Day 45

We have three days at sea now before arriving in Durban, South Africa which means  there are some interesting talks coming up to keep everyone busy.  Today, I went to a couple of talks, the first one by a guy called Riaan Manser who is a modern day explorer/adventurer and the only person to have cycled round the coast of the continent of Africa - a mere 42,000km.  The trip took 2 years, 2 months and 15 days and during the adventure, which went through some very dodgy areas and countries, Riaan was kidnapped and imprisoned  several times by rebel groups and law enforcement.  He left Capetown with a send off of 5 people and a dog, and returned back to the same spot 2 years later to a heroes welcome and a request from Nelson Mandela to join him for tea.  Since his first adventure, he’s rowed across oceans and kayaked rounded the whole of Iceland and Madagascar amongst many other things.  

Next up was a talk all about African wildlife.  It’s part of a series of 4 talks and today’s concentrated on African wild animals, how they move them and why they have to be relocated.  It was a a great talk with some stunning photographs.  The animals we learned about today were elephants, hippos, Cheetahs, leopards, giraffes and hippos.

This evening was another formal night so sequins and fancy frocks were order of the day!  Andy squeezed into his kilt for one last time on this trip (everything seemed a little bit tighter than a week ago!) and I donned my long navy dress which I’ve had for ages but never had an occasion to wear it!  Lucky for me it’s floor length as a strap on my nice shoes broke, so my gold cowboy boots were the footwear of choice!

We’ve exited the doldrums and the sea is slightly choppier now - there’s a constant gentle rocking with some creaking and groaning (from the ship as well as the passengers!) but nothing too bad.

Ready for dinner

Giraffes on a boat!