South Africa is a land with abundant natural resources. They have deposits of every mineral, except oil, and are among the world’s largest producers of coal, gold, and diamonds.  They have 90% of the world’s titanium.  And they are self-sufficient in food production – not necessarily in food distribution though.  The only thing they must import is oil.

Many of the issues our guide in Richards Bay told us about were very true.  In 2009 AIDS was rampant among the rural black population where polygamy is common (4-5 wives is average), there was massive unemployment, especially among the unskilled black population so crime is rampant.  The country has 11 official languages and long-standing tribal fueds that need to be navigated.  Add in corruption at all levels of government and services, plus horrendous poverty and you have a plate-full of serious issues to work on.

However, there has been much change for good, first being education is compulsory for all children – although sadly there are often not enough class rooms for all children in an area, nor teachers, nor money for uniforms and supplies.  So many social and judicial issues are intertwined that it is difficult to unravel enough strings to begin setting things right.  Time can be an constant enemy to change.

But the countryside is lovely; with rolling hills, grasslands, vineyards, and farm land.  And critters.  I never get enough of seeing animals.

The city of Durban is situated on the southeastern coast of South Africa and has a natural harbour. The area is the beginning of a paqrticular weather phenomenon which can cause extremely high seas, which, fortunately we did not experience on the sail in or out.  Durban is not only the busiest container port in South Africa but the busiest in the Southern Hemisphere.  Due to the warm climate and beautiful beaches Durban is a favoured holiday spot and tourism is a large part of the economy. As per the plan to see as many animals as possible we once again went on a game drive: this time to Tala Private Game Reserve, a private 3000 hectares (7500 acres) of grassland, thornveld and wetlands.  Twenty years ago it was a massive sugar plantation and vegetable farm.  The owner turned it into a game reserve, re-introduced all the indigenous plants that attracted animals.  There are no elephants (they are too destructive to the environment) and none of the big cats, but many of the other animals are plentiful. The drive through the Tala lands was very enjoyable.  Our ranger guide was a young lady who was knowledgeable about the animals and the reserve.

We saw two new animals – the Blesbok (an Africaan’s word for the wide white stripe down the face) and the Eland (the largest of the antelope species).  A large building was being re-thatched.  I don’t know how expensive it would have been in Africa but thatching is not an inexpensive way to roof a house. At one of the large water holes we saw some more rhinos and wildebeest. Not too far from the water hole there was a dusty hillock that was a comfort spot for a couple of rhinocerous and we were able to drive up quite close to them. We drove back through Durban in the late afternoon. The re-fueling tanker was finished and we set off for a day at sea before reaching Cape Town, where we were to stay for three days.

On our second day at Richards Bay we visited the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve.  The park name is pronounced nothing like the letter combinations look.  It is Shoo sloo wee-Um fō lō zee.  I can only remember this because it was so unusual I made a point of learning it.  At one time there were too different parks with a corridor in between.  Hluhluwe was mostly for game and Umfolozi, since it was on the wetlands, had mostly birds.  The corridor lands were acquired and the parks joined together.  It is government owned and managed.   Once again we had a lengthy (90 minute) drive to the Reserve.  Our guide, Helmut, was a one-man South Africa bashing team.  For the entire trip (there and back) he regalled us with all the reasons people should not come to South Africa;  the crime rate, unemployment, lack of education, issues with tribal areas, AIDs, big factories, brain drain (skilled doctors, engineers, etc, leaving for work overseas), currency de-valuation, inferior housing, power black-outs and illegal users.  I think he covered just about every aspect of the economy and life-style.  A really cheerful fellow.  Not really a good spokesman for his country.  He also spoke insensitively about the black population even though our driver was black. The common name for the fruit of this plant is “Old Man’s Testicles.”

The driver of our truck at the reserve did not seem too motived to locate any animals and for the first part of our game drive he stuck to the paved roads – but we still saw animals.  When he moved off onto the dirt roads, though, we saw more. These zebras were enjoying the shade at one of our pit stops.  I noticed that they usually stand like this, one facing one way and the other right alongside facing the other.  I am sure it is a survival instinct so there are eyes and ears on the lookout in all directions.

This old Cape Buffalo moved along very slowly.  I don’t think its remaining lifetime was very long.We had been warned that all animals have the right-of-way in the reserves and when we encountered an elephant snoozing in the middle of the road all the vehicles just stopped and waited to see where he wanted to go.  By the time he moved there were five tour trucks, a dump truck and two private cars sitting at a standstill. There was another bull elephant off in the brush somewhere that was calling out and the fellow in front of us did not like what he was saying.  Eventually he wandered down the road and then off into the bush to investigate and we were all able to resume our drives. There was quite a large herd of Cape Buffalo crossing the river.   We saw a herd of Gazelle wandering down the road,  another Nyala Antelope, and some more giraffes and elephants before we left the park and headed back to the ship.

                All in all it ended up being a pretty decent critter day.

Richards Bay is South Africa’s largest harbour.  It is situated on a large lagoon off the Mhlatuze River on the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal.  Originally it was a make-shift harbour during the Boer War of 1879 (used by Commodore of the Cape, Sir Frederick Richards).  The first sanctuary was created here in 1935 to protect the ecology around the lagoon but by 1943 it was expanded into the Richards Bay Park.  In 1954 a plan for a community was laid out and a formally recognized town was proclaimed in 1969.

The harbour is linked to Johannesburg by railway and an oil/gas pipeline. Both an aluminum smelter and a fertilizer plant were constructed at the lagoon and titanium is mined from the nearby sand dunes. Diamonds and gold were discovered in South Africa in the 19th century and mining became the foundation for rapid economic development.  By the 1990s services contributed almost 60% of the GDP, with industry providing 35% and the final 5% comes from agriculture.

Despite the hot temperatures we were welcomed by Zulu Dancers – with bare feet. They were extremely agile and did not appear to be bothered by the hot pavement or temperatures. The April 16th day in Richards Bay was an add-on due to itinerary changes with the cancellation of another port-of-call, French Comoros – so we were able to schedule another game drive to Zulu Nyala, a private reserve 90-minutes drive from the port. Upon our arrival we were served a delicious lunch (HAL definitely makes sure you are fed, and fed well, on these shore excursions) before climbing into the back of open-sided trucks.   At the lunch stop we saw the nests of Weaver Birds in the trees.  These clever birds build numerous hanging nests to disguise which nest holds the eggs as a way to trick predators. Also on the grounds were a couple of  nice, gentle crocodiles.  Probably not. A few Plains Zebra (pronounced like the British zed, not the American zee) roamed freely on the grounds.  I guess they liked the lawn grass. Each of the open sided trucks could carry 10 passengers.  We were on the last one be to loaded (a good strategy for avoiding full buses or vehicles) so there were only 6 of us.  Friends James and Cherie and I had the upper front seat and John was on his own in the seat behind. We were on different sides of the truck so any animal photos I might miss, John could get. Our driver was named William and he, like Patrick in Kenya, asked us which animals we most wanted to see and did his best to locate them within the park grounds.  He did well too.  We saw giraffes, hippos, rhinos, wildebeest, antelope, and many other animals and birds. I don’t think there is another animal more stately than a giraffe.  They just have such great posture and presence.  Even when they walk they look regal.

                                           These are Nyala antelope.

Of course, giraffe are also quite comical and very ungainly when they bend down to eat grass or drink water.  Personally, I think this injures their pride so they try to stick to eating leaves from the trees.                                                           Blue Wildebeest Impala – the McDonalds of the Savannah – notice the M symbol.

There are six white rhinos and one black rhino at Zulu-Nyala.  We did not see the black but we did see all six of the white.  The name difference has nothing to do with the animals colour; they are all pretty much the same, from grey to brown.  White Rhinos have a wide, square upper lip, which the Afrikaans (Dutch origin) people called Wyd – anglicized to White.  The Black Rhino has a narrow, hooked lip.  Black Rhinos are extremely endangered and several of the sub-species are already extinct.  The Northern White Rhino is also severly threatened.

Poachers are very sophisticated these days and use social media to read the geo-tags on photos that people post.  This gives them the date, time and location in various parks and open plains where they know rhinos have been and makes it easy for the poachers to locate and kill them.                                Rhinos like to wallow in mud to keep cool.Much of the movie “Out of Africa” starring Kate Bassinger was filmed at Zulu-Nyala.  Part of the agreement was that the house ‘set’ that was built for the film was to be left standing after shooting was completed.

William tried very hard to find the elephants for us without success, but that was okay as we had seen them in Kenya. It was 6 pm by the time we returned to the parking lot.  All of the buses were loaded and waiting since one person from each bus was on our truck.  Oops.                                        That was a great, great day!

The day after we left Mombasa was Easter Sunday and we received a nice large chocolate rabbit.

Two days later it was another formal night and the theme was Casino Royale.  There were large playing cards, dice, and black and red streamers all over the ship.  I was always impressed by the effort they made to decorate for special nights.  They only did it every few weeks so it was always a treat.                        The sunset that night was pretty nice as well.

Maputo, Mozambique was the first of four consecutive days in port. We arrived in Maputo, the largest city and capital of Mozambique at 8 AM.  Mozambique was a Portuguese colony for many years until independence was granted in 1974.  Over 250,000 ethnic Portuguese left the country virtually overnight leaving no skilled professionals to maintain  the infrastructure.  The economy plummeted as a result.  The governing party turned to the Soviet Union and East Germany for help, but by the early 1980s the country was bankrupt.  The Civil War, which lasted until 1992, further weakened the economy, but with the war ended growth and stability are returning.  Tourism is playing a large role in the country’s recovery.

Obviously, with such recent political and economical storms there were not a vast selection of tours available.  We did a five-hour excursion that was basically an overview of the area in and around Maputo.

We were first driven out to the countryside, past the river where ladies do the laundry and to the Pequenos Libombos Dam. Upon our return to Maputo we had a walk around the Jardim dos Namorados (the Public Garden) and a drive past the Costa Del Sol (beach front).

 We were pleasantly surprised at the modern high-rise buildings in the city and the clean streets.

It was a nice overview of an area that, unfortunately, is still riddled with unrest, so we were blessed to be there during a time of welcome and peace.

The second day in Mombasa was slightly cooler than the previous day.  We drove 90 minutes to Shimba Hills National Reserve.  Our driver, Patrick, was a Christian with a heart for mission.  He partners with an organization in Spokane to provide medical clinics, school uniforms & tuition, and sponsorship for 126  chuildren in Kenya.

We saw different scenes and scenery on our drive to the reserve than the day before, yet they are located in the same area.  We actually passed the entrance to Shimba Hills on our way to Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary the day before.

 Patrick asked the five of us in his van which animals we most wanted to see, and since he knows the park well, he did his best to find them. Shimba Hills is the only reserve in the country where one may see the rare sable and roan antelopes, one of the most handsome species of antelope.  We were fortunate to see both the black and the roan.  Loved their big pointy ears. At our lunch stop at the hotel restaurant we enjoyed watching the fish eagles and walking the boardwalks.

We were scheduled to be returning to the ship after lunch, but Patrick took us on a second game drive to try find the elusive giraffe – with no luck unfortunately. We were due to return on board at 2:30 and we didn’t get back until 6 pm.  We had a wonderful day with new friends Hanson and Janice and her 93-year old father John; who was a real trooper and great fun. We had a short wait while the ferry unloaded before we could drive on and go across to the port.  It was interesting to see all the different people and their burdens getting off. This fellow is talking on his cell phone while he pulled that load of fuel tanks up the ramp!         And another group is waiting at the other side to get on.

We had a third day in Mombasa due to itinerary changes but the two tours we had done were the ones offered for the third day as well.  This gave us the opportunity to have a lazy morning, do some laundry while so many people were off the ship, write emails, and read our books.  About three o’clock we wandered down the gangway to the huge market that was set up on the pier; and even bought a few things.

The ship sailed away in the late afternoon and had four sea days before our next stop at Maputo, Mozambique.

Let the critters begin!!

As per the new schedule arranged before we went to the Seychelle Islands, we were three days at sea before reaching Mombasa, Kenya.  The Captain sailed quite far south and then came north along the coast of Tanzania to avoid pirate activity.  The day before we docked in Mombasa we heard that pirates had commandeered five ships in the previous 48 hours, one of which had re-taken the vessel; one pirate was in custody and three others had fled in their boat.  They were getting braver and going after ships much further offshore than had been the case for quite a long time.  I am sure our Captain and crew were very happy to be safely out of those waters.

There was an overland excursion offered when we arrived in Kenya; a three-day trip to Maaisa Mara National Reserve.  I seriously considered booking it but decided not to since we had taken two expensive tours (overland in China and the flight to the Taj Mahal) already.  My rationalization was that if I booked a safari tour at every one of our African ports of call the chances were very good that we would see all of the Big Five (lion, cheetah, elephant, rhinocerous, and water buffalo), plus many other of the continent’s animals for less cost than the overland.  I worried that this might not be the best decision but as I say, “You can only do the best you can do with what you know at the time.”  That’s my story and I’ll stick too it (for now).

From the port we had to take a very short ride on the Likoni Ferry to the mainland; a couple of hundred meters, but it was packed with people and vehicles. There were as many waiting on the other side to board for the return trip.  The vehicles drive on first and there is literally a ‘holding yard’ – covered enclosure – where the pedestrians wait until the cars and buses are on board, then as many people as fit in the space are allowed on.  Rush hour every ten minutes!The nine-hour tour to Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary included almost 5 hours of driving on bumpy, dusty roads to get there and back.  As I have said before, the long drives to go inland on some of these excursions don’t bother us because we get to see so much of the countryside, local people and communities. During the drive John was transported back to 2008 when he and our daughter went on a mission trip to build a medical clinic at an HIV/AIDs orphanage in Zambia.  So much of the landscape, buildings and the activities of the people were the same.

Within the sanctuary we only saw elephants from a distance half-hidden by brush.                                                

The Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary was created to provide a safe corridor from Shimba Hills Reserve (where we were going the next day) to the forest.  It is ‘historically’ a bull’s area although you can see the occasional female and her calf.  The sanctuary is a community-based project that supports 200 families who voluntarily contributed the communal land for the preserve; agreeing not to farm this important elephant habitat.  The people live nearby and manage the sanctuary, earning more from tourism than from farming.  It has enabled them to build school classrooms and enjoy a steady water supply.

      This is a very large millipede that you do not want to bite you.

At the Hotel/Camp where we had lunch we had a great view of a watering hole where a small herd of elephants congregate. Elephant trunks apparently are heavy and a tusk is a good place to take the weight off.

There was also a big warthog that like to wallow in the mud at the edge of the waterhole.

One of the elephants took exception to the presence of a couple of other elephants in the water and would come stalking over to chase them away. On the drive back to the port we saw all these people with nets standing in the river.  It looked more like they were collecting the weeds or grass than fishing. We had a short game drive at the end of the tour and saw this warthog and her three babies scurry into the brush as the vans drove by.   And this colobus monkey was making sure she wasn’t too visible.             I really like the thick-trunked Baobab Trees. The dry season allows much of a store’s merchandise to be displayed outside.

We returned to the ship in time to clean-up and attend the Maundy Thursday service provided by Pastor Jack.  The next day was Good Friday and we would be off to Shimba Hills for most of the day.  Holland America has a Protestant Pastor, Catholic Priest, and Jewish Rabbi on all of their long Grand Voyages.  They provide worship services for guests and crew, and there are also prayer and instruction times available for the predominantly Muslim Indonesian crew members.

We had an enjoyable first day in Africa.  We had two more days in Mombasa, then a stop in Mozambique, before Richards Bay, Durban and Cape Town, South Africa – animals every day until we reach Namibia on the west coast.

The first day at sea after leaving Muscat, Oman, during the captain’s daily noonhour annoucements, he told us of some itinerary changes he had made to keep the ship out of range of the pirate activity that was active on the northeast coast of Africa at the time.  (The Maersk ‘Alabama’ was pirated while we were in these waters – re: Tom Hanks movie “Captain Philllips.” )  Our two-day port of call in the Seychelles was moved up a day earlier and we would be three days at sea instead of the originally planned four (which meant we needed to travel at full speed of 22 knots) and we would take three days instead of two to reach Mombasa, Kenya so that the captain can sail further out at sea and further south down the African coast before turning north and hugging the coast up to Mombasa.  These changes would allow the ship to get to Kenya without sailing in the vicinity of known pirate activity.

In order to ensure the ship and passengers were protected the entire time we sailed in the waters near Somalian pirates there was crew members with night vision binoculars and flak vests doing 4-hour shifts on watch on the promenade deck 24- hours a day.  All of the promenade deck  fire hoses had been charged and lashed to the railing and a sonic cannon was set up at each end of the deck and ready to break eardrums if necessary.  There was never a dull moment on the open sea.

The Seychelles are a group of about 115 islands that lie 1600 kilometers (990 miles) off the coast of east Africa.  The three central islands – Mahe, Praslin and La Digue – are granite, while the outlying islands are coral atolls.  The capital, Victoria, Mahe is one of the smallest capital cities in the world and the only major port in the Seychelles.  It is also the only town in the country; all the other communities are villages.

When the islands were discovered by a British East India ship in 1609 they quickly became a haven for pirates.  They were claimed for France in 1754 and the first settlers and slaves arrived in 1770.  Britain took charge of the Seychelle Islands after the Napoleonic Wars but the French language and customs remained.  Today, most locals will conduct business in French, speak English to the tourists and talk Creole (a French dialect) at home.
Our tour the first day in the Seychelles – which was Palm Sunday –  took us into Victoria to see the famous clock tower, the post office, several churches, the market, and a Hindu temple before we visited the Botanical Gardens.  At the garden we saw the giant land tortoises and the coco de mer (double coconut), unique to the Seychelles.

We were driven to the highest point on the island for a photo stop before being taken to a restaurant at the south end of the island for lunch.  There was time alloted for a swim after lunch but the surf was pretty high and strong so we just enjoyed a walk on the lovely beach. On the way back to the ship we stopped at a Craft Village where we saw demonstrations by traditional artisans; as we know one must ALWAYS have an opportunity to shop on each excursion.

Day two was a lovely sunny day and the water returned to its normal hues of bright blue and green.  We went snorkeling near one of the small outer atolls, Cerf Island. It was fun to feed the fish.  My little waterproof camera managed a couple of almost clear shots and a short video of the feeding frenzy over the chunk of bread.  Despite the sun screen we both got burned when we were snorkeling.

We returned to the ship at noon, had a light lunch and caught the shuttle back to shore to explore Victoria on foot.
We really liked the Seychelles and, except for the horrendously long flight to get there, could see ourselves spending vacation time on one of the islands.

And just to end our visit at these lovely islands in the same vein as when we arrived, the Captain cancelled our stop in Madagascar due to political unrest; which now gives us a third day in Mombasa.

The night we were at sea between Dubai, UAE and Muscat, Oman there was a severe lightning storm.  I slept through it all while John sat up and video’d the storm.  While we walked the deck for our usual two miles we had to battle wind and a rolling deck from the churning sea. The captain announced there was good chance of rain the next day for our stop in Oman, which will be interesting since it is a desert country located along the south coast of the Arabian peninsula.

Our tour was an all-day (9 1/2 hours) trip to see the Forts of Nizwa (the former cultural and political capital of Oman).  Nizwa was 1 1/2 hour drive from Muscat through the Western Al Jajar Mountains.                Note the tiny people in the lower center of this photo.

There was only one stop on the way to Nizwa; the ruins at Bilkat Moz; which was built into a steep hillside.  John and our friend Harold from Melbourne, Australia had an in depth conversation as we walked back to the bus.

We spent over an hour at the 17th century Nizwa Fort before lunch.  The fort had access to freshwater even during a siege due to an irrigation system developed by the Queen of Sheba in 550 BC.  Underground channels brought the water from nearby wells into the fort.I loved all the pots and urns on display in the shops on the way to the fort. How could you not love all the angles, shapes and arches in an Arabian Fort?  So much fun to photograph.

From the top of the walls we had a nice view of part of Nizwa.                              This rock looks just like a crouching lion.

The abandoned ruins at Tanuf, home of Oman’s last Imam (religious leader), had an interesting tale.  The current Sultan’s father united the tribes of the country of Oman, but the Iman (who controlled 90% of the land) was not on board.  The Imam’s dissent brought the wrath of the Sultan down upon his dwellings in the form of air-raid bombing by the Sultan’s allies – the British Royal Air Force.

There were very few complete sections of walls to show the size or former granduer of the fort.

We only had a photo stop at Bahla, the UNESCO World Heritage Site 15th century fort that predates the spread of Islam in the region.

Our last fort on the tour was Jabrin Castle, called Palace of Gilyaroub.  It is famous for the beautiful ceiling decorations, wall murals and impressive architecture.  It is considered one of Oman’s most beautiful forts.

While we were on our tour inland the rain came down in buckets in Muscat.  When we were driving back into the city the wadi’s (many of which had been dry for five years or more) were rivers of muddy water.  Our guide was very excited and told us we brought good luck to Oman by bringing the rain so we were welcome back anytime. The Sultanate of Oman is a mountainous, dry desert country.  There are no lakes, rivers, or streams – although there are several oases with fresh water pools.  All the water for the 3.5 million population is supplied by de-salination and wells. It does rain in Oman several times a year but the rain we got that day was much longer in duration and a heavier downpour than they have had in many, many years. There were traffic jams in the streets where people had just stopped their cars and gotten out to stand in the rain.  School had been cancelled by the Sultan and many of the children were seeing running water in the wadi’s for the first time in their lives.  It was a pretty neat end to a good day.

2009 World Cruise – Unlike the rest of the ports of call on this cruise, except Hawai’i, we have been to Dubai, United Arab Emirates before.  Our son worked for a company based in Houston, Texas for two years and in 2007 he accepted a transfer to Dubai.  We visited him in 2008, but we didn’t see a great deal of the city at the time.  Our ship was docked in Dubai for two days.  We planned to spend most of our time with our son and he was going to tour us around a bit.

Joseph and his girlfriend Carrie were waiting to greet us when we entered the teminal.  We had not met Carrie before as she and our son had just started dating in early February.  We had already arranged visitor’s passes for them so we took them on board, gave them a tour of the ship and had a buffet lunch in the Lido before going to Joseph’s apartment to visit and play a game (we play a lot of games in our family).  Carrie had friends flying in from the USA to visit her for a week so she had to leave after our game to pick them up at the airport.  The three of us walked to the marina for dinner (a really good Italian restaurant) before Joseph drove us back to the ship.            Views from Joseph’s apartment at the Dubai Marina.

Looking the other direction from Joseph’s balcony.  This vacant lot is now fully developed.  In the distance, through the sand dust in the air, you can just make out the beautiful Burj Al Arab; the world’s only 7-star hotel. You could take a shore excursion, or make your own reservation, and go there for High Tea – VERY expensive tea.  The Burj Al Arab, I think even more than the Burj Khalifa, has become Dubai’s signature building.

The ship had arranged a free shuttle to take passengers into town from the port.  The next day we took the shuttle which dropped people off at the Burjuman Shopping Center.  Joseph met us there and we left his car and took a taxi to the famous gold souk.  The souk covers several blocks of small shops that sell gold jewelry.  There are even shops on a second or third level.  I have never seen so much bling in my life!  Absolutely stunning pieces.  Many of the sets in the window were for brides.  On her wedding day an Arab woman will wear many pieces of jewelry; a large necklace, earrings and several bracelets.  They must cost a fortune.  We also wandered around Old Town and through the spice souk where you can purchase anything and everything you would like to season your food.

The most amazing thing about Dubai is the architecture.  If you can conceive of a unique building someone in Dubai will build it.  There is a building that looks like a giant grain elevator but the middle is missing.  There are three buildings that are arranged like sections of an orange you have just peeled.  And, of course, there is the famous Burj Dubai, which was renamed the Burj Khalifa after the Sheik of Abu Dhabi after he gave Dubai a cheque for some astronomical amount of money to help them out of a financial crunch caused by the 2008-2009 global economic crisis.  This worked well all around because the Sheik of Abu Dhabi was planning to build his own tower that would be higher than the Burj.  Now he is saved the expense because his name is on the tallest building in the world-  and it’s just an hour down the road in Dubai.  Win. Win. The Burj Dubai was still under construction when we there in 2009; all the windows hadn’t yet been installed. We spent 2015 Christmas with Joseph and Carrie in Muscat, Oman (They moved from Dubai to Muscat in November 2013) and we drove up to Dubai for the weekend (6 hour drive). One of the things we did was go to the viewing level of the Burj Khalifa, which is on the 124th floor.  Trust me, it is a very strange sensation to be looking down on the rooftops of towering skyscrapers.  It is VERY HIGH.

The Burj is currently the tallest building in the world at 828 meters (2,722′) but Saudi Arabia began construction in 2013 on the Jeddah Tower which will be 1 kilometer tall (3,280′)  – 180 meters or 591′ taller than the Burj Khalifa.  The Jeddah Tower is slated for completion in 2020.  Dubai’s Burj Khalia took five years to build at a cost of US$1.5 billion.  In contrast Saudi Arabia’s new Jeddah Tower has a budget of US$20 billion!

After our walk around Old Town and the souks we went back to Joseph’s apartment for the afternoon.  We left at 4:15 to pick up Carrie at her apartment as we were all going to eat in the dining room on the ship.  Traffic was really backed up and we moved at a crawl.  As we neared Carrie’s apartment building we discovered that, since the day before, they had completely changed the road and we need to make a detour. (This was, and probably still is, a common occurrence in Dubai – roads just get changed without warning or notice.)  The normal 10 minute drive took 45 minutes and we still had a 40 minute drive to the port.   Dinner was scheduled for 6.  We pulled into the parking lot at 5:46.  I ran ahead and told everyone the others were on their way and we all sat down at the table only five minutes late.All the tables in a ship’s dining room are bolted to the floor.  They can’t just be rearranged to add more people.  Thankfully, since all aboard wasn’t until 11:30 that night, many people had chosen to eat in Dubai.  That allowed Heri, one of the dining room managers to bring up another small table from somewhere on the ship and set it at the end of our normal table for six.  We introduced Joseph and Carrie to our table mates Charles and Evelyn and Tim and Elaine and we all had a wonderful time at dinner.  Since he lives so far away from home it was a real treat for us to spend time with our son and meet his girlfriend (now his wife).  Two great days in Dubai.

2009 World Cruise – Our second day in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) began at 7 with an 8 am tour.  We were taken to see various places around the city.  It was just a 4 hour tour so we had the afternoon to relax and catch some rest after the long day the day before when we flew to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort.

Our first stop of the day was a photo stop at the Victoria Terminus Railway Station which is now a World Heritage Site and is having restoration work done.  The station was built during Queen Victoria’s Jubilee year.  The first train left from the station in 1853 and over half a million commuters per day pass through its doors. Rail is the primary way to travel distances in India and the trains are packed to the gills.  Although it is illegal, many people still hitch rides on the roofs of the train cars. The most interesting stop of the day was to see the Dhobi Ghats – a huge outdoor commercial laundry facility.  The sink cubicle spaces are generational, meaning they get passed down from father to son.  The laundry work is a male occupation.  Often the men have a farm out in the country and sons, brothers or cousins will come into town  on a rotation to work in the laundry. Laundry from all over Mumbai is brought here and soaped, soaked, boiled and beaten. They do the laundry for hotels and resorts, institutions like hospitals, factories, and private homes.  The men have their own private tagging system that allows them to hang laundry from different customers together but can be separated later.  As many men as are working in the laundry there are the same again going about the city collecting and returning laundry.  Everything is washed, dried, ironed, and folded and returned in 3-4 days.

The street vendors and beggars in India were very persistent and infringed closely on one’s personal space.  It was hard to witness the poverty and to see those who had been intentionally maimed as an infant so they could be beggars to help provide for the family.  Begging is an ‘honorable’ profession in many eastern countries and is extremely prevalent almost everywhere in India. When we left the Dhobi Ghats we stopped at Mani Bhavan, the house where Mahatma Ghandi stayed whenever he was in Mumbia between 1917 and 1934.  After his death the owner of the house kept his room exactly as it was when Ghandi would stay including all of his books (about 50,000). The house is now a museum and memorial to the famous leader of non-violent non-cooperation where Ghandi’s life is portrayed in picture box dioramas, photographs and articles.

The Prince of Wales Museum was the next stop on our tour.  It is a beautiful multi-domed and arched building.  Unfortunately we only had a short time to look at a few of the exhibits.  I love museums and tend to wander around quite happily for several hours when I get inside one. Our last stop was a short photo stop at the Gateway to India, the city’s most famous landmark; buiIt in 1911 it, too, is undergoing some renovations. The Taj Mahal Hotel (photo on the right) that had been bombed the previous November.  If I remember correctly there were about eight attacks on various places in Mumbai that month.

We spent the afternoon resting and reading.  The next day was a sea day and was India Dress Night.  I had found a nice outfit at one of the shops at the terminal so I was suitable attired for the occasion. Elaine also wore a lovely emerald green sari.  I’m not much of a fashionista, but it was fun to wear different national attire as we traveled around the globe.