DAY 3 AND SECOND FULL DAY IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA. We wanted to begin with some additional photos from yesterdays' wine tour. Today marks the conclusion of Segment 3 of the World Cruise and the start of Segment 4 which is the last segment of the World Cruise. During Segment 3 we cruises from Fremantle/Perth Australia to Cape Town, South Africa traveling the equivalent of 7,058 land miles. The temporary closure of the Laundry Rooms was clarified. It was due to the water shortage in South Africa rather than the ship not being able to create water which is done when it is at sea. Moving to last evening" By the time we got ready for dinner, we decided to walk around the ship before dinner last evening rather than having a drink. While on our walk we saw Sommelier Ross at The Bistro. Ross will be going on a well deserved Holiday starting with his flight back home to Manilla today. We will miss him. We enjoyed dinner at the Italian Specialty Restaurant Prego. We were in great hands with Mario Gallo as the Specialty Restaurant Maitre d', Mario Moinheiro as Head Waiter, Ernest as our Waiter and Lubo as our Sommelier. It was a fairly quiet night reminding us of the old days when fewer guests were dining there. Everything was great from service to cuisine to the overall ambience of the dining venue. We began with appetizers; Seared Tuna Crudo for Keith and a half order of the Insalata Caprese for Anne Marie. We both had Caesar salad light on dressing and for our entree Keith had the Over Roasted Corn Fed Chicken Breast and Anne Marie had a half portion of the Veal Scallopini. The Chicken was a fairly new addition to the menu and the first time Keith has had it. He thought it was great. He learned when he ordered it that this item will be removed from the menu for the fourth segment of the World Cruise as the change some appetizers and entrees. We chatted with Waiter Mornie who will go home tomorrow. He lives in South Africa. Mario Gallo will also go home tomorrow. We wished them both the very best for their well deserved holidays. We are pleased to hear about new assignments for Mornio and both Mario's. We slept well last evening. Serenity remained docked in Cape Town. Keith was up early and back to the Fitness Center. He enjoyed a long workout. Afterwards, we enjoyed Coffee in our room followed by Breakfast. We got ready to visit Victoria and Albert Waterfront. When we were here last in 2015 the area near the Cruise Ship Terminal was under a great deal of construction making it difficult to walk to V&A Waterfront. We had to take the shuttle. This time around the construction is all complete including a new museum so we decided to walk rather than taking the complimentary shuttle. The Victoria & Albert Waterfront is situated on the Atlantic shore and totals 300 acres in size. It attracts 23 million visitors annually. It is home to 450 businesses including restaurants, cafes, shops, and other retail establishments. It is still a working harbor with fishing boats bringing in fresh fish. As we left the ship we saw Captain Birger who joined the ship today and Captain Giske who leaves the ship for a well deserved Holiday today. We also saw some crew members arriving including Bartender Dennis, his lovely wife who works at the front desk and one of the Sommeliers. Time does go by fast as they along with Captain Birger went on holiday right before the start of the World Cruise. We followed the yellow brick road (well the area marked with yellow) over to Victoria & Albert and walked the entire area. This included a stop at the Aquarium, stops at various malls, a stop at the hotel that Crystal Cruises put us up at when we returned from Safari one day prior to the arrival of Serenity in 2015, and to several other areas. The weather was nice. Along the way we saw some passengers from the ship, some passengers who had just gotten off and some passengers who join the ship today. During our visit we picked up books the grandchildren. Hopefully they are not reading the Blog but just in case we will keep the names of the books a secret. As we walked the area we reminisced about our prior visits to Cape Town in 2007, 2010, 2014 & 2015. In 2007 we took a wine tour on a Crystal Cruises tour and visited the Aquarium. In 2010 we visited Robben Island. In 2014 we took the Hop On Hop Off Bus (HOHO) on two different days across two different routes including Table Mountain, Botanical Gardens, Cape and downtown area. In 2015 we were supposed to return from Safari in Port Elizabeth. Due to high winds the ship could not dock at the port for fear it would get stuck in port that evening. We were rerouted to Cape Town where we stayed at a hotel and waited for the arrival of Serenity the next day. We took a one day private tour the day after returning to Serenity with dear friends Bob & Glo which Keith arranged of the wine country. During each of our stays we always walked V&A. It is a fun area to walk and one of the most beautiful areas near a cruise ship terminal in the world. As we have mentioned, never our wildest dreams would we have imagined that we would visit Cape Town even one Tim let along five times. When we began our lives together, we thought maybe one day we would go to Europe. We have grown so much from our travels both on and off the ship. Travel teaches us so many things and reinforces the diversity of people, their culture, their nationality, the diversity of geography, the different challenges facing people & countries and that everyone does not do or think the way we do in our home country. We also gain so much seeing this through our own eyes and recognize that we do not cover the world very much in our own country which is something that we believe is very important to do. When we returned to the ship we saw something that will make several guests happy and that is Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio as they ran out of it on the last cruise. They served an Austrian one that was quite good but some people prefer to go with the "name brand". Personally we think there are several better ones on the market at a significantly better value. There is one item that Keith has that we are hoping arrived today. We will find out soon. The challenge for the ship is that space is at a premium and they cannot load an entire supply of wine/beer/water for such an extended period of time. From time-to-time some item might be consumed at a far greater rate than anticipated or the item that has been ordered arrives to the ship late or not at the right standards. For example a few years ago Champagne arrived to the sister ship for a Holiday Cruise in a vessel where the refrigeration went off line so the Champagne became hot and went bad. We are always amazed at how well they do stocking the ship given all of the complexities of procuring/resourcing items. Once back on the ship we had lunch at Marketplace and are enjoying the rest of the day on Serenity. We have already run into some friends who embarked today.
We took a nice long walk together outside on the Promenade Deck. We felt like we were on a Yacht as it was only the two of us. We are enjoying the rest of the day on-board Serenity.
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WELCOME TO CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Catherine, we are happy to answer questions. We have not had to do anything special in terms of compressing the videos. The videos we are posting are mainly 10 to 15 seconds in duration and with our Internet connection along with the type of blog site we use, it takes a couple of minutes to add them to our blog. Crystal Serenity arrived to Cape Town late yesterday afternoon. The arrival was spectacular. Whereas earlier in the day it was cloudy, windy and cool prior to our arrival it became sunny, warmer with very little wind.This allowed for magnificent views of the city and iconic sites including Table Mountain. Prior to arrival we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Cove while conversing with fellow guests and the bar team. It was busy at the bar and at the Cove. Richard Pucci played a Beatles Song and while Anne Marie was taking a photo of the two of the two of them Richard asked Keith if he would like to join him at the piano. Keith can't play but he can hum to the music of The Beatles. LOL. Under the direction of Paster Ed and his lovely wife Ruth, we listened to the World Cruise Choir play three songs prior to dinner. Paster Ed was on the guitar and Pianist Richard played the Piano. The choir was short-handed with some guests on overlands but you would never have known this. They were terrific. We went from the Crystal Plaza up two decks and outside on the Promenade Deck to enjoy the arrival to Cape Town and those magnificent views. The world is beautiful and arriving to Cape Town is one of several places around the world offering spectacular arrivals and departures by Cruise Ship. From there we had dinner. These are the dinner menus from Waterside. We dined at Umi Uma. We enjoyed a great meal. Richie was our Waiter and Jay our Sommelier and the cuisine, service and the ambience of the dining venue was terrific. Anne Marie had the Chicken as an entree for the very first time. It was moist and delicious. Clockwise starting from the left Lobster Tempura, Shrimp, A quintet of Nobu Sashimis Specials, Sashimi and Hot Soba Noodles. We didn't get a photo of the Chicken Entree. As we left, we thanked Richie, Jay and other members of the Waitstaff along with Head Waiter Sigi and the Sushi Chefs for this wonderful meal. We spoke to Ross who several months ago was promoted to Sommelier. We see Ross every morning on our many walks inside the ship as often he is bringing food over to the Bistro for the morning breakfast. Ross is one of several crew members who will be going on a well-deserved Holiday when the third segment of the world cruise ends tomorrow. We will miss all of them. The evening entertainment was Giovanni's "A Tribute to Soul Train & Motown. Later in the evening we met with Mary Jean the Founder and CEO of the Travel Company that we book our cruises with along with some of our other related travel with. Our Travel Specialist Gerri joined us later. We haven't seen them since 2015 so it was great to catch up with them. When we arrived back to our room there was a letter from World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston about the fourth and final segment of World Cruise 2019. There was another charm for the women to add to the charm bracelet they received. Appropriately this was a charm of a giraffe to remember our visit to Africa. We slept well last evening. There was no gentle rocking of the ship as we are docked at Cape Town. LOL We began the day as we normally do. Keith was up early and at the Fitness Center for a workout followed by coffee and breakfast in our room. The only change was having breakfast earlier to get ready for a private tour that Keith arranged. This is our fifth visit to Cape Town since 2007. Some consider Cape Town to be the San Francisco of Africa. It is a beautiful city and has unique physical characteristics that make it special. This includes Table Top Mountain, its beautiful shoreline including the Cape. While South Africa is facing many issues including the economy, the economy of Cape Town appears to be thriving with tourism being a major catalyst to growth. The city continues to grow with a population of 3.8 million residents. In less than thirty years the population has nearly doubled. Cape Town is a popular international tourist destination and a popular destination of Africans. Some of its natural sites include: Table Mountain. Those clouds that rise above the mountain make one think that there is a table cloth on top of the flat part of the mountain. Table Mountain National Park. The park includes both Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope. Chapman's Peak Drive which is a narrow road which provides spectacular views of the ocean. Cape Town's beaches. Several beaches provide different views and a unique atmosphere from one another. Robben Island which is located a short distance from Cape Town and reached by boat service provided for a fee by the Robben Island Museum. The Island was used as a prison where many political prisoners were housed including Nelson Mandela. We took a tour of the Island a few years ago. Robben Island is a National Heritage Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other attractions include: S.A. National Gallery founded in 1914 and includes British works between the 17th and 19th centuries. District Six Museum which was founded din 1994 in memorial to the forced movement of 60,000 inhabitants during Apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Bo-Kaap is an area formerly known as the Malay Quarter and is known for its brightly colored homes and steep cobble stoned streets. Victoria & Albert Waterfront which is located on the oldest working harbor in South Africa on the Atlantic Shower and is home to over 450 retail outlets. Castle of Good Hope which is a fort built in the 17th century and today houses the Castle Military Museum. Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art which opened in 2017. The city also boasts many hotels, restaurants, museums and other sites. There is a beautiful botanical garden, and cable car that takes you up to Table Mountain. It also provides a gateway to the Wine Country and this is a good time to begin with a summary from our first day full-day in Cape Town of this adventure. In 2015 we took a private tour to the Cape Winelands and we enjoyed it so much we decided to return. With many areas and hundreds and hundreds of wineries one could do many tours and enjoy many new experiences. The only difference is we used a different tour company. In fact, we used the tour company we wanted to use in 2015 but they were booked and they referred us to the one we used in 2015. Our tour guide is Clive who has been giving tours since 2002. He is a former high school teacher. He gives tours to individuals and to groups and he covers the Cape, the downtown area, the Wine Farms and takes some tours on Safaris. He was wonderful. The Cape Winelands region is in the heart of the South African wine producing industry. Our tour focused on the famous Stellenbosch region. This region produces 3% of the world's wines. Our first visit to this area was in 2007. On this visit we enjoyed a wine tasting and cellar tour two local estates and also a visit to an olive farm where we tasted a range of olive oil and walked a very special garden. In addition to wine tasting we also love this region because of its natural beauty with beautiful vineyards with views of mountains and the surrounding landscape. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at another wine estate. We tasted wine at this estate in 2015. The restaurant was lovely and we enjoyed a delicious lunch of salad and sea bass and a glass of wine for me. This was a fabulous day with a great tour guide, lots of discussion, tasting delicious wine and olive oil, a wonderful meal, and taking in breathtaking scenery. Following is the daily Reflections Program from today. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith ON THE ROAD TO CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Thank you Catherine. We also felt bad for the Zebra. The Zebra was attacked by the Hyena. Gilly, that Beef Wellington was delicious. The art pieces by Ardmore are very unique. We went in the store last evening and one artist was working on one of them. It's such a good cause and also as you note would provide a nice memory from sailing this area of the world. Thank you Bill& Carolyn, we are glad you are enjoying the blog and will be sure to give your best to Claudia. We saw lots of wildlife on yesterdays tour. This included: Red Spur File Bird, Cape Glossy Starling Bird, Egyptian Goose, Haded Bird, Ostriches, African Hoepoe Bird, Blacksmith Lapwing Bird, Elephants, Buffaloes, Red Hartbeast, Zebras, Kudu, Warthog, Hyena, Black-backed Jackal, African Land Snail, Flightless and numerous Dung Beetles. We are including a few additional photos and two more video from yesterday. Last evening, we had a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon where we were taken great care of by Bartender Afzal. It was nice to hear and share experiences with others about what they did in Port Elizabeth and also hear from others who returned from overland trips. These are the dinner menus from Waterside where we had dinner. We enjoyed three courses. We began with an appetizer from the Modern Cuisine menu of Roasted Portobello Mushrooms followed by salad. For our main course we chose the Fresh Local Sea Bream Fish from the Modern Cuisine Menu. The Sea Bream is a thick and firm fish. It was not our favorite fish but it was enhanced by the items that accompanied it. Before we left Port Elizabeth Captain Giske spoke from the bridge and said the sea might be choppy. The good news is last evening they were not as rough as we expected and we slept well. We began the day as we normally do. While Keith still has muscle awareness (code for some pain) he returned to the Elliptical Machine for a nice workout. It was nice for him to get back on the Elliptical Machine. We followed this with coffee and breakfast and then we both walked inside the ship. The daily Reflections program noted that the guest laundry facilities would be lots from 12 Noon today until midnight, Thursday, March 14. In anticipation of the closure, Keith did all of our laundry early this morning. The closure is likely because when the ship is in port it does not make water as that is done when the ship is at sea. We have several days in Cape Town as this current segment of the World Cruise comes to an end and the next Segment begins. With an arrival time of 7:00 PM to Cape Town, this was a sea day in terms of enrichment and other activities. There were three lectures. Ken Rees spoke about the History of Cape Town and South Africa. World Affairs Lecturer Daniel Silke spoke about the critical issues facing South Africa. The final lecture of the day was given by Robert Caskie who spoke about the Battle of Isandlwana which took place on January 22, 1879 which resulted in the Zulu history over the British. It was a good day to stay inside the ship. A couple of photos from our room. It was rainy/windy and one could hear the howling of the wind. During his morning talk from the bridge, Captain Giske said he expected that the weather would improve and later in the day the Sun might come out. Unfortunately, no Paddle Tennis for Keith. We both enjoyed lunch at Marketplace and are relaxing on-board Serenity. Following is the daily Reflections program from today. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith WELCOME TO PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA We returned to the Crystal Cove for a pre-dinner drink last evening. The evening attire was Black Tie (BTO) Optional. While at the cove our son Eric called us on Facetime so it was great to see him along with grandsons Jackson and Preston. This was one of the quietest times we have had at the Crystal Cove since December. Where was everyone? Not sure. LOL. Pianist Richard Pucci played wonderfully on the piano including a few songs by The Beatles. Thank you Richard. Dinner was at Waterside. Following are the dinner menus. We began the meal with Caviar for Keith & Soup for Anne Marie. We both had appetizer salads. We mainly have seafood and poultry for dinner but decided Beef Wellington was in order and it was a perfect choice. Cooked to perfection, arrived to the table hot and was delicious. We would say that Waterside was the quietest we have seen it on a Black Tie Optional Night. Where was everyone? LOL In all seriousness, about 100 people are off the ship on overlands. Another 100+ people were at the Supper Club. Some people were likely relaxing in their rooms and with several other restaurants people were spread out all over the ship. We slept well as Serenity sailed to our next port of call; Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Our day started as it normally does with a workout for Keith at the Fitness Center followed by coffee and breakfast in our room. Some information about Port Elizabeth. Port Elizabeth is one of the larger cities in South Africa. The population totals a quarter of a million residents. Port Elizabeth is a tourist destination attracting tourists for its beaches, parks, museums and nearby national parks. Highlights include: South End Museum which has several displays including fishing, sports, music and dance. No 7 Castle Museum which was completed in 1825 and one of the oldest surviving settle cottages in this city. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum which reflects the history and character of this area of South Africa. Market Square which is the heart of the town center. Humewood Beach which is a popular beach for families. Addo Elephant National Park which we will discuss below. The last two times Serenity was scheduled to be in Port Elizabeth while we were on-board we were on Safari. In 2014 we flew from Durban to Port Elizabeth returning from Safari and boarded Serenity two hours before we left for Cape Town. In 2015 we were supposed to return in the same manner as 2014 as we were on another Safari. However, due to strong winds Serenity was unable to dock at this port and instead went to Cape Town. We were returning from a Crystal Overland Tour and Crystal took care of all of this for us. This included adding a flight to Cape Town and booking us at a hotel and providing dinner and drink and breakfast the following morning while we waited for Serenity to arrive. We actually stayed at a hotel we always want to stay at. When Serenity arrived we were taken over to the pier to board the ship. We have been to this city on two prior occasions and the first time was in 2007. We did a Crystal tour of Addo Elephant National Park. We have fond memories of that visit so Keith arranged for a private tour of the park for today. We were met by our private guide and driver Andrew and driven to the park. The park is about thirty minutes from the port. The park is one of nineteen national parks in South Africa. It ranks third in size behind Kruger National Park and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The original park was founded in 1931 to provide a sanctuary for the eleven remaining elephants in the area. Today, the park is home to over 600 elephants and other mammals. The park is popular and 300,000 tourists visit the park annually. We enjoyed a great tour. Our tour guide was Andrew. As we drove to the park he told us a great deal about Port Elizabeth (its name will be changing), the economy, the country and countless other items plus what we might see in the park. A few items: The economy is not doing well and unemployment is very high; almost 30%. There are several automobile manufacturing plants in Port Elizabeth. The Chinese are investing a lot which we knew and that is not only here but throughout Africa. We are reminded that the Chinese do not think short-term but think long terms. No one is really talking about this much in South Africa or for that matter in our own country. When we last visited South Africa in 2015 they were already in a drought which lasted four years. Thankfully they are getting rain but what that meant is we would see less animals at the watering holes since there was a lot of rain. We stills saw many different animals and birds. While we have seen many elephants over the years we had one that was inches from the vehicle. We saw a hyena which we can't remember if we saw before. All in all it was a wonderful tour and day. During the tour another vehicle driven by the same company stopped as our tour guide spoke with their tour guide. A person in the vehicle called out Keith. He is on the Seabourn Sojourn but knew us from our Blog. Later on when we were at lunch he came up to us and said that he has been following our blog for many years and he said his favorite cruise line is Crystal Cruises. All nice to hear. These photos show some of the art the local art pieces brought on board Serenity in Durban which is being sold on board until we reach Namibia. They are being sold at the Apropos store which is one of three stores on-board Serenity. Each piece is one-of-a-kind made by one of several artists. They are part of the Ardmore Team founded by Fee Halsted in 1985. She is on-board with one of her daughter's. We had a marvelous day and we are making memories which will last a lifetime.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN TO PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa. Bette thank you for your very nice comments. It is hard to believe that it was five years ago when we met you both on that Safari. Time sure goes fast when we are all having fun. You asked how the evening show times are scheduled with the move to open dining. On most evenings the featured shows is scheduled for 7:45 and 9:30 PM which seems to work very well for the majority of guests. It provides an earlier show for those who eat early and provides alternatives for those who eat late. On some evenings there will be an entirely different show that begins around 8:30 PM. On occasion in addition to all of this there is some type of entertainment beginning at 5:00 PM. The live entertainment in all of the lounges varies from night to night and by time as to who will be performing in which venue which seems to work out well. We send you both our very best. Last evening we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Plaza. We sat with two couples and we learned that one of the couples lives less than 1/2 mile from us. In two days we have met two couples who live less than one mile from where we live. It is a small world. Bette These are the dinner menus from Waterside. We dined at the Italian Specialty Restaurant Prego. It is not often when we dine at the same specialty restaurant within days of each other let alone on two consecutive nights. We dined with Hotel Director Hubert and the original plan was to dine together another evening. However, Hubert needed to reschedule and last night was the night which would work best for all four of us. After looking over the menu at Waterside we decided to keep our other reservation at Prego. Hubert will be going on a well deserved Holiday when this segment of the World Cruise ends in Cape Town and the next segment begins. At the same time Captain Giske will be going on Holiday and Captain Birger will return from his Holiday. One of the items we had was actually on the Waterside Menu. Coincidentally, while going ashore in Durban we spoke briefly with Celebrity Chef Jon Ashton who along with his two-person film crew was meeting with local female chef. As part of the local experience on last evening’s menu there was an entrée called Chef Jon’s Durban Shrimp. Since we weren't dining at Waterside where this item would be featured Crystal Food & Beverage Personnel were kind enough to make this item available for us to share at Prego. We all began with an appetizer portion of Jon's Durban Shrimp, followed by Caesar salad and we had the additional entree which was the Halibut Fish for our entree. Everything was wonderful including lots of great conversation and laughs and terrific cuisine and service. Kudos to Jon Ashton for the Jon's Durban Shrimp creation, to Prego Chef Alfred for creating another wonderful additional entree and to the other chefs for preparing another wonderful meal. Crystal Serenity departed Durban at 9:00 PM. We slept well as we are sailing towards Elizabeth, South Africa. We began the day with a workout for Keith and coffee and breakfast in our room. With some muscle awareness issues Keith skipped the Fitness Center and walked inside the ship. We both had personal training at the same time today; Keith with Melanie and Anne Marie with Charlotte. Melanie adjusted a few exercises for Keith. Keith would have taken indoor cycling right after the personal training but decided to pass on the class to give his sore muscle some rest. We both walked together in lieu of the indoor cycling. We also spent time with the Paula Jean the Cruise Sales Consultant about a new booking and Alissa the Crystal Society Hostess. Highlights from today included: Professor Nigel MacLennan spoke about how to learn faster and remember more. Robert Caskie spoke about 200 hundred years of South Africa history. We watched his lecture live on the television in our room. World Affairs lecturer Daniel Silke spoke about the rise and fall of Apartheid. In terms of food, there was a Grand Gala Buffet outside the Waterside dining venue. We looked at the array of items that were prepared by the wonderful culinary team and the set-up of tables and other items done by the Waterside Waitstaff Team. This is an example of a team effort by so many people who are part of the Food & Beverage Team. Let us also remember that other personnel help including housekeeping. Keith stopped by to look at several of the displays as they were being set up and spoke with Pastry Chef Harald and Executive Chef Werner. The attention to detail is amazing with an example of that being the desserts. The desserts were not only visually appealing and very creative but the aroma was equally amazing. As someone who does appreciate a good cake Keith thought they all looked delicious. We are sharing several photos with emphasis on the desserts. We enjoyed lunch at Marketplace. On Grand Gala Buffet days such as today when we arrive to Marketplace we say we are there for the Grand Gala Marketplace Buffet. After all it is a buffet. Keith was going to give Paddle Tennis a try but as it turned out it was not meant to be due to rain. It is quite windy which is another reason better for Keith not to play. Probably better just to give himself a break. Instead we walked again inside the ship. We are posting early and plan to enjoy the rest of the afternoon on-board Serenity. This is the daily Reflections Program for today. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith WELCOME TO DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA Elaine, thank you for your very nice comments. Catherine, thank you for sharing your experiences contrasting the two voyages. Like you we appreciate the diversity of the guests. We also feel that way about the crew. We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink in our room. Due to local requirements only non-alcohol drinks could be served at the lounges. The exception was three lounges where they could be served during dinner hours. These are the menus from Waterside. We returned to the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant. We enjoyed a wonderful meal. Delicious food, great service and wonderful conversation. For Appetizers Keith had the crab cake and Anne Marie had the chilled seafood salad. We both had Caesar salad. We were pleased that the additional item was Halibut and we thought it was delicious. It was breaded lightly and a terrific choice for us. We slept well last evening. Serenity departed at 9:00 PM and the seas were calm. We both slept well and began our day with a workout for Keith followed by coffee and breakfast in our room. We also walked for while. We arrived to Durban, South Africa at 7:00 AM. The last two times we were on-board Serenity we missed Durban as we were on overland Safaris. Our first visit was in 2007 and again in 2010. We took tours on those visits. Durban has the third largest population of all cities in South Africa. With its beauty and subtropical climate it has become one of South Africa's most popular holiday destinations. Highlights include: Victoria Market which is a traditional Indian style market that opened in 1973. uShaka Marine World which is the fifth largest Marine Park and Aquarium in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Durban Art Gallery which is home to collections that are diverse and includes artwork along with historic pictures and artifacts. The Golden Mile which is a popular beachfront including a stretch of golden sands. Botanical Gardens which is Durban's oldest public institution and the oldest surviving botanical garden in all of Africa. The first of its gardens was established in December of 1849. We took the complimentary shuttle which ran between the pier and the drop-off in the city. There was a lot of congestion in the port and right outside the port. An MSC ship was in port and it was turn-around day for them. Once we got beyond two traffic lights the rest of the drive was quick. We were dropped off at Ushaka Marine World which had rides and lots of restaurants and stores. Several large children groups were visiting there. We walked to the end of the venue which took us to a walkway along the beach. Along the strip there are a total of sixteen teaches, gardens, skate park, hotels, restaurants and other facilities. At one point we saw two men playing chess with “Texas” size chess pieces. While walking on the pathway along the beach. After returning to the ship we enjoyed lunch at Marketplace followed by a walk inside the ship. While walking the ship we ran into some of the crew members who are from South Africa who have family who have joined the ship today and will stay on-board until Cape Town. In many cases it is the first time the family has been on-board Serenity and so very nice they can see where their child works. Very special. We didn't have it but one of the items on the buffet was Durban Beef Bunny Chow. The daily Reflections Program follows. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith |
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