We have arrived in Egypt!

Day 9 – Off to Africa and the ancient secrets of Egypt

The weather is starting to warm up as we have been headed in a southerly direction all day. We can tell we are finally in Southern latitudes because the sun now comes up around 6:30am which is a welcome change as I am still struggling with my brain and body as to what time it is.  As I write this it is late evening and we have just returned from dinner. We are currently at anchor just outside of Port Said, Egypt and the mouth of the Suez Canal.  The Suez operates on strict time codes and there are 2 southbound convoys and 1 northbound each day. The 2 southbound leave at 1am and 7 am – we get the early shift which is a little disappointing as it means we miss seeing some of the more interesting bits. However – we will report on what we do experience. Dale has just come in off our balcony and reports at least 16 other ships at anchor near us so our convoy is apt to be quite large.  It is a little unreal to now be so close to where so much unrest and war carries on every year. When you are spoiled and lazy on a ship it is hard to imagine all the issues of the Middle East as near and present.

This is our 6^th cruise and we have now been in nearly every ocean (Indian Ocean next week) and been very far South and very far North and also spent time at the middle bits. We have crossed the equator and rounded Cape Horn, been to the South Pole and sailed down the Amazon. We are used to the rhythm of life on a ship and are used to lifeboat safety drills, people reminding us to sanitize things and Dale eating his way between ports. Well – today we had a new experience – our very first Piracy Drill. Yup – piracy drill. As you may or may not be aware, after the Suez Canal we enter the Red Sea and from there the Indian Ocean through the Gulf of Aden right off the coast of Somalia where most pirates in this area originate. We are not particularly concerned as they are known to target high value, low personnel cargo ships, not passenger ships. Still – it does make you sit up and take notice when you are drilled in what to do in case of boarding by pirates. The drill is not the only precaution – once we leave Egypt’s territorial waters we will be ‘going dark’ at nights with blackout conditions and no lights save essential navigational lighting. The decks will be completely off limits at night and will have armed guards on them with night vision capability. So – this IS serious stuff. We will be charting a course that is under patrol by a United Nations fleet for added security.  We are not sure to what extent this lasts and how far into the Arabian Sea we will be before conditions are relaxed.

However – before all that happens we are off to see the “other canal” then traipsing across the desert to see pointy pyramids, a big man-headed lion and some other ruins as well as gliding down the Nile to see what’s what there.  That is Sunday. On Monday we will again trek through the desert – this time to Karnak and the Valley of the Kings to see if we can maybe find some treasure… well, maybe not – wouldn’t want to have all those valuables along with pirates being the next thing on the agenda!

We should have much to pass on the next few days. Sorry the google geeks are still frustrating my attempts to add photos. I promise I will add them when we get home.

Inshallah…