Totality, HD fisheye video [ 2006 3/29 Salloum, Egypt ]

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wide-angle HD video (fisheye lens) of pre-Totality, 2nd contact, Totality, 3rd contact

Flash 8 version:

Incredibly, the 747-400 "Dusseldorf" has a WiFi hotspot available. So, I'm blogging as we are flying over Greenland. The above pictures are nearly live.

overnight @Frankfurt, blogging with Internet zorks

I caught some eats (inspired by C. Johnson/USC theoretical physicist), to "fuel up" in order to combat my flu. Then, I found a power-outlet & paid $18 Euro for a 24 hr WiFi T-Mobile connection. I then wandered over to the upper level to find a more comfortable blogging place, & ran into 2 Internet guys doing the same. We laughed about how the "watering hole" attracts PC users: power-outlets! I paid another $18 for 24 hr T-Mobile connection, & they checked out the QTVR eclipse pano (stitched by Robert Fisher), see above. At around 11:30pm I noticed my charge indicator went away..all of our laptops were NOT charging. Apparently, the power outlet was switched off. We quickly re-packed, & went searching for another power-outlet..we found one near the security checkpoint. We sprawled out, & spent there until 4am. Uh Oh, no T-Mobile signal for me! But, Laurie/Estonia found a Vodafone signal & it was 30 min free. Except, no uploads allowed. So, some fancy network setup by Laurie (using reverse Ethernet cable to mine) allowed uploading. We also discussed my RealTimeWebcasting project, & how Technology is difficult to get embraced by general community (see T-shirt logo). We messed around, until we couldn't STAND IT ANYMORE..4am like. We caught some food at the 24 hr store, & parted ways. I later ran into Laurie..on his way to Japan. This guy is a Linux wizard, he works for a security company in Japan. Wade is a Web specialist from Colorado, in process of relocating to England. We had some interesting discussions on history, culture, ethnicity, etc.

I never thought my overnight stay in Frankfurt would be such a rich experience.

flight to Frankfurt, geologist/environmental scientist

Lufthansa Flight #580 to Frankfurt was straightforward, I really enjoyed the BBC program on the 2006 World Cup in Leipzig/Germany. Lots of good material on competition & winning, i.e. Game Theory. The Swiss guy next to me was a geologist turned Environmental Scientist working for Siemens. He's looking at my eclipse pictures, & we discussed on science subjects. When I brought up Alfred Wegener (proposed Continental Drift, i.e. what we know now as Plate Tectonics) he said "of course, he is our patron saint". He even had a Scientific America, which ironically had a front cover about Particle Physics. We exchanged emails for future correspondence.

packup, archive images, leave for Cairo Int'l airport

Overnight bus-trip from Dahab to Cairo was OK, slept half-way decent. Had a raging temperature (because of 2nd camel-ride) just before I left, so I was really concerned about getting sick on bus. Got into Cairo @6:30am, & got whisked off to Magy Hotel by their driver. Blogged some pics from their DSL terminal, then took a couple of hour nap. Woke up, & scrambled to start packing the 3 70 lb cases. Archived the images on my Powerbook. Running behind, left @12 noon. Man, was it chaotic getting out of our parking area, it was crammed w/vehicles. Got to Airport @12:50 (flight leaves @2:40pm), & there was mess involving baggage weight allowances (won't repeat it here). Got to plane @2:40pm..man, is that cutting it CLOSE or what!!

Blue Hole, camel ride to Abu Galum

Camel ride to Abu Galum, from Blue Hole. Scenery was incredible, the contrast between desert & sea was amazing. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Abu Galum is just a few huts on the beach, a few families. I ended up getting sick & cramps..again! Just like on the camel ride @Giza/pyramids. I had to dismount from the camel, & walk back on the return leg. My tender butt couldn't take it anymore.

eclipse pictures

fisheye wide-angle


3rd contact, diamond-ring


2nd contact, diamond-ring


Eclipse weather was perfect..the rain 2 days earlier cleared out the dust.

Giza pyramids on camel

I spent the day on a camel tour @Giza pyramids. Got a lot of photos, incl sunrise from a rooftop. Went inside the pyramid (incredibly humid) & saw the tomb. Did some QTVR panoramas. Went up a hill, & got some long distance view of pyramids. Late in the day there was a sandstorm & rain! Got sick, because of lack of water/food. Sunset pic opportunities was nil (because of rain), & headed back to hotel for rest. I leave for all night bus-trip to Dahab in 20 min.

10am Mar 27, weather update

Univ of Athens prediction for Mar 27 (12:00 UTC, 2pm local time), clear skies. The low-pressure system moves on east.


Univ of Athens prediction for Mar 28 (12:00 UTC, 2pm local time), clear skies. The low-pressure system moves on east.

No prediction yet for Mar 29 (12:00 UTC, 2pm local time)..too far in advance.


signs of clearing @10:48am

I am feeling better about our weather prospects for Eclipse-day.

Raining on Mar 27 (morning), what!?

A steady rain greeted me, as I woke up @9am. Hmm..this is not good for my stress levels. 1st, a fairly significant car problem. 2nd, issues with lack of freedom-of-movement for our 4x4 (can't offroad south of Sallum near Egypt/Libya border). 3rd, weather issues. Rain is NOT a welcome sight near eclipse-day! However, see previous post for clear sky prediction (Univ of Athens) for Wed/Mar 29. This Low pressure area should give way to dual High-Pressure areas (sandwiching Sallum)

In the background of pic, is the Libyan Plateau (where many observation areas are setup, incl Scientist-Area). The plateau goes all the way to the Mediterranean.

I didn't expect our 4x4 scout mission..to turn into mud-bogging!!


everyone is excited about blogging pictures of themselves to the Internet


Blogging over breakfast @Sallum

Blogging from Sallum/Egypt

Blogging setup from house (Awaad's brother), using dialup connection. Had to bring in car-battery + Radio Shack inverter to power Powerbook. The 220VAC -> 120VAC adapter blew up in Marsa-Matrouh


Blogging & Sleeping.

Uploading multiple large files (video especially!) takes a long time, so I take a nap in between. Wakeup an hour later, & wrapup upload. I'm posting @5:43am, & have been up for 2hrs trying to get latest weather report. Looks good for Wednesday (Mar 29) E-Day, for 12:00 UT (about time of eclipse). No clouds expected, & high-pressure area dominant.

Here's what I expected:

1) freedom of movement (using 4x4) south of Sallum
2) difficult Internet access (if at all)

The exact OPPOSITE happened: almost no movement allowed south of Sallum (because of Egyptian military presence on Libya/Egypt border), & GREAT Internet access!

Dang, a eclipse LiveWebCast could be done from Awaad's brothers house! I probably come back to house after eclipse, & upload a few eclipse pictures before I head back to Cairo.

UPDATE: weather situation @5am local-time (Mar 27)

weather front @2am local-time, note "L 1014" (2nd one from top, right-side) planted over Libya/Egypt border


MeteoFrance satellite-image @1am local-time, note clouds over Egypt/Libya border


Univ of Athens prediction for Mar 29 12:00 UT (2pm local-time), no clouds on Libya/Egypt border. note 2 high-pressure areas sandwiching Libya/Egypt border.

I guess there is some cause for optimism.

"Forecast is what you expect, Weather is what you get"

We will see what happens on E-day, on March 29 (around noon local time for eclipse)

weather update for March 29, itinerary for March 30

Low-pressure area, causing the cloud-cover


uh-oh.., pessimistic weather prediction for Wed (Mar 29), eclipse-day


A more optimistic weather prediction (Univ of Athens/Greece)..some hope.


A corresponding optimistic weather forecast, corresponding to above

We visited the (only) hotel in Sallum, & discovered Dr. Serge Koutchmy had been in on Fri (March 24) inquiring about a place to store his telescope equipment. He is staying in Sidi Barani. As I was leaving, I was called over by a person (teacher of Arabic) who gave me directions to the high-school where Dr. Koutchmy will be observing eclipse. We plan to visit tomorrow, to exchange information/strategy on eclipse.

We had extensive discussion on itinerary for Monday (March 27):

- military presence on border, rules out any 4x4'ing recon missions near Libya/Egypt border (south of Sallum)
- trying for various places south of Sallum: last house, at base of "cliff" (Libyan Plateau)
- south & southwest of Bugbuq
- two hills in southern Sallum
- scientist-area on Libyan Plateau west of Sallum

getting permits for Sallum, relaxing over dinner

making copies of passport & letter (Dr. Hady/Cairo University)


chill out after busy day, having dinner


"King's Meal", typical Egyptian cuisine. Green beans, lamb's meat, leaf dip, et al



hand-wash after meal