The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Twenty-three

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November 23 (Monday, Day 26, Cruising the West Coast of South Africa) -

Filbert woke up not feeling 100%. He was gassy and “full” most of the day. We blamed it on the fish and chips we had off the ship. Snookums’s Caffeine Free Diet Coke finally arrived and our stewardess left a 12-pack in our cabin. Later in the day the Food and Beverage Manager phoned to apologize many, many times for the Prime 7 problems as well as the warm champagne mess. He offered us another dinner at Prime 7 (you are guaranteed one meal per cruise segment) but we said “no thanks” since we already have one scheduled for the next cruise segment. It’s an okay steakhouse, but we actually like Compass Rose, the normal restaurant, better. But, Prime 7 is a nice change of pace every 15 days or so.

It was formal night and we stayed casual and went to La Veranda for dinner. It was a different South African menu. Phil still wasn’t feeling too well and had a few bites of spicy lobster and Janet really enjoyed the side dishes (pumpkin stew, sweet potatoes, African spinach with peanuts, and rice with raisins and spices). It was an early night for both of us.

More after the jump . . .

Sunfish

Apropos of our encounter with sunfish off Africa, this story via Jungle Trader from Germany's Der Spiegel:

A total of four ocean sunfish have been spotted along Germany's Baltic coast over the last week, far away from their habitat in tropical and temperate waters. Biologists say the awkward, slow-moving and friendly giants are likely to have been swept in by storms.

Maritime experts and beachcombers have been puzzled by the appearance of several sunfish -- strange, disk-shaped creatures that can reach a length of up to 3.30 meters and a weight of over two tonnes -- along Germany's Baltic Sea coast in recent days, thousands of miles away from their normal habitat in tropical and temperate waters around the world.

A fisherman said on Saturday he had caught a 10-kilo, 60-centimeter-long sunfish out of the water near the island of Rügen. Last Wednesday, walkers found two sunfish, one 80 centimetres long and the other a full meter, lying dead on a beach east of the city of Kiel. A day before, passersby had spotted a smaller sunfish that still showed signs of life, and had pushed it back in the water.

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Twenty-two

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November 22 (Sunday, Day 25, Cape Town, South Africa) -

The Voyager, from Table Mountain

Our shore excursion this morning was to Table Mountain which gets its name from the flat-topped central massif of the mountain. We’ve been very fortunate from a weather standpoint since it has been clear and sunny since we docked. Sometimes Table Mountain is surrounded by clouds. We took the bus to the cable car station and then rode 3,477 feet up the rest of the way. We walked around the entire top of the mountain and saw Cape Town, the Cape Peninsula and really a 360° view of everything below.

More after the jump . . .

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Twenty-one

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Breaking the format a bit, we start this post with the end of the last one . . . the actual sunset at Signal Hill, Cape Town, South Africa:

More after the jump . . .

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Twenty

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November 19 (Thursday, Day 22, Cruising the Coast of South Africa) -

Boobies in formation

We woke up around 10 AM. We think we slept so long from the Dramamine. Filbert went to the 10:30 Cape Town port lecture and Snookums stayed in the cabin. Our stick-on thermometer said it was 65° and it looked kind of cool and dreary. We were surprised to find out that it was gorgeous outside by the pool. Although the ship was still rocking and rolling a little bit and there were whitecaps on the water, there was no breeze or wind whatsoever by the pool. We enjoyed our lunch and then Filbert went to the Observation Lounge to watch for dolphins and whales while using his PC. Snookums read her book outside for awhile before returning to the cabin and updating the journal.

More after the jump . . .

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Nineteen

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November 18 (Wednesday, Day 21, Richard’s Bay, South Africa) (continued) -

Our Hluhluwe game drive continued, and we were immediately faced with one very real and somewhat intimidating question:

Why did the rhino cross the road?

More after the jump . . .

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Eighteen

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November 17 (Tuesday, Day 20, Richard’s Bay, South Africa) (continued) -

Beached hippos

More after the jump . . .

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Seventeen

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November 17 (Tuesday, Day 20, Richard’s Bay, South Africa) (continued) -

We continue the tour of the St. Lucia Nature Reserve outside Richard's Bay, South Africa:

Weaver birds

More after the jump . . .

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Sixteen

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November 16 (Monday, Day 19, Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn) -

The ship started rocking and rolling around 3 AM but we slept until 7 AM. (Filbert woke up at some point to find out that the unranked SDSU women lost to #11 Arizona State by 9 points and that the #8 LadyVols beat #7 Baylor by 9.) We ate breakfast in Compass Rose since Snookums figured the ship would be rocking less on Deck 4 than on Deck 11 at La Veranda.

During the Captain’s noon announcement he said that the pilot for Richard’s Bay will board our ship tomorrow at 4 AM via helicopter (!) and that passengers can’t be on balconies or any open decks. What a party pooper. He also said that the temperature is going to be 59° when we dock and will be a high of 66° later in the day. That is radically different than the scorching heat we’ve had so far. It’s a good thing we brought jackets with us. The seas are currently at 2.5 meters and will get to 3 meters before calming down around midnight. (Regent makes only one ship-wide announcement per day and that’s at noon. Holland America makes at least two and sometimes three per day.)

There was supposed to be a special Asian lunch on the pool deck but it was moved inside. The staff vs. guests shuffleboard tournament was postponed until November 18. We ate lunch inside at La Veranda and then went back to our cabin and did internet work.

November 17 (Tuesday, Day 20, Richard’s Bay, South Africa) -

All part of a nutritious breakfast!

More after the jump . . .

The Bollywood to South Beach Voyage - Regent Seven Seas Voyager, October 29-December 18, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Fifteen

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November 13 (Friday, Day 16, Zanzibar, Tanzania) (continued) -

Monkeys in trees. You could probably figure out that one on your own.

Our tour of the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park continued through the monkey-infested jungle, before moving on to the mangrove swamp.

More after the jump . . .