Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me, Simon Calder. It's Wednesday the 13th of

August and time for the second half of our total solar eclipse special with the astronomer Dr John Mason,

who for decades has been leading trips to see the light go out. Yesterday we talked about the 2026 eclipse,

which will sweep across northern Spain in August next year.

Spain hasn't had an eclipse so far this century,

but it will be getting two in a row,

with another one on the 2nd of August 2027. This one will stay very much

south in Spain and then track across North Africa. And it's going to be a good one.

John is a passionate scientist with infectious enthusiasm, but I'm not sure I've ever heard him so excited about the

prospect of a forthcoming eclipse. If you are only going to do one total eclipse, then I would say,

yes, skip August 2026 and go for the 2nd of August 27 because that is without doubt the total eclipse

of the century.

It's going to be the longest total eclipse of the century and it goes across places in

North Africa where you have fantastic weather prospects.

I mean, for example, in Egypt, where I'm hoping to go, there is no chance to cloud at all.

You don't have a dust storm blow up, but again, clearly unlikely, and the clouds are just not going to be there.

It's the landscape.

Now, the track of totality, as you say correctly, goes right across the southern tip of Spain

and Gibraltar.

It then goes across bits of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and into Egypt, and then it dives down across the Red Sea, down towards Yemen

and places to the south of that.

Most people, I think, will either be on a ship in the Med, south of Malta, between there

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