Transiting the Suez Canal

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We left Sharm El-Sheikh on May 6 and cruised the Suez Canal the entire day of May 7th. We found it very interesting that although we were in Egypt, the west side of the canal was green with palm trees and farms while the east side of the canal was arid desert and sparse vegetation. Armed guards were posted at intervals along the 120 mile long canal.

The Suez Canal opened in 1869 and it allowed ships to bypass the southern horn of Africa. It also allowed Egypt to facilitate the transfer of their cotton to Europe and America. The Suez Canal has a very long suspension bridge called the Suez Canal Bridge (also known as the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge). It is a road bridge crossing the Suez Canal at El Qantara The Arabic "al qantara" means "the bridge". The bridge links the continents of Africa and Eurasia.

We also saw the summer beach house of Ex-President Hosni Mubarak on the west bank of the canal in The Great Bitter Lake.

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