|
|
You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Apr 24, 2006 02:00 PM from Moscow with love...
After two strong doses of antybiotics the temperature felt down and I departed to Warsaw. The flight from Warsaw to Moscow was delayed due to the technical problems more then an hour. Fortunately I had enough of extra time in Moscow to catch my onward flight but there were people booked to Shanghai who missed their connection. Allow enough time for the possible delays in your itineraries, if possible!... In Moscow Sheremetyevo airport we passed again throgh security control. You do not need a visa for transit - no passport control in this case. But after security there is no toilet, just keep in mind to use it before. Boarded for Russian 767 I have been invited by friendly flight attendent to use 2 or 3 seats... Nice people! But if you want to drink the beer you must pay now 90 roubles a can - even on intercontinental flights! Movies are poor but we slept until breakfast - so I do not complain...
|
Apr 23, 2006 02:00 PM 38.9 to Bejing...
Since months or even years you collect information. You prepare detailed itinerary. Then you negociate the prices, you make reservations, you organize the visas, you buy your cheap, non-refundable tickets. You pack your backpack - it is easy, you did it so many times... And... the evening before departure you have 38.9 deg of temperature. You are not sneezing or caughing, your doctor say: in must be something internal. But you have no time for detailed examination - you planed to depart tomorrow. I feel so weak, why this backpack is so heavy!? I want to depart anyway!. Keep your fingers crossed, please!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
|
Apr 06, 2006 02:00 PM End of Atlantic Odyssey...
Home, sweet home... I am back in cold Gdansk... I was flying back via Lisbon and Prague... Still sleepy but happy... The Atlantic Odyssey - long and adventurous voyage from Anctarctic waters to the equator is over... Thank you my fellows from the ship - I spent with you wonderful days! I hope you will also keep those moments among your best memories...
|
Apr 02, 2006 02:00 PM Sal Island - Cabo Verde
I have been before to Cabo Verde (See my report on GS and extra pictures on my website: http://www.kontynenty.tpi.pl/Cabo1.htm ) so I am visiting this insular country for the second time.
In the morning we landed by zodiacs in micro port - Palmeira on the Sal Island. Minibus took us to the main attraction of the island - old salt production plant located in the volcanic caldera. Some of took a bath in the shallow salt basins. Then we went to the beautiful beach of Santa Maria - at the southern end of the island. This is the main tourist resort of Cape Verde. The beach is really fantastic - with white sand, turquoise water and strong sun - I was swimming about half an hour before return to the ship...
It was last day of 38 days spent on the ship - in the late afternoon wind and swell were strong... It was time to say thank you and good bye to the friendly Russians from the crew. They put my backpack to the zodiac, I also jumped in... It was bumpy and wet sail to the coast - the ocean showed once again its power...
|
Apr 01, 2006 02:00 PM Sao Tiago - Cape Verde
Sunday. Streets in the capital of Cabo Verde are almost empty. Market is closed, so the shops. Do not to expect to buy anything or to change your money. Euro is the best currency to change here. They pay 110 local escudos for 1 euro.
The city of Praia lies on the Sao Tiago or Santiago island. We drove by minibus to the north of the island crossing the dry mountains up to 1400 m high. There were a lot of nice views on the route. At the lunchtime we reached coastal town of Tarrafal located on the northwestern coast. There is the beast beach of Sao Tiago towered by huge mountain. There are even palm trees - so rare on Cape Verde. The beach was crowded on Sunday... The return route via the northern coast villages and bays was also very picturesque... We returned to the ship after 9 hours - it was very busy day!
|
Mar 31, 2006 02:00 PM The first of April
Good morning dear passengers!
It is 1st of April, sunny morning with the temperature of 24 degrees and we still have a distance of 210 miles to sail to Cape Verde archipelago. But I am sorry to inform you that there is revolution in this little insular state. So due to the safety reasons we will skip Cape Verde on our route and we will sail directly to Canary Islands! - this was the voice from the loudspeakers on the ship...
I visited almost all African countries, the revolutions are common on the Black Continent and we were just awaked listening to this message... Believe or not... Fortunately it was only a joke...
|
Mar 29, 2006 02:00 PM 965 nautical miles to Cape Verde
The God of the Seas appeared yesterday on the front deck and after some funny exercises applied to the each newbie allowed us to cross the equator. It happened in the late evening - we had BBQ on the deck, glass of champagne and a lot of fun singing and dancing until the late night.
Today the sky is grey, no sun. We were extremely lucky to have clear sky yesterday during solar eclipse... It is 965 nautical miles from the equator to our next port on Cape Verde. It will take us 3 days at sea to get there...
|
Mar 28, 2006 02:00 PM Solar eclipse on the equator
I saw already solar eclipse in my childhood. Today I had new
opportunity: to see the total eclipse close to the equator in the middle
of Atlantic Ocean. We were equipped in special sunglasses. At 7.40 am
everybody was on the deck waiting for the moment when the shield of the
moon will touch the sun. But where is the sun? It is covered by
clouds! Fortunately after 5 min it appeared again and the main
spectacle begun. It took an hour until the total eclipse. Then we saw
for the moment a diamond ring around the black ball of the moon. It was
soon replaced by the silver corona lighting for 2,5 minutes. Darkness
was around. And immediately ? strong, white ray switched on up in the
sky? For me this wasn?t the most important day of our expedition but I
must say that it was unforgettable spectacle? Now - in the afternoon
we are expecting the visit of the Neptune hoping that he will allows us
to cross the equator in the evening. Our captain is sorry that the
equator will not be visible due to the darkness? BBQ on the deck is
expected and also some other funny events. How many times did I already
cross the equator?
|
Mar 27, 2006 02:00 PM Day 33rd
It is 33rd day of our expedition. The horizon is empty again; only
flying fish and dolphins are jumping over the waves. Only six days left to the end? I
am busy doing laundry and completing my notes. The fellows discovered
already that we do not have in our passports stamps from Ascension
Island. For some of them stamps are very important. They prepared
special inserts to their passports. Our captain will confirm on these
pieces of paper that they visited Bouvet, Sandwich, Ascension? I have
quite different problem: the immigrations on Falkland and South Georgia
used blank pages for their huge stamps ? I'll be forced to obtain new
passport very soon.
|
Mar 26, 2006 02:00 PM Turtles of Ascension Island
The landscape of this island is very different from the other ones. 44 volcanic cones dominate the moon-like views. There are flows of lave reaching the coast but there are also little sandy beaches where big,
green sea turtles lay their eggs. Ascension Island has important military airport and US Base. There is not much to see in the Georgetown - island's capital - you can complete the walk around the town in half
an hour. White St Mary's church, museum, fort... The main attraction is unique landscape of the island. I climbed the top of Green Mountain - the highest point of the island at 861 m. There are beautiful views from
the path. It is hard to believe, but on the high level there is lush vegetation: eucalyptus and banana trees. And the summit is covered with
thick bamboo forest. Back in Georgetown we spent the evening on the Long Beach watching giant sea turtles laying eggs. I saw them already in Comoros, but it was still interesting! When we returned on a zodiac back
to the ship fantastic spectacle took the place there: two dolphins were
catching flying fish - jumping over the surface of the ocean.
|
Page:
275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285
|
|
|
