The Suez Canal

The Suez Canal was opened in 1869 after ten years of construction.  It is an artificial sea-level waterway which connects the Red Sea in the south with the Mediterranean Sea in the north.  It runs through Egypt with the Sinai Peninsula its western border.  For centuries before it was opened there were many attempts to develop a waterway to connect Europe with India, SE Asia, China and the west coast of Africa.  Prior to its opening ships had to travel around the horn of Africa or overland through the deserts of the Middle East.  There are no locks as the transit is at sea level and it is 120 miles long from Port Tewfik (city of Suez) on the Red Sea to Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea.  The transit takes 11-16hours and the maximum speed is 8knots.  We were told that the minimum fee per transit is $150,000 and the maximum can be as much as $300,000.  This is calculated by a complicated formula based on size, cargo and in the case of cruise ships cabins and passenger size.  

We entered the canal at the southern most city of Suez.  On the west side of the canal was this well established city while on the Sinai side it seemed to be mostly desert.  For the most part the eastern side of the canal was desert all the way except in places were the Egyptian government is trying to establish new communities (cities???).  One is planned to be common an IT mega city!

After running around the ship from bow to stern for an hour or two we retreated to our cabin to enjoy breakfast and watch the desert roll by.   You can tell we are on the starboard as our view most of the day from our suite was that of the desert--Sinai Penisula.