Cruising...

In January 2012, my very generous friend, Nicole, took 7 friends with her on a boat cruise from Cape Town to Walvis Bay in celebration of her 21st birthday.

We had been planning this trip since she told us about it in March the previous year. Imagine eight friends on a cruise ship to another country in celebration of you turning 21! We all had to get passports and take sea-sickness tables seeing that we were going to another country and would be on a boat for five days. I bought a suitcase and a floppy hat and was fully prepared for this trip.

We departed on the MSC Melody on January 15 and had the time of our lives. There were themed entertainment shows every night, bingo games, apertif games, line dancing, Captain's cocktail evening, tropical parties and other competitions such as Mr and Miss Melody. Every night we dressed up and had an amazing three-course dinner, and even got to meet and take a photo with the Captain of the ship.

We docked in Walvis Bay, Namibia, on Tuesday, January 17 and found absolutely nothing to do there other than walk 10KM to the lagoon and back (where I got extremely sunburnt, might I add). The highlight in Namibia was seeing a pellican on the lagoon water. We got back on the boat and headed back to Cape Town, arriving back on Thursday, January 19.

By far the highlight of the trip was just being on the boat, lying on deck with a cocktail in hand, and not having a single worry in the world. It is a great atmosphere and definitely an experience to be shared with friends.