DAY 82 - DAY 76 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WELCOME TO RICHARD'S BAY

We began last evening with a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Cove.  When we arrived it was much quieter than normal but about thirty minutes later it became busy.

When the stores opened Anne Marie stopped by them while Keith stayed at the Bar to picked up two items for our son and daughter-in-law's boys that Anne Marie had spotted while walking inside the ship earlier in the day.  While Anne Marie was shopping Keith continued a conversation we were having with a friend.

​Success!!

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These are the restaurant menus from Waterside.

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We dined with Bernd and Yvonne who we met a couple of days after World Cruise 2019 began.  They live part of the year in two countries; Germany and Bolivia.  This is one of the aspects of cruising and travel we enjoy which is meeting people from places outside the USA.  It's a great opportunity for discovery.  We dined with Bernd last month as Yvonne was under the weather.  It was great to dine with the two of them.

Dinner was terrific.  Keith had the Sautéed Seafood and Anne Marie had Fresh Green Asparagus En Fete.  In fact, Bernd and Yvonne chose the Green Asparagus appetizer as well.  We both had salads and salmon as our  entree.  This was the first salad that didn't work for Keith on this cruise as the greens were kind of stringy.  The Salmon was delicious as it was moist, hot and tasty.  Anne  Marie had a sugar free dessert and Keith had a cheese plate.  Head Waiter Augusto cut cheese for both Keith and Yvonne.

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We slept well as we sailed to our next port of call; Richard's Bay, South Africa.  We traveled at 19 knots per hour to meet our schedule.  Our day began with an early morning workout for Keith followed by coffee and breakfast in our room.  Anne Marie walked after breakfast.

Since this was our first South African Port-Of-Call each guest had to go through immigration on-board the ship.  Before we went through immigration Keith had a hair cut. The start of the face-to-face meetings was delayed as the local authorities went to the wrong docking location.  We'd say about 45 minutes late but once the process began it went quickly.  In contrast, on the 2014 World Cruise the start of the face-to-face meeting began two or more hours late as they cleared another ship before ours in Durban.

This was our second visit to Richard's Bay.  We visited this port in 2015 however we didn't see it.  This is because upon leaving the ship we were on a three night Safari overland at Phinda Private Reserve located a couple of hours away in South Africa.  We decided to stay on board today as we didn't have a tour and we do have tours planned in Port Elizabeth and in Cape Town.

Major Attractions Of This Region Include:

Mzingazi Lake.  The lake measures 2,396 acres and is the primary water source for Richards Bay.

Alkantstrand Beach which s one of Richards Bay Blue Flag certified beaches.

Pelican Island which is a secluded beach and home to a variety of estuarine bird life.

Hluhluwe - iMfolozi Park which is the oldest proclaimed reserve in Africa  and stretches  over 237,000 acres.

There were some people selling wooden crafts, jewelry, hats and a few other items.  Keith made some donations as he did in Madagascar rather than purchasing them.  This way they can still sell them to other people.  He chatted with most of the people and they were very nice.

We did enjoy making today another sea day.  This includes walks inside the ship and on the promenade deck as well as Paddle Tennis for Keith.  We had lunch at Marketplace.

Following is today's Daily Reflections Program.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie  & Keith

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