Muscat, Oman

18 Nov. Friday:  A beautiful sunrise over Muscat, Oman.  What a lovely port! It is Interesting how we got the sunset last night and the sunrise this morning, we have changed positions for sure! John took this as the pilot boat came along side. At one point we stopped just outside the port.  Then there were some “honks”  (as much as small boats honk) and we saw our security guards wave and depart.  I am not sure about the box of “equipment” as I forgot to look!  Of course I never saw it to begin with! 

In this port we have shuttle buses to take us to the gate where we will begin our tour today along with Rick and Sandra from Michigan.  Our representative Issam met us promptly, in fact he was waiting for us. So off we went for our Muscat, Oman Tour:  Nizwa/Bahla/Jabrin (Jabreen) Fort (Day Trip) – “Inspiring Interior” with Mark Tours.  We left just about 8:30am and drove off in a black Toyota Camry, John in front and Rick, Sandra, and myself in the back seat.  There is nice A/C and Issam is very friendly. We traveled on lovely, immaculate freeways, past Sumail Gap (photo stop) that divides the Western and Eastern Hajars and onto the Old Capital of Oman, Nizwa, famous for its silver souq (souq=marketplace) and a big round fort. We were fortunate to get there early since the souqs are closing early today, it is both a holy day and a holiday.  There is a spice souq here as well, I loved it and could have shopped a bit more there through all the magnificent spices.  I wanted the vanilla beans but I was afraid customs would take them from me.  They sell all sorts of things here; birds, livestock, fruit, vegetables, etc.  One of many items I have not seen in the past was date honey.  After this interesting visit we moved on to the Nizwa fort.  Issam purchased our entrance ticket and gave us a partial tour.  After he explained things he then gave us time on our own to explore the fort. went to Bahla and had lunch there, which was delicious.  Issam arranged the restaurant and left us going to the mosque to pray, then he returned and ate, then we left.  The lunch was delicious.  On the menus  they have “mutton” and then lamb in parenthesis. Though mutton is a rather negative term to us it is used here.  John had mutton roast and I had mutton curry.  Rick and Sandra ordered the same thing and it was absolutely delicious.  First they brought us a “salad” plate, then along came rice a version of bread, not a tortilla or a pita, but something in between, then we got the meat dish and began to eat.  It was served family style other than the meat course which went separately to each of us.  I am not a huge rice fan but this rice was so different and tasty.  I know there was lemon zest, raisins, some sort of bacon tasting meat (I am sure it was not pork), caraway seeds, cashews, and I am not sure what else was in it but it was delicious.  The lamb curry was not too spicy, actually the lamb roast had more spicy taste than the curry.  We shared and we both liked the curry best. 

After lunch we went to drove up to the top of a nearby point to have a great overlook of the Bahla fort and the city.  This huge loam fort is under renovation at present so we could not visit it.  Bahla is also known as the pottery capital of Oman.  Because of its cultural value, Bahla is placed in the UNESCO’s list of heritage monuments. Our next visit is Jabrin Castle, which was supposed to be a photo stop only, but the gentleman there said someone important called and said a cruise ship was in town and people were coming to visit, so it was open.  Thankfully, there were only half a dozen people there during our visit!  We happen to run into Barbara and Mike, and Terry and Maureen! We had a nice visit to this magnificent fort but we didn’t we didn’t see painted ceilings, dungeons, or hidden passages, but it was still very nice.  After this we had a speedy return to Muscat.  I didn’t see the speedometer but Rick said we were going 120-130 KPH.  They thought around 90 MPH.  Who knows, anyway it was a great day, we are back safely, and it was a good price for what we did.  The one unusual sight we saw was a couple of camels riding in the back of a pickup truck.  Yep, it’s true.  Issam told us they tie their legs together so they won’t stand up.  It sounds cruel but they looked pretty happy.  My photo is not so great, Rick is supposed to send me his photo!

Departure from port was on time.  We wonder about the couple that was forced to leave the ship today and have heard different rumors…  Captain Henrik exited the port with his usual humor telling us as soon as he found reverse we would be leaving.  He also told us he was going to go close to the shore line on the starboard side so we could get a nice look at the mosque and the sultan’s palace.  Captain Henrik adds to the experience when he makes these special announcements for our benefit and does these special things he doesn’t have to do.  

We were tired but continued on to dinner at our usual time of 6:45pm for 8 of us again.  It was delicious and I over ate, first time really I have done it on this cruise.  I think it was because we had such a large lunch as well.  Nicoletta brought 2 special plates of tiny amuse bouche desserts to our table tonight for sort of messing up George and Tawny’s dinner reservations last night.  That was sweet of her.  We have completed day 16 of the cruise and used up the 10 prepaid bottles of wine we ordered.  Oh, we have 3/4 of a bottle of red in our room still, maybe we will take it to dinner tomorrow night.  We can always buy another bottle of course, it’s just that it is a much better price to buy a package. 

Tonight they are having “dancing under the stars” that begins at 10pm and then a special appetizer buffet that begins at 11:30pm.  Needless to say, we will skip that!  Thus closes day another day of this journey.   

Gulf of Aden, Day 3

17 Nov. Thursday:  I think maybe I put the wrong day of the week on yesterday’s blog, oh well.  Today is our last day at sea before Muscat, Oman.  After posting the blog up in the Windjammer and reading emails, we headed to the Galley Buffet.  They said they never did this particular event in the past.  They told us about the buffet last night at dinner and advised all of us that we must wear closed-toe shoes in order to participate (walk into the galley to get out food).  They sent at least a half a dozen people out of the line in front of us because they had on open toed sandals.  Anyway, it was interesting and a nice event, I took a lot of photos. 

We played bingo today and we were really close to winning but of course that didn’t happen.  We also had coupons for free pulls on a slot machine.  While others before us won at least a key chain, we got zip!  That’s okay… We played cards in the card room and a bit of backgammon as well.  Today we were a bit off the grid as they warned us the satellite TV would have nothing “live” (like the news) for 3-4 hours.  No bother to us of course as we were doing other things.  This is the activities director Cuddy, he’s a kick.

I bought some new rechargeable batteries for my camera but they don’t seem to hold the charge very well either.  Maybe there is something wrong with my camera?  Ugh.  I hope it lasts for this trip! 

When we went back to our cabin to spiff up for dinner (casual) we watched the first sunset we could see from our balcony.  All the others have been on the starboard side but due to our position we had this treat on the port side.  The additional treat was a school of small dolphins along side.  Really the only way to describe them was “frolicking” as they seemed to be having so much fun.  There were probably about 15-20 of them, nice to see as we really haven’t seen any sea life along this voyage. 

Dinner was 6 tonight.  There was some mix up with George and Tawny and I am not sure about Camilla and Kurt.  We ate with a nice couple from England, along with Darlene and Stuart.  Back to our cabin and prepare for tomorrow’s excursion in Muscat, Oman.

I’m posting this early since we will be leaving for our excursion at 8am. 

Gulf of Aden, Day 2

16 Nov.  If I forgot to comment about music on the ship, that is piped music in common areas, I will comment now.  In Barcelona they had tango and other Spanish music playing.  When  we left the Mediterranean Sea we then had music that sounds Arabic or middle eastern.  Anyway, I like the fact that this lends to the atmosphere of the trip.  One place we go to post the blog is deck 11, Windjammer outside area where they have not done this but play other canned music.  Today they have now piped in the Arabic type of music so I am happy about that. 

Today we ate in the Seaview Café, and looked at the lunches in the Solarium as well. The Seaview has pizza, Panini, and pasta along with French fries and plain side salads.  They also serve soda, beer, and wine as well.  The Solarium lunches look lean and healthy, plus being attractive.  We will try that another day. Oh, the Solarium also had a chocolate layer cake that definitely didn’t look “healthy” but probably quite delicious!

I finished my good book, City of Thieves by David Benioff.  It was really good though a few parts were a bit sad or depressing, I would recommend it.  Today there were no sightings of military ship escorts or helicopters, just a lookout or security dressed in black with binoculars. Stuart said they are just regular crew dressed in black but I don’t think so.  I think they security, maybe crew security of course.  We heard this story from George, and we believe it because he is on the same deck as the “sequestered” guests.  Anyway, the story is this couple went to Jerusalem on a private tour the day we were in Eilat. They were warned the time was very tight but they went ahead.  We did leave the port a few minutes late and they did say we were waiting for two guests.  Apparently they had pulled up the guest gangway and left the crew gangway out, the couple came and boarded and off we went.  However, the crew (justifiably in my opinion) scolded them for being late and causing delay of the ship.  Anyway, George felt this man was a businessman used to running things and didn’t take the admonishment well.  Apparently he found the captain’s cabin and began banging on the door causing quite a ruckus. The details are unknown but we do know they are not allowed to leave their cabin now and will be disembarking in Muscat, Oman when we arrive.  I am sure there will be a pending lawsuit.  If it was me I would just be grateful they didn’t leave without me in Eilat!   

Dinner was 8 of us again:  Camilla and Kurt, Darlene and Stuart, Tawny and George, great fun as always!  George and Tawny plan a trip to the USA and maybe they will come and see us. Even though we have “My Time” dining we do have the same assistant waiter and waiter most nights, Johnny and Joey.  They are great fun and certainly cater to our whims. Tomorrow is our last day at sea, of these five in a row.  I can say we have mastered the task of relaxation!  What will we do when we are back to real life!?!  Oh, Verizon worked on the ship, I briefly spoke with Mom tonight, well actually it was 1am tomorrow.  We are now 12 hours ahead of time at home.  I think that is the last time change for us.  Good to hear your voice Mom!!! 

The Gulf of Aden

15 Nov. Today is the first day we will have the black out situation on the ship after sunset.  Well, it’s not exactly a total black out but diming of lights so the staff can see out better at night.  We seem to have a Naval ship, we think Italian, as our companion off and on.  Better to be safe than sorry I guess.  The day is uneventful so far, other than John is not feeling well, sick to his stomach I hope this will pass quickly for him.

Around 12:30pm we heard a helicopter.  It came along the port side, hovered, circled the ship and then left I guess since it did not land and we no longer heard it.  Interesting!  I thought maybe someone was sick and had to be taken off the ship but since it didn’t land, that was not the case.  It said “Marine” on the side so we thought maybe it was the a local Coast Guard keeping watch over us.  That military looking ship comes and goes.  George told us at dinner it was a German helicopter, there was a German flag near the back, which apparently we did not see.  Earlier in the day, when the captain addresses the guests at noon, he said the waves were 3-5 feet so we had no concerns since a pirate ship could not come aside in that water as it would be crushed against our hull or side.  He called it anti-pirate waters/weather and that he was sorry to disappoint all the folks with binoculars that hoped to see a pirate. Anyway, we haven’t seen anything but freighter-type ships passing by and only a few of those.  John thought a couple were oil tankers.  

Hmmm, we had big intentions of doing “something” today but honestly it felt good to simply read, rest, and walk a bit, a state of relaxation.  After dinner we really enjoyed the first show we went to, a Broadway tribute by the staff cast.  It was really good.  I love the ABBA music from Mama Mia, which was part of it along with other selections.  John is feeling fine now.  Must have been over indulging on something... I can’t imagine… Maybe tomorrow I will actually go take a look at the gym.  No need to rush into these things! There are a couple eating venues we have not even looked at so I do want to at least see these before we disembark.  It’s hard to believe our time is passing and we will be home in just over a week!  Clocks ahead again tonight! I tried to call Mom tonight from the ship on my cell phone but it said I had no service on the world phone, which seems odd since it is a brand seen a lot around Europe. I wonder if Verizon would work but I was too tired to try it. Per the ship paper it supports 390 phone services.  Since we are now 10 hours earlier it is a challenge to find a time.  We’ll see. 

The Red Sea, Day 2

14 Nov. Monday:  The weather has changed drastically!  By 9am it was already 85* on our balcony.  I was ready to walk deck 12 a few times but changed my mind when I felt the heat.  It is also not “dry” but humid on the water.  I’m not sure if being on the land will be dry or not but this is what it is today.  Around 8:30am the boat we expected came along side and deliver “equipment” did so, and we suspect the people to use this equipment came aboard as well.  Around 10am we had our “Safe Haven” drill, which took about 15 minutes.  If you are in an outside cabin, on deck outside, or near the windows you need to move to a more inside location.  If you are in an outside cabin you simply move to the hallway.  If you are dining in some area you just move to the center of the room.  The staff directed us and it was a very simple procedure. Anyway, we are set now for our venture out of the Red Sea and into the Gulf of Aden.  We are not likely targets for the pirates as we go between Yemen and Somalia.  We are big, strong, fast, and difficult to board as the lowest open deck is deck 5.  We have been instructed that outside lights will be out for the 3 nights of passage and therefore for our safety in walking decks 5 and 12 outside areas will be closed.  In addition to keep visibility from the ship optimal, outside cabins and balconies are to keep curtains drawn and balcony lights out.  All these measures are just precautions and we feel perfectly safe with no concerns.

John had a nice breakfast in the Windjammer and I had coffee.  We then took up residence on a lounge in the shade on deck 5 with a delicious ice blended coffee and our current book.  Mine is City of Thieves by David Benioff, it is very good!!  That was our perch for several hours.  We each took breaks, me for a salad I brought back for lunch, and John to check the pool tables, which always seem occupied.  I think he needs to put his name in or wait there for a turn or something, which he has not done.  As the sun came upon us later we migrated back to the seclusion and A/C of our cabin.

Dinner was a delight with George and Tawny and Stuart and Darlene.  For dessert it was crème de menthe for me, a real treat!  Steak Dianne, which was medium rare and perfect, was the main course with a spinach pie for the appetizer.  We are feeling completely rested up from the three very busy days.   We have traveled over 3000 nautical miles since leaving Barcelona! 

Today I resisted the double chocolate espresso brownies and mudslide cookies… so many desserts, so many calories!  Ugh!  

The Red Sea

Sunday, Nov. 13:  When we woke up we were sailing along in the Red Sea.  After seeing all these ancient sites and hearing about Moses and others during Biblical times it is really meaningful.  I don’t know why but I always thought of the Red Sea as being smallish…but here we are sailing and we can see nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see.  It is a deep navy blue color, so unlike the Caribbean or Mediterranean is.  At noon with the Captain’s announcement we are basically in the middle of the Red Sea and about 46 miles from the nearest land, which is Saudi Arabia. We had a simple lunch in the Windjammer and back to the cabin to rest a bit.  Other than me catching up on my blog writing and posting we basically did nothing today.  John went to listen to some lecture and then we went to dinner, meeting Stuart and Darleen, Kurt and Camilla, George and Tawny for a fun loving dinner.  We’re glad our waiters Johnny and Joey are good natured!  It was a quiet day at sea and we needed that after the last three busy days.

Tomorrow we will have our “Safe Haven” drill for our trip through the Gulf of Aden.  Yes, there are pirates but we are fast and difficult to board so we will be safe.  We are also taking on “boxes of equipment” which we suspect carry weapons sometime tomorrow on the Red Sea.  They have not said but I suspect we will also get the personnel that can use this equipment aboard as well. We will cross between Somalia to the south and Yemen to the north.  We have no concerns, the captain is very reassuring, plus pirates want easy prey and we are not!  I’m missing my friends and family today…

Eliat Tour

Saturday, Nov. 12:  Our tour today is with Desert Eco Tours. It was really great and we enjoyed the day very much.  Our guides met us at the pier and they were very nice.  We paid and went on our way in two open air 4x4 jeeps with soft tops.  We were with Zion and 6 others.  The other half of our group was with Gil or “Gilly” as Zion called him.  Both men were very nice, knowledgeable, and accommodating.   Setting off from Eilat about 8:30 in the Jeeps, we journeyed off road into the sandy Arava Valley passing salt pools that are home to a flock of Flamingos. They are white, I guess because of their diet.  I was surprised that they live in these salty flat beds.  We also saw this desert dragon (giant lizard) From here we headed north and even got back onto they freeway for a quite windy ride before beginning our visit to the Hai-Bar.

Some facts about the Hai-bar reserve:  Thanks to the acacia tree, the reserve maintains a green savanna-like landscape year round. The acacia’s leaves, flowers, and fruit are an essential source of food for the large herbivorous. The climate in this region is characterized by daytime highs in July of up to 47.9º C (118º F); and lows at night in January down to 7.2º C (45º F). Average annual rainfall is an unusually low twenty-five (25) millimeters.  The Hai-Bar is attempting and also successful in restoring what the use of automatic weapons have destroyed since the turn of the century when animal populations shrunk drastically and some were eradicated completely.  This is a non-profit organization with two objectives: to reintroduce the types of wild animals that had become extinct both in this region and in this country and to bolster populations of endangered species. Animals that disappeared from the desert landscape include the Arabian oryx, the onager, and the ostrich. Predators, such as wolves and populations of birds of prey (carrion-eaters) were adversely affected by this and their numbers subsequently were reduced in size.  The reserve has introduced desert birds and ungulates, some of which are mentioned in the Bible.  We didn’t have time to see the predator area as we had to move along to have time for the Timna Valley. But we did watch these two males fighting a bit.  

From the reserve we headed to the Kibbutz Yotvata.  Israel's collective communities called Kibbutzim are world famous.  Our visit gave us a little insight on life in a kibbutz both currently and how it was when it began.  Gilly grew up in this kibbutz as did another young woman who gave us the brief tour.  Kibbutz Yotvata - the oldest and largest of the Arava region of which Eilat is part. Like many Kibbutzim it has a farming background but we were surprised to learn that they produce half of the national milk production with only 550-600 cows.  The kibbutz also has an important role as an agricultural experimental station, so you can learn about the research being carried out into the most productive ways of growing crops in these very difficult desert conditions. The last stop at the kibbutz was just across the highway from the main part where there is a roadside restaurant and picnic area. 

Gilly and Zion prepared a lovely picnic lunch for us including:  Pita breads, luncheon meats, fresh tomatoes and red bell peppers, pickles, olives, humus, and fresh fruits of apples, tangerines, and persimmons.  They only have what we term the Fuji persimmons here, not the other type.  They had several choices of drinks as well.  We also enjoyed a complementary the taste of the Kibbutz's famous chocolate milk.  

We had a nine hour tour to the Timna Valley, Eilat Mountains, the ancient sites of the Timna Park and the scenic desert canyons of the Southern Negev and Arava Valley. The picturesque Timna Valley is a UNESCO site. It's copper mines are amongst the earliest in the world and date back 6,000 years. We saw Solomon's Pillars, the Mushroom, and ancient rock inscriptions. These sites were wonderful but the the dramatic scenery and fascinating sites just driving through the park from place to place are amazing as well. Copper was mined here by and for the Egyptians 6000 years ago with other groups of people following them in the mining process. By now it is time to leave Timna and head back to our ship. The time is all so short but at least we saw a lot of remarkable sites. I am glad our visit is this time of year. The weather was perfect today!

The last of the guests rushed aboard a bit after our departure time of 8pm.  Then we departed and as we departed Israel we could see both ports of call for the last three days at once.  A lovely site in the moonlight, seeing Israel and Jordan at the same time.  Farewell…