We had officially arrived at our half way point and also crossing the Equator again, this time back to the northern hemisphere today!! A good day to celebrate 🥳 for sure!!

Instead of doing kiss the fish ceremony when we last crossed the equator back in end of February, the crews are doing tug of war…. They broke into different teams by their department and the galley team won… The executive chef proudly accepts the trophy and paraded it around the buffet… Lots of cheering and laughter…

And the guest room manager made her pon pons out of toilet brushes 🤣🤣

Did any one see dragon?

Last night’s performance was by a ukelele band group from Liverpool, 4 cute guys that called themselves ukebox and they are wonderful..,.. Today they surprise us at our ukelele class with a Q & A session and they are inspiring!! Ran into them at the buffet before and after….. So wonderful that on the ship you can always meet the talent at the buffet…

Last night’s production show by a brand  new production team was spectacular and they got a well deserved all around standing ovations…..

When the old production cast dancers and singers bid their farewell in Capetown People were melancholy and wonder if the new cast will be as good… Turns out it is and the sets are more elaborate.. So note to self, try not to build attachments, life goes on, things change and if your mind is always in a positive place, come what may..

In the mornings R usually woke up before sunrise, fumble in the darkness, try not to wake up P, made herself a pour over coffee and then enjoy sunrise while listening to the waves at the balcony…. Love our temporary 111 days waterfront home!!

7 sea days…. Back to enrichment classes, zumba and ukelele…… There’s a group of guitar players composed of random passengers (who all happens to bring their guitars along) that meet on the open deck at 7th floor every sea day to strum and Sing and they wisely called the group “sea days”

Not many cruisers had visited this port, not even the very seasoned ones and the crew…. We would have never come here if not for the reroute due to the turmoil at the red sea…. Also not even our cell service provider T mobile cover this country which is a first as we never been to a country where t mobile does not have coverage yet………

First stop was the famous Walvis bay lagoon where pink flamingos love to congregate

2nd stop is to see the salt flats and mines by the sea

3rd stop was Dune 7….. Namibia feels like death valley with its salt flats, sand dunes… Except it is right by the sea and has flamingos

Then a great lunch by the yacht club

Cant believe it’s already day 50!! And not even half way yet….

We were pretty exhausted after two days of mad dash up and down Capetown….so this single sea day is very welcoming.. Many Enrichment classes today, one of them is the executive chef demonstrating 3 south African dishes and told us there will be an African feast today at the buffet…. Yum….

The other day we have Elvis, today we have Cher…she’s funny, looks and sounds like Cher and in her own words: just had a little too much buffet 😆

She came down the stage singing gimme gimme gimme, saw P and stick her microphone in front of P for him to join in the chorus…. It was so quick I do not have time to capture the moment 😅

And later catch another show of a pair of comedians called Alfred and Seymour that are so funny we laugh until we cry 🤣

And….. Happy women’s day ladies!!

Rose up super early for a Safari game reserve that is 2.5 hours away

Aquila game reserve, modern way of doing safari, combining safari with spa 😎

I guess you figured out by now this is a very touristy safari with no guns or tents, but it did gives us a glimpse of what the real thing is like….

Wine country : We never knew South Africa is a major Wine country, we do not have time for a wine tour but we bought some (2 actually as the ship only allows one bottle per person) South African wine at a very good price…. Met a traveling wine connoisseur from US who confirmed that South Africa wine is indeed pretty impressive

We love Capetown!! Besides the beautiful sceneries , everyone we met is professional, calm and amicable….. They all exudes sense of pride of their beautiful country… Its amazing to see them come to this after all that they have been through, their history written in blood and tears…

Another country we will surely be back again for longer stay!!

Last glimpse of South Africa is the Robben island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years there in prison…. People here spoke of him with such adoration… He really brought South Africans together and leap frog south Africa forward in world stage

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by this view from our ship 👇

Table mountain, one of world 7 wonders of nature framing Cape Town

Once again we lucked out with a beautiful weather today, people told us it was raining and foggy last couple of days… Also  we lucked out with our pick of a 9 hour small group tour on TripAdvisor

Boulders beach Penguin colony

Lunch at Simon Town

Cape of good hope

Bo-kaap houses

Dinner at V and A waterfront

By the end of the day we both logged 20000 steps and completely exhausted after sightseeing for 10 hours straight….. Cape Town is gorgeous!! Glad we had another day to check it out….. Cant wait….

Jessica our lovely destination specialist did a special at the Theatre and invited 6 crew members from South africa to talk about their country, what to see and what to eat, giving the next port we are visiting a lot of immersive texture… Cant wait to arrive in Cape Town tomorrow

Meanwhile, today is the day that guests presents the results of their endeavors during sea days… There’s painting, there’s pop choirs, there’s harmonica, there’s ukelele… Busy day….

Today is the day we “flash mob dance” the unsuspecting audiences at their nightly Princess Theatre performance….. There are about 40 people participating and every one is excited…. To me it’s the process that is most fun.. The practices, the rehearsing, the chit chats…. Like minded people get together to dance and exercise and have fun….