After spending two weeks in U.A.E with wonderful people and having good times with them ,today Pangaea is leaving for the last destination of her four year expedition around the world heading towards Monaco.see u again in 30 days
Emirates Palace Hotel part two
Facts and Figures
It cost approximately 3 billion USD to build the property in 3 years with 20,000 workers, designed by Wimberley Allison Tong & Goo of the United Kingdom
1 km from wing to wing, 100 hectares total area.
1.3 km private beach.
394 rooms and suites, ranging from 55 sqm to 680 sqm.
40 meeting and conference rooms.
Ballroom with a guest capacity of 2400 theatre style.
Auditorium with seated guest capacity of 1100.
619 plasma and LCD screens in guest rooms and meeting rooms.
5 kg of pure edible gold is used per year for decoration mainly on desserts.
128 kitchens and pantries.
200 tonnes of oranges squeezed for fresh juice every year.
6.4 km jogging trail.
114 domes, with the Central Dome at a height of 72.6 metres above ground.
8 escalators and 102 elevators, with a maximum capacity up to 55 persons per elevator.
Marble imported from 13 countries across the world.
12 external fountains and 8 indoor water features.
1002 chandeliers, the largest weighing 2.5 tonnes.
8000 trees set in landscaped gardens.
2 wall display carpets, handmade in Thailand, weighing 1 tonne each.
818 parking spaces.
Daily laundry capacity of 6 tonnes.
1200 employees from 58 different countries.
Emirates Palace offers the world’s most expensive one million dollar tailor made suite holiday.
sailing vessel Pangaea
Over 22 000 hours of intricate design time and years of marine expertise culminated in producing this truly remarkable sailboat.
At 35 metres in length, the 30-berth vessel combines comfort and safety with rugged versatility and premium innovation. Integrated in Pangaea are the latest state-of-the-art and eco-friendly, sustainable technologies with Mercedes-Benz BlueTec engines, solar panels, a recyclable aluminium hull and trawling nets for bottles.
Pangaea has been constructed to mirror the mission statement of the expedition. That being to enhance a respect of the environment, so it integrates most of the tools to produce energy with the lowest possible pollution emission.
As aluminium was readily available in Brasil at the time of construction, the perfect solution was to set up workshop in a suburb of Sao Paolo, a mere 200 kms away from the ocean, where the workforce was ready and willing.
The construction of Pangaea supplied work and income for over 200 Brasilian families for an entire year.
Emirates Palace Hotel
The building was designed by architect, John Elliott RIBA, who was Senior Vice President at Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo, an international firm specialising in Luxury Hotels. It opened in November 2005 but certain restaurants and spas did not open until 2006. The hotel was built by and is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, and is currently managed by the Kempinski Group.
The costs to build the hotel were 3.9 billion GBP or 11.02 billion AED. The Emirates Palace occupies 850,000m² of floor space. Underground parking allows housing for 2,500 vehicles. There are two swimming pools and spas. The hotel has its own marina and helipad. The Emirates Palace is the second most expensive hotel ever built, only surpassed by Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
Many of the suites offered are furnished in gold and marble. The main central area houses an expansive marble floor, balconies and a large patterned dome above, picked out in gold. The topmost floor has six Rulers’ Suites which are reserved solely for Emirati royalty and dignitaries.The hotel also contains a large conference centre. In December 2010, it boasted the world’s most expensive Christmas tree, valued at over 11 million dollars.
Pangaea arrive to Abu Dhabi.
23 days of sailing from Durban to Abu Dhabi true to the Mozambique channel
between Mozambique and Madagaskar and Arabian sea close to the Somali cost with distans 300 NM off shore.Leaving Durban for the first few days we had very bed weather condition having strong wind 35 knots from the front .In this stage we did not make any progress knowing we have to cover more then 4000 NM in not very friendly area witch is Arabian sea.
Always after bad weather is good weather,that’s way we decide to stop on a little atol Bassas Da India between Mozambique and Madagaskar .We didn’t have any luck to put our feet on dry land cues all atol was under water,maybe with bit of luck at low tide we could make some barbecue on dry land.Next morning wake up early to do some amazing dive exploring under water channel.
Next stop completely inhabited little island north west of Madagaskar Juan Da Nova with beautiful white sandy beaches.
From Juan Da Nova 260 NM ,one day sailing to French island Mayotte,on the southern Indian Ocean,island on the Mozambique Channel,about half way between northern Madagaskar and northern Mozambique
Mayotte was coded to France along with the others islands of the Comoros group in 1843.It was only the island in the archipelago that voted in 1974 to retain its link with France and forego independents .
In march 2009 Mayotte voted to become France’s 101 st department and fifth overseas department .A Change scheduled to become official in 2011 )
Arriving at night is not easy to do all formality ,like customs and emigration,in one word the French officers wasn’t friendly to us ,but finally we did everything next morning ,now we can go and explore the island.After lunch in local restaurant and shopping for next part of the trip we start to walk around the island .I have been in many places around the world but that what I have seen on Mayotte I did not see long time , I mean lots of rubbish everywhere ,streets full of plastic bottles and beer cans (welcome to France).I would not recommend to visit this place .people are not very friendly and island is very dirty.Our decision take some more fuel and let’s leave this place.Now before us 2700 NM to Abu Dhabi without any stop cues of the piracy attack ,even if we sailing we are easy target to attack,but everything went well . Pangaea arrive safe and happy to our finale destination Abu Dhabi,we have been well prepared,and well organize .Now we enjoy the heat of the United Arab Emirates
