Not a Real Exciting Day - December 7

Today was another very quiet, not much out-of-the-ordinary day.  The only different thing I did was to eat at 5 pm (not my usual 7:30) and I ate with my friend, Janet, who I met on the 2019 Grand South America.  We don't run into each other very often, so it was nice to have time to sit and talk.  I went to the 7pm show afterwards which was a presentation by the Singers and Dancers.  

I made it an early night because I am still having pain walking.  I have not had a lap around the deck in a few days.  Friends have been giving suggestions for exercises, medicines, etc.  and bringing me things to try.  I appreciate all the concern.  

I have a 4.5-hour tour tomorrow but about half of it is a panoramic drive around the city.  If I am still really bad after tomorrow, I will probably go back to the Medical Center to see if they have something more powerful to give me.  

1pm trivia - We had 12 out of 17 and the winning team had 16 

1.  Which country grows the most fruit?

2.  Where in your jeans would you find the initials YKK?

3.  How many laps is the Monaco Grand Prix?

4.  How many toes does an ostrich have on each foot?

5.  What soft drink uses the slogan, "Obey Your Thirst"?

1.  China

2.  zipper

3.  78

4.  2

5.  Sprite

4pm trivia - This was "Grade School Trivia" - We had 10 out of 18 and four teams had 14

1.  Rip Van Winkle fell asleep in which New York mountains?

2. Winnie the Pooh lived in what forest?

3.  Who composed "Stars and Stripes Forever"?

4.  Is an oboe a member of the brass or wind family?

5.  Write 34 in Roman Numerals.

1.  Catskills

2.  Hundred Acre Wood

3.  Sousa

4.  wind

5.  XXXIV

Dakar, Senegal tomorrow.

Smooth sailing until next time!

 

Have You Ever Had Drinks With Your Cardiologist’s Mother? – December 6

When I had my last EKG, my doctor and I were talking and he asked me if I had any travel plans.  I told him I was cruising in October and he said his mother was taking a cruise around Africa in October.  I asked him what cruise line and he said it was Holland America.  Sure enough, we were on the same cruise.  All cruise I kept thinking I would bump into her but never did, so I sent her a note last week.  Turns out she was in quarantine for Covid and we decided to get together to celebrate upon her release.  This afternoon we got together for drinks (to toast our freedom) and talk.  We had a lot in common – we both were teachers, love cats, like strawberry daiquiris, and of course, enjoy cruising.  We talked for an hour and a half (and each had two daiquiris).

 

My leg is still giving me fits and my friend Judy (Bob) had an extra walking stick and lent it to me.  It has really helped because I don’t lean when walking so my side and lower back does not hurt as much. 

 

Other than these, the day was fairly typical. 

 

Tonight was a “Dressy Night” with a special menu (I did not take any pictures – it was much like the previous ones).  The show was vocalist Rebecca Kelly who does comedy as well as singing.

 

Another sea day tomorrow. 

1pm trivia - We had 15 out of 18 and four teams tied with 16

1.  Stinky Tofu is the national dish of which country?

2.  What body part is tested using the Snellen Chart?

3.  What clothing item did Einstein rarely wear?

4.  What mode of transportation has an envelope, a burner, and a basket?

5.  What article of clothing shares a name with a nuclear test site?

1.  Taiwan

2.  eyes

3.  socks

4.  hot air balloon

5.  bikini

4pm trivia - We had 10 out of 18 and the winning team had 13

1.  According to Billboard, who was the top selling artist of the 1970s?

2.  In the original Pac-Man, the ghosts were named Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and what?

3.  In Star Trek, Spock and Kirk are shown playing chess three times.  Who won all three?

4.  Three dogs are on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Rin-Tin-Tin, Lassie, and which other?

5.  In which musical would you find Professor Harold Hill?

1.  Elton John

2.  Clyde

3.  Kirk (he cheated)

4.  Strongheart

5.  The Music Man

7 pm trivia was Tri-Bond Trivia - We were given three words and we had to tell what tied them together.  I did terribly (I am blaming it on the two daiquiris).  One team got all 20 correct.

1.  fisherman, broken arm, movie

2.  auto racing, baby bottle, Einstein

3.  eyes, eggs, laundry

4.  baby, goose, speed

5.  toilets, eyes, trash cans

1.  cast

2.  formula

3.  white

4.  bump

5.  lids

Smooth sailing until next time!

First tour in weeks! - Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire - December 5

Today I had the third of the tours I booked through Across Africa, set up on our Cruise Critic Roll Call.  It was called Abidjan Round Experience.  Originally, we were supposed to go to the Mosque du Plateau, St. Paul's Cathedral, Centre Artisanal de Ville, the Civilization Museum, the zoo, and have lunch.  It was decided a few weeks ago that we would not go to the zoo because it was in poor condition.  Yesterday it was decided that we would not stop for lunch because the ship's original arrival/departure times had changed and we needed to get back earlier.

We met at 7:00 in the Ocean Bar but it took about an hour and a half until we were cleared by health inspectors and immigration inspectors.  We were watching the dock as people were finally able to get off but the buses had not yet arrived.  We finally left the ship about 8:50 and ours was one of the first vehicles to arrive.  We were told to bring our passports and Covid cards but nobody checked them.  There were 16 in our group and instead of two vans, we had a large (about 40 seat) bus for all of us with amazing air conditioning. 

As we left the port area, our guide told us that Abidjan port was used to import/export goods for neighboring land-locked countries like Mali and Burkina Faso. We headed through the city of over 6 million, which although not the political capital, is the economic capital and largest city in the country.  

Our first destination was to the Banco National Forest which was somewhat of a surprise since it was not on the itinerary but I think maybe it was substituted for the zoo.  Honestly, it wasn't very interesting and was very hot and humid.  My leg gave me fits all day (I seem to have alternate good and bad days) so I didn't get off when the guide gave us five minutes to get off and look around (nobody needed any more).

We then went to the Museum of Civilizations.  I hobbled around for a bit and took some pictures.  All of the explanations for the artifacts were in French (the official language) and my high school French was not up to translating more than a word or two.

We mutually agreed to skip the Mosque although we did drive by it on our way to St. Paul's Cathedral.  Again, I did not get off the bus but those that went inside said it was beautiful with stained-glass windows of African animals.

The final stop was to the artisans' market.  I enjoyed looking around (and buying a few souvenirs for friends) until I caught my leg on a rough piece of wood and scraped off a few inches of skin and bled copiously.  A very nice young man from one of the booths rushed over with tissues and brought me a chair to sit in while I sopped up the blood.  Since I tend to do this much too frequently, I had a whole supply of various sizes of band-aids with me to put on once the bleeding stopped.

We were back to the ship earlier than the itinerary called for but I don't think anyone was upset.  There was time to have lunch on the ship which is what I did.

All aboard was 3:30 but the last HAL tour bus from the Ivorian Cocoa Farm did not roll in until 4:07 (I was out on the deck waiting for sail-away).  It did not take long for us to depart after that and we were off the dock by 4:25. I watched for about a half hour as we turned and sailed out of the lagoon and then started working on the blog and today's pictures (there are quite a few!).

I did not go to 7pm trivia because the pictures were uploading at a steady pace.  

Tonight was "Orange Night" in celebration of Holland America's heritage.  On December 5 in the Netherlands, gifts are exchanged on St. Nicholas' Eve.  For the first time I had something orange to wear (a shawl, of course).  

After dinner I went to the show which was another performance by CH2 and then up to the Crow's Nest to check out the Orange Party.  Lots of drinking, dancing, orange wigs, hats, shirts, dresses, etc.  Everyone was having a good time.

Smooth sailing until next time!

                Here are some street scenes

private buses and the people are packed in tightly

cattle sale on the side of the road (there were goats and sheep [I think] on the other side of the road but I didn't get a good picture of them)

St. Paul's Cathedral (designed by an Italian architect)

people pay others to wash their belongings in that awful muddy water and then they are left to dry on the ground

School kids

Banco National Park and our guide

Civilizations Museum

Artisan's Market

finally met some kitties today

this man was carving elephants with a small knife in front of the market

Some views from the ship

the skyline of Abidjan

Orange Party

Ocean Bar Band

A Change of Plans - Takoradi, Ghana - December 4

My main mission today was to find some Tylenol/Paracetamol but I ended up not having to do that.  Shirley, from the trivia team, read my blog post from yesterday and called me this morning that she had extra-strength Tylenol that she could give me - she even brought it to me!  I am now alternating between naproxen and Tylenol about every 4-5 hours.  The pain is not all gone but after 15-20 hobbling steps I can walk fairly normally until I sit down or stop and then I have to repeat the process.  I even did a half lap around the deck today.  By the way, two of the LRADs are back out on the Promenade deck.  They are covered, and we haven't been warned of any problems, but I am wondering why they are back.  

For the first time this cruise that I can remember, we actually had vendors on the pier selling local craft items.  This used to be very common but not this cruise.  There were eight tents set up with paintings, wood carvings, woven baskets, clothes, a few pieces of fabric, and numerous small souvenir items.  The people were all very nice, spoke enough English to communicate, and priced everything in US dollars.  There was some haggling but most of the prices were very reasonable.  I picked up a few souvenirs for friends and family.  

We will be back here in March on the GWV and I may take the shuttle to the hotel just to take some pictures.  We were warned a few times not to take any pictures in the port area (which is why I don't have a picture of the vendors) or we would be fined.  Therefore, I did not take any pictures off the deck as I normally do when I don't get off the ship.  I checked out the four excursions for March (which ranged from $200 for visit to a cocoa farm - to $400 to help paint a school for the deaf and blind) and none of them sounded any more interesting than they did for this cruise.  I may hear from someone that they did something exciting and change my mind but am not expecting it.

After lunch in the Lido, I knit for a while in the Crow's Nest and had a long talk with one of my Sit and Stitch friends and then had a Coke Zero during Happy Hour.

None of us at dinner had excursions today so we talked about the few things we did do (go out on the dock and shop, mostly).  The show tonight was Pianist Ian Von Memerty and his wife, Vivienne.  They were presenters on South Africa's "Strictly Come Dancing" (like "Dancing With the Stars" in the US) for many years.

I have a tour in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire tomorrow that meets at 7am - ugh!  It is the last tour I have booked for this cruise as I have been to all but one of the ports before.  

Early night for me tonight!

7pm trivia - I had 8 out of 18 and the winning team had 14.

1.  What was the first nation set up with the help of the United Nations?

2.  What musical is based on a book by Gregory Maguire?

3.  What popular Christmas song was written during the Cuban Missile Crisi with a plea for peace?

4.  In what country were the 1998 Winter Olympics held?

5.  According to Aztec Mythology, how many levels of heaven are there?

6.  What British delicacy is known at "Trotters"?

7.  What is the southernmost city in the world?

1.  Libya

2.  Wicked

3.  Do You Hear What I Hear?

4.  Japan

5.  13

6.  pig's feet

7.  Ushuaia

Smooth sailing until next time!

 

0°,0° - December 3

This morning at 9:49 am we were at zero degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude - we were at the Equator and the Prime Meridian.  The Captain told us that this would likely not register on the ship information page on the TV and it didn't but went from 00°00.01S, 000°00.01E to 00°00.02N, 000°00.02W but some were able to catch it on their GPS.  We all got a certificate to mark that we were each now a "trusty Emerald Shellback".

On a not so light note, my pain was back as bad as two days ago.  I limped around most of the day but then remembered my doctor had said I could take acetaminophen between doses of the NSAID when the pain was bad.  I had not brought any Tylenol but I did have a couple of Paracetamols left over from my last trip to Britain.  They did the trick and I was walking much better from about 6pm on.  Unfortunately, I have only two of them left and the store onboard only has liquid children's Tylenol.  So, my goal for tomorrow is to see if I can find any Tylenol or Paracetamol in Takoradi, Ghana.

Those were the only two out of the ordinary items of the day.

The show tonight was the duo of CH2.  They are two classically trained guitarists from South Africa.  They put a different spin on such songs as Billie Jean, My Way, and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

1pm trivia - We had 13 out of 18 and the winning team had 17.

1.  What famous monument does Cary Grant climb at the conclusion of North by Northwest?

2.  What type of wood did the Beatles sing about?

3.  What European country had a short lived revolution in 1956?

4.  What nation boasts 1000 permanent residents and exports no goods?

5.  Which civilization produced the first ceramics - Egyptian, Chinese, or Japanese?

1.  Mount Rushmore

2.  Norwegian Wood

3.  Hungary

4.  Vatican City

5.  Japanese

4pm trivia - We had 12 out of 18 and the winning team had 17

1.  What is a male dolphin called?

2.  Laura Dekker is the youngest to circumnavigate the world solo.  How old was she?

3.  What is "Love" equal to in tennis?

4.  Which continent (other than Antarctica) goes furthest south?

5.  What is the furthest north landlocked country in Europe?

1.  bull

2.  16

3.  0

4.  South America

5.  Belarus

7pm - Poorly Explained Movie Plot Trivia - I had 8 out of 18 and the winning team had 12

1.  A man escapes the jungle but finds the jungle comes with him.

2.  A male and female become one with their ponytails.

3.  I can't talk about this one.

4.  A dark-souled woman debates falling in love with a dead man or a dog.

5.  A series of naps.

6.  A father plays hide and seek with his family in a grand hotel.

7.  A baby dies of old age.

1.  Jumanji

2.  Avatar

3.  Fight Club

4.  Twilight

5.  Inception

6.  The Shining

7.  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Takoradi, Ghana tomorrow.

Smooth sailing until next time!

More gingerbread houses have appeared

 What a Difference a Day Makes - December 2

I have now had two doses of the medicine the doctor gave me and I can already see a difference.  The leg still hurts when I first stand up or when I stand still for even a few seconds (whoever views the cameras set up in the elevators must get a good laugh because when I ride alone, I march forward and backward to keep the leg from hurting when I get out).  However, I can start walking correctly after just a few steps and I have no pain when I have to walk for any distance.  I even made it around the deck for 1.5 laps.

Other than that, the day was fairly normal.  For lunch I tried the Dive-In that serves burgers and hot dogs and everybody raves about.  I try it once each cruise and I always walk away disappointed.  I left about a half of my meal today.

Knitting, reading, crafts and trivia made up most of the day and I spent about a half hour sitting out on the deck after my walk, finishing my book.

After dinner I went to the show which featured the piano bar entertainer, Clara Vee.  She has a robust voice (she is trained for the musical stage) which is much more suited to the World Stage than the tiny bar, The Mix.

I felt well enough to walk around the deck another time after the show and was treated to a sound and light show (i.e. lightning and thunder).

We gain an hour tonight and another sea day tomorrow.

1pm trivia - We had 12 out of 17 and the winners had 13

1.  Which ocean has the most tidal waves?

2.  Which continent has a land mass greater than the moon?

3.  Who played Peter Pan in Hook?

4.  A league is equal to 3, 6, 9, or 12 nautical miles.

5.  Which kind of galaxy is the most common - spiral, elliptical, or irregular?

1.  Pacific

2.  Asia

3.  Robin Williams

4.  6

5.  elliptical

4pm trivia - We had 9.5 out of 18, the winners had 13

1.  In 2013, Belgium issued chocolate covered what?

2.  What two spices are derived from the fruit of the nutmeg tree?

3.  How many notes in a chromatic scale?

4.  Who shot the arrow that hit Achilles heel?

5.  Who was the Roman Goddess of horses?

1.  stamps

2.  nutmeg and mace

3.  12

4.  Paris

5.  Hippona

7pm trivia was called the Ultimate Mind Game.  I couldn't stay to the end but here are some of the questions.

1.  What three letters can be used in front of all of these words to form a new word - sign, done, found, firm, tract, and dense?

2.  A man jumps off of a 12-foot ladder and doesn't get hurt.  Why?

3.  A plane crashes on the U.S./Canada border.  Where do they bury the survivors?

4.  What is lighter than a feather but only the strongest people can hold it for more than a few minutes?

5.  Can a person jump higher than the Empire State Building.

1.  con

2.  he was only on the first rung of the ladder

3.  survivors don't get buried

4.  breath

5.  yes - the Empire State Building can't jump

Smooth sailing until next time!

A Visit to the Medical Center -  December 1

About a week ago, I started having a little lower back pain when I bent over.  Over the next few days the pain shifted to my right leg.  It hurt when I first started walking but after about 10-15 steps, I was fine and able to walk my laps.  Last night it started getting worse and hurting even when seated.  It kept me up about an hour in the middle of the night.  Today it got worse and worse and by five pm I decided that I needed to see the doctor.  

They were not busy and they took me right away.  The doctor said it was probably a nerve problem and I should get an MRI when I got home - which I told him would not be until May.  He said if it continued, I should see about getting one at the end of the cruise.  He gave me Prednisolone and told me to continue taking the NSAIDs I was taking for pain.  He also said I likely would not see any difference for two or three days.

Other than that, I had a pretty normal (but painful day).

The show tonight was "Simply Broadway" with the Zaandam singers.

1pm trivia - We had 11 out of 18 and the winning team had 16.

1.  What island in the Caribbean has the highest repeat visitor rate at 60%?

2.  In what country is the headquarters of NATO?

3.  Which planet's moons are almost all named after Shakespeare's characters?

4.  What is the name of Hagrid's three headed dog in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?

5.  What is located at the highest point of the Acropolis in Athens?

1.  Aruba

2.  Belgium

3.  Uranus

4.  Fluffy

5.  Parthenon

4pm trivia - We had 7 out of 17 and the winning team had 9

1.  What color are the "G" letters in Google's logo?

2.  In what country is the Lempira the currency?

3.  Which country displays a Bible on its flag?

4.  What is dendrophobia?

5.  What is the name of the fictional town in which SpongeBob lives?

1.  blue

2.  Honduras

3.  Dominican Republic

4.  fear of trees

5.  Bikini Bottom

Smooth sailing until next time!