[3.3.2006] In Partnership With NASA - Solar Eclipse in Turkey; for the fourth time, the Exploratorium will travel into the path of totality to bring the public this momentous event live.
[2.2.2006] Set the controls to the heart of the sun - a total solar eclipse will bring thousands of travellers to Sallum, a small border city between Egypt and Libya: Al Ahram.
[2.2.2006] Nigerias Regierung bereitet sich auf Sonnenfinsternis vor - Wissenschaftsminister Turner Isoun unterrichtete am Mittwoch das Kabinett: Rheinische Post.
[1.2.2006] Education Campaign On Solar Eclipse Launched in Ghana: Ghana News Today.
[27.1.2006] NASA to Broadcast Solar Eclipse Live from Turkey - [t]he NASA team will broadcast the eclipse for millions of people in the USA through the telescope connected cameras: Zaman Daily.
[22.1.2006] Africa and the Mediterranean: Solar Eclipse - [m]any tours are already filled, but don't worry: New York Times.
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Eclipse only for a fee
Tourists who visit Libya for the TSE on 29 March 2006 will have to
pay a fee of 120 Euros to the Libyan government. German tour
operators who are offering trips to the North African country on
that occasion react with a lack of understanding to this "Eclipse
Event Fee" [verbatim quote in English; DF] which was introduced at
a late point. "This is a rip-off," says Bernd Spreckels,
director of the Hamburg-based speciality operator GEO-Tours.
Like other operators he offered his customers a free cancellation
or change of venue after the demands from the Libyan Ministry of
Tourism had become known. "Our guests want to go anyway." But Olaf
Gafert, CEO of Kulmbach-based Kuga-Tours, had to cancel a planned
tour: He was asked to pay a fee of 400 Euro per customer.
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GEO-Tours announcement of their (hugely expensive) tour as still planned: http://www.geo-tours.de/sahara_ost/libyen_sonnenfinsternis_expedition_2006.htm
Kuga-Tours at http://www.kuga-tours.de - the one that gave up - doesn't have anything to say on its homepage. [...]
Regards,
Daniel
[18.12.2005] Traveling The World To Find A Spot Where The Sun Doesn't Shine With An Eye To The Sky (And The Weather), Tens Of Thousands Journey Into The Path Of A Total Solar Eclipse: Hartford Courant [Miami Herald].
[20.11.2005] Totally awesome - Turkey? Libya? Togo? Sahara? Eclipse junkies plot courses for the next big one: Vorschau auf die SoFi aus der Chicago Tribune.
There were many highlights, many unexpected surprises and there were meteorites.
We have selected our eclipse location halfway between Bilma and Dirkou precisely on the centerline for a predicted duration of 4:05. We opted to be further away from the two cities for a number of reasons. The largest of which is weather conditions. We have an area with palms and acacia trees facing giant red cliffs to our east. Our bivouac support means we have full water and camp support, but also electricity. I'm sure we'll do a live broadcast.
It would appear that desert weather statistics are primarily using weather measurement points in established towns. Those established towns are always built where there is ample ground water... and therefore more humidity. The humidity doesn't seem to affect clouds as much as a haze that sits over the city much like an inversion layer or smog. Nighttime observing in the cities like Agadez are really grim. but out in the camp, the sky is clear down to 3-4 degrees. We saw color in the milky way at our campsites throughout the trip. We have smaller villages nearby the eclipse camp, so we'll be visited by curious people no matter what.
We did a week long expedition in the Sahara and want to be sure everyone planning to camp in the desert appreciates that it DOES GET COLD at night. Contrary to documented weather data from city collection points, the nighttime temperatures in the Sahara are much lower than we expected from those numbers and we were cold. It also surprised me how CLEAN the whole thing was. Even on a beach at home, the sand isn't so clean. I always felt like we were camping on carpet with no dirt, no rocks, sticks, or even visual obstructions to the eye. It's very emotionally overwhelming to see perfect sameness for 355 degrees.
We experienced no trouble with safe food or water. We experienced no security hassles or threats. To the contrary, we were made to feel very welcome and safe in the close affiliation with our Tuareg guides and countrymen. I was at one time, invited into the inner chambers of a home (like on the National Geographic special) where only women were allowed. They were complete strangers and we didn't share a language, but they prepared me proper tea and offered me cold drinks and snacks. I was surprised to find the older women watching satellite television and I caught-up on my current events on Euro-news!
I didn't see any environments where people were starving in our route. The sahara / Agadez area of Niger is not so dependent on rain, as they are for wells. They are certainly poor, but not starving. We are excited about bringing tourism to the area, as it will bring much needed jobs and income for guides, drivers, cooks and handicraft workers. Meteorite trade is also alive and well in Niger, as there are more rocks than vegetation. We found 52 confirmed meteorites on our expedition.
I spoke at length with the provincial minister of tourism. We spoke about the eclipse and how many people will be in the path. We are both concerned about the negative impact the event will have on the population and he was very receptive to help in correct information to share with the population. Obviously, we cannot supply enough glasses for the entire population, so we are working on more practical suggestions as well such as a simplified pinhole technique. We met a lot of officials and population in all of the towns and villages we met and prepared them for the eclipse and educated them on how to use the simple pinhole technique. We also instructed them that during an eclipse it is not dangerous to be outside during... and that it isn't a bad omen for pregnant women...
"Eclipses don't bring earthquakes or drought. They only bring tourists and souvenir dollars." I said.
The country is a democratic republic. A majority of the population are muslim, but maintain a lot of their native Tuareg or Woodabe spiritualism - for example wine, beer and spirits are legal. We met perhaps 400 tuareg and about 50 woodabe. The woodabe live primarily west of the area traveled, but they do come into town to sell things. They are quite a spectacle to see, in all the ornamentation and decoration... standing 6ft 5 or higher. They are also more aggressive salesmen, so beware the tactics of street sales. If a salesman puts a piece of jewelry on your arm as if to force you to buy it. Smile and say "Kaddo?" (which means gift) and he should take it back quickly. And another important cultural difference: They think heavy women are more attractive than skinny women.
We met some 40 camel Caravans, as we were at the beginning of the season of trade. All-in-all, there were some 4-5,000 camels between them all. When we met a caravan or car, it was always customary to greet one another. A few men from the caravan would hop down and run our way to make a few trades or seek medical advice. We helped a few people with simple tasks like wound dressing or saline solution for eye problems. In general, everyone in the desert is looking out for everyone else. It's been that way for thousands of years and won't be changing anytime soon.
Also, it seemed that every town we went, somebody or a lot of somebodies knew our guides. I heard them called by name almost every single time we stopped anywhere. At the airport, the guides are personal friends and relatives of the entire staff. One guide's brother is a police man in Dirkou. It also seems like due to the multiple wives, and Tuareg belief of a woman's power being in her numerous offspring... that everyone is related to everyone else.
We had a fantastic time. Vic and I will make one more expedition there before the eclipse... and hope to see some of you there!
Clear skies,
jen
Jen Winter - Owner
Astronomical Tours - www.AstronomicalTours.net
ICSTARS Astronomy - www.ICSTARS.com
Southern Skies Star Party - www.SSSP.org
StarGarden Foundation - www.StarGardenFoundation.org
[3.11.2005] Der Oberst lässt wenden - Muammar al-Gadhafi ist immer noch der starke Mann in Libyen. Er befahl die Öffnung zum Westen. Jetzt macht sich sein Sohn für Reformen stark: ZEIT.
[31.10.2005] Ein eingescanntes libysches Original-Dokument nebst Übersetzung wird von Jubier präsentiert - danach dürfen nur 5 Firmen "camps and campuses" errichten.
[28.10.2005] EurAstro Mission to Libya 2005: ein Bildbericht von Dighaye von diesem Oktober.
[13.10.2005] US - Libya Now Friends: eine 'Analysis' von UPI.
Mist and fog in the desert are a concern, but while I have statistics for Salum, there are none for other areas. All I can say is that it happens and it may not be uncommon, though it is very likely greater in the more humid coastal regions than in the interior. On my scouting trip last March we did encounter patchy low cloud southwest of Tobruk (on the way to Ajdabiyah) that had started as a thin fog and was lifting and dissipating in the morning sun. While any such fog will disappear by the time the eclipse starts, there is a risk that it will reform as the shadow crosses. Desert temperatures should drop fairly rapidly between first and second contact. If you have fog in the morning when you wake up, watch out during eclipse time!
There is a graph on my web page (the link is buried in the Word document that discusses the eclipse) that shows the frequency of reduced visibilities at Salum, Tobruk and Bilma. This is a difficult graph to understand because it shows the lowest frequency of reduced visibilities in Salum and the highest in Bilma in some categories and just the reverse in others (the lowest visibilities). Most of these visibility problems are due to dust not fog. The reason for the differences is most likely related to observational practices in the various countries. My own experience (based on about six days in the region on two occasions and watching hourly weather reports last March) is that coastal dust storms are more common than the official record suggests, but the time period is hardly a representative sample (normally a 20-30 year set of observations).
In the end very little can be said about dust and fog in the interior desert - there are no weather observations that I can obtain. However the satellite-based cloud cover map on my web page, and this graph which is derived from the satellite data shows quite clearly that the Jalu and Bilma areas have the least cloud. Interpreting the graph strictly, the area between Bilma and Jalu seems to have a slightly higher cloudiness, but it is a minor amount and likely caught in the "noise" of measuring these things. The most important point to be made about the satellite map and graph is that the biases are reduced - there is no contamination because of national observing codes, the training of the observer, the number of daily observations, and so on. I trust the satellite data more than any other for cloud measurements. It is too bad that there are not comparable statistics for fog and dust, but they are harder to measure from satellite.
It is worth noting that the graph of cloudiness above shows that the average cloudiness in the Sahara, though the best anywhere along the track, is still a substantial 35%. None of the areas along the track can guarantee a cloud-free eclipse.
The web site also contains 15 years of satellite images over North Africa. You can judge the reliability of weather claims from those images, though they are small and show only the bigger systems well.
The upshop: anywhere between Jalu and Bilma will get the best cloud conditions. Fog and dust are largely unknown and depend more on local conditions than on large scale events, but the Jalu desert area and southward- as long as you don't go right to the border with Niger - seems to have a lower incidence of dust. An upcoming Sky and Telescope article will discuss these in a little more detail. [...]
Jay
Date of the latest meeting was September 12 time 10:30 am until 13:45 pm.
This is the latest Eclipse Libyan Government report. The main conversation was about
all kinds of services that should be provided for the clients from their arrival on
their first day up to their last day. There are six committees and they are:
The 5 companies will mention where their camps will be and provide their co-ordinates, so the 6 Committees above will take on their required role. For other Libyan Travel agents which are not mentioned above that doesn't mean they are not qualified, some other Libyan Companies have got big numbers of clients, but they don't want to be involved in organizing Eclipse camps. They just want to have everything done by the 5 companies mentioned above.
Also that doesn't mean they can't do visas or organize any tours. Every Local Libyan travel agent has the right to issue visas for their clients. They pay taxes and they are licensed officially. So why they can't issue visas invitations or visas upon arrival? But they are not allowed to make any camps. Except the 5 groups mentioned above.
Also present at this meeting there were officials from:
Concerning the Libyan Government fees, it is confirmed that a 120 Euro tax to the government is in place but not for one day. It's for the whole tour even if you stay one day or ten days in Libya or more. So you have to add this to your package or check with your local travel agent according to your agreements.
These fees will count on all even for the 5 companies who are able to build the camps, they are included in paying the fees.
The Standard requirements are: Tents in good conditions ? Number of Toilets in each camp ? Restaurants ? Water services includes drinking or washing ? meals and cooking equipments ? Tables ? Mattresses ? Blankets or sleeping bags ? pillows and on all what are necessary needed to provide best services.
NOTES
So I cannot be accused of advertising for my own company, I have named the other five companies. I just
want to add a little more information that all tour operators in Libya still have the right to run their
own tours and to issue visas for the guests, either visa upon arrival or from any Libyan Embassy. The
Libyan Government didn't give a particular Libyan travel agent any contract for this matter.
The final bookings by the 15 of November. To all Eclipse chasers, the Libyan tourism governments are working on their web site in English and very soon it will be done. When it's ready I'll provide to you with all of this information and even more will be mentioned. So keep on working and pay attention to our work. The Libyan Government is looking for your safety and to provide best services, nothing more. [...]
Best Regards
Naser Edeeb
Vom 14.9.: Dear All Eclipse Chasers,
Important Note No 1
Note No 2:
Note No 3:
With all My best Regards
Naser Edeeb
I just spoke on the telephone with Naser Edeeb who
will be attending a meeting about the eclipse tomorrow
in Libya, with representatives from the Libyan
tourist, transport and medical ministries.
He should be able to provide the SEML with some more
details following that.
Thanks for your continued patience.
Michael Gill
This tax will be paid to the Libyan Government before you apply for the visa to Libya.If your local
travel agent did not pay the tax then the Libyan Government won't issue visas for you. The final
payment should be before 15 December. Please to All Eclipse Chasers who are travelling to Libya,
be sure to contact your travel agencies or your tour operators concerning this matter. This fee
will be separate from your tour cost.
This 120 Euro Is not included in the Visa fees.
Upon your arrival in Libya and during your stay, no Government official will EVER ask you how much money you
have with you. No one will ask you to pay for something you didn't ask for at any entry point.Noch ein Meeting ... Rundschreiben auf der SEML auf 11.9.2005
Hi all,
