East and West Africa (Port Said ~ Egypt)

December 2019

Getting to Port Said was a straightforward four hour bus trip from Alexandria that took us past wetlands, estuaries and oil processing plants. Problem was the bus dropped everybody off on the outskirts of the city not at the bus station. Initially wasn't to worried as knew Uber existed in Port Said. The big issue was that while Uber is in Port Said there is only one Uber driver and they weren't responding. Took a good half hour trying to find a taxi driver who had enough English to be able to give directions to as nobody had any idea as to locators of Hotels.

Our driver was very friendly young man called Ah'med. Know this as he wanted a video of us saying "I love you Ah'med". Given that he got us out of a pickle we obliged - just hope it never surfaces on YouTube.

In Port Said there is someone is is a big fan of the TV series Friends. Say this as there is a cafe called Central Perk which is laid out as per the one in the series with Friends related photos etc. Suffice to say we had to head there for a coffee.

Main reason for visiting is the Suez Canal. The current canal was built in the late 1800's but was fascinated to learn that canals linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea were first done about 3,000 years ago. Near the entrance to the canal stans an empty plinth where once a statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the architect of the canal, stood. It was removed when the canal was nationalised by the Egyptians and given the shenanigans that we learned about that occured can't say I blame them.

Visiting the local museum highlighted the conflicts over the Suez Canal over the last 50 years and have to say Israel, England and France have quite a bit to answer for. Didn't realize that a secret agreement between these three was cooked up and called the Protocol of Sèvres. In a nutshell the plan was for Israel to attack the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt would retaliate, England and France would join in as the fighting was a "threat to stability of the region" and take control of the canal. Suffice to say this didn't quite go to plan.

You can cross the Suez Canal on a free ferry which takes you from Port Said in West Africa to Port Faud in East Africa - quite cool.

A handful of buildings built during the era of the construction of the canal still exist but are slowly disintegrating. Sadly the general philosophy regarding maintenance is don't do any thing until you need to and then do the bare minimum. A pity as some if them ooze character and style.

Had a wander on the beach to the west of the canal entrance and was tempted to go for a paddle until I saw the contents of the nets of the local fishermen.  Really not a fan of Jellyfish. Stuck around to check out their catch. A good sized haul of shrimp and anchovy sized fish.

This section of the coast is definitely setup for local tourists as there are a huge number of resorts. Judging by the number of people who wanted selfies taken with us in them I am guessing that European tourists are still  a novelty in this area.

We have found that one side effect of the French occupying an area is that they leave a legacy of their food. In Madagascar it was foi gras,  in Mauritius it was boulangeries (mmm curry in a baguette) and in Port Said it was patisseries  - really, really good and cheap pastries.

From here we head to Cairo...