Safaga and Egypt - April 11

Red Sea Rendezvous

Yesterday we docked in the small port of Safaga. For most of the ship (over 1,000 passengers) this is the gateway to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. It will be a 3 ½ hour bus ride to Luxor - all the buses will be in convoy for security purposes. Since we had the Nile cruse only a few years ago, with Bob Carlson, my sister, and brother-in-law, we opt for an easy drive up the coast to Hagada where we will be ferried to a submarine (yes, a yellow submarine) to see the fish and corals of the Red Sea - up close.

Fish to view - thanks to food from the Diver

Red Sea Yellow Submarines

Haghada Views

There is really nothing to see in Safaga, but Haghada only ½ hour away has 200 hotels, and is a tourist  destination for many Europeans. The temperature is in the high 70s, with a pleasant breeze. The drive between the two cities is desert - not surprising since 90 percent of Egypt is desert. There is trash along the road - our guide explains that the hotels have not gone into recycling yet, and eventually, most of the trash will be buried. We have heard that the tourists taking the Nile cruise are down 90 percent. Not surprisingly unemployment is high. We learn that after over 200 people filled applications to be President of Egypt, they have narrowed the field to 23. Elections are expected soon.


With everyone traveling, movies are being shown in place of the usual shows and performers on the Queen Elizabeth. Two great films yesterday - Limitless and My Week with Marilyn. Norm and Nancy take note.

By now we are safely out of the pirate-risk zone. We have had a lecture on the defensive measures that can be taken. The U.N. taskforce has already issued version number 4 of a best practices memo for ships transiting the risk area. During the period we were in the danger zone, we ran with all lower deck lights extinguished or hidden. There was a LRAD (Long range Acoustic Device) deployed in the stern of the ship, which can focus particularly annoying sounds at a potential enemy. Fire hoses were deployed - to knock pirates off ladders, and we had a ship-manned security force and observers. The pirates are in the hostage negotiation business. Our ship would not have been an attractive target - and Cunard wanted to keep it that way.

Tomorrow we will be in the Gulf of Aqaba - on our way to Jordan for a trip to Petra tomorrow. This should be one of the highlights of the trip.  The mountains of the Sinai are massive, They will be coming down to the water’s edge as we sail up the Gulf toward the port of Aqaba - Jordan’s only seaport.