Libya

Hello dear friends! 

For our next stop, Libya, we join a cruise on a big sail boat, the Royal Clipper.

We do this out of safety as we are told that it is better to discover this beautiful country with a group and guide, than by ourselves.

The Royal Clipper

                           

 After 5 days of enjoying the luxury and peace and quiet aboard, we arrive at the harbor of Tripoli, the capitol of Libya.

To be honest, even if this country isn’t the most logical touristic choice, it is the one I was really looking forward to, since it has so much to offer.

One of those amazing places is Sabrata, which is a commercial city founded by the Phoenicians and since 46 BC under Roman government.

The absolute highlight of the tour is the theatre which mostly has been restored by the Italians since 1930.

   

Sabrata

What makes this theatre so special? The stage wall is a wonderful one of a kind and unique stage, made in such a way that it can be used entirely by the actors. E.g. an actor playing God can be staged on top.

The emperor was seated in the middle, the common people downstairs.

Céline noticed that her voice sounded different depending on where she stood and even the sounds varied (“when I talk I hear a difference in the sounds…”).

Roman theatre Sabrata

The acoustic is simply magic, apparently typical for a Roman theatre and the big difference with Greek theatre.

In Greek theatre the tribune is situated on the East side and behind them they just had nature or a simple drawing.

With the Romans the tribune was placed on the South side and there was a stage wall which reflected the voices of the actors into the public, thus enhanced them.

After this very educational visit we moved on to Tripoli, a typical vivid North African city where Western influences begin to show.

The population is a mix of Berber's, Arabs and African immigrants.

Libya used to be a kingdom until 1969, but on September 1^st of that year the former king was visiting Turkey when Moe’ammar al-Khadaffi seized power. He developed his own political agenda, a cross over between communism and capitalism, writing his philosophy down in a green booklet.

He wasn’t popular in the West, but all the more in his own country until last October 2011. More about this further on.

Moe'ammar al-Khadaffi

One guide took us to 1 of his favourite places in the city, the Gurgi Mosque, a charming little house of prayer descending from the 19^th century and the Turkish period. The guide told us that this mosque is one of the more meaningful ones and is also recommended in most of the tour guides.

The Gurgi Mosque

After Tripoli we sailed on to Al Khums, where we visited a nearby city, Lepis Magna, the most important trading post of Northern Africa. Here olives, wild animals, slaves, ivory,…were generously marketed.

Lepis Magna

We had a fantastic time in Libya and visited wonderful places and archaeological sites. Still we can’t help but feeling a bit relieved that we can move on to our next country as the tensions are really vibrating, especially after the uprising and following riots in 2011. At that uprising, protesting against the al-Khadaffi regime, more than 1.000 people were killed.

Moe’ammar al-Khadaffi was the leader of Libya for over 40 years. He was called a dictator because he didn’t consider the well-being of his people, but put his needs first. He even was known to use violence against his inhabitants who didn’t agree with or protested against his regime. He became richer and more powerful, while his people starved.

Fed up after years and years of repression and following the revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, the people revolted, driving him out of Tripoli, supported by other countries such as Belgium, the United States and England.

After months of battle, Moe’ammar al-Khadaffi finally was captured and killed by members of the Libyan National Liberation Army. After his convoy was attacked by NATO war-planes as Sirte fell on 20 October 2011.

We can only hope that the ones who will be put in charge now will be able to build up the country and make a new start in a democratic way.

Lots of love!  Aurélie

You will hear from us soon!! ;-)