Red Sea Eritrea
Sudan Egypt
Egyptian Antiquities
Petra Jordan
The truth at last...we won the lottery
When we departed to go cruising Rob was only 42
years old and most of our family and friends could not believe we could afford
to retire. No matter how politely they phrased it eventually most asked
how we could afford such a lifestyle. Usually we mumbled something about
investing wisely in the stock market but the truth is we can afford to cruise
because we won the lottery. Until now we have not talked about it
but our win was bigger than the 200 million dollar New York State Powerball
prize... read on
The Red Sea and the lottery--
continued from home page
The Red Sea separates the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. The majority of
the eastern shore of the Red Sea is in Saudi Arabia which is unfriendly towards
yachts so our travels would take us from Yemen in the Gulf of Aden through
the narrow Straits of Bab el Mandeb (The Gates of Sorrow) into the Red Sea, then
across to its western shores through the African countries of Eritrea, Sudan and
Egypt.
A few facts:
Eritrea has one of the lowest GDP's (gross domestic product) in the world at $
231 per person (for comparison the US GDP is nearly $ 44,000 per person). It's war of independence lasted
31 years so half of the population today has known war for the majority of their
lives.
Eritrea's neighbor to the north is Sudan. Sudan is the largest country in Africa and of course is where Darfur is located. Sudan has been at war for the better part of last 50 years as their first civil war lasted from 1955-1972 and the second civil war from 1983-2005. In addition they have had numerous conflicts with their neighbors plus the ongoing genocide in Darfur for which the President of Sudan is now under indictment by the International Criminal Court. Sudan has some of the worst health care in the world with some areas having 1 doctor for half a million people.
Many of the people here simply have nothing. No home, no possessions, no future, no hope.
But you wanted to hear our story about winning the lottery..
The lottery we won was the great lottery of being born in a wealthy nation. And if you are reading this you probably won the same lottery.
If you did not experience malnutrition and malaria before your 10th birthday, if you had clean water to drink, if you EVER saw a doctor as a child or received medicine, if you were taught to read and write, if you got to chose whom you married, if you never knew the sound a bomb makes, if you had career opportunities beyond goat herder, farmer or fisherman then you too have already won the most important lottery in which you'll ever participate.
So forget the New York Powerball. You already have a car and a home and you don't really need any of the other STUFF you could buy if you won it- none of it will really change your life. Your life was changed immeasurably by being born where you were.
Whatever the challenges of your life today - realize that you are so much better off than the majority of the people in the world.
For our part winning the birth lottery allowed us to choose satisfying career paths and earn and save money and invest it in the stock market and go cruising. So as I said wining the lottery made our cruising life style possible.
Maybe next time you are tempted to play the lottery you could instead take that money and send it to a charity that helps others really make a difference in their lives.
Red Sea Passages
Aden, Yemen to Massawa, Eritrea 400 miles
Massawa, Eritrea to Suakin, Sudan 250 miles
Suakin, Sudan to Hurghada, Egypt 525 miles
Hurghada, Egypt to Mediterranean 250 miles
To read about Eritrea click here
To read about Sudan click here
To read about Egypt click here
To read about Petra in Jordan click here