Archive for December, 2009

December31

Happy New Year, from Libya Expeditions

That time of the year has come again ! The beginning of a new year, a time to reflect on the past year (and check the balance book!), and celebrate the new year.

The past year, 2009, has been an eventful and exciting one for all of us here at Libya Expeditions; and 2010 promises to be even better ! We’d like to wish all our customers, readers, employees, friends, family, and partners a happy new year, and a prosperous and healthy 2010.

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December24

An Unforgettable Libya Holiday

Jay and his wife, Beth, chose us to deliver the perfect Libya holiday, and this is what they had to say about their trip in October and the Libya Expeditions team. Jay posted his story on GoWander.com, which is run by Wanderlust, a UK travel magazine geared toward independent and adventure travelers.

WOW. What else can I (and my wife) say after our tour to Libya. We contacted one of the most well regarded Libya tour operators, Libya Expeditions (www.libyaexpeditions.com), to arrange a 15 day tour that would cover most of Libya’s major attractions and regions, from Tripoli and it’s Roman ruins of Leptis Magna and Sabratha, a quick jaunt to Cyrene and Appollonia and the Greek ruins and Tobruk to see the WW 2 memorials, then off to Ghadames and the Akakus Mountains and Metkhandoush Valley to see the rock engravings and art.

The whole experience was surreal and incredible. The tour organizers, Libya Expeditions, were phenomenal and responsive.

The Libyan people were just so friendly and nice, the country seemed to glow with positive spirit and goodwill. The tourist sites unspoiled and well preserved, and the atmosphere was incredible. It was like a step back in time wandering the ancient Roman-Greco sites in Libya …. we were blown away by the Libyan Desert and the Akakus region. There is nothing like it in the world, it was as close to an alien landscape as you can get on earth, with freakish and bizarre rock formations bursting out of the sand and an eerie feeling to the whole place.

The last week had been beautiful and overwhelming; like nothing most of us had seen. We had somewhat mixed feelings about our time ending. We did not want the experience and magic to end — the Sahara is enveloping in its magnificence –- but we could feel the wear and tear. After a trip like that (and a journal like this!), it feels like there should be some conclusion tying it all up. However, even though I’m writing this over 1 month after we left Libya, it’s not clear to either of us — or to many of those we travelled with — what it signified or meant. Many of us felt changed by the experience, and found the return to our homes disconcerting — unsettling in some ways. So much of the two weeks had been incredibly intense; we experienced sights and emotions that will stay with us forever. So many of the Libyan people touched our hearts.

The final week in the Sahara was the most powerful experience of all. Just looking at any of the photos from our travel is enough to transport us emotionally back into the desert. Several of us have commented that we never felt better physically than we did while in Libya, especially the Sahara.

Much of that no doubt is due to the beautiful clean dry hot air (especially for middle-aged bones and joints). But it certainly felt more than that — a magic spirit was there in the air and the dunes. If you think you can handle some of the challenges, and can go with an open mind, and an open heart, both of us — and many others we travelled with — completely recommend it. GO TO LIBYA. You’ll love it.

We had the a most memorable and life changing Libya experience — we strongly recommend you give Libya Expeditions a call about a Libya holiday, they are the best Libyan tour company we’ve ever worked with.

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December18

Libyan Cartoonist Mohamed Zwawi

Mohamed Zwawi, born in 1936 in Benghazi, is undoubtedly the most famous Libyan cartoonist and caricaturist Libya has produced.

His works have been widely acclaimed and recognized in Libya and abroad for their masterful and satirical depictions of all aspects of Libyan life and his work; released in several volumes, is a deep social and political synopsis of Libya, it’s people and culture.

Zwawi’s work encompasses a range of themes and issues of Libyan culture and society, mainly focusing on political and cultural hypocrisies, and the rift between the deeply conservative and religious older generation of Libyans and their reactions to a changing world and the younger, Westernized generation of Libyans brought up on Western music, TV, and ideals.

Zwawi’s tongue-in-cheek humor and biting sarcastic style has made him the Libyan “King of Satire”.

Check out the below videos to see more of Zwawi’s work -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T0yVMjh52M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVyh2LslIv8

Tags: libya culture, mohamed zwawi
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December11

The Red Castle – “Assaraya Al-Hamra”

The meticulously preserved Red Castle — “Assaraya Al-Hamra” in Arabic — is a historical symbol and defining landmark of Tripoli, and houses the extravagant National Museum — Libya’s finest museum, which boasts an impressive collection of classical and neolithic antiquities and treasures, including items of Phoenician, Greek, Berber, Roman and Islamic origin; including mosaics, marble and stone sculptures, murals, fossilized animals and mummies, and a host of other rich archaeological and historical treasures collected from throughout Libya.

The Red Castle’s image is ubiquitously used in logos for many Tripoli ministries and government organizations, and is considered the historic core of the city along with Green Square and the Medina.

For centuries, those who held the keys to the Red Castle controlled the city of Tripoli, and the Red Castle, naturally enough, derives it’s name from it’s reddish color.

It was originally a Roman fortified camp, but it was not until the Knights of St.John made extensive renovations and enhancements during their occupation of Tripoli in the 16th century that it truly became a true defensive fortress capable of defending the city. The Red Castle is partially surrounded by an artificial lake, and while certainly not the original purpose, it greatly enhances the aesthetic qualities and atmosphere.

It is here that the rulers of Tripoli, from Turkish Governors to the Karamanli dynasty, their families, and the elite lived. Besides the National Museum housed in the Red Castle, there are intricate alleys and courtyards, and one can get a surreal feeling in the Red Castle, a glimpse back in history to a time vastly different from our own.

Tourists visiting Tripoli make it a point to visit the Red Castle and the National Museum, and throngs of people, from families to couples, are always milling about on the walkway around the Red Castle and it’s serene artificial lake, at all times of day.

Below is a photo of the Red Castle at night –

Tags: green square, knights of st.john, national museum tripoli, red castle, Tripoli
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December4

Submerged Roman City Discovered in Libya

A submerged Roman city was discovered by Italian archaeologists off the coast of Libya , in the Gulf of Bomba near the city of Tobruk and generated a lot of buzz in archaelogical circles – from Ansa Med ( www.ansamed.info.), Italy’s leading news agency:

The group is carrying out archaeological searches along the African coastline as part of the ArCoLibia (Coastal Archaeology of Libya) project, which was started a few years ago and which has already led to such exceptional finds as that of the Venetian ship ”Tigre”, which had sunk off the cape of Ras al-Hilal. The first traces of the buried city were found during reconnaissance diving in the waters of Ras Etteen. The archaeologists were searching for shipwrecks and port structures on the western edge of the Gulf of Bomba.

They found walls, roads, buildings and tombs at a depth of between one and three metres. It is a portion which extends over a hectare of a large city which some of the scholars had intuited the presence of due to the remains of wall structures hidden among the sandy dunes hit by strong winds.

It is believed that a large part of the city sunk due to a large tsunami. Initial morphological analysis showed that changes to the area were macroscopic even in recent times, and the ruins found at the bottom of the sea are part of a city existing in the Imperial Roman era during the second century AD.

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