Today we leave Funchal behind for a 7 day crossing of the Atlantic. Four years ago we stopped here on our way heading east, going down the west coast of Africa bound for Cape Town. We have now crossed our path heading west which completes our circumnavigation of the world. This trip we saw and experienced extremes of poverty, beggars,and lots of garbage in our stops in India, to the ancient civilizations of the Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans. Ancient Egypt which goes back to 3500BC and more, then the Greeks of Alexander and the Emperors of Roman. Luxor the Valley of the Kings, the Temples of Karnak. What they all must of looked like 2-3000 years ago? Pompeii a city that had a population of 20,000 in 79AD when Mt Vesuvius erupted. This city was not discovered again until the 1600s and was slowly dug out of the ash. Today you can walk the streets and see what life was like for people back then. They had running water,hot baths, paved roads a city laid out in a grid all things that modern cities have today. Athens the cradle of democracy. All these great civilizations are now but a shadow of their former glory. I wonder what future archaeologists 3000 years from now will find when they dig through our cities and what we leave behind for future generations! All in all it`s been a very interesting eye opening and a very rewarding cruise. From the very real possibility of pirates in the Indian ocean and around the Horn of Africa. What is most surprising is how few ships you see, considering that everything around you came to you on a container ship. The most ships we saw where around the Gulf of Aden going into the Red Sea. Even the Mediterranean with all the ship traffic in and out to the Atlantic and to and from the Suez we saw very little ship traffic. The weather since we entered the Med from the Suez is very much different. From Singapore it was so hot sometimes even the pool was not enough to cool you off. During the transit of the Canal it was too hot on the Lido deck to sit and enjoy the view. It sure makes you appreciate what we have at home when you see how other people live and how little some people have but still manage to be positive and smile. People are the same the world over, all just want to live in peace free from hunger, sickness and a chance to do something with their lives. The sail away is at 16:30 and then next stop is Ft Lauderdale, some of the people have been on this ship since 20 Dec, most since 6 Jan and the 2013 World Cruise has already almost sold out. Of 1182 available spaces they have sold 1152 tickets.
So ends for us another sailing adventure. Saw some more interesting sights and countries, experienced different cultures. The most fascinating sight for me was Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, next the Ruins of Pompeii, last Athens. After doing one of these cruises you realize how small the world really is. This is the third cruise that we have met the same couple from Holland. We have also run into many others that where on the 2010 World Cruise. One couple have done 6-7 world cruise’s and have signed up for the 2013 world.
Allan's space 