From having a glorious fortnight ahead of you on a two-week cruise, it’s amazing how quickly the days slip by and suddenly, unbelievably, you’re reaching the end.
So it was with my 1,600-kilometre journey northwards through the Inside Passage – an incredibly leisurely trip from the coast of Washington state to Canada's British Columbia, then back into the US as you reach Alaska.
Despite it not being peak wildlife season – whale-watching and bear-watching are best in July and August – we saw dozens of whales, including a rare fin whale, on our journey north, and hundreds of dolphins, porpoises, sea otters, sea lions and sea birds within the first few days.
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Part 1: passage to Alaska
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The Safari Explorer's book and DVD library was excellent, and one of the books I read was Jonathan Raban's 1999 book Passage to Juneau, in which he sails a 35-foot boat along more or less the same route, and intersperses the narrative with historical snapshots of Captain George Vancouver and other colonial explorers, including their encounters with native Alaskans. The book is somewhat stiff but informative, and the writing at times seems to mirror the dark mood of the sea.
As I was reading the book we had mostly unseasonably warm and sunny weather, and I was amazed at how few other ships we saw en route. Outside the main fishing season and out of the way of large cruise ships for which many of these channels are too narrow, the environment seems pristine.
Yet as Dr Caroline Fox, a resident naturalist travelling with us, underlined, human destruction in the form of whaling, the senseless killing of sea birds, and other creatures believed to be competing with humans for fish – and simply for their fur – not to mention the huge island of floating garbage farther west in the Pacific – means one would have to be repellently insensitive to think that everything is hunky dory. The only positives are that we've stopped most of the deliberate killing of whales, other marine mammals and birds and that some creatures, hunted literally to the brink of extinction, have somehow saved themselves. I also felt some unease in eating rather excessive, fish-animal-rich three-course lunches and dinners every day – although I simultaneously enjoyed them.
I am always cheered to find places that have escaped logging, building and pollution, or recovered from them. Almost the whole of south-east Alaska is made up of the 17 million acre Tongass National Forest and this, combined with several other adjacent national parks and wilderness acres, makes it the second-biggest protected area after Antarctica.
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Read more from Rosemary:
A stay in the 'in-between' zone
Planning a trip to Alaska
Reverse culture shock in London
If you want peace, travel
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The Wilderness Act, passed in 1964, is one of America's greatest gifts to itself, its people and the world, protecting 9 million acres of land in total. Wilderness is tightly defined and defended. It goes beyond parks and reserves and certainly doesn't include resorts. These areas are undeveloped, untrammelled, with no human structures.
In these areas of south-east Alaska, I hiked through centuries-old forests without trails or roads, and kayaked in hidden fjords backed by waterfalls, mountains and glaciers. The water is deep and clean and the air is pure. Yes, most of the glaciers are slowly melting and, unforgivably, the hunting of wild bears is still allowed in some areas. But here, human traces are few and in this environment, paradoxically, one feels more human.
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Need to know
When: October 17 until November 10
Cost: Entry is free but some events require prior registration
Where: Various locations including National Theatre (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, Zayed University Promenade, Beach Rotana (Abu Dhabi), Vox Cinemas at Yas Mall, Sharjah Youth Center
What: The Korea Festival will feature art exhibitions, a B-boy dance show, a mini K-pop concert, traditional dance and music performances, food tastings, a beauty seminar, and more.
For more information: www.koreafestivaluae.com
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Godzilla%20x%20Kong%3A%20The%20New%20Empire
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdam%20Wingard%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBrian%20Tyree%20Henry%2C%20Rebecca%20Hall%2C%20Dan%20Stevens%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Blonde
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Sly%20Cooper%20and%20the%20Thievius%20Raccoonus
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Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
SPECS
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
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Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
