Go With Me on My 2014 Grand World Voyage

[Esri]

Note: I'm holding back the posts on Singapore until I can get a few pictures processed to post with them like I did with Hong Kong.

 

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I feel horrible. There is no other way to say it without being vulgar. I don’t think I’ve slept more than two hours, total, in three nights.

 

I went to the doctor this morning and he could hear me coughing and see I felt awful, but couldn’t hear any wheezing or fluid in my lungs. He agrees it is bronchitis, which is literally an inflammation of the bronchi, but still thinks it might be viral. He gave me antibiotics of his own accord though, because it is the second time I’ve had bronchitis in a month. No steroids though. He did give me cough syrup with codeine and it is helping the cough. Not getting rid of it entirely, but helping. His best advice, which I’m sure is valid, rest and drink plenty of liquids.

 

I went to Trivia this morning. We came in third with a score of fourteen. I had eleven of those answers, and one wrong one. Even if I’d not miscounted the number of Confederate states during the Civil War, we’d still have come in third, so I’m not embarrassed by my contributions. No one else had any idea on the number of states in the Confederacy, by the way.

 

After Trivia I went up to the Dive In burger place at the Lido pool and got a hot dog and some French fries. Then I came back to my cabin and tried to take a nap. I stayed in bed for two hours, hated to drag myself out, but I wasn’t sleeping so I figured working on a blog post and photos while lounging on the couch was still resting.

 

I worked on photos for a couple of hours and then I read Little Women until dinner time. Louisa May Alcott is a far cry from Diana Gabaldon, but I put Little Women on my cruise reading list for a reason. I’ve read it more times than I can count, but not since the last movie version came out many years ago. My grandmother gave me a copy when I was about ten. I started it three or four times until I was about twelve, but never got past the first or second chapter.

 

I loved to read, but I liked stories about animals. Big Red, Irish Red, Black Beauty, Lassie, etc… were the darlings of my literary world until I read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was twelve. At that point I realized that people were interesting too. I picked up Little Women again and read it straight through in about a day and a half. Then I went to the school library and picked up Little Men and Jo’s Boys. From there I moved on to Sue Barton: Student Nurse and my mother’s Gothic romance novels (they didn’t have sex in them back in the early 70s). I also discovered Science Fiction. Now I read everything, except romance novels (which is probably why I’d never discovered Outlander before Jo Ann recommended it). So, even though it is too late to make a long story short, I am re-reading Little Women to bring back part of my childhood.

 

We were only four for dinner tonight: Kay, Jo Ann, Louise, and me. Mary and John had dinner in the Pinnacle with friends and neither Aloha nor Estelle has been at the dinner table for three or four days. Tomorrow it may be just Louise and me because Jo Ann and Kay have an eight-hour tour.

 

My dinner was “Angry Bass” served with “San Francisco Style Fried Rice”, sautéed spinach, and steamed vegetables. I had a shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad too. I don’t know what made the bass angry, but it was good. The fried rice was very whole grainish and totally bland. I had one bite and pushed it aside. For dessert I had a butterscotch sundae.

 

After dinner I just went back to my cabin and went straight to bed just after 7:30 PM. I slept restlessly, but I did sleep. Coughing was much better and no problems with my knee. I didn’t have to take another dose of cough syrup or ibuprofen until 6:00 AM – good deal.

 

Weather Report: It was smoky most of the day (from forest fires in Indonesia) and I did not go outside. It was in the mid-nineties and humid.

[Ineke]

Oh my, you brought back memories - Sue Barton, Student Nurse - i had forgotten about those books, I devoured them when I was a teenager! Thanks for the reminder, get better soon, i am certainly enjoying 'Going with you'!

[Spinner2]

Why, Ineke and Esri, you know there's no such thing as a "children's book!" Those are really books for all of us that are different from other books for "all of us" in that they can be enjoyed by children as well. A good "children's book" has timeless lessons for readers everywhere! :)

 

Shall I disclose here that the entire Sue Barton series is on a bookshelf in my house at this moment? Old, battered, but all there. (And Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy-Tacy), Louise Mae Alcott, Janet Lambert (many series), among others!)

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I’d already decided yesterday to skip my tour in Phuket today. I woke up a few minutes before 9:00 AM and got ready for breakfast in the Lido. I had an omelet, bacon, roasted potatoes, three glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a cup of tea with honey.

 

After breakfast I went back to the cabin with the intention of going up on Deck 3 and taking some pictures. When I woke up from a brief nap on the couch I just went back to bed. I slept until 10:30 and then went up to take my pictures.

 

Before leaving the cabin I checked the battery in the camera. It said 91%, which I thought was odd – I thought it was under 20%. I went up to Deck 3 and turned on the camera, focused my first shot and nothing happened. I checked the menu and it still said the battery was at 91%. I sat down on a bench and took the battery out and put it back in. Turned the camera back on – nothing. It wouldn’t show the menu or anything. Turned the camera off again and turned it back on while looking at the panel on the top of the camera – the battery was dead. That was a relief because I was imagining spending the rest of the cruise without my good camera…

 

So I went back to the cabin to get another battery. I passed Rifjki in the hall and he apologized for not having the cabin made up yet. I told him not to worry about it as I was going to be in the cabin most of the day – I asked him to just get me some ice and take out the trash when he got to it. Of course he got to it right away even though I told him there was no hurry! Every one of the crew is awesome.

 

I found a battery and was very relieved when it took a picture of my messy vanity. Then I went back up to Deck 3 and took some pictures of Patong Bay, which is where we are anchored for Phuket. I came back to the cabin and checked email and Facebook.

 

I chatted with my sister for several minutes on Facebook and she told me that my friend Kim (Treasures By Eleni) was going to make her a Celtic headdress in exchange for five days at our “bed & breakfast” (Birdie’s Kitchen). I think that is awesome since I’ve been trying to get Kim to come visit me for years! Now it’s on the Internet, Kim, and you can’t back out! (We met playing games on the Internet and get together with a group of gaming friends once a year at a little gathering we call Orkfest.)

 

I paid a couple of bills and then spent an hour or so working on blog entries. Then I went up to the Lido and got some lunch. I wasn’t very hungry so I just grabbed some cheese and salami and a slice of bread. The cheese seemed to be all end pieces and about half of each piece was inedible, but that was all right since I wasn’t starving.

 

Just as I was finishing up though, Dedan came by and fussed over my eating only cheese (and leaving half of it) – he takes it so personally when you don’t eat everything (and loves it if you ask for seconds)! Last night at dinner when Endrian came by, Jo Ann asked him if there was any possibility of moving our party to a window table after Cape Town. He said he’d check to see and then Kay said “But we have to take Dedan with us” and I piped in “Oh, yes, we can’t leave Dedan!” That made Endrian smile, but probably leaves us without a window table. ;)

 

After lunch I went back to the cabin and worked on photo post-processing until it was time for Trivia at 3:30 PM. This was Express Team Trivia and didn’t count towards our cumulative total. Which was a shame because we had fifteen points and finished in third place.

 

After Trivia I read until time to get dressed for dinner. There were only four of us for dinner: me, Louise, Mary & John. I had a shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad and all four of us had the “Southwestern Style Fried Chicken”.

 

The description of this fried chicken said it was breaded “Louisiana style”. Well, firstly Louisiana is not in the Southwest and second I don’t know what they meant by “Louisiana style”, but this wasn’t it. It was very, very good chicken, but it was seasoned only with a little salt and pepper – nothing says Louisiana about that. Nevertheless, it was the best fried chicken I’ve had on this cruise.

 

For dessert I had Strawberries Romanov and they were delicious too. They’ve got some very good strawberries right now and I plan to take advantage of them every chance I get.

 

After dinner I went to my cabin and read until I’d finished Little Women. I was surprised to see it was after 10:00 PM when I went to bed. I set my alarm for 9:30 AM since I have an appointment for acupuncture at 10:30. I slept very well – hardly any coughing and not much pain in my knee. I did get up at 6:30 AM and take a couple of ibuprofen for my knee, but this makes the second day I’ve skipped the Voltaren. Progress is being made.

 

Weather Report: It was hot, humid, and smoky. The high was supposed to be about 95-degrees and I’m sure it made it at least that high.

[Ineke]

Spinner 2 - if this was FB I'd put 'like', now I'll just write 'jealous'! I should check and see if I can get some on my Kindle for my next trip. So did you ever read any of the 'My Friend Annie" series by Janet Dunbar? At least I think that was the author's name. Can't find them anywhere. Thanks for the memories.

[Esri]

Why, Ineke and Esri, you know there's no such thing as a "children's book!" Those are really books for all of us that are different from other books for "all of us" in that they can be enjoyed by children as well. A good "children's book" has timeless lessons for readers everywhere! :)

 

Shall I disclose here that the entire Sue Barton series is on a bookshelf in my house at this moment? Old, battered, but all there. (And Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy-Tacy), Louise Mae Alcott, Janet Lambert (many series), among others!)

 

Now I'm jealous! I looked everywhere for Sue Barton a few years ago...

[Spinner2]

Esri, when you get home, image cascade.com. You too, Ineke!

 

They have reprinted most of the books we all read as teenagers. I had the fun of being in on getting Janet Lambert's books back into print through them, a bunch of us from the Betsy-Tacy Listserv helped Image Cascade find the cleanest copies possible, unscarred covers, etc. so they could be reproduced. And especially finding a descendent to clear the copyrights. So now we all know Janet Lambert's daughter and she's been so helpful and wonderful to know. I don't know the particulars of how they've acquired other series, but they have a lot. Reasonably priced, offer free shipping ever so often, but because most are photocopies the page appearance can be a little wonky--not matching across the bottom, etc. But it's all there on clean pages. And amazon.com has some of them as e-books.

 

Ineke, I don't know that "My Friend Annie" series; will have to check it out. You might see what amazon has for the series you like; I know a lot of Janet Lambert is now available. When I was in Panama recently I went out to the area where two of her books were based to see what might be recognizable. A lot was!

 

I now return the thread to the cruise instead of the book club.:)

Edited March 13, 2014 by Spinner2

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I had the alarm set for 9:30 AM, but was out of bed by 8:00. I took a shower and dressed. Then I checked Facebook and email before heading out to read for a while before my acupuncture appointment at 10:30.

 

The morning passed uneventfully. I felt better than I did yesterday. My voice was still a little scratchy, but I didn’t feel the need to take any cough syrup all day. We came in third at Trivia.

 

After Trivia I went to lunch in the Dining Room with Corinne, Sue, and Kay. I had a salad, Korean Grilled Steak, and ice cream. Then I went back to my cabin and finished Little Women and started a new book, You Came Back by Craig Croake. The new book is sort of a ghost story – not a scary ghost story, more about what happens when somebody who doesn’t believe in ghosts is presented with the possibility.

 

Tonight was a “Classic Formal Night”. No major decorations and the guys didn’t have to dress up in a silly costume. I had a shrimp cocktail, Tomato & Mozzarella Salad, and the Surf & Turf. Then I topped it all off with Cherries Jubilee.

 

I went back to my cabin and read until about 8:30 PM and went to bed. We set the clocks back 30 minutes tonight. That certainly is interesting. No pillow gift tonight, but we got the good chocolate. Mine was an Eggnog Truffle.

 

Weather Report: I haven’t the foggiest idea, truly. It was in the low eighties at lunch time.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

We had a wee bit of excitement today around lunch time. The fire alarm went off (for real – not a drill). I was at lunch with the girls from my Trivia team when it went off. The steward was serving our dessert. He said “That is the fire alarm. Do not be alarmed – enjoy your dessert.” So we did. A few minutes later Gene came on and told everyone that an alarm had gone off and the fire teams were investigating and he also told us there was no reason for us to worry.

 

I leaned over and told Kay that the lights were still on so the generator wasn’t on fire. She gave me a dirty look and said “Thanks, Pat.” A few minutes later the Captain told us that the fire was under control. So now you the most exciting thing that happened today!

 

I did not cough at all last night – not one single time. I also didn’t have to take any pain medication until around 6:30 AM when I woke up and my knee hurt and my plantar fasciitis was acting up. When I woke up at 9:00 AM, I had no pain whatsoever.

 

I got dressed and went up to the Lido to eat breakfast. I did start coughing in the elevator. I ran into Mary and she prescribed cinnamon, honey, and hot water. She even went and got it for me. I had a couple of little cheese Danish and a glass of orange juice for breakfast.

 

After breakfast I went down to the Photo Lab and picked out some more pictures for my “Locations” album. I upgraded to the 200-shot version. For my additional $80 I get 100 more photos, a digital slideshow, and another leather album. I made my selections all the way up to Phuket and have used up 129 of my 200.

 

After finishing up in the Photo Lab I went up to Ocean Bar and read the rest of You Came Back. I read a little of a book on some photo editing software I use, but it was putting me to sleep so I started another novel, The Postmistress.

 

We finished third again in Trivia. No major controversies. We did notice that spelling doesn’t count, unless our team misspells it… It’s just a game though so we shrugged it off. Then we went to lunch in the Dining Room.

 

For lunch I had Prosciutto & Watermelon, veal tenderloin in a cream sauce with spaetzle, and cheesecake. They were all good. I checked the menu for tonight on the way out and they are having Almond Chicken Fingers! They are delicious. Looking forward to dinner.

 

After lunch I came back to my cabin and checked Facebook and email. Then I took a short nap. When I woke up I posted yesterday’s blog entry and worked on this one. I’m going to spend the next thirty minutes reading and then it will be time to get ready for dinner.

 

Not much on the menu for dinner tonight other than the Almond Chicken Fingers. I had those for the appetizer, Caesar Salad, and the NY Strip. For dessert I had my vanilla ice cream & orange sorbet combo.

 

After dinner I read for a bit. Then I went to bed around 8:30 – that was the time after setting the clock back another hour. I slept very well, only waking up a few times. No coughing and no pain issues. Good times.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

Before I forget, the fire yesterday wasn’t really a fire. A gasket (a very large gasket according to the Captain) leaked hot air and caused a temperature sensor to react. No danger, Will Robinson.

 

We did get a letter from the Captain about measures being taken to protect us from pirates. The letter emphasized that the chance of pirates attempting to board this ship is very low because we move quickly and have a high “freeboard” deck (Deck 3). In addition to technical difficulties apparently pirates don’t like to deal with cruise ships due to it being bad public relations to attack innocent rich people. (Not the Captain’s words – he simply said there would be a huge public outcry to do something about piracy, something pirates want to avoid.)

 

In the event we run into a group of stupid pirates, there are security measures in place. We have extra security guards mounting a 24-hour pirate watch. There is razor wire mounted on Deck 3. We have sound weapons and high pressure water hoses to repel boarders. Finally, we report our position every thirty minutes or so and if we fail to do so the nearest authorities will be notified automatically. Bottom line, we are unlikely to be bothered by pirates and if they attempt to board us they probably won’t succeed.

 

This morning I woke up early, around 7:15 AM, so I went to breakfast in the Dining Room. I had orange juice, pancakes with maple syrup, and bacon. After breakfast I went back to the cabin for a few minutes. Then I went up to the Explorations Café to see Barbara about an itinerary for a hired car in Victoria, Mahe, The Seychelles.

 

Barbara’s going to put together an itinerary for me. She said with the hired car from HAL we should be able to see just about everything there is to see (it is a small island). She’s going to make sure walking is minimized and photo ops are maximized. She’ll also make recommendations for our lunch stop.

 

From Barbara I went to the Ocean Bar to read until time for Trivia. The trivia questions were pretty hard today, but we had a lot of questions worth multiple points. We ended up with sixteen points which adds nicely to our cumulative score, but we didn’t finish in the money for today.

 

I went up to the Lido with Jo Ann for the Mongolian BBQ. We had a nice lunch and I asked her to join me on my excursion in Victoria. She accepted, so I’m looking forward to that. Jo Ann is a little less high energy than Mary so it should be a relaxing day.

 

This afternoon I finished reading The Postmistress and then I helped Jo Ann download her photos from her camera, iPhone, and iPad to her new notebook computer. I showed her how to do it so she should be okay when she needs to do it again.

 

I started a new book just before dinner – Death Comes to Pemberly by P. D. James. I was a little confused by the first few paragraphs talking about Elizabeth Bennett, Mr. Darcy, and all the other characters from Pride and Prejudice, but realized it was one of those “sequels” to Pride & Prejudice that came out a few years ago. P. D. James is one of my favorite mystery writers so I’m hoping Jane Austen doesn’t get in the way of the mystery.

 

Dinner was a little uncomfortable tonight (again). We’ve been having some personality conflicts at our table lately and they are beginning to wear on those of us forced to bear witness. Tomorrow Kay is leaving for her India overland and Jo Ann asked me if I wanted to eat in the Canaletto tomorrow. I said I did so we are going to do that. Then Sunday I am in the Pinnacle for the Surprise Menu night.

 

After dinner I came back to the cabin and read a couple of chapters in my book. Then I posted yesterday’s blog entry and wrote this one. I’ll be posting it before I go to bed.

 

Weather Report: HOT! HUMID! I did go outside today and it was hot and humid. Mid-nineties.

[erewhon]

Hope you enjoy reading Death comes to Pemberly.

 

Good to know you are feeling better.

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

This morning I woke up crying. I dreamt that Paul was leaving me. Of course, he did leave me, but not willingly. Spring has sprung, I guess. This is the time of year that I realized I was going to lose him and every year, except 2012 when I was busy trying not to die, I’m right back at the beginning. I always believe I’m past the point where I have to force myself out of bed and remember to breathe in and out, but then it hits me.

 

I wake up and go to bed in tears. If I had a car I’d be like Pavlov’s dog, tearing up as soon as I buckled my seat belt and started the engine. I’ve loved him for thirty-two years now, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it still hurts that he’s gone. I really miss my dogs and my cats – they don’t let me cry. Mab still believes her job in life is to make me laugh and Molly is the best cuddle bear you could ever have.

 

I hid in my cabin all day except when I went to lunch on the Lido and to dinner with Jo Ann. I told myself (and Jo Ann) that I skipped my shore excursion because of the smog, but I just couldn’t leave the cabin. I apologize to all my loyal readers, especially anyone who was waiting for Sri Lanka. I won’t let it happen again.

 

I didn’t sit and cry all day though. I finished Death Comes to Pemberly and then read a technical book on using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to post-process landscape photos. The book is called Landscape Photography Workflow written by Matt Kloskowski. Matt is a noted landscape photographer who teaches classes and seminars on using Photoshop and Lightroom.

 

I read through the first half of the book (the general workflow) and was pleased to find that my current Lightroom workflow mirrors Matt’s. I did learn a quicker way to adjust the exposure in my photos though so all was not lost. It was also encouraging to find that I’ve gotten far enough in my use of Lightroom to be using nearly the same processes as a professional photographer and noted Lightroom expert. Matt does use onOne Perfect Effects (hyperlink) for adjusting contrast, clarity, and vibrance (which I’ve been doing in Lightroom). I have Perfect Effects installed on my ultrabook and I will give his method a try this afternoon.

 

I spent about two hours working on my photos from Singapore in Lightroom. I finished the ones from the Zoo that I’m going to use in my post on the first day and most of the ones from the Night Safari. That means I should be able to get at least that post up before we get to Victoria on Thursday. I have a couple of really good shots of the wild moneys we saw on the way to the Zoo. If there is an appropriate category in this segment’s Photo Competition I will enter at least one of them.

 

Dinner tonight was in Canaletto. I had the Sulumi (cold meats) appetizer and the Rigatoni with Spicy Italian Sausage. I added three of the delicious meatballs they serve as an appetizer to the rigatoni. Jo Ann and I both thought they were giving us half portions of our entrée, but they didn’t. They promised half portions when we come back! I had the Tiramisu Trio for dessert. They were delicious, but the portions were larger than I thought they would be. I will gladly eat there again before the end of the cruise.

 

After dinner I read a short novella by Stephen King from an anthology called Legends. It is a collection of novellas written by great fantasy authors including Ursula K. Le Guine and Anne McAffrey. I’m looking forward to reading more of them.

 

I logged on to the Internet twice during the evening hoping to catch my sister online, but missed her both times. The fourteen hour time difference makes it difficult. I did manage to update my Adobe Creative Cloud software though.

[Esri]

Read this one on Go With Me -- it has pictures!

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I did it again. I woke up crying after dreaming Paul was leaving me. I hate when that happens – it feels like my subconscious is slandering the poor guy… This morning I got up and logged on to the Internet and caught my sister. I felt better after I’d talked to her. My babies are all right. Tut’s doing great and being a real pain in the tush (which is a good thing). She says everybody misses me, but that means she misses me. The cats and dogs will realize they’ve missed me when I get home, which is soon enough.

 

The crew had a pirate drill at 9:30 this morning. The captain told us that in the remote chance that we were actually faced with dealing with pirates our job is to go and sit in the hallway. I just wonder how he expects me to get back up…

 

I went to breakfast in the Lido. Then I bought myself a rare cup of coffee at the Explorations Café. I’m reading a book on onOne Perfect Photo Studio, in bits and pieces, now. I’m going to play with that this afternoon. I know I should be diligently post-processing those photos for Singapore, but I love my toys and learning new ones does more to keep my mind occupied that performing the same ten or fifteen steps in Lightroom over and over.

 

We got lots of points (sixteen) in Trivia again, but once more it was one short of finishing “in the money”. Oh well, it will get rid of a single digit score in the cumulative total. The only controversy today seemed to be whether “scarf” was an acceptable answer for “What does babushka mean in Russian?” The answer is “Grandmother”. The scarf gets its name from who wears it. We had “Grandmother” (for once they went with my answer over someone else’s – I guess they are learning to trust me), but a lot of people had scarf. The thing is I think we use the term in English to mean scarf, not in Russian. Not going to fight about it though.

 

I skipped lunch today because I’m eating in the Pinnacle Grill. It is “Menu Surprise” night. I hope I’m not surprised right out of anything I want to eat!

 

I spent the afternoon post-processing pictures from the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. Then I wrote up my blog entry for that day and posted the photographs and blog post. Now to finish the second day in Singapore.

 

There was one seating in the Pinnacle tonight for the Menu Surprise dinner – 6:45 PM. I met Susie and her friends right on time and we all agreed we were famished (we are all early diners). We had a very nice evening. Since the staff were all wearing saris or Indian jackets and turbans and there were cute little elephants on the table (we all got to take one home with us), we surmised that the menu would be Indian or similar cuisine. We’re such great detectives.

 

The appetizer was a mixed plate of Tandoori Chicken, grilled spiced lobster, roasted potato, fried eggplant, and a vegetable fritter. It was all good. I liked the fritter and the lobster best, then the eggplant. The chicken and potato were good, but not outstanding.

 

Next we had a Tomato Shorba – tomato broth flavored with turmeric. It was slightly spicy and very good.

 

The main course was Murgh Makhni (chicken in curry sauce), Malai Jhinga (shrimp in a delicious coconut sauce), cauliflower and green peas in curry sauce, rice, and three kinds of flatbread. The shrimp was excellent, the vegetables tasty, and the chicken didn’t fare as well. Only one of us finished the chicken and the rest of us only took a bite or two. It really didn’t matter though because we’d already had plenty to eat.

 

Dessert was Jalebi (it tasted like funnel cakes with cane syrup) and Cardamom ice cream. It was delicious.

 

The dinner included wine or beer. They served a nice sweet California white called Conundrum with the appetizer and soup and then a merlot with the entrée. Since I had two and a half glasses of the white, I only sipped the merlot which is not a favorite of mine.

 

After dinner I put together a collection of photos to enter in Part III of the Photo Competition. I started from scratch with post-processing and finished them up after midnight. I’ll post them with tomorrow’s blog post.

[marysb]

Pat, what makes is the night safari so special? ( besides the howling wolves)

I imagine you are seeing nocturnal animals, but how does this differ than a regular zoo visit?

I had heard about this tour, so would love to know some details.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your updates, great photos of your visit to the Zoo and the Night Safari.

[Esri]

Pat, what makes is the night safari so special? ( besides the howling wolves)

I imagine you are seeing nocturnal animals, but how does this differ than a regular zoo visit?

I had heard about this tour, so would love to know some details.

''

 

The difference is mainly the animals are more active. They are the same animals you see in a Zoo, for the main part -- they are mostly Asian animals, of course, but they are moving around more. There was also a completely different feeling, seeing them there in the dark. More like you were in their world instead of them in yours. It is a Zoo, it's just a little different experience. In a normal Zoo you might have a nocturnal house with small animals, but we saw elephants, tigers, lions, and wolves, etc... in the night environment. If I had to choose BETWEEN the Night Safari and the Zoo, I'd take the Night Safari, because as nice as the Zoo is, it is still a Zoo like many others.

 

By the way, I didn't take the HAL tour so I am reporting hearsay, but several people, including my tablemate Kay, told me that their experience on the HAL tour (with busloads of people) was not the same as ours with our four (including Phil). Kay took the HAL tour in 2012 and they stood in line for an hour and a half to get in and then the line for the tram was so long they didn't get to see ANYTHING. Folks on the HAL tour this year stood in line a long time, but at least got to take the tram ride.

[Esri]

Read this one on Go With Me -- includes photos!

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I’ll start with an apology for my lack of posts in the last week to ten days. I have a variety of excuses ranging from sinus headaches to homesickness/grief/feeling sorry for myself to ennui. However, I know there are quite a few people who look forward to these little notes from my great adventure, so I’ll strive to do better. I am going to change the format a bit.

 

Reading back over my posts, many of them (sea days are the worst) sound exactly alike. If I get bored writing them, how must my readers feel? So in the interest of brevity and variety I’m going to try not to simply recite my daily agenda.

 

The menus are on repeat (quite frequent repeats, actually) so unless something is really awesome or terrible, I won’t be listing what I eat. The same with Trivia – unless something interesting happens, just assume I went to Trivia. If I go to a show or watch a movie, I’ll let you know. When I finish a book I’ll let you know how I liked it. Finally, if something exciting happens, you’ll definitely hear about it.

 

In the absence of something notable happening on a sea day, I’ll post a short note describing the day’s overall mood and whether all is well. For port days I’ll post a brief note telling a bit about the port and whatever I did there. A longer description of my excursions will follow later with photos (even if it follows after I get home). My entire portfolio of good photos from this trip will be published as they are processed – almost certainly later in the year.

 

Before closing this post I want to mention that I took tours in both The Seychelles and Mauritius. Both were HAL tours – one was a private car in The Seychelles and one was a bus tour in Mauritius. The difference between those two experiences has convinced me that I’m not taking any more “get on and off the bus” tours this trip.

 

The one exception will be the Tala Game Park trip in Durban, South Africa. I really want to go on a game drive (partially to see how my knee, hip, and back hold up so I can decide whether to go to Kenya in August), but the trips offered on ToursByLocals.com can’t be completed in the time we have in Durban (I don’t want to miss the ship!). I am working on booking a ToursByLocals trip in Cape Town to a Big 5 game reserve. I’ll be cancelling some other excursions during this next round of sea days. I’ll devote a sea day post to explaining what I cancel and what I keep.

 

Yesterday I received three invitations to upcoming big events. The Captain’s Dinner is on Wednesday, 26 March. There’s a Mariner’s Appreciation Day Cocktail Party hosted by HAL’s CEO, Stein Kruse and his wife, at 4:15 on 30 March. Earlier that afternoon I am invited to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. I’m looking forward to all three events.

[carri cruiser]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I’ll start with an apology for my lack of posts in the last week to ten days. I have a variety of excuses ranging from sinus headaches to homesickness/grief/feeling sorry for myself to ennui. However, I know there are quite a few people who look forward to these little notes from my great adventure, so I’ll strive to do better. I am going to change the format a bit.

 

Reading back over my posts, many of them (sea days are the worst) sound exactly alike. If I get bored writing them, how must my readers feel? So in the interest of brevity and variety I’m going to try not to simply recite my daily agenda.

 

The menus are on repeat (quite frequent repeats, actually) so unless something is really awesome or terrible, I won’t be listing what I eat. The same with Trivia – unless something interesting happens, just assume I went to Trivia. If I go to a show or watch a movie, I’ll let you know. When I finish a book I’ll let you know how I liked it. Finally, if something exciting happens, you’ll definitely hear about it.

 

In the absence of something notable happening on a sea day, I’ll post a short note describing the day’s overall mood and whether all is well. For port days I’ll post a brief note telling a bit about the port and whatever I did there. A longer description of my excursions will follow later with photos (even if it follows after I get home). My entire portfolio of good photos from this trip will be published as they are processed – almost certainly later in the year.

 

Before closing this post I want to mention that I took tours in both The Seychelles and Mauritius. Both were HAL tours – one was a private car in The Seychelles and one was a bus tour in Mauritius. The difference between those two experiences has convinced me that I’m not taking any more “get on and off the bus” tours this trip.

 

The one exception will be the Tala Game Park trip in Durban, South Africa. I really want to go on a game drive (partially to see how my knee, hip, and back hold up so I can decide whether to go to Kenya in August), but the trips offered on ToursByLocals.com can’t be completed in the time we have in Durban (I don’t want to miss the ship!). I am working on booking a ToursByLocals trip in Cape Town to a Big 5 game reserve. I’ll be cancelling some other excursions during this next round of sea days. I’ll devote a sea day post to explaining what I cancel and what I keep.

 

Yesterday I received three invitations to upcoming big events. The Captain’s Dinner is on Wednesday, 26 March. There’s a Mariner’s Appreciation Day Cocktail Party hosted by HAL’s CEO, Stein Kruse and his wife, at 4:15 on 30 March. Earlier that afternoon I am invited to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. I’m looking forward to all three events.

 

I have been enjoying your blog immensely, I have never been bored!! I like to go to trivia, so am interested in how you are doing, I do hope you aren't going to forgo your daily life aboard ship, that's what many of us enjoy so much...

I must admit that sometimes your homesickness/grief does show through, know that some of us that can read "between the lines" , lift you up in prayer.

I do hope your knee is getting better day by day!!

[Esri]

Read it on Go With Me!

 

I promised a post about each day, so here we go. I glanced out the windows at Réunion and decided not to bother. The reviews were mixed at dinner time. Jo Ann took a HAL tour and said the island was beautiful. Louise took the same tour and said it was dull and uninteresting. Mary said it “didn’t speak to her” so she didn’t go past the port. Kay went to the terminal station and used the Wi-Fi, which was iffy.

 

I spent the day in my cabin dealing with a sinus headache and trying to free up space on my laptop’s hard drive. I made sure everything was backed up and then deleted all the backup copies of my original RAW files of my photos saved when I imported them into Lightroom. That freed up half the hard drive. Hurray!

 

I also booked an overnight at a Big 5 game preserve near Cape Town. It is called Inverdoorn and in addition to specimens of the Big 5 rescued from all over Africa it features a Cheetah rehabilitation facility. I booked through ToursbyLocals and will have a private guide who’ll pick me up at the ship, show me part of Cape Town and then drive me to Inverdoorn. We’ll have lunch and an evening game drive (3+ hours) followed by dinner. I hope to have time between lunch and the evening game drive to have a “Cheetah encounter”. They are based on availability and the weather – apparently windy or stormy weather upsets the Cheetahs.

 

Unfortunately we won’t have time on the second day for a morning game drive because I have to be back to the ship by 1:00 PM. We’ll have an early breakfast, drive back to Cape Town to finish our city tour, and then back to the ship. Since I’m doing this tour, I’ve canceled my Tala Game Park excursion with HAL. They have a waiting list and someone who otherwise wouldn’t get the opportunity will happily take my place.

[erewhon]

Thanks for your updates.

 

Is Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaking on board the ship?

[marysb]

Before closing this post I want to mention that I took tours in both The Seychelles and Mauritius. Both were HAL tours – one was a private car in The Seychelles and one was a bus tour in Mauritius. The difference between those two experiences has convinced me that I’m not taking any more “get on and off the bus” tours this trip.

 

.

 

You saw nothing interesting to report on, on these 2 tours? Thought you might be really happy to get off the ship for a short time.

 

Sounds like you have had a rough time of it Pat, but keep positive and remember " you are on a world cruise". The rest of us are very envious.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

You are making lots of folks happy telling us of your travels.. I hope you are feeling better. and your knee is better. I can wait a day of two for a report.

 

Take care

 

Mary

[Lauranne]

Esri has been posting on her blog regularly.http://gowithme.net/