April 13-16, 2018, Cruising the Red Sea

-

Explorers sailed the waters of the Red Sea as long ago as 2500 BC.  Moses is said to have parted its waters.  Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut led trade missions upon ancient vessels to the fabled Land of Punt in search of gold, incense, and ebony.  It was a favored route among ancient Romans as they traded with India.  In addition, Napoleon famously tried, and failed, to conquer its shores.  History and legend are rich in this narrow stretch of sea between Asia and Africa.  Also renowned for its diverse marine life and remarkable visibility of up to 150 feet, the Red Sea was praised by famed diver Jacques Cousteau as “a corridor of marvels.”

 The slide presentation is from one of our guest lecturers with our pictures at the "Gateway to Tears" at the narrow neck of the south entrance to the Red Sea.  We have been experiencing smooth sailing.  The Red Sea is 1160 miles long and 220 miles at its widest point.  It will take us four days to travel from the "Gateway of Tears" (southern end of Red Sea) to Acaba, Jordan, our next port of call.  We are looking forward to visiting Petra again.













 Southern end of Red Sea.
Our pictures looking NE toward Yemen; these pictures are of the Perim island in the narrow southerly entrance to the Red Sea.























The strength of the Wahhabis comes from the Saudis 200+ year old pledge to protect the Wahhabis as they go about pushing their strict version of Islam religion.  This pledge has boxed in the Saudis.













This southern tip of Israel is in the port area of Acaba,  The port borders Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Days 1-2 - Intro 2024 Viking World Cruise/Santa Barbara, CA

-
Image
Snow pictures at noon Tuesday January 9, our original flight day at 3 PM. The pictures above were emailed to us by friends "back home."  We watched forecasts for over a week and did not like our favorite TV weather forecasters.  On Monday (1/8) we had an extremely rushed day!  We were to fly Tuesday (1/9) afternoon, however when our travel agent called Monday morning suggesting we fly that afternoon, we agreed but had to step on the throttle to get to KCI on time.  Part of our jumping thru hoops Monday morning was to cancel KCI hotel reservation.  Thankfully our travel agent made the LAX reservation when she changed our plane reservation from Tuesday to Monday, same times. A few days earlier we made reservations at a KCI hotel to spend Monday night then take a shuttle to the airport the next noon (3 PM flight).  This way our friend would not have had to drive to and from KCI in the snow.  But that all changed,  per paragraph above. ...
Read more

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 103, Apr 21, 2024, Dakar, Senegal, Bandia Reserve Safari

-
Image
  Dakar  is the  capital  and  largest city  of  Senegal . The  department  of Dakar has a population of 1,182,417, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.9 million in 2023. The area around Dakar was colonized by the  Portuguese  in the early 15th century. The  Portuguese  established a presence on the island of  Gorée  off the coast of Cap-Vert and used it as a base for the  Atlantic slave trade .  France  took over the island in 1677. Following the abolition of the slave trade and French annexation of the mainland area in the 19th century, Dakar grew into a major regional port and a major city of the  French colonial empire . In 1902, Dakar replaced  Saint-Louis  as the capital of  French West Africa . From 1959 to 1960, Dakar was the capital of the short-lived  Mali Federation . In 1960, it became the capital of the independent Republic o...
Read more

Days 10-15, Jan 18-23, 2024 Five Sea Days + a Day on Bora Bora, a French Polynesian Island

-
Image
On the fifth sea day of this leg, the night before visiting Bora Bora, we were treated to a marvelous 'surf 'n turf" pool-side lobster tail and beef evening meal.   . Bora Bora  ( French :  Bora-Bora ;  Tahitian :  Pora Pora ) is an island group in the  Leeward Islands  in the  South Pacific . The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the  Society Islands  of  French Polynesia , which is an  overseas collectivity  of the  French Republic  in the  Pacific Ocean . Bora Bora has a total land area of 12 square miles. The  main island , located about 125 nautical miles northwest of  Papeete , is surrounded by a  lagoon  and a  barrier reef . In the center of the island are the remnants of an  extinct volcano , rising to two peaks,  Mount Pahia  and  Mount Otemanu ; the highest point is at 2,385 feet. Bora Bora is part of the  Commune  of...
Read more