Africa 2023:
Day 34-35 - At Sea
Day 34-35 - At Sea
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Sunday, November 12, 2023: We were headed west, so we woke up to the sunrise for a change. There was another sampler brunch today, and we wanted to save our stomach space for that, so we had apples and Diet Coke for breakfast. It was more delicious than you think. |
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Ah, brunch. It is one of our favorite things on this trip. We were delighted that there was another of these sooner than we expected. The first course, starting from the top and going clockwise, was tuna nigiri with wasabi aioli, coppa and honey dew, blueberry yogurt and granola, pistachio-crusted boursin, salmon tartare with salmon roe on a brioche crouton, and finally mushroom bruchetta with parmesan cheese. |
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The main course, from left to right, on the top row was mini lobster pot pie, biscuit topped with BBQ pulled pork and frizzled onion, and Spanish omelet with sundried tomato compote. On the bottom row was grilled petit tenderloin with crab hollandaise, fried chicken with cajun aioli, and banana French toast with maple syrup. |
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We finished with mini Black Forest cake, mini apple pie, and flourless chocolate cake. |
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Malaria meds were also served. It was time to start our daily dose of preventative doxycycline, so we'd brought our pills with us so that we could take them with food. |
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Today was Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, so we headed up to the Lido at 1:30 PM to check it out. There were Indian flags hanging from ceiling the around the specialty food station, and a huge selection of Indian foods, ... |
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... and pretty decorations made from napkins. |
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Everything look really delicious. |
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Here's the list of everything that they were serving for Diwali. Amazing. |
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Why don't humans have more than one stomach? |
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That's some colorful meat. |
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There was a huge selection of desserts as well, ... |
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... which we couldn't resist. Debbie got several small ones to go with the sampler brunch theme, ... |
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... and Tom got a corner piece of cake. He was in heaven. |
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We got into the festive spirit and ordered cocktails with lunch. On the left is a Tamarind Sour and on the right is a Mango Lassi. Tom drank the Tamarind Sour with lunch, and Debbie took the Mango Lassi back to the cabin to enjoy later. |
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In keeping with the Festival of Lights, there were colored lamps spread all around the floor of the Lido. This artwork was always here, but it looks so much more interesting with the colored lights under it. |
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Tonight was formal night and the big event was a Masquerade Dinner, but we didn't feel like dressing up and didn't bring any masks, so we just had a late dinner in the Lido instead. Josmen and Catur left a lovely towel-elephant for us, along with a reminder to set our clocks back one hour before bed. |
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As the sun started to set, we noticed a long line of rain ahead of us. |
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As it started to get dark, it looked really ominous with nothing but dark clouds ahead, but the rain never came. We went out onto the balcony several hours later, and were surprised that the skies were completely clear and that lots of stars were visible. |
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On this episode of "The Love Boat," LEGO Tom is sad that the girl he loves wasn't at the Masquerade Ball and goes to the Promenade deck to look at the moon. But wait, maybe she was there all along, disguised by her mask! |
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Monday, November 13, 2023: Sunrise on day 35. With setting the clocks back an hour last night, we woke up very early this morning. We had breakfast of pancakes and French toast in the cabin. |
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LEGO Debbie and Tom were taking their anti-malarial drugs and drinking plenty of water. Good thing they trapped that mosquito in amber before it could bite them. |
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The specialty food today was Italian Favorites. We checked it all out, but then decided to get gyros from the deli station instead, which turned out to be chicken. Tasty but not what we were expecting. |
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Shortly after noon, while the cruise director was announcing what was going on around the ship, the captain broke in to announce a group of dolphins off the starboard bow. We rushed out to the balcony and saw lots of dolphins jumping through the waves, heading toward the ship, ... |
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... but then as they reached the bow wave, they all turned around and started jumping through the waves going the other direction. |
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There had to have been hundreds of them. It was all over within ten minutes, and then the dolphins disappeared in the distance behind us. |
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Not only did we see dolphins, we got more Caffeine Free Coke Zero for our room! Happy day! |
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We finally tried the salad station for dinner and enjoyed it very much. The server who built Tom's salad wasn't quite as generous as the one who built Debbie's, so Tom added some bread to round his out. |
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It's still very hard to believe that we live in this cabin, ... |
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... and get to look straight up at the stars every night. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy