What a difference a day makes…..the temperature must have dropped 20 degrees since leaving Cape Town late last night. Despite being sunny early in the morning, fog filled the skies, and we listened to the foghorn blow about every 5 minutes. The thermometer read 63 degrees on our veranda….cool for sure.
Breakfast was wonderful, seeing all of our fellow guests and friends, but more so, being welcomed back by waiters Andri and Danu. Martha and Bob filled in the details about the ship missing the port of East London, netting everyone a whopping $20.14 each in refunded port and tax charges. That will be added to the cashable column.
By the way, another segment began yesterday, ending the 33- day passage from Sydney to Cape Town. Two stickers with the itinerary were given to add to our Journeys booklet. This time, we were not required to attend any muster drill.
We spent the day working on photos and reports while the foghorn blew away. We find it a very eerie sound, and when you realize what it is being used for, that makes it scary as well. Other activities onboard today included the port talk on Luanda, Angola and a 1pm talk on the Cape by Dr. Dean Allen, the new speaker that joined us.
At 1pm, the much- advertised Silent Charity Auction took place in the Ocean Bar and ended at 3:15pm. It had been extended to give everyone a chance to donate. Passengers had been asked to donate their watercolor paintings, items from the arts and crafts classes, as well as any items deemed suitable for auction. We saw many items that were from the recent Africa Grand Voyage, as these guests must have come to the Zuiderdam from the other ship back in January. The proceeds from this auction will benefit children of Namibia for their extra education from grades 1 through 7, learning English, reading, writing and math. These are afternoon classes that happen after their usual morning school sessions.
This evening we were invited to a birthday dinner in the Canaletto Restaurant at 7:30pm for Woody. Our entire table was present, as well as Woody's exercise therapist. The meal is Italian based with starters that are meant to share. That's what we always do, but just between the two of us. Bill had the lamb chops and I ordered the steak….both very good. The evening wrapped up with a small birthday cake and the special song. It was a wrap by 10pm.
The entertainment in the World Stage was the Shades of Africa singing the Bonfires of Bohemia. Greg and Heo may have caught the last 15 minutes of the show, as they like to attend all of the performances. Unless it is a dark night, which happens every now and then.
Got to rest up for tomorrow's port of Luderitz, Namibia.
Bill & Mary Ann
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