Saturday to Monday, April 19 - 21
Set sail from Aqaba at a very slow pace as the captain had to time our arrival at the start of the Suez Canal at a specified time because there is only one northbound and one southbound convoy each day. This meant we had 2 days at sea before our transit of the Suez Canal began: so we could sleep a little later, catch up on the laundry, attend more of the lectures and workshops available, exercise a bit more, enjoy more of the delicious food, go to the movies in the theatre and spend time with our new friends as well as meeting some different people we hadn't met before. We've loved all the days at sea on this leg of the trip!
We awoke early on Easter Sunday morning as the ship had begun the transit of the Suez Canal during the early hours of the morning, so we were on the deck observing the surroundings about 7:30. It was amazing as we were the first ship behind a navy warship but there were many ships behind us, some cruise ships but mainly cargo ships. Initially it was desert on both sides of us but as we progressed there were some small towns and at the wider points bigger towns with nice looking houses and quite a bit of farming also.
The Suez Canal is nicknamed "the highway to India" as it connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, but we were doing it in the reverse direction. Thus as the northbound convoy we had right of way, so the southbound ships had to wait in one of the bypass spots - some were open expanses of water and held many ships there while others could only hold a few ships in a narrow stretch of water. This allowed everyone to get some classic pics of "ships in the desert".
As we progressed we came upon a bridge over the Canal and it looked like a great piece of engineering to us, and from a distance the cables on it looked like the pyramids! We were amazed at the roads and railways that ran beside the Canal and it was a lot more built up and developed than we expected.
By late afternoon we were approaching Port Said, the Egyptian port on the Mediterranean Sea, and it was a big spread out city with lots of industry along the Canal and along the sea front. However people living on either side have to get across so they use a ferry which ducks between the ships in the convoy when they get the chance. We also saw traditional fishermen in their boats with their nets as well as feluccas, but these kept close to shore and well out of the convoy's way!
Once the ship was well clear of the Canal it increased it's speed as we set sail for Athens. To commemorate our passage through the Suez we all received a certificate marking the occasion. Monday was also another leisurely day at sea, but these lazy days will be a thing of the past on the next leg of our voyage as we'll be in a different port nearly everyday starting with Athens tomorrow. At least we'll be able to keep the blog up to date! Apologies for the lack of postings but there is no wifi at sea!!
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