Eloise and Jerry's Travels: Into the Mediterranean

Prepared October 1, 2012 at home Kona, Hawaii

April 25, 2012 transiting the Suez Canal: Anyone know the Triumphal March from Aida?

We sailed from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt mid-afternoon April 24 in order to arrive at Port Tafiq, Suez, Egypt in time to form up with the northbound morning convoy transiting the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal operates on a convoy system with one northbound and two southbound convoys every 24 hours. This convoy system is required because, although the canal has no locks, it has only one shipping lane and two bypasses at the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake. "The first southbound convoy enters the canal in the early morning hours and proceeds to the Great Bitter Lake, where the ships anchor out of the fairway, awaiting passage of the northbound convoy. The northbound convoy passes the second southbound convoy, which moors in Ballah-Bypass. The passage takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around 8 knots (15 km/h; 9 mph). The low speed helps prevent erosion of the canal banks by ships' wakes." (Wikipedia, the Suez Canal) Click "View Larger Map" for more geographic data.

The Suez Canal and Environs

Silver Whisper, under the supervision of a Suez Canal Pilot, started the northbound transit at about 6:00 am. We were the first ship in a convoy of about 25 ships, so when the sun came up, we had great views of the canal. In addition, our Destination Lecturer, Jon Fleming, provided a narrative geography and history lesson as our transit proceeded.

The Suez Canal

The contrast between the desert and the canal is striking.

Northbound Convoy & Suez Canal Friendship Bridge

This bridge is the only highway bridge over the Canal.

El Ferdan Railway Bridge Across the Suez Canal

Largest swing-span bridge in the world.

Most of our approximately 11 hour transit consisted of sand to the right of us and sand to the left. However, we did pass the city of Ismailia near the mid-point in the Canal and a number of military bases and Egyptian monuments to the endless Arab/Israeli wars.

Monument to WWI War Dead

This is a British monument.

Monument to Arab/Israeli War Egyptian War Dead

Wonderful art; the AK-47 memorialized in concrete and steel. The dead don't care.

Egyptian Army Memorial to Yom Kippur War

What else you going to do with obsolete tanks? Not much of the battlefield refuse remains probably mostly Chinese cars or appliances by now.

Operational Egyptian Army Post
Yes, that is American military hardware. The only thing the US exports much of these days (and we have to give that away).

Besides these edifices to humankind's folly and watching for the occasional seabirds, the only other events of note was passing the southbound convoys at the Bitter Lake and Ballah-Bypass.

LNG and Container Ships at Bitter Lake
Note: The LNG ship's bow seems to be facing the "wrong way." Who knows?

Bulk Carrier in the Ballah-Bypass
Capesize bulk carriers could not pass through the Canal until recent dredging.

As we approached the northern entrance to the Canal, just the hard-core history and geography buffs remained interested. The rest of the passengers adjourned to lunch and the latest culinary excesses that awaited them. J and E attended a special luncheon for their trivia team, most of whom had been together for the entire world cruise. It was, as expected, an excellent luncheon, topped off by cherries jubilee prepared table-side. "We're not in Kansas any more Toto," or for that matter Kona!

Cherries Jubilee for Those Who Are a Bit Peckish

The chap in the middle has a fire extinguisher in his right hand, just in case.

In the early evening, we exited the Canal near Port Fuad and turned to port, setting our course westward through the Med toward Cleopatra's city, Alexandria.

April 26, 2012 in Port, Alexandria, Egypt: Avoid the Small Snakes.

We docked in Alexandria's Western Harbor, the Marine Station Cruise Ship Terminal at 7:00 am, just across the harbor from King Farouk's palace and the two Royal steam yachts that haven't moved since Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Egyptian Army overthrew him on July 23, 1953. They are getting a little rusty.

View Larger Map

Alexandria, Egypt

The Western Harbor is in lower left corner of the map.

Ras El Tin Palace

The royal yachts are moored just to the left (not shown here).

The palace is now one of the residences of the President of Egypt.

We had decided against the routine city tour, and after breakfast, we went ashore in the shuttle bus to visit two museums -- the Greco-Roman Museum and the Alexandria National Museum. The local tour desk functionary had assured us that the two museums where "near" each other and "close" to where the shuttle bus dumped us off at the Cecil Hotel on Alexandria's corniche. After an hour's battle with Alexandria's narrow, congested streets, our bus succeeded in traversing approximately one mile as the crow flies from the harbor to the hotel. (Of course, no crow could fly from the harbor to the hotel, because it would die of air pollution.)

Traffic, What Traffic?

This is mid-day traffic. Anyone want to guess what rush hour would be like?

Finally arriving at a small plaza near the Cecil Hotel, we stepped down into the cries of taxi and carriage drivers loudly offering their services. But, we and another couple (Pinky and John) declined their offers and decided to walk to the museums. Armed with our trusty tourist maps and secure in the knowledge that Jerry was, after all, a geographer, we could find the museums without the hassles of cabbies. BIG MISTAKE! It quickly became apparent that the tourist maps we had been given bore little or no resemblance to the current street pattern of Alexandria, and there was this little problem that the street signs were in Arabic.

We were about to give up, then decided to ask a traffic policeman for directions. He gave us the blank stare of those without a common language. But, our conversation quickly attracted a young school girl who spoke English, and as she was giving us directions, an older gentleman with close-cropped hair and no beard emerged from the local coffee shop and took an interest in the conversation. After the student had finished her directions, "Keep going that way, you can't miss them. They are in large white buildings. The Greco-Roman museum may not be open." The old man (we suspect a retiree from the Egyptian army or police) asked in English if he could escort us to the museums. Gratefully accepted. Starting off at a quick pace, he led us through the main and side streets of Alexandria. For sure, without his guidance, we would have never found the museums with or without a geographer in our midst.

Our Volunteer Guide Leading Us To The Museums

He believed the sidewalks were too dangerous!

After about 30 minutes of walking, we arrived at the Greco-Roman museum, only to discover it was closed for renovations. And, had been closed for several years. So, seeing Cleopatra's snake was not on!

Greco-Roman Museum -- Closed for Renovation, Opening ???

Note the scaffolding and canvas on the front and over the columns.

On to the Alexandria National Museum, where we arrived after another 15 minutes of walking through the city streets. At the ticket booth, we discovered that none of us had any Egyptian Pounds, and the museum's admission tickets were sold only for cash, Egyptian Pounds. Another walk to the local bank to change money and back to the museum. After buying the tickets, we were allowed in, but no photos inside the museum.

Alexandria National Museum -- Exterior View

Our ad hoc tour guide is in the lower right corner.

He is supervising our street crossing.

Alexandria National Museum -- Entry Ticket

No Egyptian Pounds. No Ticket! No Entry! Bureaucracy rules!

We spent about an hour viewing the exhibits, which concentrated on ancient Egypt and were well-presented and described in both Arabic and English. However, very little of the material related to Ptolemaic Egypt (Cleopatra's time), which was somewhat disappointing. When we finished, our ever-faithful guide escorted us back to the corniche and to the plaza for the shuttle bus ride back to the ship. Because of road construction, the return trip to the ship took even longer, about two hours. Crows were dropping to the right and to the left of us!

The Corniche, Eastern Harbor and the Mediterranean Sea

Would you eat the fish? Would the fish eat you?

Marine Station Cruise Ship Terminal and M/V Silver Whisper

This is a new cruise ship facility. About 300 feet from here, things begin to come apart.

We sailed from the Western Harbor at twilight and turned northwest toward Europe and our next port of Sorrento, Italy. That evening was one of those dress-up-in-costume nights so favored by our English cousins. E & J did their bit, although J's costume was modest, consisting of an Omani headdress. The Middle Eastern dinner with a mesa and a number of other Arabic dishes made getting into costume worthwhile.