The Great Pyramids of Giza. The Sphinx. Karnak Temple. Mention Egypt and these are the boldface names that immediately come to mind. And while these iconic sites are must-see stops on any Egyptian voyage, there are other extraordinary, lesser-known treasures not to be missed.
After more than two decades, the Grand Egyptian Museum prepares for its long-awaited opening. Here are five compelling facts about this megalithic museum.
Today, we are in Gisborne, where Captain James Cook first landed in New Zealand in 1769 with his ship, the Endeavour . Guests had several options throughout the day. Some decided to spend the morning at the Eastwood Hill Arboretum, a park dedicated to the preservation of over 2,300 species of trees and plants from 81 different countries. The mission statement of the arboretum is to protect and preserve threatened and endangered species of plants from all over the world. Other guests chose to spend their morning or afternoon on the traditional Maori waka, named Tairawhiti . Guests took turns standing at the helm and actually sailed the canoe out into the bay to learn about life aboard a traditional Maori sailing craft. Cultural guides Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr, Tua Pittman, Jennifer Kingsley, and Hironui Bouit joined in to help guests understand the challenges and rewards of open ocean navigation aboard a traditional waka. Still other guests enjoyed visiting a sheep station run by fifth-generation sheep farmers at Waipura Station. Matt Maclaurin shared his knowledge about everything sheep, including how to feed and steer sheep and how his dogs herd them. He answered many questions relating to the sheep business. We had a lovely tea with ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Air Corps) with biscuits at the Maclaurin family household, built in 1903. The final event on offer was a tour of the Bushmere Estate Winery, where guests were treated to seven or eight wonderful wines with a lovely antipasto platter. Guests learned all about the advantages and challenges of growing wine grapes from owner David Shona. After the tastings, guests toured the vineyards. They walked amongst the various varietals and got an up-close and personal look at the wine making process.
This morning, we started our day by sailing from the Weddell Sea to the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula to our afternoon destination at Neko Harbour. So often our guests think of sailing time as downtime. However, National Geographic Resolution is one of our most important tools of exploration, a way for us to explore our surrounding waters. This was evident when we ran into a pod of killer whales that we watched for a half hour. After lunch, the weather turned more exciting, and we found ourselves exploring the gentoo penguin colonies at Neko Harbour by foot and Zodiac. The weather added to the sense of exploration, and the visual impact was both surreal and mesmerizing.
This morning’s fog and swell conspired to make it a great day for parlour activities. We saw many guests reading or engaged in games of cards, Scrabble, and the like. We also had some talks planned. First off, Tiphanie May spoke on the weird and wonderful creatures of the sea while recounting her earlier years as a Fisheries Observer on commercial fishing ships in the waters of the Falklands! While involved in observing these ships for compliance, she saw the deepest dwelling fish in the sea (the snailfish), giant squid, and fish that have absolutely no haemoglobin in their blood (the icefish)! Shortly after Tiphanie’s talk, a pod of pilot whales were briefly spotted from the bow, a new species for this expedition! Our next presenter was Conor Ryan who spoke on, “The Smell of the Sea.” Conor educated us on the actual source of the smell (dimethyl sulfide). He gave us insights into original research he’s doing on why the release of this compound by diatoms has implications for the successful feeding of whales, and he even coached us on how to pass through airport security without any liquids! You just don’t get talks with that breadth anywhere else! Throughout the afternoon, the staff worked with guests to complete maps of our travels, fill in wildlife lists, and help to spot one or two more species from the bridge. Our hotel staff was busy preparing for our final wine and cheese tasting followed by the captain’s farewell dinner aboard National Geographic Endurance. It has been an amazing journey. Many new acquaintances turned into good friends, and guests are busy gathering contact info before their fellow travellers scatter, once again, to the four corners of the Earth.
In the center of the Galapagos Island lies Santa Cruz, home to the largest human settlement of the province with about 20,000 people. The National Park and the headquarters of the Charles Darwin Foundation operate here. Their task is to protect the wildlife through science and patrol. The highlands of this island are lush, humid, and highly productive, especially for agriculture and farming. We found Galapagos giant tortoises in both their natural state and in a captive breeding and rearing program. We visited Puerto Ayora, a large town where we saw how people live in harmony with nature and how they carry out commerce under the umbrella of tourism.
We awoke after a fantastic crew show last night in the Ice lounge. The party went on well into the night, with everyone taking advantage of an upcoming sea day. Several talks took place during the day. Macduff Everton gave a presentation called, “Cover Stories.” Jeff Campbell spoke on “Landscape-scale Carbon Sequestration,” and Captain Aaron Wood gave a fascinating talk about the construction of National Geographic Endurance . As I write this, we are preparing for another talk about living and working on the various United States Antarctic Program (USAP) research stations. Late in the morning, we entered some fairly thick fog. A fog bank is often found around the convergence. This coupled with relatively light winds has scuppered my plans for getting some bird photos into the report. Instead, I thought I would highlight some of the ship’s art. On deck 5, guests can listen to explanations of the art using headsets. My favorite piece is found midway along the corridor on deck 6. It’s a small porthole-shaped piece of glass which depicts the moonlight over the tundra. If you haven’t seen it, you should check it out! And if you are reading this after you’ve left the ship, you’ll just have to come on another expedition with us!
