Life after 4-Weeks aboard!

We have now been on board for 4 weeks & I can only say it gets better & better! The daily Global Studies Lectures are fascinating - my brain is bursting with all the information I've learning! I'm also enjoying the marketing course. Gus's 3 Chemistry Courses are going well & he's enjoying such small classes. I'm still doing an early morning yoga session which is now followed by a swim. The swim is taken early in the morning so that I'm not surrounded by young bikini-clad students! Because of my expanding waistline I decided to join an aerobics class last week.The class consisted of 8 young girls & we were out on the top deck in the sunshine so it all looked like fun!

However after a general "warm-up" which I could manage, we then had to run up 5 flights of stairs three-times which left me a complete panting wreck. Not to be deterred I continued with the class but have never known such a long hour - to say I could hardly move the next morning would be an understatement - I have therefore not returned to the class & left it to the "young" ones! Meals on board are still excellent & include a large variety of salads & fresh fruit. Lunchtime we try to sit with different students who are such a delight - so enthusiastic & keen to tell us about their lives. I can only describe dinners as enjoying a fun dinner party with very interesting guests every night. I think we have met & enjoyed all the faculty members now & have really made some wonderful friends. Tonight we have been invited to join the Captain's Table where I understand a lavish meal is served. On Monday there were no classes as we "Crossed the Line" & enjoyed the Neptune Day celebrations. Many of the faculty & crew were appropriately dressed up in "Father Neptune gear" & then virtually all the students lined up around the pool having first had blue liquid poured over their heads. After they had leapt into the pool they then had to kiss a fish held by one of Neptune's helpers, followed by a ceremonious bow to Neptune, & a kiss on the hand to Mother Neptune. It all sounds a big corny by my description but it was great fun. About 40 students then had all their hair shaved off - in fact 4 staff members also did the same. This is presumably all part of the Neptune Day celebrations, but I'm sure some of them awoke the following morning wondering why on earth
they did such a thing. Getting sunburnt on the bald heads could also be a bit of a wake-up call. Anyway the whole event was good fun & very different from when I celebrated the equatorial crossing back in 1967.
Most evenings there are optional lectures in the main lounge area. Last night the wife of one of the faculty members spoke on the life of Desmond Tutu. She had been his personal assistant for over 24 years & gave such an interesting talk. We had dinner with her & her husband afterwards. They are both still living of Cape Town.
We arrive in Namibia on Saturday. We have arranged to go out in a 4 x 4 to visit the Walvis Bay Lagoon which is where the Namib Desert meets the sea. We then drive to a nearby salt field which apparently resembles snow-covered hills in the desert - should be fascinating to see. The following day we're renting a car & driving to Swakopmund which is on the northwestern side of Namibia. It's described as "a slice of Germany on the edge of the desert". It's a seaside resort resembling a Bavarian village nestled between the desert & the sea, so should be very interesting & I'm sure we may just sample a few German beers!