Yesterday , the fleet left for South Africa. We all stood out on the quay and watched the start of the race. The winds were light so it was a slow start but still a grand sight . We and Ocean Jasper will leave on Monday for Richards Bay, South Africa. The winds are supposed to be light for the next few days so perhaps we will catch up if we have the wind in our favor.
Today we hope to see the volcano from the other side and another waterfall. The aquarium was very nice though all the exhibits were written in French but very well done.
Sometimes just ordering from the menu has been a challenge here. But all the people are very helpful and patient with us. As Americans we are so spoiled thinking that the world should all be speaking our language. Many of the other participants of the World ARC can speak two and three languages. It makes things so much easier if when you visit a country you can of course speak the language. If I had this trip to do again, I would definitely take an online language course in French and Spanish.
We have just about stocked up all that we can through our trip to Cape Town.There are approximately 1300 miles to go to Richards Bay and then 700+ to Capetown. We hope to use all our perishable food up before going home for the holidays. Seems like many of the ralliers are taking time to visit home over Christmas. Since we were not home last Christmas we are excited to be home and visit friends and family. We still don't have the visa thing done for Brazil and hope to get that completed when we are home in Dec. The US and Canadians are the only ones who seem to have this visa issue. The World ARC has been helping us as much as they can.
Rosemary, Bill and Matt