Blog16 Malta, Algiers, Seville

Blog 16 – Malta, Algiers and Cadiz, Seville

John has been looking forward particularly to the visit to Malta since the beginning of this cruise , as he lived here for a year in 1961-2 and hoped to meet an old school friend from 1956. First impression of the Grand Harbour was that the grandeur of  Bighi, Senglea and Fort St. Angelo is now diminished by the adjacent somewhat larger cranes and even Abramovitch’s yacht. I have tried to take photos that diminish this unfortunate effect.

We began our visit with a walk to the new Barraka lift and a stroll through the Upper Barraka gardens to St John’s Co Cathedral. The sunshine gave a wonderful golden glow to the forts across the harbour and the view from the battery was as marvellous as ever.

Adrian Strickland could not have been a more generous host and we were most graciously welcomed into St. John’s  for the procession of the Knights of Malta of which he is one, and the pontifical High Mass. Afterwards we were allowed in to see Carravagio’s ‘Beheading of John the Baptist’ even though the room was formally closed for an address to the knights by their president. 

After a short visit to Marsaslokk we went for lunch to the Royal Malta Yacht club overlooking Valetta and Manoel Island where we met his charming wife Jacqui. We did not visit Sliema where John’s parents lived as the whole of that area and of St Julians is totally changed, dominated now by high rise flats – not as attractive as it used to be. 

This visit was altogether a highlight of our entire cruise and we are very grateful to Adrian for giving us so much of his time when he had a very busy schedule that day. We were very sorry to have to be back on board by 1530 for an early departure.

The following day at sea was enlivened by a brilliant piano recital by a Spanish pianist Maria Garzon.  Outstanding.

Goodness knows why the ship called at Algiers where numerous police closely guarded us throughout our tour. The tour began with a visit to the “Martyrs Memorial” a grandiose structure topped by telephone aerials and with a 15 foot high statue of a heavily armed martyr at each of its three bases. It commemorates the war of independence. An interesting but sobering visit.

 Two more sea days during which John volunteered to man a stand at the “Country Fayre” in aid of the ship’s charities, two orphanages in Thailand and the Phillipines. Will he never learn? Three intense hours of getting people to guess from given examples how to say “ Hello|” in the language of the displayed flags resulted in about £30 despite a queue at the stand throughout the afternoon!

Our last port of call of the entire voyage was Cadiz.  Although it is a beautiful and historic city we opted to go on an excursion to Seville, 2 hours away by coach.

This was a fabulous visit, the highlights being the Real Alcazar and the Cathedral. The wide streets lined with scented Seville Orange trees in blossom are delightful as is the atmospheric old town. The Alcazar shows how it was possible for Moslems and Christians to live in harmony and the gardens are magnificent. A fitting end to our cruise. It is hard to believe that this was our last tour though it is already getting cooler as we sail north but 22 degrees in the sunshine in Seville was extremely pleasant!  We arrive at Southampton in three days time. It will be very lovely to see everyone again but a bit of a change to get involved once more with shopping, cooking , washing up and cleaning – we have been spoiled! We feel hugely privileged to have made this trip and to get an overall if sketchy overview of the coast of Africa.  It is going to be impossible to answer the question ‘Where did you enjoy most?’  We have experienced such variety. The answer perhaps should be ‘lots of different places for different reasons’. We hope you have enjoyed sharing our blog.

Blogpost 15 Suez Canal, Port Said and Crete

Blogpost 15 Suez Canal, Port Said and Crete

We are among the first cruise ships to make a passage through the new Suez Canal, which was opened last October. It will soon have the capacity to take 97 ships of almost unlimited size daily, without queuing, rather than only 49 until now. The entrance at the Suez end is unprepossessing but the major works soon become apparent. We were lucky to pass through in daylight and see the extraordinary contrast between the lush green on the Nile side and the sand desert on the other bank.

 

The transit took about 8 hours non stop, and we had a day free to explore Port Said at the Med end. It looked plain from what we could see on the approach that Port Said had little to offer the keen sightseer and so it proved the following morning when we walked somewhat aimlessly around the town initially looking for the i shown on our map which proved non-existent. 

There were police and military everywhere especially near the ship. This provided one moment of hilarity when John asked a policeman armed with a loaded machine gun for some help in finding the tourist information office. He did not understand a word and started to raise his gun, so John stuck both hands in the air with a big grin which caused the 8 or so police lounging around in two cars nearby to fall apart laughing! [Luckily].

We had a splendid feast on the after deck in the evening of departure followed by a show given by local dancers including an amazing whirling dervish – a man of many skirts and tambourines who twirled very fast for a very long time. The photo shows some melons carved by one of the chefs – as well as the dragon and Red Indian chief you can see there were flowers and camels.

We had done our homework on the Minoan Palace at Iraklion in Crete, by some way home to the oldest known civilisation in the world which left a written record, and numerous examples of their artefacts. Nothing quite prepares you for their artistic achievement and the scale of the Palace remains, which cover 5 acres. The modern town shows no sign of the Greek recession. Lots of smart shops and a complete contrast with everything we have seen since leaving Mozambique.

Soon we shall be in Malta where John lived for a year in 1961 and where we hope to meet up with an old school friend. Will we recognise each other after nearly 60 years? We are looking forward to it very much but unfortunately our stay is for only a few hours. See the next instalment!

Blogpost 14 Red Sea

Blog Post 14 – Red Sea, Petra, Sharm El Sheikh

Tuesday 1^st March

This morning we pass into the Red Sea through a very narrow channel – Yemen on one side, Eritrea on the other. This is the last sensitive area in terms of piracy that Boudicca is passing through and we are at full speed. Since the Seychelles we have had special security men on board with the necessary kit, plus barbed wire and water cannons on both the port and starboard sides.

Wednesday 2^nd March

A tug comes alongside early in the morning and the special kit is offloaded. We are now officially out of the sensitive area. Life on board continues with lectures – very interesting ones by ex RN Commodore who is an expert on the Middle East, a concert by an excellent classical guitarist, entertainment from a talented young jazz singer, swimming, walking round the deck, Jan singing in choir performance and John giving his second talk ‘A light history of recorded music 1878 – 1960s’ which was well attended and was very well received.

Friday 4^th March

Mid morning we enjoy sailing up the Gulf of Aqaba approaching to the town of Aqaba at lunchtime. We are surrounded by 4 countries all in close proximity – on the port side Egypt and Israel and on the starboard side Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The desert consists not of sand but of high and barren mountains, with the Israeli town of Eilat separated from Jordanian Aqaba by a high fence, and both towns built on a narrow seaboard quickly rising into the mountains behind.

 

  In the afternoon we set off on our tour ‘Sunset at Wadi Rum’.  We have a very informative guide who tells us a lot about the history of Jordan. When we reach the Visitor Centre at Wadi Rum we transfer to 4 x 4 open jeeps and off we set into the desert landscape with its stunning sandstone and granite rock formations that rise from the desert floor. Wadi Rum also known as ‘The Valley of the Moon’ became famous during the 1917 Arab revolt in which Lawrence played such a major part – he and the rebelling Arabs took Aqaba by advancing through this mountainous pass, when the Turks in Aqaba expected any attack to come from the sea. We shall have to watch the film again as some of it was shot at Wadi Rum! It is a fantastic experience driving through this landscape in the jeeps. We have a tea stop at a Bedouin tent and then zoom on at a great rate to the vantage point for the sunset. We are given some fizz and canapés to enhance the magic! We loved the whole trip and hope you one or two of the many photos we took!  It is dark by the time we get back to Boudicca which is staying in Aqaba overnight.

 

Saturday 5^th March

This is the day we go to Petra – a major destination on our wish list! It is a two hour drive away so we set off on a Fred Olsen tour at 0800 with another excellent guide who tells us all about the way of life of the Bedouins. We drive along the Kings Way road which has been the route taken over centuries. The landscape becomes more and more dramatic and by the time we make a loo stop we are all agog at the panorama.

We arrive at the town of Petra and we start our walk down to the entrance to the Siq, a natural chasm with walls that tower above us. This path protected the Naboteans from attack as well as being used to collect water. Petra was the capital city of the Naboteans and a very important trading centre. It was built over 2000 years ago but was lost for nearly 12 centuries until it was discovered by a Swiss explorer in 1812. At the end of the Siq we suddenly catch a glimpse of the Treasury. We have seen pictures of it in the past but nevertheless it is breathtaking suddenly seeing the façade in situ and very much bigger than expected. 

We move along and the landscape opens up into a huge arena, which includes a Roman amphitheatre and then the Royal Tombs, hugely impressive burial sites. We are lucky that apart from the Fred Olsen groups there are very few other tourists there. We make our way slowly back up to the town and are given lunch at a Movenpick Hotel. We leave Petra and have another wonderful drive back to the ship. Wow, what a day. We had great expectations and we were not disappointed. Etched in our memory as well as recorded of many photos! You will see John wearing the dishdash he bought in Salalah – very comfortable and cool and the locals loved it and called him ‘my brother’! I had to go and meet the mother of a Bedouin who sold me some silver bracelets at as it turned out “very good price”

 

Sunday 6^th March

We arrive in Sharm el Sheikh early this morning. What an action packed few days! We are booked on a tour that we organised from home on Trip Advisor to go snorkelling.  We link up at 0800 at the port gate with the tour and are taken to the nearby marina. We needn’t have been so early as the boat doesn’t actually leave until 1015. It is full of Egyptian families which is really nice and they are all so friendly and kind to us. The people here are having such a hard time since the Russian plane was blown up and tourists have not been able to come.  We have some excellent snorkelling on nearby coral reef followed by a delicious lunch on board.

 

Later in the early evening we get the shuttle bus into the town. Usually it would be buzzing with tourists but at the moment it is one huge struggle for them. Boudicca stays overnight at Sharm before setting off the following day into the Gulf of Suez. We pass through the Canal on Tuesday 8^th so another excitement in store!

Blogpost 13 Oman Salalah

Sunday 28^th February.

Oman turns out to be a land of major surprises. The town of Salalah, now a major port of the Indian ocean positioned on the south coast of Oman bordering the Arabian sea, is almost entirely new. The present much loved sultan has transformed his country from a somewhat backward nation into a prosperous country all since 1970 according to Ali, our excellent guide. There are new buildings and dual carriageway roads everywhere, including to Muscat 1000Km to the North. It is a sprawling modern town with ambitions to build resort hotels all along the beautiful coast where previously stood a shanty town of rundown shops and houses. There is water and green grass, with a backdrop of not too distant desert mountains. The oilfields are 300 km to the east and the main industry here is tourism and the export of limestone and cement to India.

 

The air is dry, a very pleasant change from the humidity of the Seychelles, and although the temperature is in the 30’s it doesn’t feel too hot. First stop on our tour is the new Grand Mosque built in 2 years 2007-9. It can hold 6000 worshippers in the main hall, which is quite different in style from the ancient mosques we have seen in Istanbul. The decoration is simple with no elaborate arabesques, the centrepiece being a magnificent chandelier in the central dome.

 

The region is renowned for its frankincense, grown since ancient times. This is the only place in the world where the frankincense bush [see photo]is known, and it cannot be artificially cultivated. It is therefore certain that the frankincense resin taken by the three wise men to Bethlehem came from here.

We visit an excellent new museum with sections devoted to Archaeology, maritime history, political and trading history. The sultan is very keen on education – we are told that even if a village has only one child a school and teacher will be provided free, along with free healthcare and secondary education for all. Unemployment and crime are very low here and we feel quite safe even in the souk, where John buys a dishdash and headgear to keep himself cool when we get to Petra later on. He wears it over his clothes back to the ship causing Ali to say “now you are my cousin” and to give him a great big hug! All a little embarrassing for Jan. Ali has also got us a great deal in the purchase of the best quality frankincense.

 

We stop for a drink of milk from freshly cut coconut at a roadside stall selling fruits before moving on to the souk and finally back to the ship. We sail at 1600 travelling at maximum speed with all the anti piracy procedures in place as we pass towards the area of maximum risk past Yemen towards Djibouti and the Red Sea.