3.- JANUARY 30, St. Helena Island & COMING TO AFRICA

January 24, 2007

Four days at sea, cruising the Atlantic. As we travel East we keep on losing time. Our Captain’s
ingenious formula is ”half hour a day at 2.00 p.m.” Instead of one hour at midnight. Weather
improved and we are surrounded by blues in the clear skies and the calm waters with depths of
6,000 ft..

The evenings start with different choices before dinner: Ballroom dancing with the Voyager
Quintet @ Horizon Lounge. Cocktail Music and dancing with a pianist and singer @ Voyager
Lounge or Sundown Serenade with guitarist at Observation Lounge.
Followed by dinner and entertaining shows, casino, and bars open until the wee hours.


Jan 27: Had a private visit with our Head sommelier Ricardo, talking about his wine cellar with 10,000 bottles.












Jan 28: Visited St. Helena Island, discovered by the Portuguese in l502. Established as an English colony to give ships a safe anchorage between England and Cape Town. Very isolated.
The nearest place is Angola. No air service, so everything must come by ship. Total population of 6,000, granted full British citizenship in 2002.

St. Helena looks forbidding from the sea, but its mountainous interior has many steep cliffs and
deep, green isolated valleys.




Jamestown the island capital, is a wonderful
preserved example of Georgian architecture,
conserving the famous 700 steps, Jacob’s Ladder built in 1829.














Napoleon Bonaparte’s last residence is now a
museum. His tomb (in a place he selected at the top of a mountain, under willow trees) has a magnificent view of the island all the way down to the ocean. He was interred in 1821 and his body was returned to France in 1840.



Ciao, until we meet again!
A & B

2.- Jan 24, BRAZIL

January 23, 2007
Our captain Dag (from Norway), every morning on the loudspeakers informs us about weather conditions, position, etc. He ends his message by reading a poem in his guttural Scandinavian voice. One morning, he tells us we are skipping our visit to Belem, Brazil due to strong winds.
Jan 18, FORTALEZA: We spend 4 days on the high seas and by the time we disembark, we are experiencing "Sea legs". The night of arrival we visited the Arts and Crafts market by the sea, mingling with hundreds of locals doing their shopping.
The next morning we drive through town, leaving behind us modern high rises in all kind of forms and colors, covering the front of the beach and going inland for many blocks. (Our guide tells us "That is where the rich live, coming from the South and other countries. The people from Fortaleza can’t afford the prices with a salary of $100 US a month").
After 20 minutes drive, we slowly come into the old town. Both sides of the streets are filled with stores with all kind of merchandise, reminiscent of the days before the Wal Marts took over.
We arrive at a Theater for a dance show performed by children and teenagers from the "Favelas" (The slums). Produced by an organization created to improve the life of Favelas’ young people. It was terrific and certainly could be used in other places.

January 20, SALVADOR DE BAHIA: Visited the historic upper City with the best preserved colonial architecture. Pelourinho Square, one of the city oldest squares, formerly the site of the slaves market.

January 22 RIO DE JANEIRO: Coming into Rio at 8.00 am through fog gave it a magical feeling. One of the most beautiful places in the world, with it’s signature Sugar Loaf Mountain and steadfast Corcovado. We visited the Samba city. A spectacular new, one million square ft. building for the 14 Schools participating in the Carnival. Each has it’s own warehouse with all the facilities to build their floats, costumes, etc. At night, we went to a spectacular show: "Glitter and Samba" The intoxicating rhythm kept us going..

January 23: And now, we started our Atlantic crossing on our way to South Africa.
Shalom!
A & B

1.- January 16, 2007

REGENT SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER/ WORLD CRUISE 2007

When you think about cruising, you imagine a life of leisure and relaxation.
Our first week onboard, has been completely different (with stops in Bahamas and Barbados).
By the time we unpacked, set breathing machine, found out how everything works in our great suite and got acquainted with the butler and housekeeper, etc. 3 days went by very quickly.
Mornings: We are taking bridge classes for the absolute beginners. We have two great lecturers: One on a series about places we are going to visit. The other about globalization. Classes for computers, photography, arts, etc..Before you know it is lunch time. Our favorite :Buffet "al fresco".
Afternoons are filled with practicing bridge, high tea, walking, mahjong, movies, siesta (when we can!!) etc.
Evenings start early with cocktails at different lounges, dinner at a French, Vietnamese, Italian or main dinning room. The food is very good and also the wine selections. Followed by shows, movies, casino, games etc.
I started with writing classes and Arline has formed an afternoon Mahjong group.
Last night, we decided to take a respite and had a candle light dinner served at our suite. The butler is very good and resourceful
We met interesting people, The social calendar is filling fast and we have 4 dinners already set for the next 8 nights
Wish the day would have more than 24 hours!!
Ciao, until wee met again!