Today is a do nothing sort of day. We did not want to get up at 4am to go to the Sunrise game drive at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi and there weren’t any other tours of interest, so we’re just going to walk around the harbor.  Normal morning, gym, breakfast, etc.  Then we head off the ship and out into the hot and humid day – what a difference a day makes!

We head off to Naval Island – which is a large peninsula full of beaches and trees and nature.  We’ve read that it is jam packed on the weekends, but it should be fairly deserted today as it is a Thursday.  We make it around past the last restaurant on the harbor front and are confronted with a gate across the road. There is a guy (guard?) in a shack by the gate who we ask if we can walk through the island. He told us it wasn’t safe to walk because the people would come from over there (he waved his hand in the direction of the water) and we could get mugged.  Um.  Ok – thank you!  We’ll follow your advice, Mr. Guard-man.

So, that put an end to that!  Now we are sort of stuck, because it is only a little after 10am, and the restaurant where we thought we’d eat lunch doesn’t open until 11.  Reversing course, we wander through the harbor front, exploring the different restaurants and things.  Getting to the end of the marina area, there is one restaurant open called Dros.  They have a huge patio, and we figure, what the heck.  We’ll have an early cocktail!   A really early cocktail!  It’s only 10:30am by this point in time, but we have time to burn and nothing else to do.  We end up with beer and wine (great pour) and a cheesy garlic roll to put something in our stomachs.

As we sit there enjoying the weather, the refreshments and the food, we decide we really don’t need to eat outside. To be honest, this is a total tourist place, prices are higher than we’re used to (even though the beer, wine and roll are reasonable) and what the heck?  We can go back aboard and have salad.  Which is really what we need after 30 days of overeating!

Back to the ship we go, stopping to shop at the vendors bazaar out on the pier, where we bought 3 little bracelets as gifts, then to the ship, where the buffet isn’t open until 12:30, so we go on a little photo scavenger hunt – we’re finding most everything, but we have the hardest ones left now.  At least we have one more week to complete it – can you believe? Only one week left aboard!

Immigration complete. Lunch complete. We wait for Chuck’s lecture at 2:30 because there are 2 idiots who have not completed immigration.  Um.  It started at 12 noon.  We were supposed to sail at 2pm – it is now 2:15, what the hell have they been doing?   Crazy.  Of course the whole immigration thing is crazy, but that is for tomorrow’s post.

The afternoon proceeds as normal after the lecture on Durban, which was, eh, ok.  Chuck is sweet and funny, but his lectures are beginning to drag – could be because we’ve been to all these places, but I think it is more that the last couple haven’t been terribly cohesive.  They meander about and mash things together – there’s no logical flow.  Just my opinion, but at least there are only 2 more – and we’re not going to go to the Cape Town one as we’ve seen that already.

After the lecture, we hit the gym, then hang out on the balcony for an afternoon drink, before our Italian Chef’s table tonight.  For some reason tonight is at 6pm – not 6:15, so we head upstairs around 5:50 to find the doors closed.  Oh, right, Prime C doesn’t open until 6.  I think it’s a typo, our dinner at 6, but nonetheless we are here, with another 4-some who introduces themselves and are going to the Chef’s table as well.  We stand in the hallway chatting, leaning against the wall.  When suddenly Ed is gone.  Like literally disappears.  The wall he was leaning on was actually the door to the women’s bathroom that wasn’t shut all the way, and the ship moved and he went with it!  The door bangs, we all stare, stunned, then rush to his aid.  He’s fine, fortunately he didn’t hit his head too badly. He recovers well, and just then Nicholas and the Rabbi come flying out of the Drawing Room (they had Hannukah services there) to see what the commotion was all about.  We assure them all is well, Ed says he’s fine, and the 6 of us proceed to have this huge raucous conversation about falling and neck pains, really broke the ice.

What follows is one of the most fun dinners we have had.  The food was excellent – Vitello Tonnato (which I normally abhor, but was so good, I forgot to take a picture before I devoured it), Cacciucco alla Livornese (Fish soup – seafood was great, not a big soup girl), Ravioli with osso bucco and duck liver (to die for), Granita (Lemoncello!!), Grilled Turbot for Ed and a delectable beef tenderloin and beef cheek for me which I could not even begin to think about finishing.  And it was so good!  I hated I couldn’t eat it, but really!  There is way too much food.  All this was followed by a cheese course (again, I can’t even begin…) and then dessert of a fabulous tiramisu.  Oh dear God, it was fabulous.

And the company was excellent.  We got to know each other and talked and laughed the whole evening.  Then by dessert we turned our attention to door incident.  OMG, I haven’t laughed that hard in ages.  I was crying, coughing, covering my face with the napkin.  Ed adds further detail, telling us that he couldn’t figure out why the wall was giving away and how he ended up on the floor flopping around like a dead fish.  Jan decided he looked like a dung beetle on his back; Mark chimes in that the look on Ed’s face was priceless as he slowly fell backward into the bathroom (the women’s room no less).  Ed says it’s all because the door wasn’t clicked shut all the way.  John weighs in, blaming it all on Jan because she used the bathroom last and didn’t shut the door all the way.  Ed asks her where she was in school when they taught her to always click the door.   Jan then describes the rescue as the Tall Tenor in a sparkly jacket and the short Rabbi come to the rescue, while Gretchen adds the Tall Tenor in an ill-fitting sparkly jacket.  We must get our details correct!

Oh dear – it is like a bad joke:  The Tall Tenor and the Short Rabbi walk into the Women’s bathroom.  We can’t tell you how funny.  We finally had to leave because, a) we were still laughing too hard, and b) we were the last people in the dining room!  That never happens.

Of course, as we leave, Ed has to reenact, and pushes open the bathroom door – only to scare the heck out of the cleaner who was in there, and who gave him a look, like, what are you doing and why?  Mark had to reenact the actually event – and all 6 of us are in hysterics again.  What a blast.  Although I must admit we felt a little bit badly because we turned into the people we hate who are loud and laughing and destroying the ambience for the rest of the diners.  Embarrassing.  But oh so fun.

By that time we had missed the comedian’s show – yeah, go figure. But that’s life.  We’ll live!  We giggled our way back to the cabin to sit outside for a bit before hitting the sack.  Another day done.