We had a pleasant surprise while at breakfast this morning. One of our waitresses spotted a whale blow in the distance and told all of us. She was correct, as we also saw another large blow in the same area. The whale never did surface, but we did some research and found that this is an area where both the right and humpback whales migrate. Perhaps other types too. The season begins in June and lasts until October we read. They would be leaving the Antarctic and Southern Oceans to head north. Of course, we kept a watch for more sightings the rest of the day but saw none.
What one of us did see were some very large birds flying low over the water and wave crests. They appeared to be the wandering albatrosses from the photos that were taken. Even at a distance, you could see the 10 foot wingspan as they glided easily in the wind. Some other types of sea birds were among them, but too far to identify. That made two surprises today.
Other than that, the morning began partly cloudy, but a bit warmer than yesterday. If there was any fog, it was high and dissipated by late morning. We did get in some "sun" time for over an hour at the Seaview Pool, until the clouds blocked the rays. Greg stopped by for a chat as we compared what we have all done for the last couple of ports. He had gone to the Seder Dinner which was held in one side of the Lido Market last night by reservation only. We recall the days of the Empire chicken, which was enough to feed four people let alone one person. He had saved half of it in his refrigerator to enjoy with today's lunch. Good idea.
It was time for a light lunch, which we had in our room with chicken Caesar salads. The rest of the afternoon was catch-up time from yesterday's exploits. It was such a fun day walking the lagoon, we enjoyed the photos as much as we did while being there. The hike was good, but today was nice to be able to relax a bit. We will have three more sea days to do that.
There are some new speakers onboard that continued to deliver lectures. Presenter David spoke on the economics of empires, while Kate talked all about the ins and outs of the Congo. In addition, there is a guest chef Bridgit who gave a demo in the Rolling Stones Lounge. Another lecturer, Duncan, spoke all about a confederate warship, the CSS Alabama that raided South Africa.
We had two events tonight. One was an invite to a combined suite and President's Club cocktail party that was held in The Retreat on deck 11. It was titled "Out of Africa" and began at 6:30pm. Last year, this same event was held also while we were in Africa, but it was really crowded. This year, we guess that only half of the guests attended and the other half were the Captain, some of his officers and many staff members. Some of the guests bundled up, including one of us, as it had been chilly later in the day. However up here, we did have the tents to stand under with the high top tables. A full service bar was set up as well as wines served. Some canapies were passed around, however, most of these guests had just come from the early seating dinner and passed on more food. Nyron was the DJ and he played the soft music a notch or two down from last year. Much better. We had a nice visit with Kimberly, Shiv and Presty as well as some other guests we have know for ages.
The next event wasn't really an event, but another dinner in the Pinnacle Grill at 8pm. We were among the last to leave the party, but it worked out perfectly. Our breakfast waitress was our dinner waitress. She teased us that it seemed like she just saw us. Technically that was 12 hours ago. Anyway, we ordered our wedge salads with clothesline bacon. To tell the truth, that would have been plenty for dinner. But we did end of ordering the boneless ribeye steaks which were cooked to perfection. We both agreed these steaks, although large, had the best taste comparing them to the filet. Adding a half potato, we still had trouble finishing the steaks. So we asked for a "doggie bag" and our cute waitress Yulia, wrapped up the two pieces of meat in a foil container folded into a swan. We shared a small slice of Key Lime pie…the smallest they could find, and found it was just enough. No chocolates or coffee, we were happy and full campers tonight.
Looking forward to another sea day, hoping the weather will warm up a little more.
Bill & Mary Ann
