Miriam's Birthday at Sea

Beautiful balloons and ribbons decorated our door and a wonderful message, as follows, from all the kids...

M – is for Mom , what you are to me!
I – is for incredible, as you continue to be.
R – is for radiant, as your smile glows
I – is for impressive, as your talent shows
A – is for adoring, as you always are.
M – is for marvelous, like a one of a kind star!

Wanted to wish you Happy Birthday from all points of the World.
We're thinking about you.

Much Love
Nancy, Zach, Adam, Sera, Naz, the Bump, Jo, Nava and Raziela

Day at Sea – March 5th

Whoa, the waters are really rough today. In fact, we spent almost all day in the cabin, in bed – watching TV, reading and trying to hang on! Drawers are opening and shutting, things are swaying – a rocky day on the waters with 15ft swells, and word is, it will be the same all the way to Madagascar. Yuck – dread it so much. Most of the ship's passengers have “stayed home” today, and not ventured into the halls or attended activities. Since the room steward mistakenly gave me my birthday balloons and card from the kids one day early, he apologized by bringing me a bottle of champagne and huge bouquet of flowers. Really not necessary – I can see it being a problem acknowledging a birthday one day late, but one day early – really!? I was very touched... We did venture out for dinner tonight, and was greeting with birthday songs by the crew and a beautiful cake. Great birthday afterall!

And, another day at sea!

Swells have subside somewhat – although windier and a little cooler temperatures. Folks have emerged from their cabins with stories of queasiness and unsettled stomachs yesterday. Either we're all getting our “sea legs” or things are truly better. In any event, a good day to take it all in. Stephen's started water color classes, and becoming a little artist.

Reunion Island, French Territory

Yes, believe it or not, this is an island, still under France. Little provincial towns and tiny French cars everywhere made us think we were in France! Creole and French are spoken, so we quickly had to practice our French. The terrain is volcanic and we headed to the Piton de la Fournaise volcano that is still active. It fortunately hasn't spewed lava in five years. The ascent up followed a zig zag skinny road, and as we entered the center of the volcano, the road eventually became a rough lava trail. The vegetation went from tropical on the coast, to evergreens, to small brush and then a moon-like terrain. At one point on the way up, the scenery almost looked like Vermont – with cows crazing, rolling hills, and small forests. It was a six hour round trip journey that took us past canyons and sugar cane fields. Homes appeared along the narrow flat coast, and then villages were scattered up the sides of mountains. It started raining, so we never visited the beach front.

Accustomed to cheap prices at other former British colonies we've visited on this journey, Reunion uses Euros and is expensive, just like France. A great day on this surprisingly large island, only a speck on the map in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa.

Port Louis, Mauritius

The island has a population of some 1,250,000 people – and is 85 km long and 50 km wide. When we pulled up this morning we could see high peaks in the center of the island – all irregularly shaped and stunningly beautiful. Again we hired a taxi for the day with another couple. We made many stops with beautiful viewpoints of the valleys, waterfalls, sugar plantations, and seashores below. You could tell that the place is very well run – good roads, nice housing, and lots of business everywhere. The main industries are tourism, sugarcane, rum and textiles. Many American clothing labels are manufactured right here. One small town we visited in the center of the island had many shops selling familiar brands at discount prices. We stopped into a factory that made models of ships – we could see how they were intricately hand made. Also visited an old sugar plantation home with it's original furniture. An enormous statue of Shiva sits atop a mountain where hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims visited just a few days ago for a festival. A nearby lake was also a holy sight where many families came to give offerings. Today was a holiday where Hindus splash colorful paints on their faces and bodies. We stopped for lunch in a typical Mauritius family restaurant (just across the street from a fancy place our taxi driver really wanted us to eat at). Our last stop (after a road “made like a serpent”, with 52 hairpin turns) was at Flic en Flac beach – a welcome dip in the warm blue waters.

Port Louis, Mauritius, Day Two

We decided not to take the water taxi, but walk the 2 miles into the center of Port Louis. The city was busy with rush hour traffic and stores were not quite open yet. A new waterfront complex, with palm trees, and plazas, had some great craft shops and high end souvenir stands. Not really much appealing to buy, but fun to browse around. We wandered into the market areas – mostly clothes, kitchen utensils, cosmetic items and shoes for everyday use. The central park had huge banyan trees and comforting shade from the daytime hot sun. Back at the ship, there was much going on, since half the passengers were leaving the ship, and new passengers were arriving. It was sad to say goodbye, and anxious to see who would arrive. We'll definitely miss our new friends Mike & Cathy from Salisbury, England. We sure enjoyed some great times together since we all boarded a month ago in Hong Kong.

At Sea for two more days

Have to say that our sea days are welcome, although very busy! There's much going on – lectures (on health, nature, history, computers -whatever you can imagine), craft classes, choir practice, bridge lessons, exercise classes, trivia contests, dance classes, movies, etc. etc. It's starting to feel a lot like summer camp! We're both off to our respective activities all day long and meet up for lunch and dinner. Today I made my second beaded necklace and love it. We do try to get our time out on deck, to read and for a swim in the pool. Definitely an interesting group on board – all big world travelers. Today about 30 fellow passengers performed a medley of songs led by a choir master – it was truly incredible. More than half the passengers will be getting off in Mauritius (including our captain), so we had a “farewell” party last night for everyone. We sit at dinner at a table of 6, of which 4 of us will be staying on. We're interviewing for our next table guests for the last leg of the trip!

We're still under pirate watch – 24 hr surveillance on decks, port holes closed, internet down. Barbed wire is still around the lower decks and water hoses are hitched up and facing out. People have pretty much forgotten about it all and discussion about it all is over. I think after Mauritius, we'll be out of the “trouble” zone...

Mahe, Seychelles

A town of some 24,000, it was certainly a big change here than on the “out” islands, yesterday. A busy place – loads of cars, commerce, shoppers and markets. The island is a mass of huge mountains, with homes perched on the slopes and the town down below. We walked into town from the port, and just looked around. There were still remnants of British rule (I would say most places we've visited have been under British control as some point in history). Again – creole is the main language. Yet you do see a mixture of people – African, Indian and European. The rain was heavy and sporadic all day – just enough to keep us extremely hot, sticky and humid (kind of like a Houston summer!). The vegetable and fish markets were busy and colorful.

Praslin and La Digue, Seychelle Islands

Well, I think we've truly found a piece of paradise here in the Seychelle islands! Wow – stunning blue and turquoise waters, white sugary sandy beaches, green lush hillsides, and quiet lifestyle. We arrived in Praislin early this morning and tendered ashore with a few friends. We hired a taxi driver who took us across the island to the most beautiful beach. Only 8,000 people live here – one of only five of the 200 Seychelle Islands that is inhabited. The languages are Creole, French and English. There's a single lane, hilly road that winds itself along the coast past coconut and vanilla plantations and cute simple (yet super expensive) resorts. The island government won't allow foreigners to own land nor build homes, so the integrity of the island remains simple and quaint. We then visited another spectacular beach known as Cote D'or and had the chance to walk along – although no time for a swim here.

We returned to the island jetty and boarded a ferry boat over to La Digue, a neighboring island. It was only a 15 minute ride over – and wow – another “pinch yourself” destination. The island of 3,000 people has no cars. Cobblestone streets only have bicycle riders and wagons pulled by bulls. The main square had the bank, post office, general store and souvenir stand – that's it! We stopped for lunch near the tiny jetty of fishing boats overlooking the bright blue waters. After renting bicycles, we rode a little over a mile along the quiet streets into plantation grounds, past rows of coconut trees. On the grounds we came across a holding area of giant (and I mean giant) tortoises. They were so tame that you could feed them by hand and pet their heads. When standing they were probably two feet tall – amazing. Further on we came across the most stunning and beautiful beach called L'Anse Source D'argent. The sandy path took us around enormous granite boulders and rock formations. They were smooth, obscure shapes perched one on another. Here we swam and snorkeled for a couple of hours, before riding our bikes back to the tender. On our way back we had to slow down and follow a funeral procession, with mourners riding their bikes behind the casket.

That night we sailed to Mahe, Seychelles, and we'll go ashore tomorrow. A local dance troupe boarded the ship to perform native (Creole) dances for the passengers.

Day at sea and Pirate drill

We're on our way to the Seychelle Islands and will arrive in 3 days. Today the ship prepared itself, and us, against the risk of a pirate attack. We did the requisite drill - where all the passengers assembled in the lower reception area to await further instruction. Barbed wire, water canons and cameras surrounded the lower decks, with certain sections cordened off. A scary thought, but hopefully the crew knows what they are doing and will get us there safe and sound! Of course, all the passengers are making light of it! Yikes!