Welcome To Durban - Day 35

PHOTOS: We’ve included some Valentines Day photos in front of the Crystal Cove Fountain of the two of us and one with Anne Marie and our Cruise Director Rick Spath.

We also included lots of pictures from today’s tour from the Animal Reserve.

Happy Valentine’s Day from South Africa.

We enjoyed a wonderful time on the ship last evening. Dinner was terrific in the Main Dining Room. We each tried the Fresh South African Hake as we have never had this fish before. It was quite good. Anne Marie had the fish as it was shown on the menu, which included an Almond Crust, accompanied with Coconut-Yellow Curry Sauce, Turmeric Rice Pilaf, Glazed Butternut Squash and Sugar Snaps. Earlier in the afternoon Keith spoke with our Headwaiter, Augusto, and requested that his fish be prepared plain without the crust and he also ordered grilled vegetables to accompany the fish.

When we first made our way over to our table Augusto was busy preparing an Italian appetizer for one of the nearby tables and there was a very nice aroma in the air from the onions, garlic and other items that he was beginning to sauté. Anne Marie sampled the dish and it was indeed tasty. Augusto is always offering to make us something special (no steak tar tar though J) and we will select something for him to make sometime soon

We both thoroughly enjoyed the show by entertainer Kenny Smiles. He does a wonderful act of comedy and singing and definitely keeps the audience quite engaged with his humor. We sat with Linda and John towards the back of the venue and Kenny noticed that and came up to us prior to the show. If one wants to be a part of Kenny’s show, best suggestion is to sit in one of the first two aisles as he works over the audience. He does it all in nice fun and humor and he once again received a standing ovation at the end of his show which does not happen often for those who do comedy.

Last evening, when we arrived back to the room we received written communication from Captain Glenn regarding actions that the Crystal Serenity is taking to minimize the possibility of any incidents occurring while we are transiting routes where acts of piracy have been known to occur. One such action was the change of itinerary, which was, announced a couple of months ago. In addition, it was noted that we will transit the problem areas at a high speed, we will be in constant communication with various governmental and military forces and there will be other increased security measure taken some of which will be noticeable to all guests. In addition, on February 15^th all guests and crew will participate in a security drill. As we understand, the drill is a new international requirement for all cruise ships and other vessels. At the end of last evening’s show last Cruise Director Rick Spath also made mention of all of this and briefly discussed the upcoming security drill and also noted that additional information with respect to the drill will be included in the daily Reflections program that each passenger will receive tomorrow evening.

Last evening we also received in our room two complimentary bottles of Purell sanitizer with a card that noted that reminded everyone that we are sailing in areas of the world with somewhat less sanitary conditions. We thought that this was a very nice touch. Anne Marie carries these bottles in our purse that we brought from home and we use them very frequently throughout the course of the day. We were told that given the water situation in some of these countries that when on land and/or on a tour it’s a good idea to use them even after washing our hands in restrooms. We had already been doing this and think it is a wise approach.

We arrived to Durban, South Africa very early this morning. Unfortunately, we were delayed about 45 minutes even though we arrived on time as the local pilot arrived late. This pushed the start time back for many of the tours.

Durban attracts tourists looking to enjoy its miles and miles of golden beaches and its many resorts and offers many outdoor activities including surfing, sailing and fishing. It is South Africa’s third largest city.

In 1860 the first of many boats bringing people from India to this area dropped anchor and over the next fifty years 150,000 people arrived to this area. They left their homeland of India for the opportunities that would come from helping to build this new city. As is the case in India today, many of those settling this city spoke different languages and practiced different faiths.

Today, Durban is one of the major cargo ports on the African Continent, which is a major driver of its overall economy. It is also home to several automobile-manufacturing plants. It now has a population of 3.5 million residents. This population makes it the third most populous city in South Africa.

We had a very early morning Shore Excursion, which was supposed to begin at 7:30 AM to the Tala Private Game Reserve. As such, we did not exercise in the morning.

Before leaving for the shore excursion we had an early morning breakfast in our room. We left Valentine’s Cards for the Butler, Stewardess and Assistant Stewardess. Last evening and this morning we also sent out some other Valentine’s Cards as well.

For whatever reasons the local authorities required that each of us present our passports to them sometime today at the pier. This was surprising since this is the third port of call in South Africa and the only one that made this requirement.

This is a reminder of all of the behind the scenes work that the ships clearance office is working on including ensuring the ship is in compliance with all local regulations and that all paperwork is prepared correctly for each port of call that each Crystal Ship visits and the fact that processes can change with each visit as was the case in Miami, Florida. We know that as of a few weeks ago the ship was still working on the process that will be required for our visit to Saudi Arabia since this will be even more challenging as that country also represents a maiden port of call stop for Crystal.

Normally, Crystal Cruises holds our passports for the entire voyage and the local authorities come on board the ship to go through the passports. After we returned back to the ship from the tour we turned our passports back at the front desk. As it turned out, the local authorities only checked passports for some passenger’s but not everyone as no one was available to check our passports.

Hidden in the KwaZulu Natal hills is the wildlife conservancy of Tala Private Game Reserve. This reserve coves 2,400 acres and includes indigenous acacia thornveld, open grassland and sensitive wetland and provides an exceptional environment for more than 300 bird species and also houses a variety of game.

The drive between the reserve and the cruise ship pier took approximately 60 minutes in each direction. This drive was taken in an air-conditioned motor coach. Once inside the reserve we were taken on a two-hour safari in a 4x4 open-air safari vehicle with a resident ranger. Various beverages were also provided before and after the safari.

The tour was fantastic.

We saw many animals during the two-hour safari including;

-Impalas, Plain Zebras, Ostriches, Waterbuck-Horns, GNU’s, Widebeests, Several Species of Antelope, Elands, Rhino’s, and Hippos. There were so many of each type of animal and just so much to take in, see and learn about. The weather was also very comfortable whereas it is normally very hot and humid this time of the year.

On our way to and from the Private Reserve we had a very nice tour of Durban. The city was quite nice and has much to offer. We also saw the new stadium that has been constructed for the World Cup so we have now seen three of the new soccer stadiums that have recently been completed.

After getting out of the city we had a very scenic drive. As this is the summer here and the rainy time of the year everything was very green. There are lots of rolling hills and it is one of the more beautiful drives we have taken over the years. We passed numerous areas where sugar cane is grown and we also passed many areas where there were a significant number of chicken houses.

We had a wonderful tour guide who gave us lots of valuable information, which is always very beneficial. This is our second time to this city as we first were here in 2007.

When we got back from the tour we stopped by the Lido Café where we each enjoyed a nice salad entrée. Anne Marie took a nice walk in the afternoon and Keith read and wrote.

This evening they had open seating in the Main Dining Room and we decided to enjoy dinner in our room instead. We pre-ordered our favorites from the Silk Road Japanese Restaurant ahead of time with our butler Alexander. We will provide more details about the rest of the day tomorrow.

Once again, Happy Valentine’s Day.

Following is our thought of the day with Valentine’s Day in mind.

TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..

Love is a gift, not an obligation. Follow your heart and always trust the person you love.

Keith and Anne Marie