There was a sea day between Port Elizabeth and Durbin so I will cover that day together with Durbin itself. .There is so much to do and sometimes there are conflicts. My Suid-Afrikaanse Ete at the Pinnacle Grill was pre-scheduled when CSI changed their party date. So, never to pass up a free drink, I went to the early seating party (I normally go to the late seating parties.) before my feast at the pinnacle. This was great because I got to sit with people that I said hello to in passing and got to know people I was friendly with on a much more personal basis. I had previously mentioned my banker who loaned me money to complete a purchase in Peru. Well, here he is with his wife.

The SA dinner was fun. I again sat with Nana a Japanese lady traveling by herself and three other ladies
I didn’t know. We had a lot of fun especially when this lady in the middle could not make up her mind on which bracelet to choose from the gift basket of bracelets given by the Pinnacle staff . This situation brought peels of laughter and many comments. This lady was dressed like a million dollars and she couldn’t make up her mind about a free bracelet! I was given first choice and chose a gold and black bead-like number which coincidentally matched my African smock I bought after my SOS Tour. Please note the painting in the background. I could do a whole blog post on this painting. I will get a better shot of it and bring it up at a future date.

Sharon answered my question about the ship PA system so I looked up the word Tannoy. This is a UK trademark name for a PA system. I love her explanation for the word better than the dictionary. T’ANNOY.

Durbin is the largest city in South Africa and sprawls and sprawls forever. Many freeways and skyscrapers. They also have built a new stadium for the 2010 World Cup. I think I referred to it as the 2011 World Cup and that was wrong. Apparently there are six new or renovated stadiums being readied for the 2010 World Cup.

Notice the difference between the other more arid areas of South Africa and the wetter area around Durbin. We had wonderful weather. Overcast and cloudy. Missed the rain which hit us after our visit to the SOS Village on the way back to the ship.

These ladies are very typical of rural South Africa and seen along the roads on my various tours.