Red Sea, en route for Safaga, Egypt

Yesterday evening, the National Geographic Explorer passed through the straits of Bab El Mandeb and entered the Red Sea. Behind us are the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Since leaving Cape Town at the beginning of March, we have enjoyed an eventful season in the Indian Ocean. Most recently, since leaving Dar es Salaam on 21 April we have endured a five-day passage through pirate patrolled waters off the coast of Somalia.

We were well prepared, but few of us could have anticipated the day-to-day reality of our journey. We had made changes to the vessel – fire hoses rigged and razor wire festooning potential access points. There were some unfamiliar faces, in the form of the private security guards here to add their expertise to our own. We had planned and drilled for the possible scenarios. Our engineers kept the vessel running at full speed – advice suggested that there were very few pirate attacks on vessels travelling at speeds in excess of 15 knots; our speed did not drop below 16 knots.

After all the preparations, perhaps because of some of our preparations, we did not encounter anything or anyone hostile. Not that the journey was boring. While there was to be no braking for wildlife in these waters, the extra watchful eyes on the bridge and decks could not help but notice a range of seabirds and marine mammals. Even a couple of stowaways were not unwelcome - a bright green gecko had made its way on board sometime when we were docked further south and is now a long way from home, while a willow warbler took a brief rest on board during its northbound spring migration from Africa to Northern Europe.

And we were constantly reminded that while we were fortunate, others around us were less so. We passed a tanker recently released by pirates after being held for six months, now attended by a US navy vessel. On two occasions we heard the frantic VHF radio calls from the crew of vessels under attack. So it was not the most relaxed atmosphere on board and there was a collective sigh of relief when we entered the Red Sea. We dismantled our defenses and life could begin to return to the more normal routines of life on board and preparation for our arrival in Egypt.