Author: ericgomberg

Portugal/Spain

May 24 – May 27

Lisbon, Portugal

We arrived here a day earlier than planned due to an expected port strike.  The idea was to get in before the strike and then try to get back out as soon as possible.  Strikes are always planned for the most strategic time for their cause and this one was planned for the first big week of the tourist season.  Fortunately, it got called off, but we had a day here where the expedition team had to rapidly come up with plans for the extra day.

Lisbon is a historic city at the hub of the pioneering days of the Age of Discovery in the mid-1400s.  Portugal was the first to significantly discover the Azores and West Africa and in the 1500s had established ports as far as Brazil, Japan, Africa, India and China.  Most of Lisbon was destroyed in a massive earthquake in 1755 and was quickly rebuilt.  The city center is very quaint with lots of trees, museums, historic buildings and hundreds of restaurants and clubs.  Lisbon is actually not on the coast of either the Atlantic or the Mediterranean, but sits on the Tagus River which is completely navigable by large ships. 

A major part of the city’s heritage is reflected in Fado, a soulful genre of music.  We had a performance on the ship, and it was characterized by deep, mournful tones, accompanied by the traditional instruments of guitar and mandolin.  We would normally have spent the day exploring the center of Lisbon on our own, but I was nursing an injury to my calf and needed to stay off my feet.  However, Lisbon and surroundings seem like a wonderful place to come back to where one could easily spend nearly a week with plenty of wonderful things to see and do.

On the first day here, we ended up taking a bus tour that was offered that went through the city, into the nearby Arribada mountains (not really very high) and a quaint fishing village called Sesimbra.

The second day we booked a cruise on a 3-masted sailing boat down the Tagus River.  It turned out to be one of our few cloudy and windy days, but we bundled up and still enjoyed it.

Lisbon and surroundings from the Tagus River

I have only a few photos of Lisbon unfortunately due to the timing of the visit and the fact that we only had time to take a bus tour through the city itself. So, all of these photos come from the Tagus River and many are a bit dark due to the weather here.

An old fortress on the Tagus River on our way to Lisbon that now simply serves as a lighthouse.
We sailed under the 25th of April bridge on our way to dock for the night.
A photo under the same bridge from the sailboat cruise 2 days later. The Sanctuary of Christ the King is shown which is a tall statue that overlooks the city from the southern side of the river. It was inspired by the one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil due to the strong Portuguese connection.
This time from the middle of shipping containers on the port by the ship.
Belém Tower, officially the Tower of Saint Vincent is a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.
The Monument to the Discoveries commemorates the early Portuguese explorers of the 15th and 16 centuries.
The Rua Augusta arch sits on the bank of the Tagus and was built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake.
Lisbon is decorated with a huge number of amazing murals. The intent has been to encourage the street artists doing graffiti to work with the city and do murals instead.
Sorry to include this but it has to be the worst example of a touristy idea ever. This thing was tossing around in the water and must have been miserable for the people inside.
Our ship docked with a battleship right behind it. We appreciated the extra security.


South of Lisbon: Sesimbra and the Arribada mountains

Eva in one of the corner lookout towers in the Fortress of Saint James
A typical street here of shops and restaurants.
The Fortress of Saint James in the background.
Enjoyed some local sweet wine, Muscadel, while overlooking the beach here
This fortress up on the hill from Sesimbra dates from the 1600s.
Why do I have a seagull as one of my pics? Well, first of all, these birds are everywhere we go and secondly this guy would not move until I promised to take his picture. Note the patient pose.
An old monastery in the Arrabida mountains
A view across the Tagus River and surrounding inlets from the mountains towards Lisbon way in the distance through the haze.

Vigo, Spain and the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

We left Portugal on the way to a tour of some sites on the west coast of France and made one stop in the town of Vigo, Spain.  Vigo is in the northwest of Spain on the Portuguese border.  In the 16th-18th centuries the town was quite busy with commercial trade and still is known for having many sunken treasures in the waters off the coast.  The area also supports hundreds of mussel farms in the local lakes where they are grown on horizontal systems of ropes suspended in the water by buoys, pipes or floats.


One of the most popular tours here which we attended is a bus ride to the huge Romanesque church in the town of Santiago de Compostela.  In the beginning of the 9th century, a hermit called Pelagius saw a mysterious light shining over a Roman tomb forgotten in the middle of a forest. Very soon, the incredible news spread all over the Christian world: the tomb of St. James the Greater, the beloved apostle of Jesus Christ, had been discovered in a far site near the end of the known Earth, in the northwest of Iberian Peninsula.  A few years later, this site became a famous pilgrimage town, one of the most important of Christianity. Pilgrims came from all over Europe to reach the city born around the Holy Tomb, exercising a great influence on the surrounding area. 

The Way of St James remains a network of pilgrimage routes leading to the cathedral here. Most pilgrims obtain a document called the credencial which gives them access to overnight accommodation along the route.  With a stamp at each place the pilgrim has stayed, it provides a record that the journey was accomplished according to an official route and that they will be qualified to receive a Compostela, a certificate of completion of the pilgrimage and a forgiveness of your sins.  To earn the Compostela, one needs to walk a minimum of 100 km or cycle at least 200km.  Over 400,000 accomplished this in 2022. The large square in the middle of the cathedral and surrounding buildings was filled with people celebrating the end of their journey while nursing their tired bodies.

The church, along with the surrounding buildings and the old town of homes, shops and restaurant was beautiful. Also, something amazing happened here for us – it rained for 20 minutes! One of only a handful of times of rain on the entire trip so far.

These bells rang, and rang, and rang. Apparently practicing for a celebration the next day.

This organ was both beautiful and huge and split into different sections.

That is all for this segment. France is next.

France

May 29 – June 1

This was a quiet period on the trip as we made our way up the coast of France to the regions of Brittany and Normandy.

Brittany

We encountered some windy weather here that prevented us from visiting the island of Belle Ile on May 29th.  The following two days however, we were able to visit the fishing villages Concarneau and Douarnenez.  Here are a few photos.

As with many of these towns, we took a Zodiac into the harbor here and got off at a makeshift landing spot.
The main fortress in Concarneau that guards the town with the old walls still well intact.
The entrance to the fortress.

From inside the fortress through the gate out into the harbor.
This type of architecture is very common in these towns.
We were blessed to have an artist join us on the cruise for many weeks that opened our eyes to the simple things in places that we may not have previously noticed.
One of many creperies in these villages.
This was the world’s most patient dog. He would choose a table with food and just sit there with a constant stare like this and not move.
A view from the village of Dournenez


Normandy, France

On June 1st, we visited the area of Normandy where the soldiers from the US, Britain, Canada and other countries invaded France on D-Day (June 6, 1944) in the largest seaborne invasion in history.  Over 160,000 men participated, and over 10,000 lost their lives in the first days of the operation.  After visiting so many places on the cruise for their beauty and their wildlife, it was sobering to visit a place so rich in American history. 


The amount of deception that was carried out in the year before was significant and contributed to the German high command not being prepared for the seriousness of the operation.  It is told that Hitler himself had gone to bed late the night before and left instructions not to be woken up for any reason the following morning.  Even after he awoke and was briefed, he still thought the real counter-offensive by the Allied forces was going to occur someplace else.  General Rommel, after checking the weather forecast for the days ahead had left Normandy to return to Germany to celebrate his wife’s birthday.

Utah beach, along with the better known Omaha beach were assigned to the American troops under General Omar Bradley. (using b&w photos for these)

This was an incident that was apparently kept secret for a time. During a rehearsal 6 weeks before D-Day, communication issues put many landing craft in harms way both from friendly fire and German boats caused nearly 1000 deaths.
One of many WWII German concrete bunkers that have been left standing.

We also visited St Mere Eglise, which was the first town liberated from the Germans after the landing.  Since we were there on June 1st, there was a lot of activity preparing for the yearly commemoration of D-Day that is held there and attended by thousands. 

On the night before D-Day, American soldiers of the 82nd Airborne were parachuting into the area west of the city in successive waves.  At one point, two planeloads of paratroopers were dropped in error directly over the village.  They were easy targets for the Germans and an American named John Steele had his parachute caught in one of the pinnacles of the church tower in the town, leaving him hanging on the side of the church.  He hung there for two hours pretending to be dead until the Germans took him prisoner.  He later escaped and rejoined his division.  A dummy replica of him hangs on the church as a permanent memorial to the determination of the Allied forces.


One final place I visited was a museum called Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg, France which was quite good. It had 3 parts to it — one was about the Titanic, which made its final stop here before its fateful voyage; one was a nice aquarium and one was about nuclear submarines, including the ability to walk around in the one below.


On to the islands of the United Kingdom.

South Africa

March 27 – April 3

We left the remote South Atlantic islands and cruised over open and often rough seas for several days to South Africa.  We had to leave the islands a bit early as one of the guests fell and required medical care not available on the ship.  The landing in Cape Town, South Africa was quite significant for us as it meant we had now visited all seven continents, a feat which many of the guests had already achieved. 

We have met many guests with financial means far exceeding our own who have been to all corners of the earth, and many places multiple times.  But, nearly without exception, everybody is incredibly friendly and eager to share their travel stories and make recommendations of where to go.  There is never a shortage of people to join up with for meals or any of the many activities on or off the ship when you choose to do so.  In fact, since this is a smaller ship, I often find it a bit challenging to just get the time for a quiet meal or the solitude to read a book out of the cabin.  The number of guests so far has ranged between 170-190.

CAPE TOWN

Our first landing spot was Cape Town, which is teeming with a new species of mammal we had not yet encountered – humans!  So, after a month of seeing practically nobody at any of our destinations, we landed at a regular city, and a beautiful one at that.  It sits on the southern coast of the continent with beautiful views, sparkling beaches and a well-planned waterfront area of modern stores and activities.  The main landmark here is Table Mountain that towers over the city and provides a haven for many local plant and flower species.  The other striking part of the city is the prominence of memorials and mentions of Nelson Mandela, who served many of his 27 years in prison in nearby Robben Island.  The history of apartheid here is impossible to miss and is the main theme of any local historical exploration.

The port area
Homes from what is known as the Bo-Kaap neighborhood. The origins of the area date back to the 1760s, when political exiles, craftspeople, convicts and every day people (predominantly Muslim) were imported as slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and beyond.

We spent one day here doing a private van tour with two other couples and visited the Cape of Good Hope and other scenic areas.  Combined with Cape Horn in South America, we have now been cape to cape.  Part of the tour was a visit to Boulders which is home to a local colony of African Penguins.

The African penguins in an area known as Boulders, a popular tourist site. The rocky shores with dense sea kelp in the water is common in the Cape Town area.
The LAST penguin pic of the blog – promise. All the penguin species we saw generally differ only in appearance primarily in the coloring of the neck and head areas.
Simons Town, a tourist destination and one of the stops along the coast.
It is estimated that around 3000 sunken ships are in the waters here.

We ate lunch here at the Cape of Good Hope with this view. Had a local fish called hake.
A decent hike up to the top for the lighthouse view.
This guy was fast asleep on the path up to the lighthouse. We almost didn’t see him.

Came across these elands in Cape of Good Hope park. We had lunch at a game reserve later in the week and found out what we ate was eland – oops. Ostrich meat is becoming quite popular as well. Apparently, it is quite low in cholesterol.
Late afternoon pic from a lookout point on the coastal road.

GAME RESERVES

The last four days here were focused on visiting local game reserves, one of the highlights of the trip.  We made it to four destinations and am sharing a long series of pictures from those locations.  These reserves, and national parks, have been specifically created either privately or publicly to save these animals from extinction and at the same time encourage revenue from ecotourism as a way of providing jobs and placing pressure on limiting poaching which continues to this day.  I hope you enjoy these images half as much as I enjoyed taking them. 

This guy saw us driving up and immediately charged towards the jeep, stopping just in front. It turns out he recognizes the guide and was happy to see us. Wish I knew that in advance as I was in the front seat.
A younger brother in the back coming to join us as well.
We encountered a troop of about 20 baboons. A number of them were carrying babies either on their back or underneath. This guy was hiding and finally poked his head out.

What makes this image a bit special is if you look closely, both zebras are nursing their young.

Mating season for the wildebeest.
Hippos kill more people in African than any other animal.
Very lucky to catch this.

White rhino and her young baby. They cut off the horns in most private reserves to prevent poaching.
This is from the national park here that played a major role in saving the white rhino from extinction. Unfortunately, they choose to keep everything natural so do not cut the horns and apparently lost 200 out of 1300 to poachers just last year in spite of huge security efforts.

I think this is likely a vulture
No caption required here.

United Kingdom/Ireland

Jun 2 – Jun 21

We traveled around Ireland, Scotland and a handful of island groups to the north and the west of the UK towards Norway or Iceland.


We discovered amazing gardens on an island called Tresco in the Isles of Scilly; amazing history on an island called Iona; thousands of puffins on an Island called Lunga; fabulous birdlife on the Shiant Islands; beautiful scenery in the Shetland and Orkney Islands. We continued to have amazing weather that allowed us to enjoy a number of island hikes or zodiac rides close to majestic rock formations with huge bird colonies. There is a lot to share here so I have divided this section of the voyage into different pages. Some pages are primarily bird photos, so could be kind of boring for you readers.

Isles of Scilly, off southwest corner of Britain
– beautiful Tresco botanical gardens

Iona – Hebrides Islands, Scotland
– the medieval Iona Abbey and nice scenery

Isle of Man, between Northern Ireland and England
– the Drinking Dragon, nice scenery, the Chasms

Isle of Lunga, Scotland
– puffins, puffins and more puffins!

Ireland and Northern Ireland
– Malahide Castle, Wicklow country scenery, Dunluce Castle, Giant’s Causeway

Isle of Skye, Scotland
– Dunvegan Castle, seals

St Kilda Islands, Scotland
– Centuries old settlement abandoned in 1930 as uninhabitable; birds

Shiant Islands, Scotland
– birds and seals

Other Scottish Islands
– a little bit of everything: archaeological sites, scenery, birds

Iceland/Greenland

June 27 – July 5

Iceland

We left the North Atlantic islands and arrived in Iceland to rainy weather. Unfortunately, the rain hardly ever stopped during our time there which is a shame. We were in Iceland five years ago and drove around the island for nearly two weeks to mostly good weather where you can really appreciate the beauty and diversity of the island.

We were only here for a couple of days and with the rain I only have a handful of photos to share. One day ashore was canceled because the winds prevented us from taking the zodiacs off the ship.

One thing we noticed was that the capital city of Reykjavik had a large number of new hotels and other buildings. Iceland has seen such an influx of tourists that they have been struggling to accommodate them. From our memory of the last trip, no place is more indicative of their struggles to handle all of the people than the airport.

The main trip here was a 4×4 jeep trip into the Iceland countryside. These vehicles were huge and could auto-inflate and deflate the tires as we drove to handle the various terrain. Nothing seemed to be too rough for these things. We did pass a herd of reindeer on the trip, but they ran off before we could get a good photo. Here is a sample of photos from the trip, but it really does not do the country justice.

This is Arctic Lupine which blooms for about a month every June. It spreads like weeds but is very helpful by adding nitrogen to the soil. Large fields of this plant are really beautiful to see.
The country is home to literally hundreds of waterfalls.

I was in the front passenger seat of our jeep and tried not to look down too much. Our vehicle had three rows of seats so could seat 8-10 people.

We visited one of the main geothermal plants that pipe water all the way to the city. The only fossil fuels used in Iceland are the gasoline for the cars.


Here are a couple of photos from our previous trip to Iceland to provide a tiny sample of its real beauty.


Greenland

The largest island in the world contains a massive ice sheet that makes the interior of the island uninhabitable. The few cities on the island are on the coast, except for Kangerlussuag which houses the only commercial airport on the island and sits at the end of a fjord. It is where we ended our cruise and flew on a charter to NYC.

The country remains a protectorate of Denmark and relies on them quite a bit for financial assistance and skilled labor. The resident population of the island is 90% Inuit. The population of the entire country is only 57,000.

We took a walking tour in the capital city of Nuuk (you could walk from one end to the other in an hour) with a 20-year old woman as our guide. She had been going to school in Canada for the past two years and did not seem to have any desire to remain in the country for the rest of her life. She indicated that most young people feel this way as there is really nothing for them to do in the country and as you can imagine, life is very hard here. She still adhered to some of the local culture, not the least of which was being proud that she had successfully hunted seals and wanted to hunt a caribou this summer. The killing of seals, whales and caribou is very much ingrained in the culture here for both boys and girls and is used quite a bit for food. They even had whale blubber to eat at one of the hosted lunches. Only a few brave souls tried it.

We spent a week going around the south and western parts of the island exploring as many of the fjords that the weather and ice flows would allow. The scenery is certainly spectacular and similar to Antarctica but we saw very little wildlife there, with the exception of a few local birds. We wondered if most of the whale and seal population had been killed off. We did pass one or two musk ox on a tour to a glacier one day.

Here are some photos…

A view from the ship of the ice flow that blocked our entrance into any of the fjords in this area so we had to keep going further north.
A typical view of the ice flow as we traveled along the side of the ice heading north.
There were hundreds of icebergs in both the open waters and in the fjords. This was one of the larger ones.

From a walk through a town called Quaqortoq.
There were reports of polar bears in the area a few days before our visit so the ship armed a number of expedition folks with rifles and kept a perimeter around us as we hiked. Nobody was allowed outside of the boundaries. Apparently, the town did not appreciate the need for such caution and we were the subject of an article in a Greenland publication.
Needed a bird photo here, right? This is a snow bunting that I caught singing.
A typical view in one of the fjords with a large glacier at the end and many on the sides of the mountains that bordered the water on both sides.


Eva and I did our “polar plunge” into the waters shown in the photo below. Yes, it was cold…. Yes, we have photos that we will keep to ourselves (smile).

In one of the fjords, in the pouring rain, we got on zodiacs and toured around the ice and in front of this massive glacier. This is a photo just after a piece of the glacier split off (calved) and created a bit of a wave in the water. When the glacier calves it makes the loudest crackling noise first that grabs your attention trying to see where the ice is splitting off into the water.


As night fell on the final days of our cruise, we were incredibly grateful to be fortunate enough to have taken such a voyage. We were reminded that the simplest things are the most amazing – a sense of the local history and culture, a wildflower in an otherwise barren landscape; a beautiful mural on the side of an unremarkable building; incredible cloud formations and sunsets; the local wildlife, and of course, the thousands of different species of birds that I came to appreciate. Time to go home…


Bye for now. Thanks for reading.