duct tape
January 17th, 2012, 10:49 AM
It was a nice quiet cruise. I think most of the people who boarded were here to recover from the holidays, their families and friends. There were 30 in-transit again, quite a few of the same who were previously in-transit. There were 243 guests on board and 255 including the entertainers, lecturers, etc. In 16 years of sailing SS, it was the fewest number of American I have ever encountered. It was was a wonderful international mix: 77 UK, 34 Americans, 25 Swiss, 23 Aussies, 18 Germans, 11 South Africans, 8 from both Austria and Canada, 7 Netherlands, 6 Russians, including someone from Kazakhstan (!), then assorted other countries: Seychelles, Spain, France, U.A.E., Denmark, Italy, China, Norway and Ireland. In Mauritius there is a new development on the waterfron called Le Caudan and it is full of hotels, restaurants, shops and cafes. St Gilles, Reunion, always a pleasure with its very French town of St Denis and the great beaches of St Gilles. Tolagnaro, Madagascar, formerly Port Dauphine. We were here in '08 and I was curious to see the changes. Sadly, it is none the better for wear. People are more aggressive now. It has so much physical beauty, beaches and verdant sanddunes and such abject poverty. It affected people and humbled some. A good thing. Lots of game drives out of Richard's Bay, an overnight to Phinda. In Durban, I have just had a lapse of activities, sorry. In East London, Addo Elephant Park is the big draw along with the beaches outside town. Of course, sailing into Capetown at sunrise is always spectacular. We were very fortunate and the "tabelcloth" was not present and Table Mountain was majestic in it's clarity. As you can see on other threads, there is controversy about returing to the V&A dock. I will know better when we get back again in another 10 days. Will keep you posted.