Blogs from Suez, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa
March 28th 2010
Late Morning I decide to go to Suez instead of going straight to Sharm el Sheikh. Before I head for a taxi to take me to the Bus station, I visit my favourite Felafel takeaway for cheap food. As I’m making my mind what to choose on the large menu outside, I take a look behind me to see the French couple from Luxor, Constance and Guillame doing the same. A few expletives are said, as to the coincidence and we catch up on what they’ve been doing. They are, as per normal visiting everything in Cairo and condensing it into a few hours before flying to Paris that night. We say our goodbyes and I head for the Bus Station. Again I’m the only Non Egyptian on the bus. The trouble with buses is ... read more
May 6th 2009
PP: 20th April: Well, we didn’t really see any sewers, it actually seemed quite clean. The second half of the canal run was quite interesting, and fairly close to the Bitter Lake there was an airfield that looked very military, long runways, no aircraft movements, but plenty of sand covered mounds (bunkers and hangars) with big doors onto taxyways. There was then a very interesting visual phenomenon where the early ships in the convoy going south (we were about halfway in the convoy) were around corners and therefore over the sand from us. This looked for all the world as though ships were washed up in the desert - except they were moving?! Talk about “ships of the desert” and no camels in sight! John the Pom at one stage pointed out to me a “factory” ... read more
Livorno to Port Said (and Starboard Said as well!)
Published: May 6th 2009Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Suez
May 3rd 2009
PP: 16th April 2009: As most of our friends will know by now CS reluctantly jumped ship in Italy in order to return to work commitments back home so I have been a lonesome traveller for this leg. At least it meant the pirates were spared the risk of running into CS in a bad mood.... ........There was some tricky loading of extra large gas tanks onto the deck before departure today, and we managed a quick lunch in the cafe at the gate. It had rained during that loading and we departed into fairly steady rain. Headed southerly, but west of Napolean’s first internment place - Elba. We came out of the rain towards Corsica and into the Tyrrhenian Sea. 17th April: We cruised parallel to the coast all day in fine weather, and passed ... read more
February 27th 2009
Having had several early days in a row, we all enjoy a sleep in this morning before heading up to the top floor dining room for breakfast. In the light of day, the view of the Suez canal and the ships is quite impressive, probably the only redeeming feature of this place. After making use of the INTERNET to update our finances and pay some bills, we pack up and head down to flag a taxi. We almost end up leaving our passports behind, which the hotel had kept after check in and not returned to us. Unlike the bus that we took to to Dahab, the bus to Cairo is really disgustingly dirty. We end up in the wrong seats at first, not realizing the the ticket has the seat number written in Arabic on ... read more
November 30th 2007
It’s good to be back at sea again. Callisto is currently 40 miles south of Crete motoring along at a steady 12 knots towards Port Said, the harbour which marks the northern entrance to the Suez Canal. We left Antibes four days ago after waiting 48 hours for a weather window to open south of Sicily. It’s been a very good passage so far, only 24 hours of slightly bumpy weather yesterday interrupting the excellent conditions. It’s getting warmer and brighter with every watch which is quite a relief as France was starting to get a little too chilly for my meagre, mainly summer wardrobe to cope with. I joined Callisto about six weeks ago in Marseilles’ Nautech shipyard, adjacent to the ferry terminal which in years past was the gateway to France for countless shiploads ... read more
November 20th 2007
I think it would be fair to say that i feel in love with Egypt. It has been a very special place for me. The days have flown by with each day being another 'best ever' and at the end of the day I am left overwhelmed by the experience. Our trip into the White desert was one such occasion. The Bedouin guys who looked after us were cowboys in their 4 wheel drives---the louder we yelled the more risks they took in the sand! they dropped us just before dusk where we met our camels for the two hour trip into the camp site that they went ahead to prepare----rugs on the ground and barbecue over open fire. My camel was delightful and we came to an understanding once I learnt to relax on her ... read more
Gulf of Suez - Saracen Castle - Day 29
Published: October 16th 2007Africa » Egypt » Lower Egypt » Suez
October 12th 2007
The next day we drove west and then north up the Gulf of Suez before turning inland - we had read of a Saracen Castle (still largely intact according to the Guide Book). We missed it the first time, and had to turn back but eventually saw it perched on top of a hill. Jeremy and I climbed up to see it - it was absolutely derelict but the views from the top across Sinai were stunning. We camped on the road to Suez - this time without visitors - and had a wonderful night - sitting after dinner looking at the amazing starlit sky. ... read more
