DAY 81 - DAY 75 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WELCOME TO MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE

Patricia, you are very kind.  Thank you for your very nice comments.  Very much appreciated.

We enjoyed last evening on-board Serenity.  Our evening began with a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Cove.  The Cove was very busy as Hubert the Jeweler had a gems show.

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We returned to Waterside for dinner.  These are the dinner menus.

Dinner was wonderful.  We began with appetizers including Cod Brandade  for Keith.  We both had Salads and Swordfish.

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The evening entertainment featured a special  2019 World Cruise Event which was for everyone and created on-board Serenity by the Entertainment Team.  The theme was a Jazz and it took the guests on a nostalgic journey through the history of the world of Jazz.  

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We slept well as we made our way to Mozambique.  We kept to our regular routine of an early morning workout for  Keith  followed by coffee and breakfast in our room.  

We have been to Maputo on two separate occasions.  The first was in 2007 when this port was a maiden  port  of call stop for Crystal Cruises.  We remember that stop and going into town and locals trying to see us designer bags, perfume, cologne and other so-called designer items.  Each one came at a low price tag.  We wonder if anyone thought they were the real thing.  LOL.  We did walk around and visited the Maputo Train Station.  Over the years it was incorrectly identified as being attributed to Gustave Eiffel and was actually designed by Jose Ferreira.

The 2015 World Cruise took us back to Maputo.  Keith went off while Anne Marie stayed on-board.  He viewed changes with more buildings in place and  found the city to be more orderly compared to eight years earlier.  Gone were the locals trying to sell those so-called designer items by the Train Station.  

We decided not to get off the ship this time around given that there are limited things to do at this port.  We also avoided a $50.00 per person visa.  

Following are photos that Keith took in  2015.

Some information  about Maputo.

The city population is 1.2 million residents.

Highlights include:

Fortaleza  which is the fortress built in the 19th century.

Mercado Central which opened in 1903 and the building holds 150 stalls.

Casa de Ferro which was built as the Governor's House in the late 19th century.

Musart which was created in 1989 and showcase the collection of Moxambican are.

Museu de Historia Natural which was created in 1913 and houses several collections including musical instruments and accessories of Mozambican tribes.

Some photos from the ship taken as we arrived to port this morning.

Since we knew that we would remain on-board Serenity today Keith scheduled a haircut in the morning while Anne Marie walked.  Unfortunately, due to an  unexplained error the appointment fell out of the system.  Keith will have his haircut done tomorrow before we get off in Richard's Bay.  Keith ended up walking with Anne Marie.

​We enjoyed the rest of the day on-board Serenity.  We caught up on some missed lectures, read, wrote and spoke with fellow guests and members of team Serenity.

Lunch was at Marketplace and in the afternoon Anne Marie enjoyed a walk and Keith played Paddle Tennis.

We have tours coming up in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town in a few days and are looking forward to them.  

As mentioned yesterday, since the start of World Cruise 2019 Celebrity Chef Jon Ashton has been on our sailing. We have had the opportunity to see speak with him several times about a range of items including cooking, travel and a positive outlook.  In addition to leading cooking demos and preparing selected items featured in Waterside he has been making twelve shows that are part of a series.  The first episode was released and every two weeks a new one will be released.  We thought we would share the first of the twelve videos.

Today's daily Reflections program follows.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith