Lake Manzala

To the east of Damietta lies Lake Manzala, the largest of the lagoons along the north of the Delta (area 700 sq.mi/1,800 sq. km). Here in ancient times the Mendesian and Tanitic arms of the Nile flowed into the Mediterranean, the former at El-Diba and the latter at the Eshtum el-Gamel Channel. Their courses can still be traced by the fluvial deposits and by the mounds of rubble which mark the sites of settlements built on their banks.

Between the lake and the sea is a very narrow spit of land along which a poor road (improvement planned) runs to Port Said. Two narrow passages, the Eshtum Hadawi and the Eshtum el-Gamel, link the lake with the sea. Lake Manzala the area of which has been reduced by a third during the last 50 years by drainage and reclamation is the haunt of great hosts of pelicans, great white egrets, storks, flamingos and other waterfowl. Only the northern part of the lake is navigable to any extent by flat bottomed boats; the southern part consists of shallow brackish water and marshland.