Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda

Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda

From the World Heritage inscription: The historic town of St George with its related fortifications is an outstanding example of a continuously occupied, fortified, colonial town dating from the early 17th century and the oldest English town in the New World.St George is a picturesque and outstanding example of the earliest colonial English urban settlement …

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Comparing Gary Arndt’s and Francis Tapon’s West African Experiences

My friend and author, Francis Tapon, has been traveling around Africa for the past year. While I was sailing up the west coast of Africa this year, he had been traveling across similar territory by land. Given how different our trips were, I thought it would be interesting for Francis to compare his observations about …

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Medina of Marrakesh

Medina of Marrakesh UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the World Heritage inscription: The capital of the Almoravids and the Almohads played a decisive role in the development of medieval planning. Marrakesh (which gave its name to the Moroccan Empire) is the textbook example of a large Islamic capital in the Western world. With its maze of narrow streets, houses, souks (markets), traditional …

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Day 31, West Africa Cruise – Agadir to Marrakech, Morocco

Latitude: 30° 25.2′ N Longitude: 9° 37.72′ W Our arrival in Morocco marks the last day of our trip. Most of the countries we visited on this tour had very low numbers of tourists. Morocco was one of the exceptions. Because of that, I assumed that going through customs and immigration for Morocco would be …

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Day 28, West Africa Cruise – Dakhla, Western Sahara

Latitude: 23° 50.5338′ N Longitude: 15° 51.4997′ W No one knew what to expect in Western Sahara. Last year, the West Africa trip ended in Senegal, so even the staff didn’t know what to expect. It isn’t a place that most people even know about, and the name doesn’t really lend itself to much more …

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Day 26-27, West Africa Cruise – At Sea, Off the coast of Mauritania

Latitude: 21° 05.20′ N Longitude: 17° 51.30′ W As the cruise is winding down, I thought it was worth it to take a moment to talk about the passengers on the ship. Prior to boarding the ship in Cape Town, I suspected that the other passengers would be well traveled people. West Africa isn’t the …

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Day 25, West Africa Cruise – Dakar, Senegal

Latitude: 14° 41.7956’ N Longitude: 17° 27.9840’ W In Senegal, we were given two different options. The first was to visit the Bandia Reserve and have lunch at the Pink Lake. The second option was a tour of the city and a trip to Goree Island. As Goree Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site, …

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Day 24, West Africa Cruise – Banjul, The Gambia

Latitude: 13° 18.1922’ N Longitude: 16° 36.9651’ W The Gambia is the smallest non-island country in Africa. It is also one the rare countries which borders only one other country: Senegal. In fact, on a map, The Gambia looks like a finger being stuck down the throat of Senegal (if you don’t believe me, go …

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