Saturday 18^th April 2015 – Cape Town.

When we woke up this morning we saw that the ship is parked under Table Mountain – although inside a container port! Have to say that the mountain isn’t as big or impressive as it appears in the photographs we have seen.

We learned that the wind had been too strong for the ship to get into the harbour on time yesterday morning and it meant that Gary, Jenny & Dianne were very stressed as they had booked a private safari with an 8am pick-up! Fortunately their taxi waited for them…

We decided on a quietish day so took the shuttle into the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. (Yes, Alfred, not Albert - as it was Queen Victoria’s son Alfred who put a lot of money into Cape Town) We went to the “hop on hop off” tour office and decided on the two and a half hour peninsular trip. (Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do the free wine tour part of the trip as the ship was leaving mid-afternoon and we all had to go through South African immigration again…)

The trip went around behind Table Mountain passed the Botanical Gardens to the better beaches and through the affluent suburbs – one of which is called Clifton! One stop we wouldn’t have got off – even if we had the time – was a walking tour through Imizamo Township.

After a coffee in the waterfront we got back on the ship where Ian was very nearly crashed into in Kings Court by a suitcase wielding Michael Howard (the celebrity guest speaker on this leg)

We attended the emergency drill again, as we had received a personal invite. Apparently maritime law states that passengers have to attend one every six weeks – but as they don’t take a register how would they know? We got there early (yes, we realise that if it happens for real we wouldn’t know when the alarm would go off) as it’s the only way we can get a seat! We sat right in front of Lee (the Muster Station Leader and also our choir master) who told us later he couldn’t look at our serious faces as he gave out the information - because he would have laughed.

We then went up to Deck 8 for the “sail away” where we discovered that Norah (who is the spitting image of June) and Alan are back on board. She had brought presents! Chocolate for Gary and handbag ashtrays for the girls. (Nesta’s has got “Two beers or not two beers” printed on it – what is she trying to say?) We enjoyed a couple of pints (two beers?) as we sailed out of Cape Town. This is a place we would come back to – always assuming the riots that followed our Durban departure and have now spread to Johannesburg spread no further.

As newbies always cause chaos in Kings Court we decided to have our meal in the Britannia Restaurant. We asked Robert for an umbrella as there was a “sneezer” and a “cougher” at the two tables on the level above us. Robert tried to be professional but had to walk away laughing when Nesta sat there with her napkin over her head…

 

Sunday 19^th April – Day at Sea.

Clocks went back again last night so we are on GMT + 1 – which means we are on the same time as the UK!

It was a sunny day but the southerly wind was cold. We decided to cancel our “leisurely” trip in Grand Canaria and go on the “free time at two different places” tour instead. Ian went down to the tours desk where he found himself behind his new friends Lord & Lady Howard!

Michael Howard was trying to book a trip to Swakopmund from Walvis Bay tomorrow - but was told it was full and he would have to go on a waiting list. When he said he had filled in a request form the previous evening the girl in the office basically called him a liar - as she had “processed all requests that have come in”. For a man who would have, after all, been Prime Minister if the Tories had won the 2005 General Election he didn’t come the “do you know who I am” and instead of getting his butler to arrange a trip, merely shrugged his shoulders and accepted that he had to go on a waiting list. Ian has never agreed with his politics but on the basis of his two meetings with him now thinks he’s a genuine person.

There was a church service led by the Captain but we couldn’t bear to listen to his boring monotone voice again – so gave it a miss.

In the afternoon we signed up again for the choir. As this is the last leg, we will be doing a full concert in the Royal Court Theatre so lots more people turned up hoping to get into the limelight! Let’s see if they can drag themselves off their sunbeds for rehearsals when the weather gets a bit warmer!

It was formal night tonight – but we decided to give the restaurant a miss (after being coughed and sneezed on last night) Ian ordered a steak from room service and Nesta brought fresh pasta down from the chef’s galley. We drank some of our own wine and had a nice evening.

 

Monday 20^th April 2015 – Walvis Bay, Namibia.

We docked safely and attended our usual African immigration queue before getting on to our tour to Swakopmund (a German settlement dating back to when Namibia was called German South West Africa)

Walvis Bay was more affluent than we had expected (even though the tour guide said that there was 35% unemployment) We didn’t see much evidence of the townships that blight South Africa and the locals we came across appeared friendly!

We saw flamingos in the lagoon next to where the ship was parked and then went along the coast road to Swakopmund. We didn’t feel it was very Germanic (certainly not as quaint as Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills) but went to a crystal factory and a factory where weavers were making carpets before watching how shoes are made from the skins of zebra, springbok and crocodile… (Don’t worry Fi & Ellie – we didn’t buy any!) Nesta did buy a “Pumba” tee-shirt, though!

On the way back to the ship we stopped at Dune 7 (so named because it is seven miles from the sea, apparently) This is allegedly the third biggest sand dune in Africa and Nesta decided she would be an intrepid explorer and try to climb it. Unfortunately, we only had 15 minutes free time, so she had to admit defeat!

Back on the ship we went to the sail away party and then to the cinema to watch Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game” about Professor Alan Turing of Bletchley Park fame. We enjoyed the film even though we had German passengers behind us translating most of the dialogue!

We then called it a night. Our next stop is Las Palmas in Grand Canaria which is seven days away…