Cape Town - Day 30

We have included several pictures from the last couple of days.

You’ll see a picture of Table Top Mountain followed by various pictures from Robben Island. The Robben Island pictures include the actual cell that Nelson Mandela was in for all those years, the cemetery where they buried some of the leper’s, the ferry that we took to and from the Island and even a picture of Keith behind bars. We also included pictures from our afternoon at the aquarium and a few other pictures.

We forgot to mention that yesterday was our daughter Jennifer’s birthday and that we wished her very happy birthday greetings all the way from Cape Town, South Africa. Once again, a very happy birthday to Jennifer.

Last evening we dined at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant and we had an outstanding time. It was just the two of us and Antonio the Maitre d’ sat us at one of the window tables where we enjoyed a very nice view of Cape Town. There were very few people dining last evening so it was very quiet and we dined for about two hours as we just enjoyed a very nice conversation. The food, which is always excellent, was even better than ever last evening.

We spoke with the Maitre d’ Antonio for a little while when we were first seated. We talked about how nice the surrounding area is particularly the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront area. V&A is a great area for passengers and for the crew given its short proximity to the area that we are docked.

The area has lots of stores that surround it plus a shopping mall plus lots of restaurants and cafes. It also has a couple of hotels. We have friends that stayed there a few years ago after disembarking the Serenity and they loved the nearby Hotel. While we prefer to dine on the ship, there are some excellent restaurants located there with fish being the food of choice.

Speaking of food. We each began our meal with a special appetizer from the chef, which included various chopped vegetables. Our meal continued with the infamous salad that we have created ourselves. Each waiter always knows the salad that we like so we do not need to explain what items to prepared.

Our entrees were just outstanding. Keith had the Broiled Sea Bass, which might have been the best he has ever had. The fish was very tasty along with the fresh tomatoes. Anne Marie asked for the Seared Sea Scallops as an entrée rather than an appetizer as it is normally listed. We also had a nice side order of steamed vegetables. We ended our glorious meal with a fresh fruit plate.

We enjoyed nice wine and the ambience of the restaurant was wonderful as it normally is. It was even extra special with so few passengers dining. As we mentioned, we enjoyed the beautiful views of Cape Town.

Since it was slow in the restaurant we also enjoyed a very nice long chat with Costa our waiter for the evening. Costa is from Portugal and we asked him questions about his hometown and we also talked about a variety of subjects, including Italian Cooking.

We also spoke extensively with the sommelier Raphael. His brother is the Maitre d’ of the Main Dining Room on board the sister ship the Crystal Symphony and his sister is the Head of Housekeeping on the same ship. We like to learn so we continue to ask questions about wine.

Our Cruise Director Rick Spath came by our table and a few minutes later he brought with him Hotel Director

Josef Lumetsberger who just came on board that very day to take the place of Hotel Director Herbert Doppler who is going on Holiday (Vacation). We also gave our best wishes to Herbert yesterday afternoon. We have also known Josef for many years and it was wonderful to see him. He looked all rested and we each gave him warm greetings and told him how wonderful this World Cruise has been. We look forward to seeing him throughout the World Cruise. Josef had also mentioned to us that he had arrived in Cape Town about three days ago and that it had been overcast and rainy so we feel very fortunate that we enjoyed such wonderful weather on our first day back in Cape Town since 2007. J

Today marks the conclusion of the second leg of the World Cruise. During this leg we traveled from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Cape Town, South America. We traveled 8,479 nautical miles or the equivalent of 9,751 land miles. We met many nice passengers who will be departing the ship today along with some crew members who will also be leaving the ship at this beautiful port of call.

This morning Keith woke early to welcome in another new day. It is hard to believe that we have traveled from Miami to Cape Town, South Africa. Keith continues to be somewhat limited by his ankle but he is doing his best to make the best of this situation and is looking at this as an opportunity to build more strength in his upper body. While completing what he considers to be an abbreviated workout he worked out on each of the weight machines for the upper body along with various freestanding weights. Fellow passenger John was the one and only passenger on the Elliptical Machine while Keith was working out.

We enjoyed a very nice breakfast in our room and spoke with Alexander for a little while.

Once again, today looked like it would be a glorious day and while we enjoyed the scenery from our room it was our hope that the beautiful weather continues.

We got ready early as we booked a trip out to Robben Island on our own. One of the many benefits of the Destination Lectures that we attend is that we learned about this tour. Just like tours in the USA such as the tour of Alcatraz we were advise to purchase the tickets for the tour on line as on most days they are sold out if you try to purchase tickets on the day of the tour. So, we purchased the tickets the other day and printed out the tickets in the Computer University.

Our trip began at 9:00 AM and we needed to be checked in by 8:30 AM. As such, we converted some USA money over to local currency since we needed to take a taxi over to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront since the first shuttle did not run until 10:00 AM. Yesterday afternoon we had the port agent talk with one of the taxi cab drivers so that we could get a sense as to what the cost of the cab would be. As is the case in many places around the world she told us that some of the cab drivers might try to get as much money as they could from each passenger. It was for this reason that since she is a local that we asked her and she was so kind to find out what the “correct” fare would be to go over to the waterfront. When we departed the ship this morning we had no trouble securing a cab and the price was consistent with what she told us and we had a very nice taxi cab driver. In no time we were at the waterfront and we walked around for a little while before it was time to board the ferry.

As part of the tour we took a ferry from the waterfront over to Robben Island. The Ferry ride was less than 30 minutes each way.

For nearly 400 years colonial and apartheid rulers banished those whom they regarded as political troublemakers or social outcasts of society to Robben Island. At various times during this 400 year period inhabitant’s of this island included slaves, both political and religious leaders who opposed Dutch colonialism in East Asia, various leaders who resisted British expansion in South Africa, leprosy sufferers, and prisoners of war. In the most recent years those imprisoned included political opponents of the apartheid regime in South Africa and Namibia many of whom were imprisoned for a quarter of a century.

In those recent years those imprisoned on the Island became symbols of freedom including Nelson Mandela who after emerging from prison in 1990 lead South Africa to democracy with a message of reconciliation and hope that moved so many people and nations around the world.

The museum opened its doors to the public approximately thirteen years ago in 1997. On December 1 1999, UNESCO declared Robben Island a World Heritage Site for its historical role in overcoming injustice.

The tour was fantastic. It was very well organized as there were a lot of personnel at the building where we first showed our tickets, on the ferry and on the Island. The tour started and ended on time and the two tour guides we had were very knowledgeable and communicated extremely well.

After we departed the ferry we took a 45 minute bus ride that took us to various spots around the Island that were explained in great detail by our guide. This included the Prison house where Robert Sobukwe, leader of the Pan African House was held in isolation (we learned he was not even allowed to talk), The Lime Quarry, The Male Leper Church and Leper Cemetary, the 19^th Century Lighthouse, Various World War II fortifications, The Garrison Church, Various Shipwrecks and the Commissioner’s Residence.

We then had the opportunity to visit the Maximum Security Prison, which held many leaders from different organizations including former President Nelson Mandela who spent eighteen of his twenty seven years of incarceration on Robben Island

We had another guide for the prison tour and someone who had spent 6 years and 5 months at the prison conducted it. We even saw his cell. Like many others, he was a political prisoner who had not committed a crime. He was actually sentenced to for twenty years and if it were not for the fact that they were all released many years ago his actual sentence would not have come up until this past November. He has been giving these tours since 2003 and at first was reluctant to accept a position doing this for obvious reasons but in the end the economy was initially the reason why he accepted this opportunity. Since he gives the tour in addition to receiving a salary he is allowed to live in one of the homes on the Island with his wife and his eighteen-month-old son for free. He was extremely articulate and we learned a great deal from him about prison life. He also explained why he was arrested and why he was convicted. The whole point of this tour is to ensure that people do not forget what happened in this country. In the end, we can all learn from mistakes and this is one of many examples in the history of the world where it is important that people not forget.

We arrived back to the ship in the afternoon and because we knew we would arrive back after many of the lunch venues had closed, we had arranged with the butler to have salad entrees available when we got back to the room. So, once back on the ship we called Alexander and in a few minute he brought them over to our room.

Later in the afternoon, Anne Marie walked on the Treadmill for about an hour and then sat out afterwards. Keith spent time with two fellow passenger’s including Bob and a passenger who boarded the ship earlier today who lives in Brazil.

This evening we dined in the Main Dining Room. While there are about two hundred more passengers on this leg of the World Cruise, some passengers were dining off the ship while several other passengers are on overland tours involving a Safari and will meet up with the ship in a few days at our next Port of Call.

Tomorrow we will have another day in Cape Town as the Serenity will be in port for its second overnight with a departure scheduled for 6:00 PM tomorrow evening.

We selected today’s thought of the day with our visit to the prison in mind.

TODAY’S THOUGHT OF THE DAY…..

“Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.”

Keith and Anne Marie