Luke Jones Images and Design: Around the World in 108 Days

We just returned from our travels around the world with the Spring 2009 Semester At Sea voyage and I thought I would post a few photos from our various ports with just a little big of commentary.

In early January we picked up 735 students from Nassau and made our way to Cadiz Spain. It was my first visit to Spain and Cadiz was a perfect place to test the Spanish culture. The food was great and we saw some amazing cathedrals in Seville. Not to mention the coffee! I’m a sucker for pure espresso and they make a great cup!

After Spain it was a couple of short days and we arrived in Casablanca Morocco. It was a little more of a challenge getting around the city than Spain but we got to a couple of great markets and Mosques. We ate dinner with a Moroccan family in their home which was the highlight of our visit.

Our next stop was Namibia. I didn’t know much about Namibia but it was a visually fascinating place. The people were wonderful and we got some great pictures up on top of Dune Seven just outside of town at sunset. It was a tough climb but our taxi driver and Abi got up the fastest.

This was my third time back in Cape Town and I loved every minute of it. South Africa is an amazing place full of every kind of diversity. As I traveled around the area I can quickly see a variety of animals, wine country, mountains, and people of every background, wealthy and poor. I hope we can go back soon.

We returned to Chennai India for our second time and stayed with a family for two nights. While there we had incredible food and saw some ruins. We did our best to survive the heat with the two kids. The ruins were spectacular despite the gallons of sweat that we lost.

While in Thailand we stayed in Pattaya. Not the best place to stay with a family and kids, but we were looking for a nice and affordable place to stay which we got. The Woodlands Hotel and Resort had a killer pool that the kids loved and we were able to do some shopping while avoiding some of the not so wholesome nightlife. I really liked the variety of plant life and flowers that I saw in the area. Before leaving we did visit some elephants and even rode one!

Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam is one of our favorite cities. It is easy to get around, and while there is tourist things to do you don’t have to feel like a tourist. The people are friendly and the food is the best. We visited markets, took a trip down the Me Kong Delta, and just hung out in the city. Everywhere we went people loved to hold little Lily.

Hong Kong was a short but sweet visit. At this point we were hitting a new port every couple of days so we were getting pretty worn out. Hong Kong was just for one night before leaving to

Shanghai so we just toured around the city a little.

We stopped at two different ports in Japan – Kobe and Yokohama. While there we stayed with a host family for a night and they took us to the zoo. We were in luck because the cherry blossoms were in bloom, just beautiful that time of year. In Yokohama I took a trip to Tokyo to check out the city and see a few temples and shrines. Tokyo is larger than life and I only saw a fraction of the city. Still it was a great day and plenty of great moments for some photography.

We traveled on to Hawaii, a very long stretch at sea and then stopped in Guatemala. We spent our time with a family in Antigua. Antigua is a small town that has many historic buildings and architecture not to mention friendly people and great food. Many students traveled up volcanoes for the day. We figured with our two kids that might be a little too much to take on so we just hung out in the city. They had a bustling city town square, quaint markets, and some funky fresh cafes and restaurants…oh and did I mention great espresso. A perfect way to end our voyage, with great coffee. After our stay in Guatemala we went through the Panama Canal and then final stop – Fort Lauderdale Florida.