World Tour Leg 19 - Sidi Barrani to Alexandria

I couldn't find any suitable job and I wanted to leave behind the desert as soon as I could. So I decided to fly alone from Sidi Barrani towards Alexandria. About 220 nm along the egyptian coast and great weather. So, why not? I took off from runway 16R and quickly climbed to 5500 ft., at 1700 ft./min. I turned towards the east and soon catch the shoreline, following it, and highway 40, for the whole flight.

The first waypoint is Mersa Matruh, a city born as a small fishing village in the ancient Egypt. Nowadays it attracts a lot of tourism due to its beautiful beaches and clear blue water.

My next "stop" is El Alamein, famous location due to two battles that took place here during World War II, with victory for the Allies that prevented the Axis to advance further into Alexandria and Cairo. Nowadays, it contains the so called Marina Lake, a portion of water full of luxury houses and holidays apartments.

And from this point, green fields begin to contrast with the sand. In few miles it's obvious I'm approaching the Nile delta, populated since several thousand years ago. From the air it's easy to understand why one of the most important settlements in history happened in this place. I cannot wait to fly over the Nile river.

The visual approach to runway 04 of HEAX is one of the most beautiful ones I have flown until now. The contrast between the grass, sand and water, together with the buildings around the airport, made the final really interesting. Finally with METAR.

Now, time to rest, walk around Alexandria and learn something about this famous city. My idea is to cross the delta to Port Said, to see the Suez canal, then turn back towards Cairo, to see the pyramids, and then follow the Nile river till Abu Simbel. Obviously, this is not the more efficient route for a world tour, but I don't want to miss the opportunity of flying along such a historical location.

------

Technical details:

SQK - HEAX

MARSA-MATRUH EL-ALAMEIN

Distance: 220 nm

Average GS: 200 kt

Average alt.: 5500 ft.

METAR:

N/A
HEAX 231500Z 34009KT 9999 FEW020 20/13 Q1011 NOSIG