April 10, 2013  Sea Day

The sea has been a bit rough since we left Cape Town and headed up the west coast of Africa towards Namibia. The sea is filled with white caps and the swells are quite large. Luckily the winds are blowing from behind the ship, rather than from the side where we would be feeling it even more. These are the roughest seas that we have had but people seem to be handling it quite well.

We had a new lecturer this morning by the name of Howard Walker. Over a 33-year career Howard was ambassador to Madagascar, Togo, and the Federal and Islamic Republic of the Comoros, South Africa, Tanzania, and counsel general in northern Nigeria, and political counselor in Jordan. Following his diplomatic career he has written about foreign policy for newspapers and journals, spoken at foreign policy conferences and taught courses on diplomacy and international relations at universities in Washington, Rome, and South Africa.

His lecture this morning was about South Africa’s Regional Power, Its Assets and Liabilities. He discussed South Africa’s geo-strategic power, economics, and politics, military and moral example. It was a very large subject and he was only able to cover a very brief overview of the subject.

In the afternoon we had a new speaker by the name of David Smith who spoke on Travel Photography Tips for Travelers. David demonstrated tips and techniques for taking and sharing better photographs of cruise activities, ports of call and excursions.

Deaths—There now have been four deaths on board and who know how many more were taken from the ship due to illnesses and accidents.  In our own lives, seven of our friends or acquaintances or parents of friends have died while we have been away.  Life is short…..eat dessert first!

The evening featured Pops Mohamed and Friends as the evening’s entertainment in the Queens Lounge.  Jenn was infatuated with the sax player.  Pops played several native instruments with unusual sounds.  The concert lasted 45 minutes and only 4 songs were played.