Bodrum, Turkey
The glassy sea resembled a pool of mercury as we held off the port of Bodrum waiting for our Turkish pilot to guide us in to our berth for the morning adventure of exploring the Turkish Underwater Archaeology Museum. The exhibits of various shipwrecks, dating from the late 14th century B.C. to the 11th century A.D. were displayed in the various towers of this massive medieval fortress built by the Knights of St John, the Hospitaller’s.
Robyn Woodward made a special presentation on the Ula Burun shipwreck from the late Bronze Age, with its cargo of copper ingots and royal tribute gifts from the Pharaohs to the court of Agamemnon. Afterwards, our Turkish guides took us on a tour of ramparts and many of the other exhibits, including the Glass Wreck Hall with its stunning array of medieval Islamic glass beakers, bowls, lamps and jugs, many of which had delicate designs etched into their surfaces.
While the fortress gardens contain examples of almost every plant and tree of the region, this morning it was the pink and white oleander cascading over the walkways between the towers that caught our attention. The tame peacocks did their best to ignore the “shutter-happy” visitors as they blissfully strolled between the many fragments of ancient Greek statues and medieval coat-of-arms that littered the inner keep.
After our tour, most of our guests opted to walk back to the Sea Cloud via the colorful market with its assortment of leather, silk, carpet, and ceramic shops where more than a few indulged in a bit of “retail therapy.”
After a buffet lunch that featured Turkish donairs, Gil Grosvenor presented a passionate talk about the state of education in America and the lack of geographic knowledge in K-12 students and more deplorably, the lack of qualified teachers of geography in our education system. He went on to highlight some of the innovative teacher-training programs and educational aids that National Geographic has developed across the U.S. by providing grants and encouraging the establishment of endowments at the state level to ensure that quality programs are instituted, and more importantly are retained within state curriculums.
If we hadn’t had enough activities for the day, the captain ordered the crew to sail stations and put out every inch of canvas so we could take Zodiac rides around the ship as it moved slowly away from the Turkish mainland past the island of Karaada.
As we sailed off into the sunset to round the Bodrum Peninsula we gathered on the lido deck for a sumptuous Turkish buffet dinner followed by the evening’s double-bill entertainment of the classic documentary “Around Cape Horn,” a classic film of square-rig sailing followed by sea shanties enthusiastically sung by the crew of the Sea Cloud.
