Sunday 12^th April 2015 – Day at Sea.

Another sunny sea day which we spent quietly. Ian has a bit of a cold (finally succumbing to the Cunard Cough, which has been in evidence on the ship since day one).

We went to the church service at 11am, run by the deputy Captain. He was marginally more enthusiastic than the Captain last week – but only just

We spent the afternoon sitting out on our balcony. There was no choir practise (although we sorely need it!) because Lee has a concert tonight and, with a new singer, their need for rehearsals is greater than ours!

The concert was an hour of songs from the four singers backed by a 20 piece orchestra. It was an excellent show and we were pleased that we went!

 

Monday 13^th April – Durban, South Africa.

The clocks went back yet again last night so we are now on GMT + 2 (BST + 1)

Here we are in South Africa! No problems clearing immigration and we were off on our trip to see the “Scenes of Durban” Our guide was a white woman in her sixties and throughout the tour she was making outrageously racist comments that, to her, were normal thinking and speaking patterns. There is 25% unemployment here, no social security, no public transport and interest rates of over 10% (and they wonder why there are muggings and a high crime rate)

It was an interesting tour – but it is a place that we don’t wish to come back to.

The ship was running a shuttle to the very far end of South Beach where there is a “safe” shopping mall and beach area. We were told it was safe to walk on the promenade but not to go further than 100 metres! After seeing the scores of homeless people sleeping rough during the morning tour – we heeded their advice!

Our first stop was to a hairdresser for a trim and then onto a bar on the beachfront where we watched the (mainly white) world go by. The South African rand is very low at the moment so the drinks and cigarettes were cheap (£1-25 for a packet of 20 Benson & Hedges – what a pity they didn’t stock Nesta’s brand!)

We got back to the ship at about 4pm and watched the “sail away” from deck six, aft. A flotilla of small craft escorted us out of the harbour and we waved to the hundreds of people lining the shores.

We had some cheese and biscuits (as we couldn’t face a full meal) and then sat chatting with the smokers until it was time to go and watch the late show with Jon Courtenay. We thought he was very funny again and really enjoyed his show.

By the time the show had finished and we got back to the cabin it was after midnight - which, on this ship, is very late indeed! It was like walking through the Marie Celeste