Oman 2008

We are met at the airport and whisked away to the Chedi Muscat one of the Leading Hotels of the World located in Muscat, Oman.  As we ride along we are struck by the peaceful feeling in Oman.  While Dubai was frenetic, Oman is it's opposite in "vibes".  All along the side of the highway are lush green velvet lawns with thick borders of vibrant flowers in shades of pink, purple and blue.  The buildings are all in white and of the type of architecture I had expected in the Middle East.  Very clean and modern roads.  They've come a long way from only 2 miles of paved roads in 1970 to a complete infrastructure throughout the country today.

 

We learned that the Sultan of Oman is a very picky fellow.  He wants his country neat, clean and pleasing to the eye and it shows.  You better not have your car dirty for more than 2 or 3 days for if the police see it they will issue you a ticket!  We passed a crew using a power hose to wash the dust off of the power poles!  Now that's clean!

 

We sat sipping a fruit concoction in the large, cool reception lounge while one of the staff checked us in.  The hotel reminds me of a sultan's palace.  Understated elegance.  Large soft stuffed couches dotted about with a very large circular seating couch with gossamer cloth draped above in the center of the lobby.  Our rooms are spacious with a king bed and a long couch sitting area. 

 

It is early in the morning and the resort is still sleeping save for the garden and pool boys readying everything for the day.  I walk along white marble pathways under the spreading palms past the pools to the beach.  The beach is covered with all color and shapes of shells and rocks begging me to choose some of them to take away; so I do.  The water gently lapping the shore is warm, but not too warm.  The air is cool, but with the promise of the hot day to come.

 

Exploring the grounds brings me to reflection pools, fountains, walkways covering underground water rushing beneath the stones, and firepits with furniture arranged for intimate conversations.  It is so quiet and peaceful that I can imagine this is my palace and I am it's queen.

 

But the resort awakes and I and Sandra begin our day.  We arrange for a taxi and driver to take us on a tour of Muscat.  First we visit the second largest mosque in the Middle East with only Mecca being larger.  The complex boasts an area of 140,000 Meters, and the Mosque itself 40,000 Meters.  This is the first modern mosque I have visited.  In the ancient mosques the floor is covered with all sizes and colors of carpets, here it is custom wall to wall carpeting from Iran.  The chandeliers in the older ones are iron circles with candle holders converted to electricity and housing bare bulbs.  Here it is a three tierd Austrian crystal and gold mamouth concoction.  Nine smaller versions dot the ceiling around the rest of the worship area.  For those of you who don't know a mosque has no seats only open floor in a circular pattern. This is because the prayer is done kneeling, touching the forehead to the ground and then standing.  This process is repeated.

 

After the mosque we explore the old souk where all of our senses are awakened.  Gold for the eyes, incense of Frankensence for the nose, exotic music for the ears and soft pashmina's for the touch.  Very few tourists here.

 

The old town of Muscat is situated among the stark and rustic hills of the area overlooking the harbor.  A perfect place to build forts and so they did; Large ones.  A peek at the outside of the palace and the forts and we returned to the hotel.

 

In a book called Oman 2Day I found two things of interest.  One was a dinner that was to take place that night at the National Institute of Hospitality.  The theme of the evening was Sumptous Syria and was being conducted by an expat English guy named Mike Harrison.  Mike has lived all over the Middle East and has settled in Oman.  His is an English teacher by trade and a gourmand by passion.  He is in the midst of writing his second story/cooking book.  He loves to find out what the people eat and why.  His new work is entitled The Real Flavors of Arabia in which he showcases 6 Arabian cities and the foods unique to them. 

 

We were able to snag two spaces for the evening's festivities via a very confused concierge at the hotel.  First Mike gave a talk on why he chose Allepo instead of Damascus for his research and receipes of the evening.  Mostly because he found the food to be more authentic, plus it is believed that Allepo is the oldest continuing enhabited town in the world.  No MacDonalds either!!!  The food for the everning was indeed sumptuous and the host delightful.  There were 49 of us in all at the feast; most of them expats from England and 2 others from America.

 

The second item of interest was to take place the following day.  It is a woman's market that opens every Wednesday morning in a city called Ibra.  Again, through the concierge, I arranged for a car and driver to take us the 3 hours to the market and then to explore the surrounding area.  Between the dinner and the market, the concierge learned a few things about the area!

 

At 7AM the following day we set off for the market and other adventures for the day.  We traveled through the most amazing mountains.  They are stark, colorful, moon surface-like, 3 dimensional masterpieces of nature.  I have to say I have not seen anything quite like them. 

 

The woman's market was truly a local affair.  The woman all greeting each other and chattering away.  Many different local costumes in a variety of style and colors.  Many different ways to veil the face, some I have never seen before.  One such was a leather face mask that was cut out for the eyes but only a nose guard down the face and then a mouth piece under the nose!  I was told it was Bedouin by our guide/driver, Ali.

 

We spent the rest of the day seeing the old towns that are in ruin because the people want new houses and streets so they abandon the old to build the new.  We went dune climbing in the jeep.  Ali tried and tried to scare us by racing up the tallest dune he could find pausing at the top so all you could see was air and then cresting the top and sliding down the other side.  All the time we were laughing and yelling Yalla! Yalla! (let's GO).  He said we were "strong women"!!  After pausing for refreshmnet at a bedouin family's tent, we headed for a famous wadi where the locals go to swim, camp and bar b que.

 

Out in the desert were camels of all colors.  Many of them were babies frisking about the sand.  Also many mothers who were yet to give birth.  The mountain goats were long of hair and short in stature and also had babies tagging along. Donkeys dotted here and there completed the animal picture.

 

The color of the desert was much like the Sahara, but unlike the Sahara it had some vegetation spread out over the landscape.  Tufts of green grass and rough bushes mostly.

 

It was good to get out into the countryside to see the towns and the different ways of life.

 

Egypt 2008

Suez is a canal.  We watch the beginning of the canal from the window of the restaurant of our hotel, the Red Sea Hotel.  We search for more than that, but there is nothing.  It is no way even remotely a tourist city which in a way makes it interesting.  The real people going about real business.  Not a drop of alcohol to be found even in a resort area called Soukna.

 

The tourist police have a fit when we try to leave the hotel to walk around.  It is a port and industrial area.  We finally arrange for a car and driver.  First he takes me to an internet cafe so I can write one of my Jordan series.  Then he and Sandra and I go to Soukna, which he recommends as a good place to see.  The new port of Soukna is nothing but a strip of restaurants in front of a humongous resort and golf course being built behind.  It is a Saudi project. There is a Chilis restaurant there.  So much for local color!!!  The rest of the area contains only resort after resort on the Red Sea.

 

We wanted to experience Suez and we did!  If one wants to see the canal, a day trip from Cairo will suffice.  Or take a cruise ship that sails through it.

 

Next stop Cairo and Hassan, Safa, Doaa, Hosam & Zeyad; my family in Cairo.  Safa greets us like long lost sisters.  Soon the boys are home from school and then Doaa from university.  It is like coming home to be here with them.  They are so hospitable and welcome me as a member of the family, which I feel I am.  Zayed (9 years old) especially follows me around like a puppy.  All of the children are excellent in English as is Hassan.  Safa is very good but is reluctant to speak much.  Hassan arrives after he leaves his group for the day and we have a visit with him.  Oh, how I love to be here with them.  One night at their place and we are leaving in the early AM to go to Luxor, but we will be back for a longer stay.

 

Our driver is picking us up at 3:30AM.  Hassan's flat is on the top (13th) floor.  We get our luggage and proceed to the elevator outside the door.  Sandra pushes the button.  Again. Again.  No elevator sound.  I go to the terrace and peer over the railing to the street below.  Our driver is there, but how do we get to him?  Knock Knock on Hassan's bedroom door.  I hate to do it, but what can I do?  Doaa hears the knocking and appears to help us.  She bangs on the door of the elevator shouting for the couple who manage the building.  Just at that moment we hear our driver, Mohamed and the manager coming up the stairs.  We are SAVED, as soon as we walk down 13 flights of stairs!

 

We begin the walk down the 13 flights of stairs.  The men are in front with our two large cases on their shoulders and the two small ones in their other hand.  As we pass each landing one of them has to stop to push the light switch to keep it on.  Twice we didn't make the landing in time - black, total black.  We make it to the bottom and to the airport on time.  Another adventure!  BTW Hassan lives in a brand new building only 4 years old!  Cairo does have electrical issues on an ongoing basis.

 

The flight is on time and we are now in Luxor.  My other Egyptian family, Ahmed, Kalcum, Sara & Yara live here.  Sara is my namesake as Ahmed and Kalcum have named her after me.  Ahmed is away with a group so he has arranged for a car and driver to pick us up and take us to the St. George Sonesta where we will stay for the next 4 nights.  We luck out once more and are given two rooms each fronting on the Nile with terraces.  AHHH the good life.  From Sandra's terrace on the 4th floor we can see over to the West Bank.  With her binoculars we gaze upon Queen Hatshepsuts Temple, the pryamid rock at the top of the mountain that marks the position of the Valley of the Kings, and some of the painted houses of Kourna on the hills. I long to go there as that is where my soul lives or at least a piece of it.  Boukra (tomorrow) we will visit Mohamed of Habu Hotel.

 

The first evening finds us at Ahmed's place to visit with Kalcum and the girls.  Surprise!  There is another daughter, Angie.  Six months old.  Ahmed hasn't told me!!  The evening is such fun playing with the girls and visiting with Kalcum.  Luxor has changed so much and she tells us about the economy now.  The bread crisis is on so we speak about that.  It is only one kind of bread, the staple of Egyptian life - pita bread.  It appears that some crooked people who bought the flour very cheaply from the government were raising the prices above the set government prices making the bread very expensive.  Also now that Luxor is a World Heritage site there is an influx of funds and the city is being brought up to "standards".  The hotels by the Luxor temple that are higher than the temple are to be torn down as are any other buildings over height.

 

Prices on everything are rising sharply, but jobs are not paying any more.  Real estate is doubling and tripling monthly.  Land is almost out of sight now.  What cost 35,000 LE 6 months ago is now 250,000 LE.  To put that in dollars, $7,000 to $50,000.  Man do I wish I had bought land then!!!  Who knew???

 

A new day is dawning and I am out on my terrace watching the hot air balloons against the background of the sand colored mountains of the west bank.  Ballons of red, blue, stripes; 8 in all.  One of the red ones seems to be drifting across the Nile to my side of the river on the east bank.  As I watch it I cannot believe my eyes.  It is going to go through the opening between the two hotels next to mine!!!  With camera whirring I film what I think will be nothing but a disaster.  Where in the world will they land?  They are heading to downtown Luxor!  The pilot must have read the wind wrong or is an idiot.   I wait for the ineveitable crash or screech or something, but no, nothing.  Later I find out that this is the new thing!  When the wind is right they do cross the Nile and land somewhere on the east bank.  All of a sudden instead of disdain for the pilot, I have a new respect.  It takes great skill to thread that balloon through those buildings.  I watch for it again each day after, but it never happens again.

 

Mohamed is waiting for us at the local ferry landing on the west bank.  We speed through the villages to my favorite spot on the west bank, Habu Hotel.  AHHHH heaven, peace, relaxation.  I sit and sip tea as I gaze upon the wonder of Habu Temple just across the country road from the hotel.  It is the funerary temple of Rammses III and is the best preserved temple on the west bank of its kind.

 

Mohamed has just arrived yesterday after 13 days on a mini haj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.  As we sit all of his friends stop by to congratulate him and welcome him home.  Some school children are in the outdoor cafe across the side country road having a party.  They sing and clap and add a joy to the day. 

 

Not much has changed here.  Mohamed has some new tables and chairs, a new lattice covering over the downstairs outdoor eating area.  New painted murals on the wall and a new floor.  His old cat Garoup has died, but her daughter is there and almost her twin.  The only difference is she has one green and one blue eye, but is not deaf as cats with two color eyes often are.

 

Mohamed's uncle, Mohamed (Mohamed is like our John-very common name) is in town.  He owns 5 Dahabayias 2 of which are in at the moment.  We arrange to go see them.  A Dahabyia is a large sailing vessel that was used in the 1800s for tourists, rich Egyptians, the Pashas, etc.to go up and down the Nile.  Some archeologists and visitors who spent the winters in Egypt often lived on them.

 

We approach the mooring place of the Dahabyias and are greeted warmly by Mohamed.  He is quite the colorful character.  Reminds me of a hollywood type of old time producer or director.  The two boats are lovely.  One is from 1835 and one from 1843 both lovingly restored in great detail by Mohamed.  They are called the Dongola and the Girrafa.  Mohamed invites us to attend a sailing ceremony the following day.  It will be conducted by a German fellow and has something to do with a water ceremony.  It invloves the Dongola and 6 felucca boats (the sail boats on the Nile that are the same as were used in the days of the Pharohs).  That's as much as he knows, but we accept because then we get a chance to sail on the Nile on a Dahabyia!  Dinner will follow!

 

Ahmed is back from Abu Simbel and meets us at 6PM to show us what has happened in Luxor so far.  What a change.  I can hardly recognize some of the areas.  The souk has been paved and has a new entrance that kind of reminds me of the Grant Street in San Francisco's China Town gate only made out of wood. There are new western toilets for the tourists that cost 2LE50 (50 cents) to use, but they are clean, new and modern.  As we wander down the new paved souk, I feel a pang of regret for the old charming dirt road local souk of days past.  New is good, but old is charming and authentic.  It doesn't smell like the old souk; a mixture of spice, shisha smoke (water pipe), perfume and old.

 

Behind Luxor Temple is now a huge open park with paving, grass and plantings.  It is now a place to hold festivals, a children's place to play and a gathering place for the town.  It is beautiful and the locals do like having it.  The streets are wider especially the one leading to the railway station.  The railway station now looks like a museum beautifully decorated in Egyptian motif on the outside and very clean and modern on the in.  A new visitor's center is being built right across from the station.  In the center visitors will be able to book tours, find a hotel to stay, get any and all information about what to do and see in Luxor.

 

I go back to the hotel with mixed emotions.  I feel so fortunate to have seen the Luxor of old, and I miss it.  But progress must be made for the tourist industry and so it goes.  It is a mixed bag of worms.  As Luxor is made new, prices rise and it becomes more attractive for tourism of the modern world, but at the same time what made Luxor an exotic destination is somewhat watered down by the improvements.  The locals both benefit and lose.  More jobs, which are very badly needed, but no rise in pay to offset the rising prices.  However, it is still my love, my Luxor, and my favorite place in Egypt.

 

France 2009

As some of you know several years ago I decided not to watch the news, listen to the news, or read the news.  It was full of disturbing information that I could do nothing about.   It has been one of the best decisions of my life as it has greatly lowered my stress level.  Information comes to me what I need  and when I need it.

 

My adventure begins May 8, the day before I am to catch my flight from SFO to JFK and then on to Paris.  American Airlines calls me with the message that my flight the next morning will be delayed for 40 minutes leaving me with only 40 minutes to catch my connecting flight to Paris.  I call, change my flight to that night for a flight leaving at 11:25 PM.  As I am confirming the change, the agent informs me she has just gotten a message that the flight is now delayed until 1:20 AM!  What is going on?  She doesn't know.  JFK is down one runway for repair so maybe that's it.

 

We take off at 1:40AM and arrive in JFK at 9:49AM.  I check into the Admiral's Club and settle down for the wait for Darleen's plane to arrive.  Hers is on time. As I am checking email and getting wonderful Happy Mothers Day calls American calls with a recorded message that now the flight to Paris is delayed by 2 hours.  O.K. we have a 4 hour wait in Paris before our train to Montbard is to leave.  No biggie.

 

Then I get a PERSON from American who calls and asks me where I am!  JFK I say.  She did not see that I changed my flight but she could see that my luggage was checked in!  Then she says that if I wish to stay in France for longer than planned just to call and say I was delayed by the ash and I can stay at no extra airline charge.  Ash???  Gee, are they still using that excuse from a week or so ago?

 

A message from Tom and Pat Jones pops up informing me that they are cancelling their plans for France and Italy later in May due to the volcano.  O.K. it is time to look at the news.  Aha!  So it isn't just the runway down at Kennedy that is causing the delays.  Time for plans B & C, train wise. 

 

Long story short we finally take off from JFK at 11:45PM 6 1/2 hours late.  By then I have plans C & D in pocket for the train.  We arrive at 1:25PM in Paris, collect our luggage, hit the ATM, get a taxi to Gare Lyon, buy a ticket, board the TGV to Montbard and are met by Michael at 6:03PM.  His face is alight with delight to see us, the sun comes out and all is right with the world.

 

So, my decison still holds well.  If I had known what was really going on early in the process, I would have been anxious, worried, angry or what ever else and the delay could have caused me not to have such a smooth trip.  By the information trickling in I was able to deal with it little bits at a time, keep a sense of humor and turned a "bad" thing into good.

 

I met Michael and Tom in Egypt in 1997 and we have seen each other several times since then, but each time it is as though we were together only last week.  It is so wonderful to see Michael again.  Tom will arrive on Thursday and it will be wonderful to see him as well. 

 

Their home is located in Burgundy in an area called The Morvan.  The Morvan is a national forest that contains villages, towns and hamlets tucked in amongst the woods (bois).  They live in Villiers en Morvan, a hamlet of population 50. We drive through the gate and stop by a large barn/garage across from a building Micahel calls the outhouse.  We laugh and tell him what an outhouse in American is like.  English VS English alive and well!

 

We walk around the corner and there it is, their lovely manor house.  Willoughby, their chocolate lab, greets us with much enthusiasm, licks and tail wagging.  We go inside where we are to choose our bedrooms in the guest wing that contains 3 bedroom, a bath and a sitting room.  I choose the French Room with a sleigh bed and a view over the 5 acre pastoral lands the house sits upon.  Michael's garden is all a bloom with tulips, forget me nots and other lovely trees and plants.  White cows, known for their meat, are grazing in the pasture with their babies frolicking about.  Birds are flitting about singing.  A cuckoo calls from the woods across the rolling hills.  Heaven!

 

With champange in hand we are taken on a tour of the house.  We go through room after room each one with a fireplace with one mantel better than the last.  There are many hidden treasures and nooks and crannies located on each of the three floors.  Darleen and I wonder how long it will take us before we learn our way around without getting lost :-).  They have done a lot of work on the house and have plans for more changes in the future. 

 

We stay up until midnight laughing, catching up and just generally enjoying each others company.

 

I awake on day two to the sounds of the birds and a donkey braying off in the distance.  Opening the window I breath in the crisp, clean air.  My lungs wake up and absorb all that oxygen, my mind is at peace.  The rising sun shines through the mist covering the distant mountains throwing a watery light over the landscpe.  Can it get any better than this?

 

Today we tour the grounds and listen to plans for expanding the gardens, the development of the "outhouse" to a Gite (a self catering house to rent for vacation usually found out in the country and for travelers who want a local experience).  Then we are off to the little village where we can shop for our breakfast.  The first stop is the Boulangerie/Patisserie for croissants and bread.  I spy a loaf of brioche and have to have that too.  As we walk further down the narrow winding street to the tiny farmers market to buy veggies for our dinner, I rip off a chunk of the brioche.  After all that's what the French do, walk down the street eating fresh bread from the baker, so when in France.....  Soon Darleen and Michael are joining me and we walk and munch.

 

Our next stop is the fromage shop.  As we enter our noses are greeted by many variety of smells and the array of cheeses make the selection fun but difficult.  I want to buy it all!  We settle on three and stroll away to the local cafe where we enjoy a cup of coffee.

 

In the afternoon we walk the hamlet, stopping at the Mairie (city hall) where I am to give a presentation on my journeys to Egypt on Saturday night.  Our wanderings take us into the next hamlet where Fafa lives.  Fafa is a magician who travels around Europe performing her act.  She is so fun and is enthusiastic about Saturday night offering to help in any way she can.  We chat about her travels and plan for the event.  Willoughby drys himself by the fire after his exploits in the stream running through the hamlet.

 

Back home Michael lights the fire in the largest of the fireplaces in the parlor.  The fireplace is large enough to roast a large boar and we enjoy the roar of the fire, great conversation over wine and bread and cheese.  Again we are having so much fun it is midnight before we say bon nuit.

 

I am loving it here.  It is so peaceful, the locals are charming, I can practice my french, am in great company, eating great food, drinking great wine - all is right with the world in this space.  Can it get better than this??

 

Dubai In 2008

Thought it might be fun to have daily snippets of past adventures.  Dubai was the beginning of a seven week trip to the Middle East and parts of Africa.

 March 2008 :

Ah Dubai!  Where do I start?  We flew in at night.  As the plane broke through the cloud cover I looked down on the most colorful sight I have seen from the air in a long time.  Not only were the requisite streaming car lights of red and bright white on the roadways and the neon type lights on the buildings there was an added layer never seen before.  Blinking lights high and low from all over the skyline.  Lights in white, red and gold blinking so one felt as though one was sinking down from the sky into a swarm of fireflies or a group of fairies or Disneyland or Never Never Land or Fantasy Island. Actually, I dubbed it Las Vegas on steroids minus the gambling.

As we were chauffeured the 1/2 hour to our apartment building (hotels were outrageous - none lower than $400 per night and we wanted our own rooms) we passed one buliding after another of spectacular architecture.  It was if they were all trying to outdo the other and screaming "look at ME".  Our apartment lived up to the opulence we observed on our drive.  We were on the 46th floor of a tower in the New Dubai Marina close to many shops and restaurants and a fabulous grocery store.  We overlooked a section of the marina where boats of all shapes and sizes squeezed as close to each other as possible.  Our 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath with balconies, full kitchen, living room and dining area was decorated in understated elegance.  We gleefully settled in.

The first morning it was off to the grocery.  Unreal.  There was everything you could imagine you wanted and then some.  There were even blueberries from Watsonville, California!!!  And a sign above and below the pork section stating "for non-muslims only".  I was surprised they even HAD a pork section!  Once we had our purchases in hand and paid a handsome sum for them, the young man who bagged our groceries put them in a cart and proceeded to walk us to our apartment building, into the elevator and up to the door of our apartment!  Such service.

Sandra hadn't had her coffee yet so we set back out to see what we could find.  Yep!  Starbucks AND Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  YIPPEEE says Sandra so off we go to Starbucks for a "skinny" (that's what they called a non-fat milk) and an iced Mocha.  We sat drinking our coffee treats and taking advantage of the wifi with Sandra's iPhone.  The iPhone is her new toy and she is intent on the operation of it.

It was rather surreal sitting half a world away drinking Starbucks and using wifi.  We would find out that this was not unusual.

After coffee we set off in search of a car and driver to take us around Dubai to show us the local culture.  Finally, in desperation, I called the concierge at American Express.  When she called back to say there just wasn't such a thing, we began to realize that the activities were shopping, eating, and swimming in the ocean.  We had dropped in to the ultimate world resort; the playground of the rich and famous, a place to see and be seen.  I should have known based on the number and size of the private yachts moored in the marina.  Not to mention the fact that the people strolling about REEKED of money!

There isn't a local cuisine, culture, or quaint handicrafts.  We even went to the Marriott to the concierge and all he could offer were desert safaris, the hop on and off bus and the Wonder Bus.  His comment?  "Madam there is no local culture".  So we gave up and had lunch in Cucina, Marriott's Italian restaurant.  The caprese was the best I have ever had.  We orderd spaghetti carbonara in honor of Bob since that was his favorite dish.  He was forever on a quest to find the perfect carbonara.  I'll bet he'd never guess he could expand his search to Dubai!

Anytime we journeyed outside of our area, we needed a taxi.  There was never a ride under $60.00!

During one of these rides we were told by the driver that the city has sections where corporations can build their buildings and do business without having joint partners with local firms.  This means they keep all of the profits they make.  Two such cities were The Internet City and The Media City.  Needless to say the big guns were all there. 

The number of stations we could get on the TV were amazing.  We became fond of TCM and Al Jazeera/English.  We also watched CNN and BBC International.  TCM was great except there was a moving delay which made all of the actors look like they were doing the jerk.  It was quite funny.  For some reason it did not effect the speech. 

Wish we could get Aljazeera English in the states.  Quite the eyeopener.

Our adventures did take us on The Wonder Bus.  An amphibian that goes on land and then out into the "Creek".  A river-type body of water that feeds in from the Arabian Gulf.  It divides "old" Dubai and modern Dubai.  As in all cities where you are able to see the city from the water, this experience did not disappoint.  It only further reinforced the grand architecture that is the signature of Dubai.  There was a very interesting contrast of the Dhows (an old wooden boat from centurys ago that people live on) that were tied up on the "Creek" in front of the new style buildings.  I guess they are all that's left of the old culture.

West Coast Africa Journey

Starting in Namibia and ending in Seville Spain with stops in 16 countries.  Whooeee! This is my ultimate adventure that began in February of this year and ended in April!  Thirty-nine nights on an educational study tour aboard the Corinthian II owned by Travel Dynamics.  There are three lecturers and one naturalist on board. The lecturers are from UC Berkeley, Smithsonian, Indiana University for the first half and Stanford University, Dallas Museum, Smithsonian (different person) the second half. 

After two days of rest in Capetown I arrive at the airport to make my way to Walvis Bay, Namibia where I will be met and taken to board the ship that will be my home for the next 40 days. Flying over Namibia reveals a desert paradise.  Desolate,stark,barren.  Then a "lake" a "river".  Recent rains have created false bodies of water that look like they will always be there, but will vanish in days. We are told by the pilot that we are blessed by the sights below as they happen very rarely. A portent of the journey to come, perhaps? I hope!

We arrive. Namibia, as are many other African countries, is on "African Time" meaning it can be 10 minutes from now or two days from now. The luggage arrives sometime between these two possibilities.  There are about 12 of us on the plane headed to the same ship.

Wandering out out to the pick up area we learn that the buses were there but have left! Bob, one of our band of travelers, takes matters in hand and soon we have transport to the ship, or so we are told.  A man close by overhears Bob's queries of the airport personnel and steps in to help.  It seems, after he makes a call in Afrikkans, which none of us understand, that it is his company that is contracted to transport us, but he was not notified.  He will take us!  He could be anyone from anywhere, but trusting souls that we are, we blithely follow him with all of our earthly possessions to his van behind which is hitched a luggage container. 

He loads up us and our luggage and away we go. One of the ladies jokes that maybe we are being taken to sell into white slavery. I point out the average age of the group (blue hairs) and we decide we aren't candidates for that or for organ donors; we're safe.  The feeling is one of excitement and anticipation of the journey ahead.

The ship is lovely and I settle in to my very roomy and elegant accommodations.  I could be in the finest hotel. Tomorrow the journey begins.  Tonight I begin to get to know the other 104 passengers and crew on the ship.  Spent time at the bar getting to know the tour director, tour mangers and the naturalist.  I meet Grey who will be a close companion to myself and Sandra my friend who is on the journey with me.  I learn that this is the "office" and when Peter says let's meet in the office this is where we go!  Great chats.  This is going to be FUN as well as educational.