Suez Canal

After leaving Safaga, we cruised north through the Gulf of Suez, seeing lots of oil rigs and stark mountains Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the east side of the Gulf. Arriving late evening near the Suez Canal entrance, we waited for our turn to enter, which happened about 5 a.m. Our Captain initially thought 4 a.m. would be our entry time, so I got up an hour earlier than necessary, but oh well. The canal is very narrow, compared to the Panama Canal. Since there is no elevation change from the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Suez, there are no locks along the 120.1-mile-long canal. Built from 1859-1869 as a single channel ship canal, there are two bypasses that allow north-

and southbound ships to pass each other: Great Bitter Lake and Ballah Bypass. Ballah was widened in 2016 to speed up transit time. New cities are being built along the canal; there are floating bridges to allow for temporary canal crossings; there are ferry services; new mosques; and lots of guard/watch towers. We exited the Canal around 4 pm, after celebrating our way through the afternoon, and were excited to see the Mediterranean Sea. Later that evening, we received our official Certicates of Transit. Cheers!