Winter 2003

16
A trip to Egypt continued...
that we would have reached the top if we walked, at
least not during the daylight heat. It was hard work
for the camels to follow the steep path. Normally,
these desert ships are used to trampling on sand and
dunes from oasis to oasis. I was afraid that the camel
would lose its balance, on the mountain slopes with
no barriers at the sides. We preferred to climb the last
700 m. About 3 hours after leaving the valley we got
to the top of the mountain and could observe a
beautiful sunrise. During darkness you can see the
Milky Way with uncountable stars clear and bright.
On Sinai the atmosphere is still without dirt and dust
and free of diffusing lights from urban centers. From
the Sinai mountains it was still a
6-hour drive across the desert, along the Gulf of Suez
and finally through a 3 km long tunnel under the
Suez Canal back to Cairo, only interrupted by a visit
to some Bedouins somewhere in the desert.
The Bedouins who originally came from Saudi
Arabia use the Arabian language, but it is obviously a
dialect making it sometimes difficult for our
Egyptian driver to understand them. There are many
scorpions in the desert, but this seems to be no
problem for the Bedouins. We were told that women
grind down the sting to a paste and then rub their
breast with it. So, the children absorb small portions
of the poison together with the mother milk making
them resistant. For snakes it is different. They use a
plant they find in the desert and place it around the
area they would like to stay. The snakes do not like
the smell and move away. If nevertheless, a poisonous
snake bites a Bedouin he has a problem. Our driver
added: Life is hard in the desert.
The flight back to Hamburg was booked for the
following day. Just as the aircraft was ready for take
off on the runway, the captain informed us about a
minor problem. It should only take 15 minutes to
solve the problem. The aircraft then returned to the
original waiting position. Some time later it was
reported that it should only take another 30 minutes
and so on. Technicians came and left. Finally, buses
appeared on the scene to take us first to the terminal
and then to a nearby hotel to have lunch. Finally, we
left Cairo in the afternoon. To the relief of EgyptAir
I have to add that - apart from this delay - everything
went perfect on this very interesting trip.
NORD NEWS Winter 2003
Mr. Rüdiger Knust
Senior Postfixture Manager,
Hamburg office
News from our
ships
Some of our crew
got the opportunity
to visit a tribal village
in Mombasa, Kenya.
In the picture 2/0
Trifonov is being
“honoured” as the
tribal chief crowned
him with traditional
headwear.
BBQ Party NORDLIGHT June 2003
EPIRB's save lives
NORDPACIFIC was sailing in the English
Channel when she was asked by the local Rescue
Co-ordination Centre to go to the position of an
EPIRB signal. Once at the position a search was
made and eventually the upturned hull of a yacht
was found. A helicopter and lifeboat taking part
in the search were directed to the scene and they
put divers into the water. Inside the hull of the
yacht two trapped crewmembers were found and
subsequently rescued. This whole incident shows
how effective an EPIRB can be especially as it
took place at night and in gale force winds. As
the Master of NORDPACIFIC, Capt Grant,
commented afterwards - "that to be involved in
such an event shows however long you have been
at sea you are never too old to learn new things".