Wow, there was a lot going on as we sailed from Angola to the Canary Islands.

DAY ONE

Lectures, lectures, lectures. Viking’s roster of onboard experts for this Cape Town to London leg of the cruise is truly amazing.

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I spent our first sea day mostly in the Star Theatre getting smarter.

9:00 a.m. Dr. Caroline Malloy’s talk about the schooner Clotilda, the last known slave ship to transport enslaved Africans to the United States, which arrived in Mobile Bay in 1860 with 110 captives. The Clotilda’s illegal voyage happened decades after the international slave trade had been outlawed. The discovery of the supposedly burned ship in 2019, after being hidden for 160 years, finally revealed a tangible link to the stories and history of Africatown, the community founded by the descendants of the enslaved Africans transported to Alabama on the Clotilda.

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Caroline’s lecture wasn’t really about the ship itself; it veered off into a lot of related topics about US politicians, slavers, expansionism, economic greed, blatant flouting of anti-slavery laws, and more.

While Africatown was an initial success story, once it was incorporated into Mobile, Alabama that city and state began to intentionally do unspeakable things (like releasing toxic chemicals into thevairvandcwatershed, on top of intentionally building a multi-lane highway through the centre of the town) to reverse all the gains that its inhabitants had worked so hard to achieve.

Where the ship becomes significant is in the fact that because its sunken remains were discovered, the narratives of the founders of Africatown are now being told.

11:00 a.m. Russell Lee’s lecture on “The Perplexing Puzzle of Navigation by Sea” about longitude and how the challenges of navigation in the 1700’s were solved. In the same way that George Sranko, our previous onboard wildlife naturalist, had a catchphrase (“are you ready for a wild time?”) I get a real kick out of it when Russell says “Are you ready to hear a great story? Then let’s hop into the wayback machine.”

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For anyone not familiar with the reference, here’s Wikipedia’s explanation: “the Wayback Machine or WABAC Machine is a fictional time machine and plot device from the 1960s American cartoon television series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. Each episode of the cartoon series included a short segment “Peabody’s Improbable History” in which the Wayback Machine was used by the segment’s main characters, Mr. Peabody (the dog) and Sherman (the boy), to travel back in time to visit important events in human history. The term has acquired popular or idiomatic usage as a way to introduce events or things from the past. The Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive was named after the Wayback Machine from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon.”

12:15 p.m. Something different. Our Cruise Director Cornelia led an interactive game of “Finish the 80’s Lyrics”. I don’t generally come to the trivia events, but this one sounded like – and was – a ton of fun, despite the fact that I only got half of the answers right.

Today’s special lunch-hour food event was a fresh pasta station on the Aquavit Terrace. I didn’t even venture out to take pictures, since it would undoubtedly have been irresistible. Instead, I had a small salad topped with grilled salmon and a glass of unsweetened iced tea. I really, really need to lose at least some of the weight I’ve gained over the past 3 months, especially since my early June trip to Germany will undoubtedly involve more delicious food (and beer).

2:00 p.m. Thank goodness for motivational friends. Linda and I walked two miles (8 laps) on Deck 2. With her as an inspiration maybe I’ll keep up the routine – at least on sea days (of which there are very few left between here and London).

It’s not only the great food, but the ever-present availability of alcohol that is impacting my weight. Linda shared a great strategy: sparkling water with a splash of cranberry juice, but in a pretty coupe glass and garnished with a citrus slice so as not to feel left out of all the pretty cocktails and spritzes.

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3:00 p.m. Dr. Dan Jones’ talk called “Spice & the Discovery of the World”. Dr. Jones’ first lecture of this leg left me uninspired, not because of the topic but because of his presentation style: very slow, with lots of pauses, and deep audible sighs. I specifically wanted to give him a second chance, because the slate of speakers for this leg of the cruise has otherwise been my favourite and I’d like to be able to include him.

So, the good news was that today he was more engaging, attempting humour at times, although still painfully slow-paced and somewhat rambling. Even his powerpoint slides are uninspiring text and stock images when compared to our other speakers’ presentations. To me, with my mind wandering as he spoke, his appearance and demeanour conjured up an aged Oxford lecturer from a BBC period drama: posh accent, longish white hair, slightly rumpled suit, and bow tie – all that was missing was an academic gown thrown over his shoulders.

That image might be the only thing that brings me back – my dose of British television in real life.

4:30 p.m. There was an interesting and fun Q&A session with our Viking Vocalists: Amy, Bryony, Harrison, and Isaac. It was an enthusiastic full house, especially after Isaac’s outstanding cabaret last night, but also because we all love our young vocalists.

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The group are just so young! The joke on board is that all of them could be our grandchildren – ranging from 22 to just 24 years old. What’s astonishing is that with Masters degrees in music and dance, and talents ranging from acrobatics to athletics to multiple languages to multiple instruments, they’ve all chosen to work on a cruise ship.

Ted and I had a bit of time for pre-dinner drinks (mine uncharacteristically non-alcoholic, using Linda’s hint) and conversation in the Explorers Lounge, with Resident Guitarist Alan Jenkins entertaining us.

6:30 p.m. Back into the theatre for the third in Robin Binckes’ incredible and emotional lectures on Africa and Apartheid, this one entitled “The Struggle for Freedom”. This talk focussed on the events from about 1948 to 1964 – the period during which the most egregious segregation laws were passed and enforced – that led to the armed struggles to end Apartheid, including Angola’s involvement. Just when I thought the most shocking thing – although it is ALL shocking – was the displacement of 55,000 black people from the homes they owned in Sophiatown outside Johannesburg into tract housing in what would become Soweto township, Robin recounted the events of the peaceful 1960 Sharpville anti-pass law protests that resulted in the unprovoked killing of 69 young black men by the South African police.

Robin expressed how surprised he was yesterday when touring the Angolan Military Museum at Fort São Miguel to see the Angolan side of what he’d seen always been told were South African “victories” in battles that led to Angola’s freedom. It reinforced the concept that much of “history” is written as propaganda.

His lecture went on to cover the fight for freedom in South Africa and the arrest of Nelson Mandela due to a tip from an American CIA agent that revealed his location and assumed identity. The obsession with combatting “communism”, and the intentional classification of any organized anti-apartheid activity as “communist” is a common thread throughout the story of Africans’ struggles for freedom.

Wanting to attend all those lectures meant that dinner was later than is usual for us, but the bonus was that Alan’s second guitar set was over and he had time to join us in the World Café where the evening’s theme was Taiwanese Street Food.

We all agreed that the spicy Taiwanese beef noodle soup was delicious.

The evening’s theatre entertainment was a reprise of the Viking Vocalists’ show Stage Door. Because our Fort Lauderdale to London world cruise was also sold as 5 “legs” (Panama Canal, Los Angeles to Sydney, Sydney to Singapore, Singapore to Cape Town, and Cape Town to London), the Viking ensemble shows are performed on each leg, so that the 100 or so new passengers at each turnover point can experience them. We love the shows, but generally twice is enough.

Instead, we simply retired early to our cabin to catch up on writing, news, and social media.

DAY TWO

9:15 a.m. I wasn’t ready quite in time for Isaac Kenyon’s early morning lecture about Null Island, so it was 15 minutes in when I got there. Unfortunately the geoscience of the sea bed below Null Island wasn’t holding my interest, so I headed for a lovely latte in the atrium living room instead. There I just lazed around reading and catching up with fellow passengers until the 11:00 a.m. cooking demonstration in which Executive Alistair Gillott prepared Valencian style paella.

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His biggest hint was that everything does not go into a paella at once – it’s all about “layering” the ingredients into the dish at the appropriate time (for instance, clams before shrimp, before scallops – and none of them until the rice is just slightly past al dente). As always, he reminded us to cook the spices in oil – never just add them dry to a sauce – and never to add cold stock (or frozen vegetables) to a hot pan of rice. Also… don’t wash arborio/risotto/paella rice the way you would long grain/basmati because in this case you want the starchiness and don’t want just “water” absorbed.

A recipe was handed out to everyone in attendance. Chef immediately said “Get rid of the gross squid and monkfish. Add chorizo, chicken, and shrimp instead. Everything else is the same.”

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In three days, Chef’s paella will be the lunch special. Mmmmmm.

12:00 p.m. Salad and a protein for lunch again today, and not even looking at the special crème brûlée station.

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Ted, however, looked, photographed, and ate; crème brûlée is his favourite dessert.

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1:00 p.m. I wanted to check out Gail Lee’s genealogy workshop, being held in the Torshavn Lounge. The lounge, even packed, only holds about 150 people, so I suspected it would be a full house, since so many of us (especially during the pandemic) became amateur genealogists. It was, in fact, so crowded that we were all moved into the Star Theatre.

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Her helpful hints reminded me that I have to confirm what I know about my parents’ emigration dates from Europe before I visit the emigration centre in Bremerhaven in June.

Gail’s message about leaving behind a “story” really resonated. As a result, I went back to look for the obituaries I wrote for my dad, and 4 years later for my mom. My mom’s eulogy is included back in Episode 66.

2:00 p.m. -3:15 p.m. Another walk accomplished thanks to the encouragement and company of Linda D. This time we managed to chat and power through 14 laps of deck 2 – that’s 3.5 miles! It took us 75 minutes, which is not Ted’s pace, but we were pretty proud of ourselves. I needed a shower, and then a well-deserved drink: icy cold pink grapefruit juice with soda water and lime.

4:30 p.m. Yesterday Russell Lee talked about time zones and longitude; today latitude was his topic in a lecture entitled: “The Quest to Determine the Shape of the World”. He immediately cleared up any misconceptions we might have that his lecture would be about flat earth conspiracies, but it really was about the expeditions to prove whether Newton’s theory of a “grapefruit” or Descartes’ theory of an “egg” was correct. Once again, Russell shared his wealth of knowledge with humour (who knew that the 18th century equatorial expedition to measure the distance between lines of latitude could be described so hilariously?) and authority, but without using a single memory aid. Ted and I both wondered whether he has an eidetic memory, but his lovely wife Gail – who has known him since their college years – says she doesn’t actually know. He has simply “always” been able to do this!

Spoiler alert: Newton was right, and the earth is a very slightly squashed sphere, an ever-changing ellipsoid flattened at the poles and fattened at the equator, due to its rotation, which creates a centrifugal force that causes the planet to bulge at the equator. 

6:00 p.m. Two fellow world cruisers Linda and Nikki organized a “Girls’ Night Out” dinner for 10 of us in The Chef’s Table private dining room, while our guys got together in Manfredi’s (Linda’s hubby Howard’s favourite onboard dining venue).

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Part way through our dinner, Restaurant Manager Antonio arrived to let us know what our hubbies were doing as they pined away without us. Gotta say, they don’t look too sad…

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8:45 p.m. Liars’ Club in the Star Theatre, featuring a panel of Viking Sky “celebrities” doing their best to baffle us as they gave their definitions of obscure words. When we found our seats, it turned out that the lovely Chiquita (she has the best clothes!) and I had both chosen bright orange ensembles, which meant that a photo was absolutely obligatory.

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DAY THREE

7:00 a.m. Guest lecturers Russell Lee, Richard Lovelock, and Isaac Kenyon narrated our ship’s arrival at Null Island. The excitement on Deck 7 at being in the middle of the ocean looking at NOTHING was palpable. What a bunch of nerds we are!

Plus, Viking celebrates everything. It is so rare for ships actually to cross this exact intersection of latitude and longitude at at exactly 0° of latitude and 0° of longitude (where the equator and the prime meridian intersect) by coincidence, that it had to be specifically planned. Clearly, a stretch of sea days requires passengers to be kept amused, so why not? It was an excuse for (virgin) Bloody Marys and fancy doughnuts.

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Ted had the compass on his iPad queued up and ready to go as Captain Nilsson centred us as perfectly as possible over the location. As you can see from Ted’s screenshot, he got us to within 2 seconds of longitude east of the exact spot.

To be clear, Null Island is not an island. “Null Island” started as a joke within the geospatial community (could it be any more nerdy?), and the name is often used in mapping software as a placeholder to help find and correct database entries that have erroneously been assigned the coordinates 0,0.

There is absolutely nothing here but water, despite the fact that creative jokesters have over recent years listed at least 300 Airbnb rental properties on the “island”. Silliness reigned during our “photo stop”. Ship’s staff reminded us that there were no excursions being offered, so our QuietVox devices would not be required today. Nor would there be a shuttle bus to the mall. Fellow passengers told us they were planning to attend the 10:00 a.m. timeshare presentation. The resident naturalist posited the sea life below us, including Captain Nemo’s famous giant squid. Our guest geologist suggested that since the sea floor here had never been officially mapped, there could be anything below us. Atlantis? Why not? When the ship bounced slightly we wondered whether it was “the” squid poking at us with a tentacle, or we had just bumped over the equator (yet another silly joke).

At one point, a weather buoy marked the spot (pictured below).

The buoy was one of 17 installed in the tropical Atlantic Ocean since 1997 by the United States, France, and Brazil, anchored by a cable to the seabed. It disappeared less than a year after its installation, and was replaced in 1998, but vandalized more often than you’d think possible given its location. The buoy was decommissioned in March 2021.

After all that excitement, we resumed cruising around 8:30 a.m, and I went in search of yogurt, coffee, and a comfy poolside spot in which to finish a wonderful silly novel by Connie Willis, called The Road to Roswell, which includes a cast of quirky characters including an ill-fated bridesmaid, a UFO conspiracy theorist who believes everything he’s ever seen or read, a Western movie buff RV-ing across the U.S., a little old lady addicted to casinos, and … an alien.

11:00 a.m. Dr. Caroline Malloy’s lecture on “Virgil, Homer, and Epic Adventures” – appropriate somehow for all of us on our own odyssey.

12:00 p.m. Lunch and a videochat with my best friend back in Canada, now that we’re only 4 hours apart. Aren’t those lines of longitude and time zones amazing?

2:15 p.m. Back to deck two for a long brisk walking the equatorial heat. Today Linda and I made it just over 16 laps (one extra doorway), walking and talking for 1-3/4 hours, to go a distance of 4.08mi/6.56 km !!

5:00 p.m. Our two favourite musicians on the ship, Resident Guitarist Alan and Viking Band Lead Guitar Heintje, got together for an early evening jam session in the atrium living room, and had is all clapping along – and even dancing!

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6:00 p.m. Dinner in the restaurant with Rachel and Jeff, who we’ve really enjoyed getting to know on this cruise. Rachel and I both love to talk; our guys are the strong silent types. We stretched dinner to over 2 hours long, and it was (in my opinion anyway) wonderful.

8:45 p.m. Harry The Piano performed again tonight. Honestly, he was amazing – funny, with an incredible repertoire, and the ability to play any piece of music in any style. If you’ve never imagined Baby It’s Cold Outside in honky tonk, or Just A Spoonful of Sugar as a dirge… Harry can (and did) play them!

I took advantage of an empty laundry room to spend the rest of the evening getting our laundry done, and then it was early to bed. Clocks go back another hour tonight, which means we can get caught up on sleep.

Three more sea days to go…