Paradise Found: A Little More Wet than I Pictured

We continued sailing for a couple of days down to a group of islands known as the Maldives (pronounced Mahl-deevz) where we would port in the capital city of Male.  We have been looking forward to this and the ports that would follow because they were known for being some of the most incredibly beautiful beaches in all the world.  We had seen pictures and heard stories about the perfectly white sandy beaches on these tiny islands in the Indian Ocean and about the warm, clear waters where we would swim. 

Well- some things don’t work out like you plan, as we have learned, and when we arrived to Male, what do you know?  It’s POURING down rain.  Lovely.  We were super-bummed, but just decided to go on and take a tender to the island and find a café.  We did and got online for a bit before it started to rain even harder, when we decided to go on and head back out to the ship.  It just wasn’t going to be the best way for us to see this port, so we resigned ourselves to heading out.  No big deal.

The next two days were days at sea so we continued floating along and making our way toward the Seychelles (pronounced Say-shellz) where we were told we would find more of these idyllic beaches.  Along the way, though we had a big event on the ship: we crossed the EQUATOR!  Now- of course I found this really exciting…to be able to say I had gone into another hemisphere was totally cool!  Apparently, though, this is a really big deal when you are on cruise ships, though.  The ships are required to do a big ceremony and we were in charge of helping put it on.  I’ll give you the quick version…

A narrator comes out on the pool deck where all the guests have gathered and announces the arrival of King and Queen Neptune, who process down the outdoor stairs to the pool deck.  (This was a guest lecturer and our cruise director dressed in crazy outfits with crowns, tritons, and wetsuits on!)  I played a bodyguard, wearing a dark suit with sunglasses and an ear bud, protecting the royal King and Queen of the Seas!  Ha ha!  Then there are two mermaids that also accompany the king and queen and a bunch of pirates that help keep the ceremony moving along.  This was all the cast dressed up, of course.  There are little rituals that are performed like having guests and crew who have never crossed the equator dumped with nasty green slime and thrown into the pool.  It was a lot of goofy fun and I am happy to report that King Neptune gave us permission to go on and pass over the Equator safely!  Ha ha!

While we were supposed to arrive early morning to Port Victoria, our first port in the Seychelles, the weather was not very kind to us.  You have to remember: I am living on a moving vessel.  The captain did his best, but with the rain and headwinds there was just no way to get to Port Victoria on time.  We didn’t end up arriving until after dark, unfortunately, so again…no beautiful beaches.  I did head off the ship with Elena, Rose, and Brett and we found a cab and asked the driver to take us to a beach close by and he began to drive us.  Brian, the driver, was FANTASTIC, giving us all sorts of info about the islands, their agriculture, crime rate, educational system, work force, etc.  We arrived to a gorgeous resort and he dropped us off outside and we agreed to a time for a pick up.  We headed into the hotel, which was more than welcome to have us just hanging out on their beach even though it was after dark and we were not paying guests.  We played in the warm water and walked along the beach for a while.  Then we sat down and had a nice time just taking in some live music and having fruity drinks at the hotel’s restaurant.  It was such a nice respite and even though it was dark out, we didn’t even care!  It was great.  Brian came and picked us up and finished our night with more great information and we went back to the ship.

We were surprised when we woke up to not be in the next port of call, as scheduled!  The ship had been refueling and still wasn’t finished getting filled up!  Oh my word!  Seriously- you never know what is going to happen living on ships.  The guests have been pretty good sports, but having to cut ports altogether, arriving late, and canceling tours hasn’t been what they’d expected for their cruise!  Anyway- we eventually left and made it to another island, Praslin (pronounced Prah-len) in the Seychelles.  I was glad to go on tour and rode with guests to a really pretty beach.  This place reminded me of “South Pacific” with its overgrown, but incredibly lush landscape and granite mountains in the distance.  We had a nice time swimming and I enjoyed a fresh papaya the size of my head before heading back to the ship. Oh!  And the sun even came out for about 30 minutes while we were there at the beach!  Ha ha!  Who would have thought?! 

Now we are back at sea for two days before arriving to Kenya tomorrow morning.  It’s been an interesting cruise so far, but I am hoping things will begin to be back on schedule soon and that everything will get back to a routine eventually!  Ha ha!  Here’s to 24 days more on the Voyager!

Tripp