TourReport

Eclipse 2002 Aboard the Marco Polo

By Rick Fienberg, Editor in Chief, Sky & Telescope

A total eclipse of the Sun is the most awesome of natural wonders. I have been fortunate to witness four such events (so far). Speaking as an astronomer, the one on July 11, 1991, in Mexico was the most memorable. It lasted a whopping 63/4 minutes, occurred in a perfectly clear sky, and dazzled us with dramatic coronal streamers and brilliant prominences. But speaking as a human being, the one on December 4, 2002, off the east coast of Africa was the most memorable - even though it lasted only 95 seconds and was muted by clouds. Actually, it wasn't the eclipse itself that made the biggest impression on me. It was Africa: the land, the sky, and the inhabitants, both two-legged and four. This was my first trip to the Dark Continent, and it began with several days on safari in Kenya. Our group of about 40 eclipse-chasers from TravelQuest International and Sky & Telescope magazine assembled in Nairobi, where the first order of business was getting over jet lag. Then our local hosts from Micato Safaris divided us up into small groups
		Photo by John DuBois

and herded us onto 8-passenger "pop-top" safari vans. My wife, Susan, and I teamed up with Steve and Donna O'Meara and Owen and Miriam Gingerich. Steve and Owen would be joining me as astronomy lecturers once we set sail aboard Orient Lines' Marco Polo a few days later. Before heading to the first of several game parks, we enjoyed a quick city tour whose highlight was the sprawling estate where Karen Blixen wrote Out of Africa. While there we ran into the fourth member of our eclipse-lecture team, David Levy, and his wife, Wendee, who were traveling with another group.


Photo by Rick Fienberg		Photo by Phil Seeger

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