ATW Day 63 - At Sea Once Again

Yep, it's another sea day.  That leaves us with only 26 more to go on the ATW!  The previous sea day, 2 days ago, was a typical relaxing one highlighted by rainbows, sunset, and a great view of the Southern Cross.

Yesterday we were docked in Port Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles.  

We booked a late morning excursion so we went for a walk into town after breakfast.

It was another hot one and we wondered if we should have booked the earlier departure of the excursion. As it turned out, we made the right decision.  The excursion was The Northern Highlights.  The first stop was at the botanical gardens.  It started out typically sunny, hot, and humid.  Our excellent guide told us all about the coco de mer, a palm tree which is native to the Seychelles.  The fruits are massive!

And then the weather fairy was on our side as the sky clouded over and some rain came.  We walked up to the tortoise enclosure in the rain.

The rain eventually stopped but the clouds remained as we walked around the garden.

After the garden visit, we were driven to the center of Victoria for a walking tour which included a visit to the market, a view of the Buddhist Temple, and a stop at the cathedral.

Unfortunately, we were not given the opportunity to stop at the RFC, the Rosebelle Fried Chicken!

Then we were driven around the northern shore of Mahe.  Mahe is a granitic Island which gave us interesting views of the granite rocks.

The last stop was at the Beau Vallon Beach where we went for a swim.

Thankfully, the sun mostly remained behind the clouds and the rain stayed away although there was a storm threatening over the ocean.

It was a really good excursion and, as I said, our guide was excellent.  She was knowledgeable and entertaining.  That can make a huge difference in the experience.

Tomorrow we will finally visit Madagascar and the lemurs!

May all living beings be healthy and happy,

Linda and Larry

P.S. As we were sitting on our veranda today before lunch, we watched a couple of sea birds apparently looking for their lunch.  There are many, many flying fish out there.  The big bird with the blue beak is a Northern Gannet.

Bon  appetit!

ATW Day 60 - A Momentous Day

It is actually Day 61 as I am writing this post but yesterday, Day 60, was momentous for several reasons.  Most importantly, it was Linda's birthday.  The day started with birthday decorations in our room.

I tried to convince her that it wasn't a real cake but she insisted on trying to eat it!

There was also recognition on the morning TV show.

The high point of the birthday celebration was her dinner in Jacques, the French restaurant.  She invited Carlos, the Food & Beverage Manager and Valentina, the Chief Housekeeper to join us.

The big surprise was the birthday cake they prepared for her.  Carlos had asked me what kind of cake she would want and I told him that she loves the tres leches cake in Red Ginger.  It is prepared as small individual cakes.  Carlos said that he would talk to the pastry chef to see if they could make a big one and sure enough they did!  It was delicious.

That capped off a really good day.  What else was momentous about it?  Since it was day 60, it represented the half way point on the ATW cruise.  And, what else?  We crossed the equator for the third time on this cruise.  One more crossing to go.

And Linda was treated to a pretty sunset as she did a before dinner walk on deck.

Now we are heading to our next port of call - Mahe, Seychelles.  The down side of Linda's birthday is that, with the change in itinerary, she missed out on being in Nepal on her birthday.  But we are really looking forward to what's coming up, especially our 2 night overland safari in South Africa.

May all living beings be healthy and happy,

Linda and Larry