Astronomy & Navigation
Overview | Lecturers | Shore Excursions | Itinerary | Prices | Deck Plans
Departs 1st December 2008, from Southampton, for 12 nights.
Sailing south in December to the winter warmth of the Canary Islands, we arrive first at the ‘garden island’ of Madeira.We visit Camara de Lobos, a fishing village made famous by Winston Churchill who painted it many times. Then to ‘Madeira Magic’, a workshop highlighting the basics of astronomy and celestial navigation for sailors – including calibrating a sextant – as well as focussing on history - particularly the 15th century Portuguese explorers and their race to determine longitude whilst at sea. Something which British scientist John Harrison finally achieved in the 18th century.
On Tenerife we travel to La Laguna, former island capital and world heritage site, where we visit Sanuario del Cristo, a 17th century Franciscan conTent. Thence to the Museum of Science and Cosmos and from here to Tacoronte, wine capital of the area, to visit a local ‘bodega’ (an old wine cellar) to sample some local wines and other delicacies.
At Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, we visit the Columbus Museum, which explains the adventure of the discovery and colonisation of South America by Europeans. After which we visit the ‘Elder’, a technology and science museum, the motto of which is ‘Please Do Touch’, where we’ll spend most of our time in the Planetarium.We also visit 15th century
‘Castle of Light’, once the city’s only fortification.
In the Portuguese capital, we visit the old harbour from which the Caravels of the great explorers sailed for the Americas and the East. In the 15th and 16th centuries, after the discovery of the sea passage to India by Vasco de Gama and of Brazil by Cabral, Lisbon become the centre of trade between east and west - a fact reflected in many of its buildings and monuments.Visiting the Maritime Museum we see the country’s maritime history depicted from the 15th century to the present day.
