Sojourn Day 59

Written by Safarigal
January 30, 2025

At Sea

January 27th, 2025

I heard our anchor on the move at 7:00, exactly when Captain Hamish said we would set off.

I was expecting to experience rough seas and stormy weather, but although it was overcast, wet and windy, there were no huge waves. No spray over the bow of the ship. It was a bit bumpy, but nothing to get excited about.

It was the final trivia session of this segment, and the stakes were high. We were in 4th place, not that we were closely watching the scores or anything, many points below the top 3 teams, but the top 3 were very close so the excitement was mounting.

We were missing 2 of our team members who were off on an overland tour to Zimbabwe and Botswana, but the 8 of us were feeling very confident to start off with.

The questions ranged from the obvious to the obscure, but with a great team effort we were doing fairly well and felt we would not be in the top 3, but could maintain our 4th position out of 12 teams.

Then came the final bonus question, worth 200 points. The current winning team were told that they were the winners, and did not need to participate. The final bonus question would determine the 2nd and 3rd placed teams. There was a something new with this one. You could bet as many of your points as you wanted to, but if you didn’t get the right answer the number of points you bet would be deducted from your final score. Now here comes the strange part. If you had the correct answer, you would only score 200 points. We had initially thought that if you got the correct answer you would also get the number of points you had wagered added to your score. Not so, you would just get the 200 points. We discussed this at length, and it made sense that we would bet 0 points, as there was absolutely no benefit to risking losing any points.

Then came the question. What are the 3 largest countries by area in Africa? That was tough. The Democratic Republic of Congo had to be one. So did South Africa. But what was the 3rd? We considered Sudan, but decided that with South Sudan now another country, that couldn’t be right. So we went with Nigeria.

Well, it turned out that we were wrong. However, so were all of the other teams, so no one got 200 points. Then all of the teams who had wagered points, had those points subtracted from their final score. Phew, it was lucky that we hadn’t risked any points.

Rhys and Nick calculated the final scores, and guess what? We had the 2nd highest score! Way to go team.

Our prize was a set of great packing cubes. I was very excited, you can never have too many packing cubes. Oh, and the correct answer to the question was the DRC, Algeria and Sudan!

After trivia we went to the Galley Market lunch. This is the ultimate buffet in the galley. There is so much wonderful food, it is hard to choose what to eat.

A glass of vodka was waiting for us at the entrance to the galley.

And then there was the food.

As a special touch because we were going to South African ports, there was biltong and droerwors

And bobotie and boerewors

The seafood was amazing

And the baked Alaska looked good, although I settled on crepes Suzette instead.

All in all it was a very impressive meal, and I admire the amount of work that went into the preparation.

I was so wrapped up in our trivia success and the great food that I totally forgot about my pedicure appointment.

I dashed up to the spa to beg forgiveness and make another appointment, hopefully for today.

I was in luck. There was an opening later in the afternoon, but it did mean that I would have to miss some of the captain’s farewell party.

The party was scheduled to take place on the pool deck, but due to the storm it had to be moved into the Salon. I was there for the beginning but had to scurry out to get to the spa on time, and I missed Captain Hamish’s speech and the presentation of gifts. Brian stayed on for the whole party so I was able to get a report from him.

Normally the crew roll out the Seabourn Sojourn banner, but today it was up to the officers to do so. Unlike the crew, it was a challenge for them to unfurl it, and when they finally achieved that, it was back to front.

They were eventually able to get it right.

Among the crew members present was our wonderful waitress, Eunice. She leaves the ship in Cape Town, and we will be sad to see her go. She was not looking so happy when Brian took this photo, but maybe it wasn’t because she was sad to leave the ship, but because she was sad to see Captain Hamish retire.

She did give Brian a big smile as she left the Salon however.

Captain Hamish was presented with a bell and a plaque, and gave a great speech

Meanwhile, strange looking drinks were being offered.

All in all despite being moved indoors the party was a great success.

Due to the storm in Cape Town, 2 ships had been unable to leave the port, and one ship was at anchor, waiting to come in. We checked our Marine Traffic app, and sure enough the 2 ships were still in port, and the other one was still just outside the port.

We were hoping that the wind would calm down so the ships could all move and we could enter the harbor. As much as I love sea days, I would not like to miss a day in Cape Town.

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1 Comment

  1. Lynda

    The food looks absolutely amazing, better than the Queen‘s Grill on any of the Cunard ships
    The food on Queen Anne has been excellent, but nothing like the elaborate buffets that I see on your blog. Enjoy every minute of the last month and diet when you go home. 🥰

    Reply

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Safarigal

I love to share my adventures with others, and hopefully give them some insight into what to expect on their own exciting travels. I hope reading my blog will be a useful resource, and inspire others to follow their travel dreams. As a travel advisor, I get great pleasure out of being able to help folks fulfill their aspirations by translating my experience in safari adventures and ocean voyages into memorable travel experiences for them.