Blogs from Port Said, Mediterranean, Egypt, Africa

"In questa Casa d'Italia, edificata dalla fede e dall'amore della terra d'origine, vivono e si perpetuano, con l'opera delle istituzioni italiane sotto i segni gloriosi dello scudo sabaudo e del fascio littorio, lo spirito millenario della patria, il culto della lingua di Dante, la tradizione fulgente della triplice vittoria, la potenza animatrice di Roma ridivenuta imperiale. XXVIII Ottobre MCMXXXVIII - XVI regnando Vittorio Emanuele III essendo duce del fascismo e capo del governo Benito Mussolini fondatore dell'impero." Chissa', sara', sta di fatto che gli italiani sembrano aver lasciato davvero un buon ricordo qui in Egitto, e dovevo capitare per caso a Port Said per averne una vera conferma. Non proprio per caso perche' e' in questa citta' che inizia il canale di Suez e qui si deve venire per ammirare le gigantesche navi che, sfilando davanti ... read more

Geo: 31.2603, 32.2965Today, we transited the Suez Canal from north to south, from Port Said to the town of Suez. The ship entered the canal about 5:30 in the morning while we were still asleep, although the captain had announced yesterday that we had an 8:00 a.m. time slot scheduled for entry. We expected to be anchored outside waiting for our time by 3:00 a.m., and I guess they wanted us to go in early with at least one other ship, a cargo ship I could see behind us. Ships go through the canal in convoys because there are sections that can only accommodate one-way traffic and going together in the same direction more efficiently takes care of the traffic so more ships can go through each day. I had the alarm set for us to ... read more

Thursday May 9th, 2013. Port Said, Egypt Port Said is the main port city at the northern gateway to the Suez Canal. It was established in 1859 during the construction of the canal and has since become a thriving duty-free port and a popular resort destination for Egyptians during the summer. Port Said is twinned with the city of Port Fuad on the eastern bank of the canal and the two cities are connected by ferries that run throughout the day. The Suez Canal, west of the Sinai peninsula, is a 101 mile (163 kilometre) maritime canal in Egypt between Suez on the Red Sea and Port Said on The Mediterranean Sea.The Canal allows north south transits for vessels travelling from Europe to Asia and vice-versa - avoiding the necessity to circumnavigate Africa. Most of the ... read more

Our Blog No.17 After we left Dubai Nicky met up with Alan and Marjorie who attend the same cardiac group on a Tuesday as Barry does and where Nicky is the Health Professional. A lovely surprise - they had already booked last year and never said a word to us that they were travelling from Dubai back to Southampton with us. They celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday 10th April. Before we arrived in Safaga on Friday 8th April we had four days at sea where stringent precautions were taken to ensure we were not invaded by pirates. It was taken very seriously by the Commodore. Fortunately there were no incidents as far as we are aware! Safaga was not a very attractive area and we had already made the decision that we didn’t want ... read more

Today we are going through the Suez Canal which connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Google it and see what it looks like from the air. It is 101 miles long and at its narrowest, less than 400 yards wide. Traffic is one way and in convoys. Each day, early in the morning, two convoys depart north to south and one departs south to north (Us today). Unlike the Panama Canal, there are no locks needed to raise and lower ships as the sea level at both ends of the Suez Canal is nearly equal. There is a lake in the middle and we pass the south bound convoys in the lake and at one other passing place. We go about 10 miles per hour and it takes about 11 hours to complete the ... read more