DAY 112---SAILING IN THE MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL

 

        At noon we are in the channel off the coast of Mozambique, Africa.  It is windy day causing the ship to move about some today.  It is mostly sunny and 81 degrees.

Background Info:

        The Mozambique Channel is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the southeastern African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique.  The channel is 1100 miles long and 260 across at its narrowest point.  The maximum depth is nearly 11,000 feet.

LAST EVENING

        Sun setting as we sail out from Mayotte.  The pilot boat is approaching to pick up the pilot guiding us out.

         Yummy black mussels for our appetizer.  I had 3 orders.  OINK!  Well, they are small!!!  The pan fried sea bream was not nearly as good this time.

                          Listening to Ross after dinner until the theater door open at 9pm.

Here are some photos taken during "Broadway in Concert".  This is Gabriella Kitson from the UK.

     Our personal favorite female singer, Page Kosik from Canada.  She is a good dancer also.

L to R:  Stephen Sexton from the UK, Cameron Vance from the US, and Joseph Kuba from the US.

                                            In the center is Claudia Miesner from the US.

                                                      Cameron is a TCU in Ft Worth grad.

TODAY

                            It is a little rougher today in the channel.  Still not too bad however.

        The fitness center is on our deck but at front of the ship.  Our suite basically midship.  It's days like today that you can tell the difference in location on the ship.  I had to hold onto the treadmill today as it is a little rougher forward.  This is why we always try to book the lowest passenger deck and midship.

        In the afternoon we watched Terry Bishop's taped lecture about the WWI war in East Africa--British against Germany.  It has smoothed out some this afternoon.

        Well, on to this evening.  There is a special variety show at 6pm in the theater for the top tier Seven Seas Society members which we will be attending.  We will take our drinks from the suite to the show.  I have the only bottles of Makers Mark bourbon on the ship because I got them in Miami before the cruise.  It keep them in the suite as do not want any questions.  Woodford Reserve bourbon is served in the bars.  It's actually more expensive but I prefer the taste of MM.

        Right after the show we will head to Prime 7 as we have a 6:30 reservation there.  We will probably be a little late due to the show.

        Tonight's 9:30 show in the theater is featuring the comedy magician, Danny Buckler.  It is his second and last show.  We did not go to his first and probably not go to this one either.

        During the night our clocks will be set back another hour so we will have some extra sleep.  Tomorrow will be another day at sea.        
        

DAY 111---MAYOTTE ISLAND IN THE COMOROS

 

        We are visiting the Comoros island of Mayotte today.  Our first time here.  There were some showers around as we sailed to our anchorage this morning.  At noon it is still overcast but now rain.  84 degrees with 73% humidity but did not seem that hot since sun was not beating down.

Historical/Background Info:

        This is another new destination for us.  Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande Terre, and a smaller island, Petite Terre.  They are located between Madagascar and Africa about 150 miles off the north coast of Mozambique.  These small islands have a high density population with 300,000.  They must sleep on top of each other!  Of course, French is spoken here.  At the 2017 census, 10% of the dwellings had no electricity, 29% had no running water, and 54% had no inside toilets.  Mayotte is primarily a volcanic island.  Researching this place was very confusing.  Not sure what why we are stopping here.

LAST EVENING

       View from our suite as we enjoy a cocktail just prior to sailing.  Some rain in distance.

        I had some tomato soup to start with then we both had an iceberg wedge salad with a bacon dressing.  The dressing has always been good before but not this time.  Rebecca did eat some of her salad but I passed.

        I had to try the local grouper cooked in a bag.  One bite was enough so I then ordered the roasted turkey.

                      So then we both had the turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and peas.

                       This lemon tart was very good but I only ate half of it.  Dieting!!

        This Beatles duo were fantastic.  Sounded like the Beatles and they were VERY good instrumentalists.

        They kept wanting the audience to dance.  Well, the last number many did dance.

TODAY

        Some photos as we sailed in.  Yesterday evening during the Captain's departure PA he said they had to be very careful approaching the anchorage as there were lots of reefs and coral beds around the island.  The pilot would board 2 hours early to advise Captain Abhi during the sail in.

                                                  Showers over the town this morning early.

        After finishing my treadmill hour I changed and headed down to board a tender for a short visit to town.  The tender pier is at the town of Mamoudzou.  

     I wanted to sit up on the top but it was not open today.  So I sat in the very front of the tender.

                                                Just off the tender and walking off the pier.

                                                      Looking back now at the tender.

                         This group of women and kids greeted up with a little dance and song.

          There was a huge market building just off the pier.  Several aisles with about everything.

                                                               Several stalls with shoes.

        I took this to show the lady in red & white garb.  Note that her face is painted as was quite a few other women.

                                          There was also this huge vegetable and fruit market.

                                                               This is the market.

I decided not to cross the road and go into town.  I didn't need anything and everything in French.

     There were many of these car/truck/passenger ferries going back and forth between islands.

                                       Tried to get our ship in the photo of an unusual tree.

      

                                                           One of the many ferries.

        So I was just off the ship for an hour but at least I can say I was on Mayotte.  It didn't take long to figure out that the people here are very poor with high unemployment.  Will be interesting to hear what people on tours say.

        I have to mention that yesterday afternoon we watched a very good movie, "The Catcher Was A Spy".  We would recommend it.

        This afternoon Rebecca is doing her finger nails while I am working on the blog and other computer things.  I also got my Cannon EOS camera out to charge the battery, review the operating manual, and refresh in my mind how to download the photos from the camera to my laptop.  I have been using my cell phone to take photos for a couple years.  I want to also use the Cannon with telephoto lens when on our safari in a few days.

        We will be heading down to the Mariner Lounge this evening as I want to have a martini during cocktail hour.

        We will be having dinner in Compass Rose.  We both enjoyed the pan-fried fresh sea bream the last time it was on the menu.  Tonight's show is "Broadway in Concert" a production cast show.  We have seen it multiple times but will go again.  This cast is great!

        At 4pm we will be sailing again.  We'll have the next two days at sea before docking in Maputo, Mozambique, on Monday.