Day 84 Mar 30 - Andoany, Nosy Be, Madagascar

Small boats grabbing what was being thrown down

Crowd waiting for small boats to Lemur Island

Boat similar to ours

Dancers greeted us

Wading ashore in our water landing

Lots of little children

Lemur in the tree

This one came for some banana

Glenda the snake charmer

Glenda, Martha and Ron

The ultimate boat person

We were racing this boat back to the dock

All the boats crowding each other

With the locals at the small bar

Our wake up call was at 7 and it was 81 degrees with 91 percent humidity under partly cloudy skies and 7 knot winds. We had breakfast in the room and coffee on the verandah as we sailed in. We dropped anchor just before 8 and lowered the tenders. Many small boats came along side and people above us were throwing clothing, shoes, and other things to the boats which is a definite no-no. Our tour to Lemur Island (Nosy Komba) was at 9:30. We boarded the tender at 10 and boarded a small boat with our group number 12 of 10 people out of 280 that were on the tour and had a water landing on the other island at 10:30. We walked through the village into the forest area to see the lemurs, lizards, a boa constrictor, turtles and some of the flora. Then we went back to the village for shopping and refreshments before re-boarding the boat back to the dock at 1. When we got back to the dock, there were 2 ferry boats, 21 small boats from our tour, and the ship's tenders all trying to load and unload at a very small dock. This was the craziest boat jam we had ever seen. Boats were bumping into each other and pushing their way in. It took 40 minutes before our boat could get to a point where we could get off. At this time, there were about 500 people lined up to get a tender ride back to the ship, so we walked out of dock area and ran into Kris & Signe at a small bar seated with several locals. We sat and talked and I had some beer for about 30 minutes before going back to the tender at 2:40 and the ship at 3. We went to bingo, but there were not enough people to play for prize money. There were 2 bracelets from the "inch of gold" in the shop to give away, so we had a free game for the first bracelet. After the winner chose which one she wanted, he called one more number and Glenda and 2 men got bingo on that number and they played a quick run-off game which Glenda won. I went to the front desk and bought some South African Rand for our next 5 ports. Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and talked with Ron & Dave, Don, Marylon, Rose, and Kris & Signe. After dinner, we returned and talked with Don, Ron, Peter and Barbie. It was Karaoke night for 30 minutes and I sang '"Your Never Even Called Me By My Name". At 10:15, we went to the casino and I contributed for 30 minutes while Glenda played for 40 minutes and won $10.30.

Day 83 Mar 29 - At Sea

Our wake up call was at 8 and it was 82 degrees with 83 percent humidity under partly cloudy skies and 8 knot winds. Glenda had a hair appointment at 10 and a private lunch with Anne Marie at 12. We had coffee on the verandah and watched a few flying fish. I went to breakfast at 9:10 while Glenda was dressing and returned at 9:30 to update the blog for the last 2 days. Glenda came back at 10:30 and told me that I missed a large group of dolphins that she watched from the spa. Glenda went down and ironed some of her clothes and I posted the blog entries at 11:15. I went to the aft deck to work on the crosswords and read while Glenda went to her luncheon. She came to the aft deck at 2:45 and we talked with Danny until 3:15 when we returned to the cabin so Glenda could change from dressy to comfortable for bingo, which was again a bust. We picked up our port photo of the Seychelles. Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and talked with Don, Ron & Dave, Signe and Corrine. After dinner, we returned and talked with Peter, Don, Ron, Corrine, Barbie, Judy and Anne Marie until 11:15 when we went to the casino and made a 40 minute contribution.

Day 82 Mar 28 - Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles

The Danish warship pulling out

Views from our verandah

Glenda, Bill and Betty Lou

Ron (the other one) & Glenda

Colors were great as well as the beach

Ed, Becky and Jeff

Corrine

Signe & Kris

Mermaid exiting the sea

Ed & Becky

Hindu temple from our taxi

The Captain woke us at 7 with the announcement that we were delayed due to a Danish warship in our berth that was preparing to depart. It was 82 degrees with 81 percent humidity under partly cloudy skies and 7 knot winds. We had coffee on the verandah and watched the warship pull out as we pulled in. The ship was docked and cleared at 8:45. We went to breakfast at 9:30 and let the ship at 10. We got a taxi to beautiful Beau Vallon beach where we had gone 4 years ago when we were here. We arrived at the beach at 10:15 and walked down the beach until we ran into Signe & Kris and Ron & Dave who told us where to find the beach chair guy. He brought us 2 chairs and 2 towels to a partially shaded area and we enjoyed the fabulous beach and warm water with a nice breeze along with the shade trees. Signe & Kris sent out for beer and we stayed until 2:10 when we walked back to where the taxi was to meet us. We were met by a taxi driven by a friend of our original driver and since he knew exactly all the details of our agreement with the original driver, we got into his taxi. As we were leaving, the first driver approached on the road and we stopped and he said that it was OK and that he had contacted his friend because he thought he was going to be late. What service! We reached the ship at 2:45 and after looking through the shops on the dock, we re-boarded at 3. It was a great day. When we got to our cabin, it was hot and the air conditioner was not working. Glenda went to the front desk to mail some postcards and ask if there had been a problem on our deck. They said no, and one of the ladies accompanied Glenda back to the cabin to see for herself. She agreed that it was not working and called maintenance. We went to the aft deck until 4:35 and the maintenance man was working on the air until 5 when it was his dinner break and said he would be back at 6. We had to shower early and we sat a record by showering and dressing for dinner in 45 minutes. We went to the Crow's Nest about 40 minutes earlier than usual while he was working on it. We talked with Don and Martha & Bob. Don ate with us since Ron & Dave were done in by the heat and wouldn't be eating with him. After dinner, Glenda ran by the cabin to check and it was getting cool. We went to the Crow's Nest and talked with Don, Peter and Barbie until 11:30. We got to set the clocks back one hour.

Day 81 Mar 27 - At Sea

I woke up to Bruce's 9:25 announcement and it was 84 degrees with 81 percent humidity under partly cloudy skies and 10 knot winds. Glenda had gotten up 15 minutes earlier and was on the verandah reading. I went to breakfast at 10:20 after coffee on the verandah while Glenda dressed to go to the cooking demonstration. We went to the aft deck and attempted to answer questions from Barbie's previous trivia session along with Alan & Sandra, Aart & Ellen and Jeff & Corrine. Glenda left at 11:10 for the cooking demonstration and came back at 12:15 when I went to the cabin to do my computer stuff. I returned to the aft deck at 1:10 and we read until 2:30 when we went to the slot tournament qualifying session. I managed to qualify 5th but Glenda didn't make the board. The final qualifying session is March 31, where I could get bumped and she could get on the board for the finals. We went to bingo and again got close, but no wins. Before dinner, we went the the Crow's Nest and talked with Don, Ron & Dave, Rose and Martha & Bob. After dinner, we returned and talked with Signe, Peter, Don, Ron & Dave and Barbie until 11:15 when we went to the casino to make a 30 minute contribution.

Day 80 Mar 26 - At Sea

Enter the Pope

Chloe and the Pope

Having his favorite beverage

Dining room decorations

The Pope singing "Waltzing Matilda" with the band

We woke up at 7:30 and it was 82 degrees with 75 percent humidity under partly cloudy skies and 9 knot winds. We had coffee on the verandah and went to breakfast at 9. Afterwards, we went to the aft deck where I worked crosswords and Glenda read in the sun. I returned to the cabin at 10:45 to us the computer and returned to the aft deck at 11:10. We read until 3 when we returned to the cabin, We read until bingo time and we were shut out again. The theme for the night's formal dinner was White, but we didn't really have white formal wear, so Glenda wore her off-white gown with her Chloe wig. Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and we were honored with the appearance of the Pope (Pat from Australia). He told Chloe that he was going to make her his first female Cardinal. We talked with Don, Ron & Dave, Martha & Bob, and Jeff & Corrine. The dining room was decorated in all white and after dinner, we returned to the Crow's Nest and talked with Aart & Ellen, Joost, Don, Peter, Ron & Dave and Barbie until 11:30. Our formal night gifts were two throw blankets in zip up bags.

Day 79 Mar 25 - At Sea

We woke up at 9:20 and it was 82 degrees with 85 percent humidity under mostly cloudy skies and 9 knot winds. There was a Pirate Alert drill at 9:30 and luckily the coffee arrived just as the alarm sounded. We were supposed to go out in the hall and sit down, but we decided to stand rather than have to wait for someone to help me back up. We were in our robes and I stood and drank coffee and read my paper during the drill. After we were released (about 15 minutes), we went to the verandah and they were still firing guns with blanks and the sonic guns which sounded a lot like the ray gun sound effects in the old Buck Rogers movies. While I was dressing, Glenda spotted some dolphins but they were gone before my camera un-fogged. I went to breakfast at 10:20 and returned to the cabin. We went to the aft deck at 10:55 and read and I worked on the Sunday crossword. I went to the cabin at 12:15 to update the blog and check email and returned to the aft deck at 1. We read until 3 and then returned to the cabin. We went to bingo at 4 and regrettably, did not win once more. Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and talked with Don, Ron & Dave, and Rose. After dinner, we returned and talked with Don, Barbie, Peter, and Ron & Dave until 11:10 when we went to the casino and made a 45 minute contribution. We got to set the clocks back one hour.

Day 78 Mar 24 - Columbo, Sri Lanka

Iranian War ship in our normal dock

Our Sri Lankan patrol boat

The elephant greeting

Dancers with the band

This monk was taking pictures of us

The reclining Buddha

The story of Buddha's visit

The great white dagoba

Buddha under the Tree of Enlightenment

Girls in class

Boys class and the skeleton Buddha

A female monk

Our wake up call was at 6:30 and it was 77 degrees with 87 percent humidity under partly cloudy skies and 5 knot winds. We were docked in the container port since an Iranian War ship was docked at the cruise dock. We felt safe when we saw the patrol boat outside our verandah. (LOL) We had breakfast in our cabin and dressed for our 8:30 tour. The greeting group included dancers, band and an elephant. We boarded our bus at 8:25 and went to the Kelaniya Temple, an active Buddhist temple built on a site believed to have been visited by Buddha himself more than 2000 years ago. Today, human worshippers come to lay sprigs of lotus flowers around the great white dagoba and sprinkle the base of the Tree of Enlightenment with purifying water. It was a truly impressive sight, but very hot. After an hour, we re-boarded the bus and arrived back at the dock at 10:55. There, we did some shopping before re-boarding the ship at 11:45. I updated the blog and downloaded the pictures. We sat on the verandah and read until 1 when we went to the aft deck. We stayed through the 2:30-3:30 sail away happy hour. We went to bingo at 4 and failed once again to win. Before dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest and talked with Don, Ron & Dave and Signe. After dinner, we returned and talked with Don, Peter, Jeff and Barbie until 10:55 when we went to the casino and made a 50 minute contribution. Glenda actually won $5 while I didn't. We got to the cabin to find a letter outlining the procedure in case of pirates. We got to set our clocks back 30 minutes.