Isolating in Port Ghalib, Egypt

Gaviota
Mon 6 Apr 2020 10:22

25:32.001N 34:38.707E


Its been 3+ long weeks since we arrived in Port Ghalib, Egypt and we have watched the place empty as tourists have left on the only available flights out, hotels, restaurants and shops have closed and locals left to be with their families mainly in Luxor or Cairo. Now we are in a ghost town along with the locals who live here and about 8 yachts that have people of a variety of nationalities stranded here.


Our initial plan had been to leave the boat here and travel around Egypt to see the sites which we were very much looking forward to, now all the sites are closed, Port Ghalib is surrounded by road blocks and the whole area including the Port is closed.


We feel very lucky that we got in here when we did as other yachts have been less lucky and are currently having to continue sailing in all weather conditions some without food and water as Ports are refusing them entry. The Suez Canal is still open – at this time – but Pilots are beginning to refuse taking pleasure yachts through. Everyone is scared. Plus once out the other side all the Ports in the Med are also closed!


On the plus side, we are safe, we have plenty of food – there are 3 small supermarkets within walking distance which stock most things, there are still 2 restaurants semi open mainly for take away, there is a huge desert to isolate and run in and I am swimming in the clean, clear sea every day though the strong Northerly wind makes it pretty cold coming out. The sun shines every day and temperatures are beginning to warm up now.  Plus the wildlife and fishlife here are thriving, really good to see.

Port Ghalib was built by a Kuwaiti billionaire and was his dream, it was a pretty remarkable project building a whole new community in the desert, he first built the Airport - Marsa Alam then started building what was to be the largest Marina in the Red Sea plus a whole Town where I guess he hoped foreigners and wealthy locals would want to live.  He built a state of the art Hospital, Schools and Mosques.  Sadly he died half way through the project and his family did not see his vision so the place remains partly finished and parts of it have a run down air to them now.  The main tourist activity here is diving so the huge 1000 berth Marina houses about 20 large liveaboard dive boats, there are 3 enormous resort Hotels on the Coast' beaches and sheltered sun bathing areas were cut into the reef which surrounds the whole of the coastline and these beaches are owned by the Hotels they cannot be accessed by anyone not staying in these Hotels.  The Hotels now are empty but the beaches are still closed, you cannot even walk along by the sea as guards patrol.  Road blocks have been put in place around Port Ghalib since the Coronavirus panic and now after over 21 days the whole Town is just about as safe a place in the World as you could find.

On the down side the strong winds which blow here most days mainly from the North have been cold (Ug boots have been worn most nights!), if the winds blow off the desert they are full of sand which covers the exterior and interior of the boat with a fine layer which is pretty impossible to do anything about other than clean every day.  Breathing this sand in is another issue and doing any form of exercise while these sand filled winds are blowing is a serious health hazard.  We are plagued by flies, strange as there is little vegetation around but locals say this is normal when the temperatures start rising before the punishing Summer temperatures begin and a fly swatting frenzy is a normal daily activity!  My swimming has been prevented on several occasions by swarms of purple jellyfish which I have been told by one of the divers here do not sting (they all dive in thick wetsuits so not sure I believe them!)


The ‘Marina’ - I put this in quotes as it has absolutely no facilities. We were told when we arrived that we could use all the facilities of the nearby Marina Lodge Hotel – problem was they did not tell the Manager who refuses anyone off yachts to go anywhere near the place! The only showers available are in the Dive Centre below the Hotel and they are filthy and do not have hot water. Add to that the ladies showers are locked so only the men are allowed to wash! There is no laundry either. Marina staff are completely useless and Syd had a pretty violent row with one particular individual who told us to put up our yellow Q flag when we had already cleared Quarantine and been in the Marina for over 2 weeks.


Now the Port is closed and there is a night curfew between 7.00pm and 6.00am which is absolutely no problem as there is nothing to do at night and during the day we are more or less allowed to do what we want solitarily other than leave as there are road blocks in place.


On a good note, Syd has had fun taking the generator to pieces in the hope that we can get up to Hurghada and get it repaired, he has tackled several other smaller jobs plus repaired a hole in the dinghy and replaced the outboard clamping plate. There are always jobs, at present he is upended in the bilge cleaning!  The interior of the boat has reverted to a workshop once more.


Our current unplanned plan is to check if Hurghada Port is still open and if it is to leave here after our month is up and sail up there and hopefully get the generator fixed and get to look at a different view!  This may or not happen!



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