Where in the World are Dave and Elizabeth?

 There is still much to blog about — Capetown is one of the most beautiful spots in the world, I think. Namibia was fascinating, with its desert and oasis. But, I am taking a pause from the amazing places to talk about some fun happenings on the ship.  Here is my new look:  Just kidding!!  April 27th was Kings day in Holland, and our Holland America ship celebrated.  Sunday night was the farewell cocktail party hosted by Cruise Specialists, our travel agency. CS specializes in world cruises or otherwise longer trips, and they had three of their people — Keith, Suzy, and Tom — aboard to help us all along the way.  CS truly goes out of the way to make sure that their clients are happy, safe, and presented with opportunities for adventure.  Tomorrow marks twelve days to home!  See you soon! 

Hello from Ghana. Today is King Day for Holland, so the crew and lots of guests (even non-Dutch guests) are wearing orange.  Some just have a small amount; others are in orange from head to toe.  Tonight, there will be a celebration.    Earlier, Dave and I strolled through a dockside, makeshift market filled with dresses and  shirts in colorful patterns, beautiful wooden bowls and carvings, paintings, and Ghana’s famous beadwork jewelry.  Even though we didn’t venture far, we were ready to come in from the steam oven heat and the blinding sun.  One beautiful young lady who was selling at a booth was standing in the full sun.  She was sweating so that the grandmother in me wanted to fuss over her and fuss over her and get her into the shade.  But, I refrained from over mothering a stranger.  I saw a beautiful stool that I wanted, but couldn’t figure out how to get it home.  To ship it would probably cost more than to buy it.  There are floor windows on either side of the ship’s bridge.

The captain just paused the ship exactly at “Null Island.”  If you pass this place at sea, you become an Emerald Shellback.  What does Null Island look like? Here’s a photo. Were you expecting an island? So was I when I first read our itinerary.  The name comes from the point where 0 degrees latitude meets 0 degrees longitude.  It’s null.  Get it? It is used as a place holder designation on maps, even though there is no land here, and the concept has been integrated into naval lore.  Enjoy! 

I'm still trying to catch up on our adventures before we come to our next port -- Takadori, Ghana. While at Thanda, we went on six game drives.  We happened across two different lion kills in 24 hours.  Our guide had never seen two that close.  One was a lioness who had borne three cubs.  When she tried to return to the pride with her cubs, she was rejected as the pride didn't want that many extra mouths to feed.  So, she is essentially a singe mother raising three nearly grown boys, who are already sparring with each other, and a girl.  Whew! The second feeding we saw was the full pride.  We found them in a stupor early one morning after they had feasted the night before.  A couple of young ones yawned and stretched and went back for a snack before taking another nap. Here are some of the other animals we saw at Thanda.   We saw kudus, like those in the above photo, frequently.  Once, we happened along when two were strutting.  They have a non-violent way of settling some disp

 Everyone is sensing the end of our 128 day journey coming in less than three weeks!  Yesterday, we had an interesting journey from Walvis Bay inland to an oasis in the Namib Desert and then to a small city up the coast and back again. Now, I understand why an oasis is prized!  But, I’ll blog more about that later, as I still am catching up on Thanda.  On our second day at Thanda, we met at 5:00 AM for a quick morning snack.  We piled into our car at 5:30 and were off in search of game.  Like most places, Thanda is extra beautiful at sunrise.  We went back to a lake where we had seen a lioness and cubs, but they weren’t there. Our guide got a radio message that cheetahs had been spotted a long way west of us, so we high tailed it over there in the hope that we could see them.  They don’t show themselves easily, so our guide and tracker said we shouldn’t miss this opportunity.  At one point, we came across a journey of giraffes — my favorites.  We saw three cheetah cubs.  They are nearl

 In which we get mixed up in 10 beautiful weddings and see the sights of Maputo! What a fun day we had in Mozambique. We started with a visit to the historic train station.  Across the street, at the center of a traffic circle, there is a large statue which serves as a memorial mostly to military figures.  The crowning figure, however, is a woman with a snake.  The story goes that there was a venomous snake which would attack people who had to walk near the tree where it lived. The woman decided to do something about it. She put warm porridge in a pot on her head and walked to where the snake was coiled around a branch.  The snake tried to strike her, but he ended up falling into the porridge and died. After visiting the memorial, we headed to the local market. Among the many items for sale were lots of delicious looking fruit and nuts.  It was tempting to buy some to have for snacks on the ship.  We had been warned about cholera, and I wasn’t sure that I could scrub the fruit clean en

 We are on our way to Maputo.  You probably know that Mozambique has just had a traged y. I am praying for the people there.   Over 100 people have died after a ferry sank.  Too many people had crowded onto the boat after hearing a rumor about a Cholera outbreak in their community.  Mozambique is indeed fighting cholera, and we have been warned to be careful about what we eat or drink there.  Even so, it seems that this rumor caused unnecessary panic. The ferry was hit by a tidal wave,  My friend sent me pictures of some of the beautiful doors in Zanzibar. Here are a couple: Love to all!