Sight Seas

Where Old Meets New in Africa When and Where:            04/2023 – Agadir, Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Asilah 75 th Country Visited; 12 th African Country Visited Interesting Facts: -         The highest ski resort in Africa is in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.   -         Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as a country. -         Although overwhelmingly Muslim, there are thriving Christian and Jewish communities in Morocco.   April has turned out to be a hectic month and I have not been able to keep up with my blog.   Unlike other legs of this journey, now that I am in Europe, we are in port nearly every day.   But I am committed to keeping up with the blog. Simply put, Morocco is an amazing country!   There is a diversity and richness of culture that goes back many cen...

 Spanish Autonomous Territory When and Where:            04/2023 – Santa Cruz (Tenerife), Arrecife (Lanzarote)   Interesting Facts: -         -  Christopher Columbus used the Canary Islands as a stopover on the way to the Americas. -         -  The world’s worst ever aviation disaster happened on Tenarife in 1977 when two 747’s collided on a foggy runway killing 583 people.   Some adventures are less active than others.  Earlier this week, the Zuiderdam visited two of the Canary Islands: Tenerife and Lanzarote.  Unlike most ports of call, I had two chill days with no excursions planned.  Both islands were beautiful and very European-influenced, despite being off the coast of Africa.  On Sunday, I visited Santa Cruz, the largest city on the island of Tenerife.   Santa Cruz is one of two national capitals of The Canary Islands.   As I step...

Land of The Eternal Spring When and Where:            08/2002 – Guatemala City                                              03/2003 – Guatemala City, Lake Atitlan, Chichicastenango                                            05/2004 – Guatemala City, Antigua 30 th Country Visited; 10 th North American Country Visited Interesting Facts: -         With 18.5 million citizens, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America.   -        ...

River Country When and Where:           03/2023 – Banjul 74 th Country Visited; 11 th African Country Visited Interesting Facts: -         90% of the citizens of The Gambia are Muslim.  -         The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa. -         The Gambia was at one time the center of the slave trade.  Again today, I witnessed hopeless poverty.  But unlike Ghana and the Ivory Coast, the people in The Gambia were happy and friendly.  I again took Across Africa Tours and this experience was much better than past experiences.  As I disembarked the ship, the first Gambian person I saw was wearing a Phillies ballcap.  My tour left the port and within a short distance, we were in the mix of heavy traffic and pedestrians in downtown Banjul, the Gambian capital.  We stopped at the ...