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After Bangkok, the pace slowed a bit and we made 2 stops in Malaysia before entering the Indian Ocean. Malaysia is an interesting country, much more developed than you might think. As we drove to Malacca, the freeways were as modern as any in Southern California and the residential homes and condos visible from the road could have been anywhere USA. Malacca was full of Dutch influenced buildings, antique shops in a section known as Jonker Street, and a combination of Christian churches and Islamic mosques. Our other stop in Malaysia was the island of Penang where we did a spice tour. We walked through a garden of nutmeg, clove, ginger, palm trees, pineapple plants, and flowers later ending the tour with a cooking demonstration of a delicious Malay chicken curry dish. During the next 11 days crossing the Indian Ocean to Africa, we had a wonderful blend of leisurely sea days and 2 tropical exotic ports in the Maldives and Seychelles Island chains.
We love sea days! It’s a time to rejuvenate from the demanding tour schedule, time to sleep in, time to play games and attend lectures and time to relax and catch up with friends for lunch and dinner. Because we couldn’t include photos of all of our interesting dining partners, we decided to show the oldest and the youngest. The oldest is a delightful man who just celebrated his 100th birthday on the ship and is a legend on board with his many outfits and hats from places he’s visited. He also plays a mean piano. The youngest are 2 exceptional young people ages 12 and 14 who have traveled to all 7 continents with their parents over the last several years and are home schooled while on the ship. These are 2 examples of the wonderful people we have met and become friends with while cruising.
A country of contrasts, the Maldives occupy 1000 islands off the southern coast of India. The capital city of Male is a tiny 1 square mile island inhabited by 120,000 people primarily conservative Muslims. 87 of the other islands have been transformed into luxurious international tourist resorts. We chose to spend the afternoon at one of these island paradises; where we swam, relaxed on the beach under a palm tree and strolled completely around the tiny island.
The next 2 days were spent on the idyllic Seychelles Islands. Because we were so close to the equator and the temperatures and humidity were quite high, we decided to continue our water related activities. We enjoyed 2 islands in the Seychelles-Cerf and Aride by catamaran and high speed motor cruiser where we snorkeled, fed fish, viewed the sea life from a submarine, took a nature walk seeing many varieties of birds, reptiles and insects and enjoyed a spicy Creole beach barbecue.
As we departed these beautiful islands Captain Dag came on the intercom and announced that due to increased pirate activity in the area we were changing course. Instead of cruising west to Mombasa, Kenya and Zanzibar, Tanzania we would be heading south to the islands of Mauritius and Reunion located east of Madagascar. A wise decision in our opinion after aggressive pirates had recently fired on a U.S. Navy ship making headline news in the states.

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