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Live from the 2022 Grand Africa

Scrapnana

By Scrapnana,
in Holland America Line

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Adp91xx1

Adp91xx1

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I don’t know you Scrapnana but I’m celebrating your release!  I came here for the cruise diary and got pulled into your story.  I work in health data science and am especially interested in asymptomatic COVID-19 infections.  I won’t go into that here (or why I’m even on a cruise in November - my colleagues are equally fascinated and horrified), but I am very glad that you are now free to enjoy the rest of your trip and I’m looking forward to pictures and stories. 

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JazzyV

JazzyV

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7 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

I am officially negative and free to leave my cabin.  Heading outside for fresh air right now!

The best news! Enjoy your freedom to move about the ship and enjoy the rest of the trip.

Edited by JazzyV
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Sharon in AZ

Sharon in AZ

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8 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

I am officially negative and free to leave my cabin.  Heading outside for fresh air right now!

Katie, so glad to hear you are covid negative. When my DH was in covid jail in June and I wasn’t it was a true homecoming. Enjoy your cruise!

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WriterOnDeck "Live from...." Rare

WriterOnDeck

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Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

I am officially negative and free to leave my cabin.  Heading outside for fresh air right now!

Kathi, I'm so happy for you! I'm 11 hours ahead of you (on the Westerdam) and first thing I did this morning was log on to see your status. Looking forward to following the rest of your trip.

Edited by WriterOnDeck
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amoba

amoba

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11 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

I am officially negative and free to leave my cabin.  Heading outside for fresh air right now!

Congratulations, Kathi, on your negative test and release from captivity!  I am so glad you are now out and about and free to enjoy the rest of the cruise.  It's been very enlightening following this blog, hearing about the cruise including the really unfortunate experience of quarantine.  I'll be joining you all in Cape Town and very much looking forward to it.  If anyone would be so kind, would it be possible to find out if I can sign up early for any of the watercolor classes starting after Cape Town?  Thanks also for posting the itinerary showing all the crafts projects, which look great.  I know yellow fever vax has been discussed a lot but I'm wondering if, when boarding in Montreal or Ft Lauderdale, HAL required seeing yellow fever vax waivers or the yellow international certificates of vaccination showing dates within or beyond 10 years?  Thanks so much for all the postings and happy cruising!  Vicki

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Scrapnana "Live from...." Rare

Scrapnana

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Thanks to all of you who shared in my happiness of ending quarantine!

 

Free at Last - October 20 - Agadir

 

My day really began at midnight.  We have a Sit and Stitch at my local yarn store every Wednesday night.  During the height of the pandemic, this was held via Zoom.  Now, you can still attend that way if you cannot attend in person.  Since I was not the least bit sleepy at midnight, I decided to join and talk to my knitting friends.  It was nice to see and chat with everyone and see what they were working on.

 

I was able to get two hours sleep and then was up for two hours before falling asleep again.  I had just awakened at about 7:15 when the phone rang.  It was Mary Anne letting me know that she had just had her test and the tech was heading my way (He was working his way down from deck seven.)  

 

At 7:25 there was a knock on my door.  He came in, took the swab and let me know that I should hear by 9:30.  While he was taking the test he put his schedule down and although I could not read any of it, I could see that there were about 25 names on the list, so that rumor was confirmed.

 

The Captain came over the speaker at 7:45 with the announcement that the port authority would not let anyone off without a confirmed negative Covid test.  The stewards scrambled to get the tests passed out.  To get off you had to show your passport as well as the actual test.  Needless to say, this held up some of the excursions.  The Captain came back about a half hour later to say people could start disembarking.

 

At 9:00 I started pacing (did get in quite a few steps) waiting for the phone call.  It came at 9:18 and it was exactly the news I wanted to hear.  The nurse said I was free to leave my cabin but the port authorities would not let me (or any of the other captives) off because they did not think our quarantine time was long enough.  She did not mention that I should wear a mask (as the CDC suggests) but I plan on wearing mine for at least five days.  I asked if I could remove my pink dot from my door.  She said I needed to leave it because it showed housekeeping they needed to do a deep cleaning of my cabin and then they would remove it.

 

By 9:30 I had my book, knitting bag, and purse and left my cabin heading for fresh air - I went out and took off my mask and took a very deep breath.  I had planned to walk the Promenade Deck for a couple of laps but there was a lifeboat training drill going on and most of the port side of the deck was blocked off so I headed back indoors to pick up my passport (everyone else got theirs a few days ago - I was told to get mine once I was free).  I then headed to the Lido deck to sit out by the aft pool.  I grabbed an orange juice and some Cheerios to enjoy in the open air.

 

While I was working on my socks, Judy (Lee) found me and we sat and talked for some time.  Just before noon I decided it was time for lunch.  Although the food I had while incarcerated was good, I enjoyed looking at all the choices I had for lunch.  

 

I finally decided to get a large bowl of fresh fruit and a very good pretzel-like roll.  While I was eating, Judy (Bob) came over and welcomed me back to the outside world.  She sat and ate with me and we each got an ice cream for dessert.

 

All aboard was at 12:30 and we were scheduled to leave at 1pm so I went back to the aft pool area and watched as we cast off lines and headed out of the port.  It was very hazy and the man who was standing next to me said that the haze was actually sand blowing from the Sahara.

 

Wanting to stay outside, I then went to sit by the mid-ship pool and work on my socks.  At 3:45 I went to the Crow's Nest for trivia.  I no longer have a team so I played by myself.  Next time I go to trivia I will attempt to find a new team but for today I was OK by myself.

 

After trivia I went to the Shore Excursion desk to see about my excursion for tomorrow.  I wanted to know what I should do if the port authorities in Casablanca would not let me off.  She said if that should happen, to talk to them tomorrow evening and I would have my money refunded.

 

I walked through the shops (bought my Zaandam magnet - I have one from each of the HAL ships I have been on), looked at the photos, and tried to kill as much time as possible so I would not have to go back to my cabin.  After 12 hours short of 7 full days in my cabin, I was totally sick of it.

 

When I finally returned, I could smell the cleaning they had done (not a chemical odor but a definite cleaning product).  I started working on the blog and I have had a lot to say for today!

 

While I was choosing my outfit for dinner, the Captain came back over the speaker (piped into our cabins) with a couple of important announcements.  The first was about the weather.  There is a storm near Ireland which is influencing our weather.  It became very overcast and started to get rough.  He said there were swells that would likely increase overnight until we enter the area around the port in Casablanca.

 

The second announcement was about the port authorities in Casablanca.  Although not been told this, the Captain wanted to be ahead of it if they say that everyone again needs a negative test.  To save time, he said that everyone would be given another test (how many of them do they have on this ship???) and if you are planning on getting off tomorrow, go ahead and do the test and bring it with you. (As I was typing this, my test was delivered.)

 

He also mentioned that there were a few positive cases discovered during the testing.  I feel for those people.

 

Since it was exactly one week ago that I last ate in the Dining Room, I had to think about all that I needed to get ready (clothes, jewelry, shoes, purse, etc).  It was nice to see my dinner companions again and everyone was very welcoming.

 

The evening entertainment was another in the series of BBC Earth.  Since I have to get up for an excursion, after a week of having no time frame, I thought I would make it an early night.

 

Because it has been so long since the last trivia, I have added extra questions.  I had 9 out of 18 and the two winning teams had 17.

1.  What is the most used club in golf?

2.  What is the least used letter in the English alphabet?

3.  What are the two official languages of Vatican City?

4.  How many dogs were on the Titanic?

5.  What is the most common last name in the U.S.?

6.  Which country consumes the most coffee per person?

7.  Where is the strongest muscle in the human body located?

8.  What action figure was introduced after Barbie and Ken?

9.  Flying in which direction gives you the worst jet lag?

10. What three organs create the most body heat?

 

1.  putter

2.  Z

3.  Latin, Italian

4.  12

5.  Smith

6.  Finland

7.  jaw

8.  GI Joe

9.  east

10.  brain, heart, liver

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Scrapnana "Live from...." Rare

Scrapnana

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Casablanca and Rabat - October 21

 

Turns out being free to roam is tiring.  I went to bed last night at 10:15 and slept over eight hours.  I woke up just after we docked.  Turned out we did not need to do a Covid test in order to leave the ship.

 

I had chosen the tour, "Ultimate Morocco - Casablanca and Rabat" which included lunch and was about ten hours long.  We were a little late getting off the ship because the officials were checking our health records.

 

Our guide, Mustafa, told us that Casablanca was the third largest port in Africa as we headed to our first stop which was the Hassan II Mosque.  This mosque has the highest minaret in the world which has a laser beam that points towards Mecca at night.  It can hold 25,000 people inside and another 80,000 outside.  It has many beautiful mosaics.  5,000 women are allowed inside and have a special entrance to the second floor through the minaret.

 

Casablanca was named Anfa before the Portuguese arrived.  Anfa is still one of the areas of the city with some beautiful homes which we saw after a drive along the Corniche seeing some of the private beach clubs along the way (Morocco has a 3000 km coastline on the Atlantic Ocean).  

 

Our next stop was in the medina (old city).  We walked through a number of old twisty roads lined with small shops, cafes, and homes.

 

The last stop was at Mohammed V Square which has numerous government buildings surrounding it and thousands of pigeons.

 

We then started the hour and a half drive to Rabat, the capital of Morocco.  Although I had a lot of sleep, the drive put me right to sleep and I dozed on and off the entire way.

 

The Kasbah was our first stop.  A kasbah was a fortified portion of a city.  We walked through, seeing the pretty, white-washed homes and shops and numerous cats.

 

By now it was about 2pm and it was time for lunch.  We ate upstairs in an amazingly decorated restaurant.  The food was served family style and delicious.  I discovered I liked pomegranates - I don't think I have ever had one before.

 

After lunch we visited the Royal Palace (the king does not actually live there but it is where he works) where we were told to leave (evidently something important was getting ready to happen).  We also went to the see the mausoleum of Mohammed V (the grandfather of the current king, Mohammed VI) and the unfinished Hassan mosque and tower which is almost 1000 years old.

 

Then it was time to make the drive back to Casablanca and once again I did some snoozing.  
We were back on the ship by 6:10 so I was able to make it to dinner (I thought I might eat in the Lido if we were later) and even had some time to edit my pictures - I took so many I drained one battery).

 

Instead of going to see the evening entertainment, which was the latest "Death on the Nile" movie, I walked a mile around the deck as we were leaving the port.

 

We now have two sea days before getting to Tunisia.

 

Lots of pictures on my blog.  They took an hour and five minutes to upload.😱  Address is in my signature.

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