Blogs from Suez, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa

Transiting the Suez Canal 3rd April We sailed the Suez Canal back in 2014 and didn’t realise the changes that were coming. Since 2014 a new section has been built which I’ll come onto later. Not a history lesson but a bit of background to the Canal. It was constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, officially opened in November 1869 and is a sea level waterway that connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea unlike the Panama Canal that has locks because of the difference in sea levels between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It’s length is just over 120 miles and takes approximately 10/12 hours to go through. The original canal was a single-lane waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lakes. As I said ... read more

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

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

Five of the Oftaters visit Giza - and the famous pyramids. ... read more

(K) The morning before leaving Alexandria I failed to find a map but I was going to bike nonetheless. NO map but YES bike ride. So I used my hopeless guide book map to guide me from central Alexandria to Port Said; it all seemed to follow the coast and of course all would be signposted in English and I could ask any old Joe on the side of the road which way to go- so no problem right? Follow the coast; follow the signs; ask. Well no. Getting out of Alexandria'sd chaos was a nightmare. The roads were super busy, I seemed to be the only cyclist around and the suburban landscape was rather unpleasant. When I finally did get lost, everyone looked at me as though I was some type of alien entering their ... read more