Sinai

Going through the Suez Canal, you need to have a pilot. A pilot is someone who directs you through the Canal. The Suez Canal connects Europe and Asia as a shortcut without having to go all the way around Africa.The boats have to pay a hefty sum to go through. Believe me, it's corrupt! When you go through the Suez Canal, you really don't know how long you will be in there. It could take one day or two weeks. It's really up to Egypt and what they feel like doing that day. Definitely, if there is a warship coming through you need to stop the boat and wait for at least a day. They have the right of way, as they should.

The pilot we had on our boat told us we could get all the way through in one afternoon. Matthias was very happy which is very good because when he is not happy it is scary! There is no in between with him. He is either at 1 or 10. His anger will escalate in a split second over the littlest things. It was very strange. Anyway, the pilot was to ride with us to one stop and another pilot would get on there and guide us through the rest of they way. As it turned out we were basically giving the guy a ride home. And, there was no other pilot to meet us there. Matthias's joy was short lived :>(

So, we waited a couple of days till someone came to guide us through the rest of the way. I was having a ball. Every little thing was an adventure to me.When we were in open waters, I could see Israel from the distance as well as Egypt. The feeling of actually seeing such ancient places that are in the Bible was indescribable. I mean, these are places that most people only hear about on television or in books. It was so cool to actually be there in the Red Sea viewing both places at one time!!!

Did you know that Egypt is one of the most beautiful places in the world for scuba diving? Our Captain was also a scuba diver, which comes in handy when you work on a boat for a living. Usually the family enjoys doing that when they are on holiday. A few hours after we had been out to Sea, we needed to anchor so that Matthias could dive under the boat and make sure everything was in tact and safe to make a voyage across the Red Sea into the Mediterranean. The place we anchored in the Sea was so beautiful! I took the opportunity to go for my first swim. The water was so clear and warm. It was only April but, it was soooo hot in Egypt. Just startin to get my tan on for the rest of the summer. Maan, you get black over there. At least I did !! :0) You could just about sit inside and get a tan. That's how strong the sun is there.