DAY 113---SAILING IN THE MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL (DAY 2)

 

        Missed the noon position photo so here we are at 2:30pm.  It is partly cloudy and 78 degrees now.  Still feeling some ship movement due to the wind and swells.

LAST EVENING

        There are 9 out of only 12 Commodores on board the ship.  They had a photo session with them in their Commodore jackets prior to tonight's "Top Tier" cocktail party.  As you may remember Commodore status is for those with over 2,000 nights on Regent's ships.  The 3 female production cast singer then performed for us.

                                                                            Claudia

                                                                           Grabriella

                                                                             Paige

                                                                       Paige again

                                                                    My usual merlot.

                                                               Crab cake is always good.

        Yes, I put our lemon pepper on Rebecca's filet and my ribeye before the chef cooked them.  Again perfectly cooked, medium rare.  Onion ring, baked potato, and creamed spinach.

                                 Liked this red velvet cheese cake last time so had it again.

TODAY

        I hit the treadmill early at 8:10 this morning.  Rebecca jumped on the one I was on as I got off.  After showering I went down to Reception to make sure they had the list of those going with us on our safari.  Had to make sure the ship knows we all will be off from May 2nd to May 5th so they are not looking for us when the ship sails out of Richards Bay.  

        I then had a chat with Odul, the Executive Concierge, to ask about what we should expect upon arrival in Richards Bay.  The ship is to be docked by 9:30 on 2nd but she said South African immigration will be coming on board to do a face-to-face clearance procedure.  Odul said there are approximately 60 people, including us, who will be departing the ship for various safaris and this group will be processed first.  She said not to expect to be off the ship for 45 minutes to an hour after docking.

        It is Sunday here and they are having a Sunday brunch from 10am to 1pm in Compass Rose.  I went down just before 10 to take some photos of it.  It looked really good but we will probably go up to La Veranda for lunch.  Too much tempting food at the buffet.

                               Ice carving of an "R" but I was on the wrong side.  OOPS!

                              Love the carving of an elephant since we will be in Africa soon.

                                                          Carving station for baked ham

                                         Head sommelier, Budi, is photo bombing this photo.

                                                                     Eggs benedict

SAFARI INFO

        Since today is a sea day I thought I would give you a heads up and some info about the safari we will be going on when we arrive in Richards Bay, South Africa, in two days on May 2nd.  We used a travel agency in Cape Town, Rhino Africa Agency, as we did in 2010 to book this safari.  This time I selected the "andBeyond Phinda Rock Lodge" for our safari experience mainly because it only has 6 suites and looks to be very unique.  I have filled the lodge with all friends--8 of us coming off the ship and 2 flying in from Dallas to meet us at the lodge.  Jane & Melissa have been in Cape Town for a few days now touring there.

        The 8 of us on the ship will be having a pre-safari cocktail party tomorrow evening.  Joan & Charlie Davis have graciously offered their "Master Suite" for the party.  I will brief them on the plan for our clearing immigration and departing the ship the next morning. Hopefully we are off the ship and on our way by 10:30am.  A van and driver will be awaiting us on the pier for the 2 1/2 hour drive to the lodge.

        Here is a photo of my computer screen of where we will be going.  You will probably have to click on it to enlarge it.  We will be getting off the ship in Richards Bay (center of photo).  The lodge is at top.  On May 5th we will transported via a van again down to the airport in Durban (bottom of photo).  Our flight is at 2pm to Cape Town where we will be transported from the airport there back to the ship.  We should be on board again by 6pm.

Here is a link to the Rock Lodge that you can cut & paste to your browser : https://www.andbeyond.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Lodge-Brochure-Phinda-Rock-Lodge.pdf

        The lodge is all-inclusive including booze.  There are game drives mornings and evenings.  It has wifi but not sure how good it is.  I will have LOTS of animal photos to be uploaded.  Cushal, our internet mgr, says ships have been having internet satellite issues at Cape Town dock so not sure how my blogs will be down there.  There may be too many photos to put on the blog as I took nearly 3,000 in 2010.  I can put them all in a Google Photos album but you will need to have a free Google account to see them.  Let you know how it goes.

        I had packed my bag for the safari a few weeks ago.  We are taking our carry-on bags and are allowed 46 lbs per bag for our flight back.  I repacked my bag this afternoon and weighed it.  It weighs only 24 lbs but full.  I also have a back pack for my laptop and camera.  Safaris are not fashion shows!

Rebecca is packing now.

        Our interdenominational church service will be at 5:15.  Following it will be cocktail hour before dinner in Compass Rose.

        Will certainly be going to tonight's show at 9:30.  It is the second and last show for "Just John & Paul".  They are the Beatles sounding duo.

        We are scheduled to be docked at Maputo, Mozambique, tomorrow at 9am.