The sands of the Sahara

I venture out to the bin with some rubbish. The green lid has a gritty orange look to it. Clearly it was smog yesterday with its layer of Saharan sand. At the golf club some people were saying how they had had to resort to more inhalers yesterday.

We met there old friends. Eric & Doreen were still full of the joys of cruising. I’m trying to convince myself there is something to it.

I can’t help remembering our Alaskan sea cruise & the feeling of entrapment on that ship. So much time seemed to be spent at sea. Yes, there were plenty of activities but they either didn’t appeal or tended to be at wrong times for us. It wasn’t helped by the fact it was pretty well a full ship. It was so cold that everyone ended up staying inside with the result you ended up feeling you couldn’t get away from the crush of people.

We’re telling ourselves that on the warmer evenings, as we left & returned to Vancouver, we did begin to think there was something pleasant about sailing along. Maybe if it had been so warm all the time, the people would have been more dispersed around the ship & we wouldn’t have felt so trapped.

Certainly the food was excellent. I should think it was the best consistent week of good food I’ve ever had.

I’m forced too to admit I did thoroughly enjoy our Rhine cruise. The weather was warmer. It was enjoyable just to sit on the sundeck & watch the world gently slip by, with the occasional stop to explore colourful villages & cities along the way.

Maybe we ought to give a cruise another go. Certainly we’ve seen another cruise that does appeal. The only problem is that it is a Nile river cruise & we’re not sure how safe a destination that is to go these days. Maybe we will see that Saharan sand in situ. Who knows.