Traveling Tigers: Sailing the South Pacific

On Jan. 21 at noon, the Traveling Tigers will meet in Clubhouse 3, Room 9, near the central lobby. The club will hold a potluck, followed by a short club meeting and a 10-question multiple-choice trivia game with a geography and travel theme.

Shortly before 1 p.m., Ben Benjamins will present a whirlwind photographic tour of his and wife Sally’s 32-day South Pacific and Hawaii cruise on the Sapphire Princess. Starting in San Pedro, he will cover a variety of “Sea Day” activities, with the first stop in Hilo, where they took a walk in a nearby park. Sailing from there to Honolulu, Oahu, they took a long walk for a visit to King Kamehamaha’s statue.

After four more days at sea, they arrived in Pago Pago, American Samoa, where Ben had an exciting experience flying his drone. After crossing the International Dateline, the ship moored in Apia, Samoa, where they took a back-country trip with a local taxi driver. After making a short stop in Suva, Fiji, the trip continued to Dravuni Island, a small island community in the Pacific without electricity or automobiles.

After Dravuni, the ship spent two nights in Papeete,Tahiti, French Polynesia. Early in the morning, it sailed to Moorea, French Polynesia, famous for its Moorea Lagoon and Spa.

A trip around the lagoon with a local taxi showed the simple life of working people on the island. Then, after seven more days at sea, they were back in San Pedro, and back to the daily routine here in Leisure World.

A special invitation is extended to all Leisure World residents who have taken this South Pacific cruise to relive their memories, as well as anyone else interested in taking this cruise.

—Ben Benjamins