Sorry not posted earlier. Seems everyday is packed full. Play games
at 10.00 am and again at 2.00 pm then there is trivia at 4.30 pm.

MOSEL BAY. Small place and really nice town. We went to a museum which was very interesting. A post office tree that is about 300 years old and HUGE. There is a mail box at the tree in stone rock in front of the tree. Also a maritime museum with an old sailing ship and a sea shell museum. Small place but we enjoyed it and the view of the ocean and the white Dutch houses in the trees.









RICHARDS BAY. Most tours were safari tours or bird watching but these are not like we had just experienced in our 7 Days on safari before joining the ship in Cape Town. All long tours we decided not to bother. We took a shuttle to a mall in town and just picked up a few things we needed. No pictures here.

MAYOTTE we tried to get on a tour that I had cancelled. All the tours were by boats as it is a series of island with inland large lagoon. Could not get back on the tour. So we took the tender into town. It was Sunday and there was a local market taking place. Most impressive were the food market. Huge variety of vegetables and sundry items. Lots of clothing on sale including an area of second hand clothing. Dancers welcoming us but nothing really to see other than the market.

The dancers on arrival at the port


The landing pier


The market place




BE, MADAGASCAR
It was really hot and a lot of stops including dancing, a school, a supposedly haunted building built in the 1500’s on the way and a distillery. I was dripping wet (the humidity was high) by the time we got to the Lemurs. The lemurs were great not in cages and able to move from tree to tree. Seeing all the different types of Lennie’s was just what we wanted.

LEMURS
Last time we were here we went to the island of Lemurs. It was a great day walking in the forest and finding the Lemurs in the wild.
However I believe only one type lemur are on the island so I picked a tour that goes to the Lemur park where multiple varieties are in the trees.







Still two more stops one at the beach serving fresh mango (yummy) and one short shopping stop.

Felt so good to be back in air conditioning. All our clothes went straight to the laundry.

Ngaire et al; we will be doing the reverse of your trip on Voyager next spring; Auckland to Lisbon. It has been seven years since we have been on the Voyager. I am wondering if any of you can report on internet on Deck 6? Last time we were on Deck 9 and needed to prop our cabin door open in order to get good internet signal in our room. Starlink will not solve this problem; only addition or update of access points in cabins or passageways. We will be in 652 and 664.

thanks,

Marc

Now we are arriving in the SEYCHELLES. Looking forward to today.

Too many pictures on the last thread so here are some more shots from prior Madagascar.

The Seychelles - Mahe

Had a pretty good tour today. We started at the Victoria gardens. Nice Garden had huge trees, many different varieties. Some flowers growing under the trees. Some rather large bats were flying around. Highlight was the Giant Tortoise.

There were quite a few of them and they like having their neck patted. Lots of fun seeing them coming out of a pond. Plus people feeding them they liked being touched on their neck.





A stunning road on the way to the next stop. The greenery was very lush as we climbed up to a pretty high elevation.

We arrived at the Mission Lodge an abandoned sanctuary for the children of the freed slaves went to boarding school for an education. They grew vegetables and cotton to help support the lodge. The views from the hill top was spectacular. All types of trees were on the property. Never smelt so many leaves before.

We finished up at a tea plantation for refreshments and yet another great view.



On the bus drive back to the ship we saw the expensive area of the Seychelles. Stunning expensive hotels and upscale home development's. The water here is so many colors.

OMAN - MUSCAT

After days at sea today we arrived in Muscat, the sail in was beautiful. I had no idea this would be so attractive. A huge incense burner was close to the port.

The Chris, Linda, Mary Ellen, Jim and Cliff and Mary joined us on a Dhow cruise. It was very rough but we saw key areas of Muscat from the boat. Would not suggest that in the future. Extremely clean city, lots of flowers and trees which was surprising as they do not get much rain. We went shopping in Souq as I needed a scarf for the mosque in Abu Dhabi. Normal Souq with the vendors wanting you to stop in their store. Probably never wear this scarf and "neru" hat again but it is necessary for the Mosque. We have been there before and it is a stunning mosque.

The Giant Incense Burner

FUJAIRAH
We were shocked at the growth of Fujirah. Last time we were here there no huge buildings and the sail in was really a dramatic change. As we had been to Fujairah before we did not take a tour. We went on the shuttle bus to a mall. A stunning mall you would think we were in a high end mall in the States. I bought two pair of sketchers. They had plain colors which are hard to find now in the States.

ABU DHABI
We have been to the Mosque before and although we had planned to go I was not keen on doing it again. Instead we decided to go to the Presidential Palace. We turned in our tickets for the Mosque and we were going to get an uber to take us there. On the way off the ship we were stopped and the Hop a Bus girl said if you are on Regent they will pay for your tickets. The Hop a Bus goes to the Presidential Palace.
So we did the Hop a Bus. It was interesting to see so much of Abu Dhabi it has changed a lot since our last trip here about 10 years ago.

The Presidential Palace was probably one of the most beautiful palaces we have ever been in before. There were only about 3 or 4 different colors that blended beautifully. It so exquisite. There was a room with all the gifts given to Abu Dhabi from other nations.The ladies bathroom was huge and beautiful I will show a picture of just the sink area. We stayed in the palace for about two hours.








These were the sinks for the ladies bathroom three sides. All beautiful marble.



Stunning buildings everywhere you look.

DUBAI. We did a hop a bus of the newest areas of Dubai. Amazing how fast they build here. Everything is clean and stunning architecture.

We saw the PALM area years ago when they were starting the project and saw the reclaimed land in the shape of the palm but no buildings then. This is an incredible city and the hop a bus was a great way to see a lot of Dubai.

Again cannot post any pictures now but some will follow.

Last night we had the final drawing for the 12 night free cruise. Jeff Potts the GM drew the winning card. Connie and Wayne were the winners.

What was nice is they were in the room and that made it so much more fun. We actually had dinner plans with them that night. During dinner I showed them our 2026 cruises. One of my cruises Sydney to Auckland was perfect. They are doing Bali to Sydney so they can just stay onboard.

Congrats to Connie and Wayne! Thanks for posting the beautiful photos, Ngaire!

We have been docked in India. Been here many times and there was no shuttle bus service (except for Mangalore) All the tours were long and we chose to just stay onboard. So no pictures from India so far.

Mangalore - we took the shuttle bus to a mall we loved to shop in before. This time I looked but could not find things I wanted to buy. This town was into Christmas.



Cochin - we spend about two or three days in this area on a land program. Plus being there many times before and the tours were long we stayed on board.

Columbo, Sri Lanka - what a port absolutely HUGE. Ken took some pictures that I will post that will show the size of the port.



Now two days at sea and next stop Phuket.

PHUKET

We took a tour that goes to the new mall (all fancy brands Dior etc) that is also connected to the original mall.

The new mall was outstanding with a food area impossible to explain. Combination of a first class grocery store with most items wrapped

For instance most pieces of fruit and vegetables (apples, berries, cucumbers etc) all individually wrapped.

Pictures will tell the story.



Dragon fruit


Stunning Mall


Connection between the new mall and the old mall



Giant Christmas Tree

Ken went ashore today on the shuttle bus that went to a mall in Kuala Lumpur. I stayed on the ship and played games with Joan and Dave.
Been to malls in this trip often. Most are so superior to our malls but I prefer smaller malls in smaller places.

Here are a few of his pictures.

PENANG.

We went a tour today of a butterfly farm that was in a dome structure. When we got there were all creepy insects, snakes, tarantulas , all types of creatures before we got into the area with housing the butterflies. This was not like butterfly domes we have seen in the past but okay. Not that many butterflies but they are all beautiful.

Then we went to the spice garden. Tons of steps during the tour and explanations of what every spice is good for your body. She was an excellent guide overall and dedicated to trying to use spice and herbs and not modern medicines.

Some pictures below of the butterflies

Now in Kuala Lumpur

We went to the botanical gardens with Jim and Jan. Really nice entrance area and huge gardens. Signs were not clear.

We went the wrong way and ended up at the steps (that the guide said “don’t go down the steps). So of course we went down the steps ( a LOT of steps). it was that or go all the way back to where we started.

We walked for a while there was a lake and it was pretty. It started to get close to the meeting time.

There is a huge bridge we walked over on the way to the gardens. We found that the bridge but it was over our heads.

We saw a path going up and with the “ bridge to freedom”over our heads we were not going to walk away from the bridge to find a different path. Fortunately we found the bridge

Then we went to square with the mosque where we could go in but to the mosque but 30 minutes was not enough time. There was a souk
but I have been to too many souks already.



Not sure of the meaning of "sculpture" but it was quite impressive


The Mosque in Kuala Lumpur


Ken and his girls, Jan and Ngaire


Shot from the bridge we on we took a picture of this pretty modern bridge

MELAKA - MALAYA - good tour.

We went with Dave, Joan, Jan and Jim. Lots of stops and very little bus time.

Stopped at a Dutch Square for a photo stop. Full of buildings and monuments from the past. Great little tuk tuks all dressed up with child like ornaments.

Next stop was the new waterway that is like the waterway in San Antonio Texas but not the mexican flair of course. Tons of restaurants and shops unique bridges most built many years ago. It was a delightful 45 minutes and very colorful and they have lots of areas where there are colored lights on panels that will light up at night. At night it would be spectacular. We also saw a large monitor lizard I will post that picture.

Then there various photo stops. In the UNESCO heritage area with the Japanese and Chinese cementaries, a fort, the old Sultans palace and the former British Social building for all the British elite.

Highlight for me was going up the tower that has a huge circle sitting area that goes very high and you circle the view of the city in three full circles. Done a lot of these types of towers what I liked here is that everyone is seated and has a full view. Instead of walking around and trying to see through all the people in the tower.

Pictures will follow I do these in the buses it is faster.















JUST HEARD FROM CLAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO SNOW 6" to 12" IN DALLAS TOMORROW AND WE ARE CLOSING OUR OFFICES. WE ARE FLYING HOME TOMORROW. MAY BE STUCK IN SAN FRANCISCO AND NOT ABLE TO FLY HOME. DALLAS IS NOT USED TO DEALING WITH SNOW. STUFF HAPPENS YOU JUST DEAL WITH IT.

SINGAPORE.

We went to the Bird Park. About an hour out of Singapore. It was fabulous. We came in the morning and it was not busy.

There are four different parks here and next visit to Singapore we will visit the zoo.

We walked over three miles today and I was so happy with what we saw I had no idea we had walked so far. We topped off the day with some ice cream.





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Australian birds below. Cannot remember the name of the purple bird the smaller bird is a kookaburra.





They had penguins just Gentoo’s and King’s. Lighting not good for a picture this is the best we got.

Currently 10 inches on the ground here in Tulsa and still snowing, but the airport is open.