We were all getting quite excited that we are now going to have something more than sea to look at. The plan was that we were to arrive in Suez at around 9.30 pm, drop anchor while we bunker and top up with fuel. In the morning we start our transit of the canal. Just when we thought nothing else could happen, at the end of the show in the princess theatre, Mark our cruise director comes out and announces “I’ve got some news” dead silence fell around the theatre, “A tug has sunk at the mouth of the bitter lake so the authorities want us to start our transit tonight as they are going to close the canal while they remove it.....” The silence was broken with laughter as everyone thought for sure that this was one of those jokes because of all our mishaps.... “People, I’m not joking” Mark said. And with that, Garry and I jumped out of our seats and raced up on deck to check out what was happening.... sure enough the anchor was pulled up and we were slowly making our way to the entrance in our convoy... As nice as it was to see Suez town all lit up at night it did not make it conducive to taking any pictures... But not much you can do..... Our transit was only to the Bitter Lake where we waited till morning when the authorities said we could continue.
Luckily the most scenic part of the transit is between Bitter Lake and Port Said. Once again we watched as we passed the lush green banks of the Nile side and sandy arid side if the Sinai. This time we found a much larger military presence along the way ... even a few helicopter fly bys.
Our little group found a couple of tables near the ice cream bar and spent the day enjoying the sights and each other company.... Life is good...
At around 3 pm we exited the canal and headed out to the Mediterranean Sea where we then anchored for a few hours while we refuelled. Only one more sea day then we hit Crete ...... as the Greeks would say Epitelos.....
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