Next stop Mallorca!

We are leaving Tunisia today, and plan to go directly to Mallorca. Then we will skip Italy alltogether this time, but it shouldn't be too difficult to go there some other time! It is a longer crossing than we have had before, more than 500 nm, so we think we might have to spend a week at sea before we get there. Anyway, it's good to have some more practice on long distances before the Atlantic crossing. We have picked up the Spanish course, too, and will do our best to prepare for the contact with the natives.. The letter from our stay in Tunisia will hopefully be ready for publishing, too, when we are hooked up on the internet again.

Sahara!

We have been to Sahara, and Ingeborg and Thorstein have been running in the sand dunes, great! We found a real nomad to guide us around his village and the surrounding desert including a French fort at the border of the desert. We spent only a few hours there but it was great! Toufik was a very enthusiastic person, and if you ever want to get a taste of the desert and the lifestyle of the nomads you should go to El Sabria and talk to him. I think he is hanging around the entrance to El Sabria most of the time, when he is not guiding. We came across this place by talking to a German family who had spent a night there at the French fort. But they also have a web-page where you can read about their very special services:www.sabria.org. Next time we come to Tunisia we will definitely go there again for a full experience!

Africa!

We arrived in Tunisia yesterday, more precisely in Hammamet. For tomorrow the plan is to rent a car and take a trip to the south of the country. Some of us want to get a taste of Sahara! I also have to mention, we got another 5.5 kg tuna on this crossing! I need more recipes for variation!

That last comment seems meaningless now as I just read about the tragedy of more than 70 refugees having died in these same waters that we have just crossed! It is a shock to realize that we could easily have met these poor people, but we didn't! Like other cruisers I guess, we have talked about it, what if..? What should we do to help? It is not easy!

Planning to leave for Tunisia!

After more than a week in Grand Harbour Marina we are ready to leave tomorrow morning. We plan to anchor in a bay somewhere around here before we start the crossing. They say the snorkeling is superb in these waters! A letter and photoalbum from our stay at Malta will be published soon!

We have arrived in Malta!

All is very well! This weekend we will celebrate St. Lawrence here in this wonderful place. And take a look around at everything..

Kalamata!

After 4 days in Kalamata we are ready to leave for Malta. We haven't found anyone selling the courtesy flag of Malta here, but I think I can make one while underway. We were surprised to find a good sized city here in Kalamata, with a lot of life in the streets. And the old railway station made into a park with old locomotives and trains to look at and play with. The graffiti artists had added to the atmosphere of course, but it was as much a park for children and families enjoying summer in the city as for the youngsters. We have friendly neighbors at our jetty in the marina, and we even got a kilo of tuna from our new friend Ingmar from Sweden. He also gave us some tips on how to catch them, so maybe we'll get some on our crossing to Malta..
By the way, I have found that I'll write these short news in English.
- Gjertrud