at noon and all I could understand was that he would not wait for anyone who was not on board at the given all aboard time.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to stop in Namibia. The city of Luderitz is the first stop. On our Africa trip in 2022, we had to bypass this port because of the high winds. It is a tender port and the captain has already warned us that it is a difficult stop. He is getting into port at 6 am because of this. I’m not sure how that will help things.

We do have 20 more days on the cruise but it is evident that it is coming to an end. The luggage forward service that we use has already given us notification of packing and shipping. I know from previous cruises that the laundry service will be stopped soon. The laundry service has been good and bad. Service is fast. In before 9 am, back by 6pm. Whatever machinery they use to wash is very hard on the clothes. Anything with elastic in it no longer has the same cling. Maybe this is intentional to help those that are constantly in line for ice cream. I’m going to dump many of my t shirts and socks. No elastic left in the socks and many holes in the t shirts. It is just the cost of cruising. No big loss.

We did group trivia after lunch but it Susie was the only other person on our team that showed. We still did rather well. What does a numismatic study? Who wrote the Brandenburg Concertos? Which city is Notre Dame located in? What is the official language in Iran? What year did the allies launch D-Day?

We had dinner with Janet and Brian to help celebrate Brian’s birthday. We shared photos and stories of our excursions of the past week. Talk of seeing the “big five” game animals is becoming a kind of competition. I know on our game drives, several of our fellow travelers wanted to see the big five over the 6 days we were gone. Then they wanted to see them in one day. Then it was a race to see them in one drive. I guess that is human nature. Everything becomes a competition. It was no longer “I saw them”, it was “look how many I saw”.

The evening entertainment was pianist Elio Rojas. Elio is formerly from Cuba and now lives in London. He presented a program of composers that have influenced him in his short 27 years of life. He did a bit of the March from the Nutcracker but then he broke into the NutRocker by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. I haven’t heard that in years. He also did a mixture of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Mambo no. 5. I guess since they both had the number 5 in them it was a good mixture. I enjoyed the show but I would have enjoyed it more if he just ripped through a set of great tunes. His English isn’t very good and his explanations of what he was trying to do weren’t very good either. Definitely a 10 on the keys but I gave the show an 8.…

Cape Town, South Africa

Today we had a wine tour scheduled. The tour was advertised as a Hop On, Hop Off tour that used a tram and busses. There were pick up locations all over Cape Town and we had to select one. Once picked up, guests were taken to the Waterfront Terminal where they boarded a bus. The Waterfront Terminal was about a mile from the ship and we decided we would walk there. The meeting time was 8:30.

We left the ship at 7:30 because I was a bit unsure of the location and the amount of time it took to get there. The extra time would be used to get us out of a jam if we needed it.

We arrived at the terminal at 8:00 am. We were given an explanation of how things worked. We were on the Franschhoek Wine Tram. This tour used busses and a tram and we would be on the tram in the morning and busses in the afternoon.

We boarded the bus for the Groot Drakenstein Terminal. A large, double decker bus. The ride would be one hour and there was an audio tour on the way. It was a nice ride and the time went quickly.

At the terminal we boarded a waiting tram. And we went off to the first winery. I was impressed by the whole operation. No waiting. We would be able to visit 3 wineries in the morning if we kept our visit to one hour for each. It was possible to spend more time at each winery visited but that would cut down on the time left for the others. We were given plastic wine glasses on the tram and given our first sample. A sparkling rose. Not bad.

Our first winery was the Plaisir Estate. The wineries in the morning all were founded in the 1600s. We were able to sample wine and gin here.

We sat in the tasting room that was formerly the storage room. The walls were obviously hundreds of years old. Terri found some wine she liked and I bought some gin. When a purchase is made, one only needs to give it to the driver of the tram or bus and they will take it the Drakenstein Terminal where it can be retrieved at the end of the day.

We spent an hour here. Our next stop was the Vrede en Lust estate. We decided that lunch was necessary after all of the gin and wine we tasted. We didn’t sample any wine here.

Back on the Tram was the final estate on the tram line. The Boschendal Estate.

We spent an hour here also. No wine from here was worthy of our purchase. We were dropped back at the main station where we boarded a bus. Next winery was Allee Bleue.

Another tasting here. Another few bottles back to the bus. We had 4 more wineries to pick from but we only had time for one. We chose the last one on the list but decided to get off on the first one when our guide said they specialized in red wine.

The Camberly Estate. We were the only visitors at this winery. The owner sat with us and kept bringing samples. He had some very fine wines. He also shared some great stories. He told us how when he and his wife toured the USA in a Pinto in 1980. Every stop they made they would tell people that they were Australian. They hid their South African roots because of the endless press on the Apartheid that the ruling class had instituted. People all over the world were for the elimination of this practice and people assumed that if you were from South Africa that you were a part of this.

We sampled a barrel that he discovered in his cellar that had the type and vintage that was printed on the barrel turned against the wall. The only way to know exactly what was in the barrel was to turn it around. It was full and extremely heavy and he called up a friend of his and they manage to turn the barrel enough to see the label. 2015 Cabernet. Delicious!

We did talk briefly about politics. He referred to the people running South Africa as gangsters. Lots of corruption. I’m ashamed to say that ours is no different. Corruption at all levels.

We enjoyed our hour here the most. Terri found many bottles worthy of the trip home. The bus picked us up and we were taken back to the terminal and boarded the bus back to Cape Town. There are many different routes that one can take and this tour can be done many times to visit all of the wineries.

Back in Cape Town we had a mile walk back to the ship with many bottles and cases of wine. We did manage to make it and had to go through customs with our passports. No confiscation by HAL officials this time. The wine ended up in our room.

We have such a better sense of South Africa after this visit. South Africa is more like Europe than it is Mozambique or some of the other African countries. Even the Northern African countries on the Mediterranean are less like Europe than South Africa. There aren’t the endless open markets of people bartering just to survive. No abandoned or vacant buildings. It really is a very beautiful country.

Another early night after a long day.

…

Cape Town, South Africa

We skipped the morning game drive and instead went to breakfast and packed our stuff. We leave for the airport at 10:15.

Out the window of our rail car.

The Skukuza airport is tiny and we have a smaller jet that we are boarding. It’s great arriving at the airport at 10:30, getting through security by 10:45 and boarding at 11:10.

The flight was about 2.5 hours to Cape Town. We landed, grabbed our luggage and hopped on a bus. On the bus I confirmed tomorrow’s excursion. Hop On Hop Off Wine Tram. Should be a blast.

It was about 5pm when we settled our stuff back in our room and we decided to go out to dinner in Cape Town. We went to an Irish Pub in the waterfront area. Last time we visited Cape Town, we did not visit this area. It is full or restaurant’s and shops. We sat at a bar and watched a band set up. It looked like a trio. Keyboard, Guitar and Bass. The player ordered some drinks and we chatted it up a bit. He said they start at 7. It was 7:30 and we decided to wait for them to start.

When the hit the downbeat at 7 we were out at about 7:01. Not a 10!

We headed back to the ship and called it an early night.…

Skukuza, South Africa

Our game drive today left at 5:30 am. The sun was just beginning to rise. The Kruger National Park is very different from the Kalamazoo Game Lodge. Kruger is a National Park and Kapama is a privately owned reserve. There is a single paved road through the park that is travelled by jeeps from game lodges and those traveling on their own. There is a campground in the park and those people also travel through the park. In the center of the campground is a “sightings” bulletin board where information about game is shared. What really happens here is that vehicles drive along the road until they see stopped cars. That is usually a guarantee of a large game sighting. There is no off roading in this park and some of the game can only be seen from afar. At the Kapama Lodge, we were able to get writhin 6 ft of lions and other game.

The following pictures are from the morning game drive. The drive ended at 8:30 and we went into the lodge for a great breakfast. The next game drive was at 4pm and we had the day to enjoy the area.

We walked into Skukuza and on the way we passed the steam locomotive that used to pull the cars that are parked on the bridge. About a mile or so we found ourselves at the campground store. Quite a large store with camping items and souvenir type stuff.

We walked around this area a bit and then went did some shopping.

Dinner tonight was in the bush after the game drive.

We left for the drive but didn’t see many animal. We did go up on top of a small rock mountain. Here many go to watch the sun set. We did see the sunset and also saw a young man get down on one knee and propose to his girlfriend. I’m guessing she said yes by her reaction.

Shortly after we arrived at a location where the dinner in the bush was hosted. Many large fires were already burning and the tables were out and set. The wait and cook staff sang some traditional folk songs from their tribe. They were quite good.

Dinner was great and it was a fun experience. After dinner we did some star gazing and one of the guides showed us the southern cross and also how to find north from the constellation Orion. Fascinating.

We headed back to the Train on Bridge and called it a night. We decided to skip the morning game drive tomorrow. This will give us a chance to catch up on some sleep.

We fly to Capetown tomorrow.…

Skukuza, South Africa

Today we went on our game drive at 6 am. Half of the group did a longer game drive by skipping breakfast. We need to leave the lodge for the airport at 9:15 am. Some of the group thought that they would see more animals if they skipped breakfast.

On the morning drive we saw a pride of 11 lions that had taken down a giraffe having a feast. The insides of the giraffe were completely gone. Legs and neck remained.

All of us were ready to go at about 9:10 and we boarded the jeeps for the short ride to the airport. Our flight today is to the Skukuza airport and we are flying in a single engine Cessna that holds 13 people. This is our first time in a small plane. Pretty tight fit.

The flight was only 20 minutes long. We were only flying at 2500 ft at 168 mph. There were dark clouds but we flew under them. It was nice to see the game area below us.

The airport was tiny and I was surprised to learn that we will be flying out on Thursday to Capetown from this airport. The jet must be flying in the same day as I didn’t see any when we landed.

The Train on the Bridge is only a few minutes away. We climbed aboard the Jeeps for the Kruger Shalati. Same Toyota pickups configured differently than the other lodge. Roll bars and a roof. This was an improvement. There was also a built in fold up table over the front bumper. Even better!

The Bridge that the train sits on was built in 1923. It was put here during the gold rush times of the area. The bridge is being leased. The cars will have to be removed if the lease is not renewed. Nothing on the bridge is attached permanently.

Each cars contains one room. There are 14 cars. Each car has a view of the sable river.

The car in the center has a bar, a lounge, and a swimming pool.

We had a few hours before we could check in so we had a drink at the bar and then lunch.

The afternoon game drive was at 4 pm. Each drive is 3 hours. This seems to be the standard amongst the lodges that do safari’s. Long pants and T shirt has been my attire. As the evening progresses I add a sweatshirt and then a blanket.

We stopped for a drink, a snack and watched the stars come out. Very little light pollution in this area. The stars are amazing.

We finished the evening with dinner back at the lodge. We booked dinner “in the bush” for tomorrow evening. The dinner includes protection by a game warden with a rifle. Hyenas can get rough.…

Kapama Game Lodge, Hoedspruit, South Africa

Our game drive was at 6 am. We headed over to the reception area, grabbed some coffee and boarded our jeep. The sun was just starting to rise.

We spent three hours driving through the game preserve,

The weather was on the cooler side and the sky was cloudy. We did see many big game animals. I asked our driver, TK, why the lions didn’t see us as lunch. She said that we are not recognized as food as they have never tasted human blood. The lions just laid there and we were about 6 feet away. If we were on the ground it would be a different story she said. They would attack or run.

The elephants were a bit different. They are herbivores and don’t see us as a meal but they are so large and could easily trample us to death.

At 9am we went back to the lodge and had breakfast. Terri and I had a massage at 10 am. It is good to keep old parts moving.

The afternoon drive was at 4pm and we again pulled over for drinks and snacks and watched the stars come out.

We went back to the lodge and had dinner. The food was very good. The food service could be a little better. Many of the drivers and guides double as waiters. Probably not a good combination.

Tomorrow our game drive ends early. Our breakfast will be at 8:30 and at 9 we leave for the airport. We have a chartered Cessna flight to the Kruger Shalati train on the bridge.…

Johannesburg, South Africa

Today we have flight to Hoedspruit which is near the Kapama River Lodge. We met in the lobby at 9:45 am and boarded the bus to take us back to the O.R. Tambo International Airport.

The airport is massive and full of people. The security line did take some time to get through. Our gate was on ground level and we would be taking a bus out to the plane. The woman working the gate came around and matched passports to tickets. If they matched she wrote “OK” on your ticket. There was still lots of time before we boarded. All of the security in the airport was just broken at this point. It just shows that if some individual wanted to get on the plane but couldn’t pass security screening, here was the place.

The flight was about one hour. The airport was in the middle of nowhere. When we landed, we were in a field. There was a tiny terminal building. Bags were unloaded onto a wooden, U shaped shelf.

We grabbed our bag and boarded jeeps for the ride to the lodge. These were the same jeeps we would use on the game drives.

Unlike the Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana, this lodge had an electric fence around it. The road into the lodge had metal pipes over a deep pit. The pipes were spaced far enough apart that an animal would have to cross using the pipes. The pipes leg of the animal would fall between the pipes if it tried to cross. Quite ingenious.

We checked into our room and prepared for our first game drive at 3:30. The drives were three hours long. Proper clothing and insecticide plus cameras is what is needed.

TK was our driver. Her spotter had a seat over the front bumper. Communication between the other game vehicles was done by radio. The animals on this game preserve ignore the sound and the sight of the vehicles. These vehicles come through the preserve every day and the animals treat them like they are just part of the surroundings. No animal even flinches when a jeep is started. There is no threat.

The challenge of the game drive is finding the animals. Our goal at this preserve is to observe the big five. The lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and African buffalo. These are deemed to be the most difficult to hunt on foot.

At the beginning of our drive we spotted a group of deer and then a group of impalas. We did stop and watch a hippo and African Buffalo.

Maybe 20 minutes into the drive we spotted a giraffe eating the leaves off of a large tree. We parked right in front of the giraffe and watched. Every once in a while it would look at us and then continue on. The long tongue of the giraffe was extended to grab a branch and pull it in. The jaws did the rest.

We left the giraffe and drove on. Word of a leopard came over the radio. After much off reading, we did finally spot him. Difficult to get a photo. He wouldn’t pose.

The videos show what we saw on the first evening. We stopped just before dark in the park and had some drinks, compared notes with the other safari jeep and watched the stars come out. It started to get very cool and we were given blankets for the ride back.

We returned to the lodge for dinner. Great food and the 10 of us sat at one table. One of the sisters, Eve, stayed inside all day as she felt ill.

A complimentary massage is included with our stay and we booked that for 10 am tomorrow.

Game drive wake-up call is 5 am. Coffee and snacks 5:30 am and the drive starts at 6 am. Breakfast is at 9 am.…

Maputo, Mozambique

Today we leave on a multi-day overland tour. The tour meets at 11:30 am. This gives us time to walk into Maputo.

It was after 8 am and we decided to head out to the Maputo Market. Similar to Eastern Market on a Saturday.

The port area of Maputo was not impressive. The buildings looked like they could have been nice at one time but are no more. This was obviously a very poor area. Lots of garbage and abandoned buildings.

The market was in a large building and people were already there selling all kinds of goods. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, and also hand made carved items. There were lots of little shops that sold hair items. Wigs, extensions, and the like.

There was no lack of people trying to sell you things. A man would come up to you and show you something. He would tell you how nice it is and give you a price. My answer was the same for each man. “I don’t want it”. Good price. Good price. How much you pay? Terri was much more polite but if you use “No thank you” as your response they will follow you down the street. My sister. My sister. Look what I have for you. I told one man to talk to your brother. That ended that.

The whole experience lasted about an hour. We saw many people at the market that we knew from the ship and they couldn’t get back on fast enough. We stopped here in 2022 but went right to the airport. Probably a good thing.

China is here in Mozambique also. A bridge that China built.

I took a photo of the back of the ship as we came back aboard. I drew a line to our room. The top deck is deck 9. We are on deck 6.

Maputo is the largest city in Mozambique and does have nicer areas. The airport is 5 miles from the port and is very nice. I think the stop here is more of a gateway to the many lodges that do safari’s.

We went back on the ship and packed our things for the next 5 days. It is Fall in the southern hemisphere and it is noticeably cooler. Upper 40s at night and 70s during the day.

We went up to the Lido and had some lunch and then went to meet our group. We boarded our bus for the airport. Our group consists of one male couple, 2 sisters, one single male and an unmarried couple and the male guide. 10 strong.

The airport was a short drive away and we arrived 3 hours before our flight left. Lines to check in went quite fast. There was another HAL tour that was traveling on this flight. They were going to Victoria Falls and then to a different lodge in the Kruger National Park.

The flight was one hour and when we landed, the passport control had very long lines. Probably an hour here. We met our South African tour guide. Pat grew up in South Africa and gave us a nice audio tour of Johannesburg on our way to the hotel.

We arrived at the Sandton Hotel about 7pm. It reminded me of the Hyatt in Dearborn when it was in its’ prime. Beautiful, high end hotel. Johannesburg has a population of 10 million. The area is beautiful. It is known as the city of gold because of the gold mines still in operation today.

Dinner was at 7:30. Very late for us. We learned a little about the folks in the group. The two sisters sat across from us but did little talking. One wore a University of Michigan t-shirt. I asked if she was a grad back when we loaded the bus. “No my husband is but I used to live in Michigan”. She walked away. Conversation done. I said to Terri that the sisters looked like heavy drinkers. Sure enough they were in the duty free shop buying bottles of booze at the airport.

The male couple was interesting. One left his job at Amazon to go on this cruise. He looked to be in his early 40s and was a high school dropout. His partner was on “sabbatical”. The single male is from Australia and was in his 60s. The unmarried couple appeared to have a “cruise” relationship as she was from Australia and he from California. Chris, late 20s, our male HAL guide came to dinner with a pearl necklace. “Yes they are real”, he said. This is another instance where we felt we were in the twilight zone. Life has changed so much since retirement.

Pat came over to talk to us and we were the most comfortable talking with her. She asked where we were from and when we said Michigan. The sisters in front of us looked at each other but offered nothing. I don’t think we have felt this uncomfortable with a group of people before. It seems so abnormal here to be married and have kids and grandkids. I guess I thought this tour would have attracted more married couples but the lack of space (10 was the limit) and the mysterious workings of the internet booking process may have helped produce the results that we have.

Dinner was great but the waitress really struggled taking our orders. Maybe it was her first day. Dinner ended at 10 pm and we went to our room and went to bed.

…

at Sea

Roughest water we have had in a while. At some times the ship seems to be suspended in mid-air and then it crashes down into a trough.

The gym was tough. Bench press was very difficult. When the ship is coming up from a trough the barbell weight seems to double. I’m glad I set the safety pins.

We followed our usual morning routine and did afternoon trivia.

Who was Tess Truheart the girlfriend of in this comic strip? What were the first names of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde? What is the width of a balance beam in the olympics? What was the name of Edgar Bergman’s female dummy? Who played Arnold Ziffle on Green Acres comedy series? Which USA state still has wild Panthers?

We chose to do something a little different in the afternoon. We watched a movie on the main stage. “The Bee Keeper”. We have seen this before but was worth watching again. An elderly woman gets scammed on the internet by a group that operates a huge network. The bee keeper ( a retired government operative) chases the scam network all the way up to the President of the USA.

The ship continually crashed and would could feel and hear it as the stage is at the front of the ship.

We had dinner on the Lido instead of the dining room. Still good food but a very casual atmosphere. We did lightning trivia after dinner. The theme was 1980s TV Shows. None of us watched much television during the 1980s and it was tough. Which television series took place in a bar in Boston? What was the name of Frasier’s dog in Cheers? (it is not Eddy). What position in baseball did Sam Malone play? Thomas played the theme song to “Saved by the Bell”. This was on Nickelodeon. I knew the tune but couldn’t come up with the name. We had more blank answers than ever on this trivia sheet but were right there with all of the other teams. 9 out of 30.

The evening entertainment was a second set by Chris Bannister. He covered more than John Denver this time. It was very good. His acoustic guitar playing is great. His voice is very good. He covered some tunes that he probably should have avoided. Scarborough Affair is tough to cover and make it your own. I gave him a 9 this evening. Terri had a nap.…

at Sea

We travelled through a rainstorm during breakfast. The ride is becoming rougher as we approach Maputo.

I walked the deck after breakfast and Terri did the treadmill. I like the treadmill because it allows me easily to give my heart a good workout using intervals. I am fearful of using the treadmill because the injuries I suffered months ago. At least my legs are getting a workout. The heart rate doesn’t move much when I walk.

Another hour back tonight, 6 hours ahead of home.

The World Cruise averages 4 deaths on board. We are up to 3. Heart attacks are a good guess for this age group.

Team trivia. was again more reasonable. What city did Matlock take place in? Which city in 1976 won the competition to host the olympics but refused it? What appliance company advertised the “Loneliest repairmen?” Which sport is played in the most countries? Which woman from USA won a gold medal in 1968?

The evening theme was Masquerade. It was formal dress night and those that participated wore a mask. Not the pandemic face mask but a mask that covered the eyes. There were a fair number of people that participated. Later in the evening the theme continued. Near the ocean bar, the Phantom of the Opera emerged amidst a fog and sang “Music of the Night”. He was a HAL employee and his cover of the Andrew Lloyd Weber tune was fair at best. I would have kept the mask on and travel back into the fog. There was no clear cut reason for the theme. I thought I might hear the tune Masquerade from the Phantom. No such luck.

Cards on the back of the Lido to finish the night.…