El-Ain El-Sukhna

Cairo’s nearest beach ...just an hour to reach

EL-Ain EL-Sukhna: the Arabic for “ hot spring” was named after the nearby sulphur springs .It is also an ideal site for fishing and water sports.

Ain El Sukhna is about 140 km east of Cairo, just an hour away by car. It offers Cairenes recreational time, handy respite from the city’s fast paced life .

The area is 40 km south of the port of Suez and is administratively part of the Suez Governorate. Its territory extends along the Red Sea shoreline for about 60 km from the southern borders of Ras El Adebbya in the north to Ras El Zaafarana in the south.

Close enough to Cairo for a day-trip, this popular weekend resort has fine beaches and coves, coral reefs, fishing and water sports.

This is not just a destination for people wanting a suntan and a week at the beach. It is also a place where you can indulge in history. There is ample evidence that the area had its place in history. It includes a famous group of the world’s oldest monasteries west of Zafarana on the road to Kuraymat.

The most celebrated ones are those of St. Anthony (c. 251 -356), the founding father of monasticism, and St. Paul, which were built more than 16 centuries ago.

Rituals followed inside the monasteries today have hardly changed in hundreds of years.

A group of historians also believe the northern part of the Mount of Galala El Bahareya was the point from which Moses and the Israelites crossed in their exodus from Egypt’s mainland into the Sinai Peninsula. They cite in their claims the fact that the bottom of the Gulf of Suez at this point is elevated.

As the main route to the Indies for Ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians, the Red Sea and its shores and ports also have a rich maritime history.

The area is known for its mild climate all year round. Temperatures range between a high of 32 degrees celsius and a low of 9 degrees in January and show a variation of between 36 degrees and 30 degrees in July .

The average rate of humidity is 50 percent. It ranges between a maximum of 72 percent and a minimum 48 percent in December and shows a variation between 58 percent in May .

Rainfall occurs largely in winter months.
The average number of days having rainfall is 11 days a year, with the rain season spanning the November- May period.
The average amount of rainfall stands at about 24 mm . Winds mainly blow from the north and the northwest gusting at an average.

Flora and Fauna paragon of wildlife.
In spite of the low amounts and frequencies of rainfall, the usual desert growth of perennials and grasses is found.

The Eastern Desert receives spares rainfall, which supports a varied vegetation that includes tamariskaccacia and markh ( a leafless, thorn less tree with bare branches and slendertwigs ) as well as great variety of thorny shrub, small succulent , and romantic herbs .

Date and doum palms,both cultivated and sub spontaneous are found in the Oasis.Desert animals include dorcas gazelle , the miniature desert fox , the mountain goat ibex , the Egyptian hare and two kinds of jerboa( a mouse- like rodent with long hind legs for jumping)the Egyptian jackal and still exists.

There are two carnivorous mammals: species of wildcats and the striped Egyptian mongoose.

Several varieties of lizards are found, including the large monitor. Because Egypt is rich in its bird life and many birds pass through in large numbers
On their spring and autumn migrations, the area has its good share of more than 200 migrating types as well a more than 150 resident birds.

Lammergeir and golden eagles are residents of the Eastern desert and Sinai. Resident desert birds are a distinct category, numbering about 24 kinds.

That exquisite corridor of tinted mountain and radiant water ...here and nowhere else is the vestibule between the Levant and the Topics ..." E.M.Forster describing the Gulf of Suez, 1923.

The area’s topography bestows on it a special lure and charm. It lies in one of the three tires of the eastern desert -the Red Sea Hills and Red Sea Coastal plain.This tier runs from near Suez to the Sudanese border.

The Hills are not a continuous range but consist of sets of interlocking systems more or less alignment. They are geographical complex, with igneous and metamorphic rocks .

As such, it is regarded by Encyclopaedia Britannica as " a sub-region in itself . Ain El Sukhna is famed for two mountains that have religious significance: Attaqa, which rises more than 800 above sea leveland hems in the valleys (wadis ) of Hogouland Chuwaiba.

Galala El Bahareya , the southern periphery of the area , which rises to more than 1,200 m and embarces the valleys of Kuthaib ( 75sq,km), Abul-dorg (68.5sq,km)and smaller ones such as ElMalha and Gar El Malha.

These mountains and valleys constitute a main component in the area’s attractiveness for tourists and local holiday-makers.

There are marks and signs showing that this area had its niche in the annals of history.The 4th century monasteries of St. Anthony the Great and St. Paul in the Eastern Desert, not far from Zafarana, are celebrated as the world’s oldest.
A group of historians believe it was around this area on the Red Sea that Moses and Israelites crossed into the Sinai in their exodus from Egypt.
As the main route to the Indies for ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians, the Red Sea and its shores and ports have a rich maritime history.

The area could be reached by land through one of the following highways & roads:
- The Cairo - Suez Highway 110 km
- The Qattameya - Ein El Sukhna Highway 95 km
- The Kuramat - Zafaran Road 120 km
- The Hurgada - Zafarana Road 320 km
- The Suez - Ain El Sukhna Road 40 km

Our source is :

http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/LastPage.aspx?Category_ID=452