Neptune Day

September 26, 2009: Neptune Day

Our first day at sea after Ghana was Neptune Day. On Neptune Day various festivities and traditions take place as the pollywogs (those who have never crossed the equator by ship) onboard are put forth in mock-trial before King Neptune and his royal court. That morning we were told to come up to the 7th deck aft, where the pool had been dyed a strange color, there were dead fish to kiss, and people were shaving their heads, “making their case” as pollywogs. The festivities went on for a while, and soon enough there were lots of near-bald guys AND girls! There were an alarming number of girls who shaved their head, something I didn’t consider for even one moment. A few people got mohawks, and one girl shaved just half of her head… which should be interesting in a few months. This was a no-class day, but it wasn’t nice enough to enjoy the ecuatorial sun out on deck.
During the stretch to South Africa, I was lucky to see LOTS and LOTS of dolphins, including one pod of 100s maybe 1000s of petite dolphins, a few whales and even some seals.

Stephanie@Sea