Seventy-five degrees sounds comfortable, right? Well not in this part of the world. What is missing is the humidity factor, which makes the air sticky the minute you walk outside. Since we left Cape Town, the temperatures and the humidity have increased. So much so, that our room has soared to almost 80 degrees. It is inevitable, since the sea water has gotten warmer, as well as the air temps. What we consider as air-conditioning problems, is simply the fact that this is as good as it gets. We have to remember to keep the heavy curtains in our room closed during the late afternoon, when the sun is going down in the west. It really does help keep the room cooler. So does the rotating fan.
We met up with Barb in the dining room for lunch. Sometimes we think the menu is even better than at night for dinner. We both ordered the Swiss steak with mashed potatoes. It was most delicious. Barb usually has the fish entrée, unless it is tilapia, which she does not like. Dessert was a small slice of lemon meringue pie for all of us.
During his PM talk, Captain Jonathon told a story of a special request of many guests. This request was presented to him in the form of a petition, and it was regarding the upcoming crossing of the Equator in a few days. It had been noted that the ship would not only be crossing the Equator, but very close to the Prime Meridian Line as well. Therefore, if he could take us off course a little, we could claim the rights to saying we crossed the O degree south and 0 degree east. This is something perhaps few of us have ever done….maybe not even the Captain. So he agreed to do this, and will even gift everyone with a certificate saying we did it. We would have gotten the Equator one anyway, so this is a special distinction. The actual time of the crossing would be around 11:30pm, so no one figured it would be attended if something took place to commemorate it. Guess they were wrong.
One of us has a birthday this month, so a gift certificate arrived, compliments of Henk M, the hotel director. He will use it very soon, for a much-needed haircut. Out of the kindness of his heart, Henk passed another one to me too. Perhaps a deep-conditioning treatment would be useful.
There was a guest talent show sign up today. The categories were singing, dancing, short stories, or “clean” jokes. The acts would be limited to 3 minutes….no more. We used to enjoy the bird lady, who actually did some decent bird calls. Others told jokes that went on like forever. Many years ago in 2005, one of our favorite travel hosts did a merengue dance with another lady friend. They brought the house down with applause. Wonder what is in store for this year?
Out of Africa was the theme for the gala dinner this evening. Flat-screen TV’s with the movie, Out of Africa, were placed at each entrance to the dining room, and the waiters were all dressed like safari guides, complete with the vests and hats. With the ship retaining the heat of the day, they must have been mighty hot. Never complaining, they stayed that way until all of the guests had left the room……well after 10pm.
We had a host at our table tonight. He was Mark, the chief electrician from England. He had been on leave until we got to Singapore, and will be on the ship until it goes to Alaska. For some unknown reason, the dinner service was delayed tonight. It seems that our first course did not arrive until 8:45pm. The entrees were brought well after 9:15pm. By the time we finished, two of our tablemates had left the table, heading for the dance floor. Part of the reason was that it was also too hot.
Too late for the show, we all missed Bruce Parker, the entertainer tonight. He did a musical journey with hit songs of Lionel Richie and the Soul and Motown hits of the past.
The clocks went back one hour tonight, which is always nice for everyone. That way will be rested up for our day in Angola tomorrow, whatever that may be.
Bill & Mary Ann
