Category Archives: Africa

Transiting the Suez Canal

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This morning we were up early to get ready to go. Here is sunrise over Suez.

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Normally, small yachts transit half the canal one day, spend the night in a town called Ismalia, then transit the second half of the canal the next day. We had committed to being in Greece in 4 days, and the only way to make it on time was to do a one day transit. For it to happen, several pieces needed to come together. First off, we needed to leave by 0700, because if we didn’t make it to Ismalia by 1300 (1:00 pm), they would make us stay in Ismalia for the night.

We paced around nervously waiting for the pilot. Meanwhile, Heebe finally told us what our transit fees were. The trawler that we had mentioned seeing in Port Ghalib had been charged USD$485, and we expected our fee to be the same. Ours was USD$540. Heebe never showed us any government paperwork to verify the fees, so we suspect he upped the fee and kept the difference. He also charged us an extra fee of $70 for the quick transit and we are not sure if it goes to him or is a government fee, but we suspect it goes to him. Unfortunately, we were not in a position to argue with him over the fees, both because we were out of time and because we were afraid if we made him mad that he might sabotage our effort for the one day transit and charge more.

Heebe took care of our exit stamps on our passport before we left and promised that our boat clearance would be waiting for us in Ismalia. We were irritated that he hadn’t taken care of the boat clearance yesterday.

The pilot arrived at 0815 and Continue reading →

More Time in Suez and Egypt Thoughts

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Yesterday we were going to go to Cairo and do more sightseeing, but when it came time to actually get out of bed, we opted for a day at home, instead. Christi spent the day cooking up all the produce, doubting it would last through this next passage. Eric changed the fuel transfer filter and the forward and aft fuel filters on the main engine. He also drained the sump on the fuel supply tank and didn’t find any water. Yay! The fuel we got in Ghalib was good.

We did go into town for dinner, determined to find this fabulous restaurant we had been told about (and still can’t remember the name of). We lucked out and found a local that works with the yacht club who was on his way home, and he agreed to drop us off there. Good thing, because when all is said and done, we would have never, ever found it. Here is a picture of the exterior. What is funny is that the grill they cook on is literally across the street, and they run the grilled food inside as it is ready. Hopefully, one of our readers speaks Arabic and can tell us the name of the restaurant.

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We walked in. Most of the tables were occupied. Everyone in the entire restaurant stared at us for a long time after we sat down. We ordered a couple shish kabob plates. When the food came, we were surprised by Continue reading →

Making Friends in Suez City

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We were up early and all ready to go when we found out that we weren’t allowed to leave today, after all. An American military ship was transiting the canal today, and anytime there is a military ship going through, small boats are prohibited from entering. The big boys can still go through, but not the little guys. We begged the agent, explaining that it should be OK for an American boat to pass an American military vessel, but it isn’t his decision. The worst news was that a British military vessel was transiting tomorrow, so we couldn’t go tomorrow, either.

Since we weren’t leaving ASAP, the yacht club asked us to move the boat from the dock to a near by mooring so other boats could access the hose. We were delighted to do this, because it would make it a little harder for Sayeed to harass us. BTW, he had been harassing us non-stop since very early in the morning.

Once situated, we decided to head into town to look around and have lunch. From what we saw last night, we thought Continue reading →

The Cairo Museum, and a Glance at Cairo and Suez – Part 3

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Continued from yesterday”¦ We left the sphinx on foot from an exit different than the one we came in, and walked a block down a street lined with tourist shops to the restaurant. Lunch was included in our tour package, and our hearts sank when we saw it was a buffet geared at big tour groups. We probably should have asked to go somewhere else. They probably would have been happy to accommodate us, but we didn’t ask. Once again, the food was OK. We did try a new food, pickles stuffed with rice in a tomato sauce that was surprisingly good. The bell peppers (capsicum) on the tray along with the pickles are stuffed with the same rice.

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From there we went to the Cairo Museum. No photos are allowed in there, either. It is a good size museum, and it is jam packed with over 120,000 artifacts. The museum Continue reading →

The Pyramids and The Sphinx At Giza – Part 2

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Continued from yesterday”¦ The entrance fee included admission into the park where we could view the exterior of the pyramids and go into the temple with the sphinx. Going inside the pyramid was an extra fee, but is worth it. The closest and supposedly best of the pyramids is The Great Pyramid of Khofu. Khofu (called Cheops by the Greeks) reigned in the mid 2500 BC period, and his tomb is the oldest of the three. It is also the tallest at 482 feet, and held the title of “tallest building in the world” for 4,400 years, until in the 19th century a taller building was finally erected. The base is 756 feet and is level to within one inch. The margin of error in the length of the 4 sides is only .2%. It is estimated to contain 2.3 million limestone blocks, each block averaging 2.5 tons. The blocks at the base are larger than the average, weighing more like 16.5 tons. The blocks were floated down the river, but how they were hauled from the river and placed within the structure is a mystery. The pyramid is oriented within three degrees of true north.

There are also three small pyramids alongside the large one, the final resting place for his queens. When we say small, we mean relatively speaking. They are still quite a large structure by modern building standards. The satellite pyramids have deteriorated quite a bit.

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We walked around the exterior for a little bit, then up the small stair case cut into the base that leads to the entrance. In the first picture, you can see just how big the stones really are, and the ones at the bottom are significantly bigger than the ones pictured here. The second picture is a view of Cairo from the pyramid entrance.

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No cameras were allowed inside, so sadly, no interior shots. The entrance led to a Continue reading →