Cruising with Alan

I have embarked on my journey around the world. The stresses of preparation, packing, and last-minute panics over what I might have forgotten are behind me. I’m in my cabin, comfortable and relaxed, with a tinge of excitement about the adventures that lie ahead.

The storm lasted two days and two nights. It was severe but by Thursday morning all was calm. The sound of the wind was replaced by a muffled silence occasionally broken by the deep resonant sound of the ships fog-horn. We were moving very slowly into Lisbon harbour.

On Saturday I went on a ‘jeep safari’. Well actually, they weren’t jeeps, they were Land Rovers, and we didn’t see any wild animals, but still it was a good trip. A small party of us, twelve I think, were taken to the Teide National Park by two Dutch guides and one Italian for a…