Location: Mamoudzou, Mayotte
Mayotte is a French “department” of islands just north of Madagascar, part of the Comoro Islands. I think “department” is kind of like the relationship that the US has with Samoa and Guam. Along with Réunion, Mayotte is the farthest southern extent of the European Union, and they use the Euro.
And that’s about all the cool stuff about Mayotte. It’s a sleepy small island chain between Tanzania and Madagascar, even more sleepy since we visited on Sunday. I went out on a glass-bottom boat tour and saw the local coral and fish, but nothing to write home about (or write in a blog about).
However, the clouds were amazing.
On the way back I got a few more beauty shots of the Silver Whisper.
Two things of note: The Silver Whisper has stability fins and bulbous nose. I noticed the emblem on the side of the ship while in port for the retractable ship stabilizer. You can feel the difference when the stabilizers are withdrawn as the ship enters a port.
There is a similar emblem for the bulbous bow, but I don’t have a picture. When anchored the ship hangs a warning line from the bow to warn folks not to pass too close to the ship and hit the bulb.
Crew Fun
I love it when the ship crew gets into the fun. It’s a hard balance, as they are paid to ensure the guests have fun, but it’s good to see them enjoy things as well.
During a recent formal dinner-dance night three servers were waiting for the dessert cook to make fresh Bananas Fosters, and they were enjoying the Bee Gee‘s “Staying Alive.” I should have recorded more.
On Sunday nights one of the restaurants transforms for “Family Night”, where tables are served set meals from large plates rather than orderings ala carte. The Voices come up to sing traditional Italian songs, and usually a parade forms with the servers. Here Ashley of the Voices spots my camera.
