By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA, JAN. 24, 2001) - Winter is behind us after crossing the equator and we are now into the long summer days. It is light until well after 8:00 p.m. now.

  One frustrating aspect of a tour such as this is the difficulty of getting news. I found two English-language newspapers since leaving Istanbul, both of them from England.

  We have a TV set in our room which picks up satellite reception and were getting the highlights of U. S. news from CNN international. We were even able to watch some of the Pres. Bush inaugural festivities. However that channel is not available in this part of the world. There is one channel with some international and U. S. news in printed form. Better than nothing, but not much.

  Our principal source of news now is an eight typewriter size-page edition of the New York Times. What is available in this edition is limited, and geared to the top national and international news stories. The only thing we know about the west coast is that California is having power blackouts.

  Our cruise is winding down now and passengers are thinking about packing. We will arrive in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Jan. 28, and head for home. But we have two stops to make before then. We will be in Walvis Bay, Namibia, in the morning and will take a tour in the Namib desert.