Desert and oasis brochure

EGYPT
Deserts
& Oases
All oases of the
Western Desert

contents
P.6-9 WELCOME TO THE DESERT

P.10-11 OASES
P.12-13 FAYOUM OASIS
P.14-15 BAHARIYA OASIS
P.16-17 FARAFRA OASIS
P.18-19 DAKHLA OASIS
P.20-21 KHARGA OASIS
P.22-23 SIWA OASIS

P.24-25 SUGGESTIOn OF TOURS
P.26-27 SHORT TRIPS

P.28-29 LOnG TRIPS

P.30-31 ExPEDITIOnS

P.32-33 DESERT ALTERnATIvES
jOURnEYS THAT CAn BE MIxED
WITH MORE GEnERAL HOLIDAYS In EGYPT

P.34-35 7-day tour WHALE vALLEY & BEYOnD

P.36-37 8-day tour QATTARA DEPRESSIOn
& THE nORTH COAST

P.38-39 10-day tour THE SAnD SEA OASES

P.40-41 13-day tour ROCK ART In THE WESTERn DESERT

P.42-43 14-day tour SAILInG THE SAnD SEA

P.44-45 19-day tour WESTERn DESERT GRAnD TOUR

P.46-50 BEDOUIn LIFE & LORE In THE DESERT

P.51 THE DESERT ASSOCIATIOn: EDK

P.52-53 PRACTICAL InFORMATIOn

P.54 DO’S & DOn’TS

P.55 EGYPT GEnERAL MAP
5

Deserts
&Oases
EGYPT G
UIDE

Welcome to the
The desert is one of the mysterious places on earth where normal
rules about living are suspended and even absent. More like the
sea than any comparable landmass the desert stretches away to
the horizon blinking as if it is its opposite- a giant lake- but of course
this is just a mirage. To visit the desert is to plunge into a place of
marvels.

Monastic and spiritual folk have trav-
eled to the desert since the begin-
ning of history to get away from dis-
tractions of life to find a communion
between man and the natural world
in all its awe, wonder and vastness.
Some of those ancient monaster-
ies are still inhabited in the Egyptian
desert still far from ‘civilization’.
Sand dunes near Bahariya

The desert is above all a clean place-
there are, once you leave the oases,
no mosquitoes and no flies, and
the ground is as clean as antisep-
tic- when a Bedouin cuts his foot he
will rub sand in the wound to hasten
healing as sand in the deep desert is
as clean and bacteria free as things
get.

The sheer variety of the Egyptian
Sahara is staggering. It is the most
varied desert on the planet. Unlike
the endless gravel plains of Libya,
the Egyptian desert landscape can
change abruptly from steep lines
of seif dune to rocky canyons to
vertiginous escarpments to plains
dotted with strange conical hills to
sand sheets that seem to stretch for
ever only to end in a confusion of star
dunes after a distance.

The variety is endless which is why
walking is always fascinating in the
The White Desert

desert
Egyptian desert. At first the very lack of
anything apparent causes one to fo-
cus and open up. In our busy modern

WELCOME TO THE DESERT
lives we close ourselves off to survive,
but in the desert we return to our pri-
meval state where every rock, flower
and flying bird is of vital interest.

Then, after a while, you begin to see
that desert is not a dead world, an
empty world at all- it is overflowing
with things to find and look at: fos-
sils, flint scrapers, lizards, beetles,
diminutive fennec foxes with their
huge ears, falcons, petrified wood,
The Black Desert

pottery, acacia trees clinging to life,
ochre deposits, pre-historic shark’s
remains- the list goes on- the desert
is a place of marvels just waiting to
be found.
Egypt is 95% desert. Yet for much
of its history Egypt has been the
story of the fertile 5% that lies
The White Desert alongside the river nile.
stone axes and spear heads left More and more, though, people
behind from when the entire desert are beginning to value the over-
was a wetter savannah; grinding looked desert, this great wilder-
stones, ostrich egg shells, 5000 year ness which is a place of incred-
old rock art paintings and carvings, ible beauty and wild solitude.
old camel route markers, Roman

The White Desert
7

BASIC FEATURES ABOUT EGYPT AnD ITS DESERTS

Where did all the sand come from? years generated what might be
Scientists have yet to fully agree on thought of as the world’s biggest beach.
this one. Some of the current theories The sea came inland as far as the oasis
include the idea that the constant of Bahariya, which is over 300km
growth and then shrinkage of the from the current Mediterranean coast
Mediterranean over the last 70 million of Egypt, and then retreated.

Wadi Hamra

WILDLIFE In THE DESERT

The animals you expect to see in big ears help keep it cool without
the desert are not the ones you will sweating.
see. Most people expect to see You can also expect to see pad
snakes and scorpions- when in fact footed geckos and other desert
these are rare, very rare in the deep lizards. Beetles with elongated legs
desert. You are much more likely to to keep them above the hot sand.
see falcons wheeling in the sky or Weddan, or wild sheep, still exist
a jerboa, a small rodent, hopping down near Uweinat and the Gilf
along. Deeper into the desert, espe- Kebir. Ibex, long horned deer, are
cially at old campsites, you may get still seen in the Eastern desert, some
a shy visit from a Fennec fox, whose as near as twenty kilometers from
Cairo.
P E O P L E I n T H E D E S E R T

In the Oases people are the same from North West Africa. The differ-
stock and same traditions as the ent oases have different mixes- for
people of the nile- broadly speak- example in Siwa the culture is very
ing. Mixed with them and influenc- different since the majority are orig-
ing them are Arab Bedouin from inally of Berber origin.
the East, and Berbers originally

Dakhla

E x P L O R E R S O F T H E D E S E R T

German, Egyptian, British and Ital- tient” and Major Ralph Bagnold of
ian explorers have all played their Britain drove for thousands of miles
part in discovering the secrets of the in adapted Model A Fords through
Sahara in recent times. One of the country no one had ever seen for
most prominent was Gerhard Rohlfs many years, and certainly never
who attempted to reach the Libyan mapped.
Oasis of Kufra from Dakhla in 1874. Modern explorers of the desert have
In the end he turned north to Siwa tended to relinquish the car for the
after receiving a rare two days of camel and walking on foot. Ger-
rain at a place forever after named man Carlo Bergmann and Dutch-

WELCOME TO THE DESERT
Regenfeld- rainfield. woman Arita Baaijens have used
After Rohlfs came the aristocratic camels to track thousand of miles
Egyptian explorer Hassanein Bey, along ancient camel routes that
whose six month journey from Siwa have long been disused.
past Uweinat and into the Sudan
ranks as one of the greatest des-
ert journeys of all time. Hassanein
Bey was not only the first explorer to
visit Uweinat, he was also the first to
glimpse the Gilf Kebir. At the same
time, using half tracked vehicles,
the Egyptian Royal, Prince Kemal
Al-Din made the first extensive jour-
neys around the Gilf Kebir plateau,
which he named and was the first
to map.
Tracked vehicles were followed by
the motor car. Explorers such as
Count Laszlo Almasy of Hungary-
the real life model for the book and
movie character “The English Pa-
The White Desert

TIMInG In THE DESERT

One day can be all you need to get fuel and water. But even on this, the
a real taste of the desert. longest time you are likely to spend
You can walk up a dune and feel in the desert you will still not feel it
the true emptiness of the place even is quite long enough...
when you are only a few kilometer
from the road. But most would agree
that you have to spend at least one
night in the desert to get its real fla-
vour. See the incredible night sky; sit
by the fire and next morning watch
the sun rise in all its glory.
Longer trips of a few days are even
better as you will have a chance
to learn something of the stars and
see how varied the desert is. no trip,
however, is likely to last more than
two weeks without restocking on
Bedouin fire camp

9

the
Oases
Travel in the Egyptian desert is much as it does anywhere in
divided between the deep des- this interconnected world, and
ert and the Oases. The Oases for this the desert traveler should
are in the low parts of the des- be grateful. Kids still wave at you
ert, nearer to the water table. and smile, people will still want
Each oasis sits in its own hollow to talk to you- simply to be your
or depression, which can be friend rather than to score some
thousands of kilometers in area. money. Indeed in the Oases it
pays to leave behind your cyni-
cal hardened traveler exterior
and take people as they come.
Within the Oases themselves

Dakhla

Each oasis has its own char-
acter- which you will discern
when you visit. Fayoum, with its
extensive fields and gardens,
and proximity to Cairo, is very
different in feel to Siwa with its
originally Berber population and
isolated position.

The Oases are all, however,
away from the hurly burly of mass
tourism and mass employment.
Time stands still in the Oases, as
Dakhla Oasis

THE OASES
Siwa Ecolodge Adrere Amellal

people are not so sophisticated
as to inflate prices much- the
hagglers here are amateurs
compared to the Bazaars of
Cairo.
For entertainment you can seek
out Bedouin music- which can
Dakhla Oasis

be marvelous and improvised,
hot springs, ancient monu-
ments, temples and fortresses,
museums and crafts.

just walking the streets of any
oasis is an act of exploration as
you learn about a culture alien
to your own, living in one of the
driest places in the world.

Bahariya Oasis

Dakhla Oasis The White Desert

11

El Fayoum
The Fayoum as it is known is the huge lake, which on a rough day looks
only artificial oasis, created not very much like the sea that gives the
by water springing forth from the special character to the Fayoum. The
ground but by a long canal, natu- lake used to be major place for duck
rally formed by the flooding Nile, hunting and the hotels on its southern
that dates from Biblical times, called shore hosted such luminaries as Win-
Joseph’s canal. ston Churchill and King Farouk as they
This stretches from the nile to the took pot shots at flying birds. Though
great lake of Birket Qarun. It is this there is still some duck shooting there

Lake Qarun

is far more bird watching both on this there is also the monastery of
lake and the nearby Wadi Rayyan Wadi Rayyan where modern day
another artificially created expanse monks carry on the traditions of
of water. their forebears who originally dug
rock caves here at the dawn of
Lake Qarun was a freshwater lake Christianity.
until recent times. This has been
proven by the fish skeletons and At the visitor centre of Wadi Rayyan
freshwater plankton remains found it is possible to view the lake which
is often favoured by birds migrat-

EL FAYOUM OASIS
in mud deposits. In ancient times
the flood of the Nile was powerful ing south and north from Africa
enough to charge the lake with new to Egypt who glimpse this vast
water. However since the 1900s, stretch of water as a natural rest-
when the British introduced both a ing place.
dam at Aswan (anticipating the
later high dam) and a system of Away to the west of the Fayoum
irrigation by more extensive ca- is the Whale Valley, which is part
nalization along the nile, the wa- of a tour described later in this
ter entering the lake has been guide.
more run off from agriculture than For now it should be mentioned
fresher water direct from the nile. that Whale valley, or Wadi Hitan,
The growth in salinity means the contains some of the best pre-
fish now caught in Lake Qarun are served fossil skeletons of extinct
predominantly sea fish introduced whales anywhere in the world.
from the Mediterranean. Huge and strange this haunting
place is well worth a visit.
In the Fayoum Oasis itself you will
find a reasonably modern central
town surrounded by masses of
palm tree plantations. There are
ancient water wheels to view and
plenty of ruins of Pharaonic and
Roman origin- some in the desert
north of Lake Qarun.

Camels do a lot of the donkey
work, so to speak, these being
oasis camels that live on green
fodder known as birseem rather
than on the tangled thorns of the
desert.

Fayoum includes the protected
area of Wadi Rayyan, a desert
area that surrounds two lakes con-
nected by a small waterfall the
only one in the Egyptian desert. As
well as wadis and hills to explore
Wadi Hitan

13

Bahariya
Bahariya feels like the first real springing up with safaris tailored to
desert oasis in Egypt. match the growing breed of travel-
lers out to do more than stand and
You reach it after a four or five stare.
hour’s drive from Cairo along a
well made road that sees a bit of At Bahariya itself the main town
tanker traffic but little else. There is you drive through is Bawati. There
only one stop en route-a barn-like are other smaller villages clustered
tea house-after 150km (and a small- within the depression of the oasis,
er one about 10km further on) and many of them mentioned in Ro-
that is it. It was on the right hand side man times. Bahariya has been
of the road, in the direction of Wadi inhabited for many centuries
Natrun, that French Flyer Antoine de and it was here that the so called
Saint Exupery crashed in 1935. Sur- Golden Mummies were unearthed
viving on a half pint of coffee and a few years ago.
an orange Exupery survived- and
later wrote about the experiences
in the marvelous desert book ‘‘Wind,
Sand and Stars’’.

Being relatively near to Cairo
Bahariya has attracted a number of
foreigners over the years in search
of peace and desert freedom. They
have started, or been involved with,
the several eco-spiritual companies

Mummies in Bahariya

Some of the mummy cases can All around Bawiti there are an-
be seen in the museum in Bawiti cient sites waiting to be visited.
which you drive past on the way When one tires of sightseeing the
in. There are shops selling most oasis is well equipped with hot
things- here you can buy your springs that gush from the earth
Bedouin scarf’s and rugs. and cleanse you of the sand of
desert traveling.

Temple of Alexander

BAHARIYA OASIS
On the road going in the direction
of Siwa is the temple dedicated
to Alexander- the only one that still
exists in Egypt- perhaps he came
back through Bahariya after visit-
ing the oracle at Siwa.

After the dusty atmospheric town
of Bawiti one drives through the
Black Desert, called this because
the air has oxidized the manga-
nese in the rocks making them
Golden Mummies
black.
Look out for the traditional shops
such as the bakery which is a
small blackened hole in the wall
through which hands pass to re-
ceive their daily bread.

The hills behind the town include
Gebel Dest- this was where impor-
tant dinosaur remains were found
by German paleontoligist Eric
Strommer nearly a hundred years
ago. He discovered a tyrannosau-
rus-like carnivore called Spinosau-
rus, which, if you have seen ‘‘Juras-
sic Park III’’ does battle with T-Rex
towards the end of the film. Bahariya

? DID YOU KnOW?
The Bahariya villages of
Mandisha and Zabu are
threatened by encroach-
ing sand. A huge wave of a
dune has already engulfed
many houses and now
looms over a street of small
buildings.
Hot Spring
15

Farafra
Farafra is the nearest oasis to toman, times. At first sight it seems
the White Desert. People usually as if the old mud walled, originally
visit this desert from Bahariya and Roman, fortress in town has fallen
miss out on seeing Farafra. Which into disrepair, largely washed away
is a pity as Farafra has a special by freak rainfall since the 1950s.
charm all of its own.
The other mud fortresses- nota-
The Farafronies have had their bly in Dakhla Oasis are uninhab-
number swelled in recent years ited- but despite its parlous state
by the new valleys settlement of repair the Farafra fortress still
scheme. Wells were drilled to sup- has a few families thus providing
ply with water these new farms a unique sense of continuity to the
and the population has increased ancient past of the oases.
considerably from a few thousand
in the 1980s to over 15,000 today.
Many of these people live in the
new hamlets that surround the
main town of Qasr Farafra which
now has around 5000 inhabitants.
This has led to an increase in the
number of shops on the highway
as you drive through- always a
useful thing for resupplying a des-
ert journey.

As you walk around Farafra with its
low, tin roofed buildings it is hard
to picture it in Roman, or even Ot-

Palm Trees in Farafra

Crafts of Farafra

Unlike Siwa, with its jewelry, and
Dakhla and Kharga with their ce-
ramics, there is no great craft tra-
dition celebrated in Farafra apart
from the spinning of wool- both
from camels and sheep. Unusually,
both for Egypt and the world in gen-
eral, spinning is considered a male

FARAFRA OASIS
occupation. Heavy fellows can be
seen strolling the main street twirl-
ing a spindle and bobbin as they
chat with friends and drink a glass of
mint tea. Knitting, too, as amongst
sailors, is an occupation practiced
by men as well as a few liberated
women in Farafra.

The White Desert

Farafra has its own institutions-
but they are people rather than
places. There is the ubiquitous ‘Mr
Socks’ a relative of the Bedouin
Badawi clan who bombs around
on his moped with a wooden
crate full of hand knitted socks
and other useful Bedouin type ap-
parel. The socks are great for the
desert at night and good for pad-
ding around oasis hotels when you
do not want a stray mosquito go-
ing for your ankles.

Women knitting in Farafra

Hot Springs

As in Bahariya, Farafra is well en-
dowed with hot springs. What
could be more relaxing than soak-
ing away the desert sand after a
hard safari through the White Des-
Bedouins near Farafra
ert? Bir Sitta, Well Six, is particu-
larly good for travellers, especially
if suffering a few aches and pains
from the new experience of camel
riding. The large hot bath contains
? DID YOU KnOW?
The first census of Farafra in
1892 put the population at
a mere 542 inhabitants, one
traces of sulphur which are said to
thirtieth of its current popula-
aid muscle and joint recovery.
tion.

17

Dakhla
Dakhla is among the most remote Qasr
Oases being far from both Cairo
and Luxor. Yet it is well worth the ex- Dakhla is home to many ancient
penditure in time and effort. remains, hot springs and tower-
You pass from Farafra along one ing over it – the escarpment which
of the loneliest stretches of road in dominates the skyline on the north-
Egypt. If you stop, you can stand by ern side. In the oasis town of Qasr
your silent car and hear nothing but (like many of the Oases, the main
the wind for ages. town is called Qasr after the fortress)
a Dutch lead team of locals have
It is a large oasis covering a large succeeded in almost completely
area with many small villages and rebuilding the dark mud walled old
hamlets. You will know when you town.
have arrived as many of the famers
like to wear straw hats- which you do
not see in other oases.

Dakhla is considered to be one of
the oldest inhabited places in Af-
rica, or rather Mut, its largest town
is.
Mut, which means mother in the
Ancient Egyptian tongue, is really
the mother of all dwelling places.
Houses carbon dated to 13,000 years
ago have been unearthed there. Balat City in Dakhla

This place of narrow alleys and se- been excavated, some robbed but
cret passages is one of the great as you cast your eyes further there
sights of Dakhla. Lose yourself in an are many more similar looking hills
endless labyrinth which is like some- spread throughout Dakhla.
thing out of desert sequences in
‘‘Starwars‘‘ or the movie ‘‘The Shel-
tering Sky‘‘.

DAKHLA OASIS
Deir El Haggar

Biking in Mut

To see all the antiquities in Dakhla
you can ride in the back of a pick
up, take a taxi or hitch lifts. Better,
probably, is to hire a pedal bike.
You can hire bicycles in all the Oa-
ses. Mut is no exception- though
with its wide largely empty roads it
makes for some of the best on-road
cycling in Egypt.

Dakhla

Deir El Haggar

A few kilometers before Qasr is the
intriguing Roman ruin of Deir El
Haggar. This place was once under
sand- which helped preserve the
paint on the carvings. There is some-
thing very recent about paint and to
see some that is 2000 years old is
quite amazing. One can compare
oneself to the great explorer Rolhfs
who signature can be seen quite
clearly on a column in front of the Little girl in Dakhla oasis

temple of Deir El Haggar.
But he carved it when the sand was
much higher. now cleared away to
reveal more of the temple, his graf-
? DID YOU KnOW?
Desert raiders originating in
Chad attacked Dakhla up
until the 19th century using
fiti is a good three meters above the
iron boomerangs. These are
ground. not so different in design to
Across the way from this restored the boomerangs used by the
roman temple complex are coni- Ancient Egyptians to catch
cal hills full of tombs. Some have small birds.
19

Kharga
Kharga is the largest of the Oa- In Roman times Kharga was a
ses, the administrative centre of powerful centre of activity. There
the new valley Governorate. It is are many remains along with those
also the nearest to the nile valley, of more ancient times. Since
being only two hours from Luxor. the camel’s introduction around
It has a large population of over 500BC, Kharga has been the final
70,000 people and plenty of new post on the Forty Days Road from
buildings in the centre. Sudan- along which all the trade
of East Africa used to come. Even
As you arrive the tang of dates today great caravans of camels
assaults your nose and the sight come along this route- but they
of row upon row of date palms. are mainly destined to be eaten
Though busy and modern, in once they have arrived at Cairo.
parts, Kharga still retains the ro-
mance of the desert.
Chapel Ceilings of Baga-
Pottery is one of the crafts cel- wat
ebrated in Kharga. In the main
town of Qasr there are numerous Here are the domed roofs of one
shops selling ceramic products of the best preserved Christian
as well as a pottery factory you cemeteries in the world. There
can take a tour round. You can are 263 ornate tombs and many
also get some good bargains chapels. The roof paintings are of
at Kharga’s lively bazaar or souk particular interest. Ask to see the
which is located in the southern painting that depicts the zodiac
part of Qasr town in the buzzing surrounding portraits of Mary and
Midan Showla. jesus. This very same design ap-

Paris, Egypt

It is widely believed that Baris in
Kharga is named after Paris in
France. Perhaps this is an example
of the great sense of humour Egyp-
tians display. The world famous
architect Hassan Fathi designed
an ecologically sound village

KHARGA OASIS
Inside of ‘‘The Peace Chapel’’ in the necropolis of Bagawat
to replace old Baris, hence new
pears in pre-Christian Ptolemaic Baris. Unfortunately the locals did
Egyptian art in the Temple of Den- not take to being moved and new
dera but sadly the original was re- Baris is now deserted, an interesting
moved to the Louvre in 1820. example of great architecture that
somehow misses the mark.
But one can trace the line that
connects the two utterly different
religions.

Ain Um Dabadib

Ain Um Dabadib, located some
40km north of the main town of
Qasr Kharga, is an amazing for-
tress that has been occupied since
before Roman times. An incredible
place that sits below the escarp-
ment but 220metres above the
desert floor it commands great
vistas. All around are scattered and
Palm Trees in Kharga Oasis
broken pots that date all the way
back through Islamic times to
Christian to Roman and before.

? DID YOU KnOW?
Kharga was a penal colony
most famously in ancient
Egyptian and Roman times.
One of the most famous
inmates was the poet and
satirist juvenal (AD60 to
130) who was imprisoned
for his rude remarks about
the court of the Emperor
Hadrian. He was later par-
doned and returned to
Rome.
Fortress Ain Um Dabadib

21

Siwa
Siwa Oasis is the favourite of There are no major hotel chains
many desert travellers. though there are a few highly in-
dividual top class places to stay-
It has a unique atmosphere, an Prince Charles stayed at one when
ambience that is genuinely relax- he visited in 2006.
ing, truly a magical place.
Surrounded by lakes that are too
saline to support fishing Siwa has
been famous for its olive groves
and palm gardens since ancient
times.

Siwa ecolodge Adrere Amellal

It can be reached either along
the desert road from Bahariya or,
more usually, down from Marsa
Matruh on the northern coast.
Siwa ecolodge Adrere Amellal

There is also an air service though Today Siwan olives and Siwan bot-
you need to check first about when tled water are considered the finest
flights are leaving from Cairo. and purest in Egypt. It is an easily

supported claim as there is noth- Siwan Crafts
ing produced here that might be
a pollutant. Siwa has two popula- Siwa has the best craft tradi-
tions, originally. The Siwans, who are tion of any of the oases. You can
berber in origin, and the Bedouin, get unique ceramic tajin, Saharan
who inhabit villages around the cooking pots, handmade and fired
edge of the Oasis and whose gaily in bread ovens rather than kilns.
dressed women are not as reclusive Wedding dresses of stunning design
as the native Siwans. are made by women, who dress

SIWA OASIS
plainly the rest of the year.
One is struck in Siwa by the ruined
mud town of Old Shali that was
abandoned, finally, in the 1980s Music in Siwa
after severe rain damage. It is next
You will notice that Siwans are un-
to the new town of Shali and looks
inhibited and talented musicians.
like a ruined castle made of mud
Siwans tend to keep in musical
pies. You can visit it by picking your
practice for the four big festivals
way through the darkened passage-
they hold each year, as well as their
ways but mind where you step.
highly musical weddings. The big-
gest festival, Siayha, which anyone
can attend, draws over 10,000 Si-
wans to nearby jebel Dakhour for
three days of feasting, dancing and
singing.

Shali Siwa

Siwa is most famous as being

?
the site of the Oracle visited by
Alexander the Great in 331BC. DID YOU KnOW?
He arrived and demanded that Despite there being a sunken
boat in Lake Shiatta, there
the Oracle answer his question (re- were no boats in Siwa after
puted to be ‘Will I rule the world?’ the ancient times. Only In 1924
answer being ‘Yes, but not for very did traveler Byron de Prorok
long’). As well as being able to visit manage to cross, in a hast-
ily contrived dinghy, to the
the reputed site of the Oracle there
islands in the salty lakes where
is Cleopatra’s pool and the ruined he found no treasure but flint
town to visit, to name but a few of tools and other signs of prehis-
the sights. toric occupation.

23

the
Desert tours tracks you can drive over- to affect
The desert beckons- but where and an escape. Lots of pushing is always
how will you go? I took a long time required- the more that push the
getting used to the idea that actu- quicker you get back on your jour-
ally I could go anywhere in the des- ney.
ert. It is like the sea- no one owns
it and nothing stops you roaming
in any direction. nothing stops you
except the need for water and fuel
of some kind.
I think it is best to think of the
desert as a place where you walk.
Certainly you can only experience
its wonders when you are up close
and personal with the sand and the
rock. Driving and camel riding may
get you to where you want to be but
it will be your own legs that always There is no experience quite the
complete both the outer and inner same as driving at speed over
journey of a desert of quest. whale back dunes. The sand and
That said, the choice of transport sky seem to merge and distance is
depends on how deep you want to distorted. The driver has to be care-
go into the desert and how much ful not to go over the knife edge of
time you have. The tours listed be- a dune- and these can pop up any
low are a tiny fraction of what is pos- time. The ground is utterly smooth
sible. There purpose is to get you and all you hear is the swishing of
thinking. You can then start talking sand under the tyres. It is as close to
with guides and safari operators flying as you can get without leaving
from a strong position of knowledge. the ground.
At the very least you will have an ac- Ascending steep dunes seems to
curate picture of what is possible, go against what is possible- but with
the sheer width of range of possible a big enough run-up any dune, if,
desert journeys. of hard sand, can be conquered.
Descending a slip face also looks
Desert driving impossible at first. Though a face of
loose sand is never more than 35
Currently driving is how most people degrees or so it will look from the top
experience the desert. When the like a 60 degree slope. The car will
cars get stuck, as they do from simply slide down the slope as long
time to time, you will learn how to as it descends perpendicular and
extract them by digging away the not at an angle- the movement is
sand and laying sandplates – metal slow and rather pleasant.

Cars go far and fast and for a trip to tic and more ‘real desert’ than cars-
the Gilf Kebir you will have to go by but you will not go so far as you will
car unless you fancy a month long in a vehicle. However, if you walk in
camel journey. Cars do mess up the desert, even a few kilometers
the desert. This is not a problem in from the road will feel isolated.
sand since the wind will wipe away
any tracks. Drivers in the Great Sand Desert thrills
Sea, the Siwan dune desperados
and the raiders of the world’s longest The desert is also legitimately a
dune, Abu Moharik, are no threat to place for thrill seekers- as long

DESERT TOURS
the desert. However, driving over as they know the risks. Dirt bike rid-
pebbly desert leaves tracks that ers whoop with joy at the prospect
never go. I have found the tracks of burning around a giant bowl of
made by Laszlo Almasy’s Baby Ford sand or up and over small dunes.
expedition in 1930- seventy years Accidents happen when you fail to
on and still clear. Eventually one see some small change in the des-
hopes that car drivers will stick to ex- ert surface- a hole or sudden end to
isting slops when they cross the vul- the dune.
nerable parts of the desert and only
Sand boarding increases in popu-
fan out when they hit pure sand.
larity year by year. Though not as
Camel riding and walking fast as snow boarding, with the
right wax you can shoot down some
of the massive dunes in the Great
Sand Sea and have thrills to spare.
There is no ski-lift to get you back to
the top again and its either a walk
that will get you fit quicker than
almost anything else, or hitching a
ride in a 4x4 running in a cycle from
top to bottom.

Though riding a mountain bike
may sound crazy in the desert,
the latest generation of ‘flat tyre’
Camels also leave tracks- but these mountain bikes make it possible.
are negligible compared to those These bikes, developed at first for rid-
left by a car. Camels are silent- ing on snow, are now being used for
apart from snorting and coughing. making desert journeys around the
They walk at human speed, maybe world. But even a normal mountain
4.5km/h, so you are as comfort- bike can be ridden on much of the
able on or off the saddle. Riding desert- as long as you avoid dunes
a camel that is part of a camel and do not mind pushing from time
train is easy- keep one hand on the to time. Of course you are limited
saddle and use the other to steady by having to carry water, but as I
the book you are reading- you can- mentioned with walking- if you ride
not read while being driven in a even a few kilometers alone or in a
car- camels smooth out the bumps small group into the desert it will feel
rather better. like a great journey.
Camels are arguably more roman-

25

Short Tripsgetaways
weekend
up to 3 days
1. AROUnD FAYOUM AnD WADI HITAn

The Fayoum and especially Wadi
Rayyan are a great place to first
taste the desert.

Wadi Rayyan

To get here from Cairo takes about
an hour and a half if the traffic is
fine. Wadi Rayyan is a protected
area with lakes and desert promis-
ing interest for all.

Wadi Rayyan
ing ranger from Wadi Rayyan will
usually guide the driver.

The whales in question are extinct
mammals with eel shaped bodies
about 20meters long- bigger than
a grey whale- closer to the size of
a blue whale. The teeth were sharp
Wadi Hitan
and saw-like, indicating a different
Wadi Hitan - Whale Valley diet to modern whales. They are be-
lieved to have existed here 40million
It is easy to visit the Whale Valley in
years ago. Known as basilosaurus
a day from Cairo. An accompany-
isis they retain feet, of a kind, un-
like modern whales which just have

?
remnant projecting bones.
DID YOU KnOW?
Bedouin legends abound in
Wadi Rayyan of buried trea- The incredible lines of vertebrae,
sure. Rayyan they claim was a each one weighing 20kilos or more,
king who was laid to rest here make for an eerie sight, as if one
with all his gold. Strangely,
has arrived at a graveyard of the di-
widespread in the Wadi are
circular ‘sand dollars’, fossil- nosaurs, which, in a sense, one has.
ised anemones that look like There are smaller whale remains
stone coins. Maybe this is the too- the five meters dorudon which
real treasure. may be related to existing whales.

2. AROUnD HURGHADA In THE EASTERn DESERT

The Eastern Desert
You enter a quite different world
when you cross the nile from the
sandy Western Desert to the moun-
tainous and rocky Eastern one. Still
dry and arid, but this time there are
hills, and valleys and wadis, cutting

SHORT TRIPS
through the whole area from the
Red Sea to the nile River.

St Paul’s Monastery

Climb Egypt’s highest
St Anthony’s Monastery
Peak- Gebel Shayib
Monastery of St Anthony Egypt’s highest continental African
peak is Gebel Shayib- the overall
St Anthony (251-356AD) is consid-
highest being Gebel Katarina in
ered to be one of the founders of
the Sinai, which is classed as Asia.
Christian monasticism and as such
Gebel Shayib is revered as a moun-
the monastery ranks as the oldest
tain of mystical importance to the
in the world. 320meters above the
M’aaza and when one climbs in the
monastery is the cave where St An-
early dawn and sees the exquisite
thony lived. Climb the 1158 steps
rainbow effect of the sun shining
which will take over half and hour to
through a ‘mist oasis’ one can un-
get to the cave. The entrance is tiny-
derstand their reverence.
but it widens out into the tiny chapel
where the monk worshipped. It is
hard to imagine living here for forty
years- but of such commitment
monasteries are built.

? DID YOU KnOW?
On the Red Sea Coast south
of Marsa Alam there is the
Middle East’s largest rock
spire- the Berenice Bodkin.
not often climbed due to its
remote location it is visible
for miles.
Church of St Anthony’s Monastery 27

Long Trips
4-7 days allowing more
in depth experience
of the desert
1. THE WHITE DESERT CIRCUIT

The White Desert is justifiably the
most well- known desert destina-
tion in Egypt- and for good reason.
For sheer quantity of unearthly and
beautiful wind-carved rock forma-
tions it is unequalled in any desert in
the world. It also enjoys easy access
from the road- some of the best
camp spots being only a couple of
kilometers from the asphalt- though
you would never know that.

Monoliths and canyons
Coming along the road from
Bahariya you will be struck by the
huge inselbergs, monoliths that
look like rockets on the launch pad
and the hunched shoulders of gi-
ants. This area between the road
and the escarpment edge, which
runs pretty much parallel to the road
is a great place for exploring.

The White Desert

The Sphinx Valley

Further along the road to Ain Dalla
on the right is the incredible valley of
the sphinxes- natural sphinxes that
again confirm the origin of Phara-
onic art in the natural forms of the
Western Desert.
The White Desert

2. AROUnD SIWA- WALK, SAIL, SURF AnD DIvE THE GREAT SAnD SEA

Though a fair amount of car pow- setting of high dunes and hills that
ered dune bashing goes on at Siwa surround the small lake.
it is far more in keeping with its tran-
quil atmosphere and ecological
leanings to take natural powered
transport. Your basic motor will be
your feet with camel back up. For a
break there will be wind assistance
for sand sailing and gravitational

LOnG TRIPS
pull for sand boarding.

The Great Sand Sea

Sand Boarding
Here at Bir Wahed you can also try
your hand at sand boarding. But
The Great Sand Sea
the bigger dunes are further south-
Bir Wahed but all within a reasonable distance
of Siwa. You can bring your own snow-
Bir Wahed is a mini oasis and hot board- which does work- especially
spring some 12km south of Siwa at on the really steep dunes, and the
the start of the dunes of the Great Siwans have all the right waxes to
Sand Sea. Bir Wahed was drilled by make boards really fly. They also
man in search of oil- but the result have custom boards that are the
is more marvelous- especially in the fastest of all.

3. TOWARDS THE jARA CAvES

After a day’s traveling from Ba- Don’t worry about snakes and scor-
hariya you will finally arrive at the pions- it is far too dry for these crea-
Jara Caves, or El Caf as the Bed- tures- and if you are carrying a torch
ouin call it. everything alive down there will hide
away from you.
These are the largest dry caves Inside the cave are a few prehistoric
in Egypt - it is easily the size of a carvings of antelope and giraffe.
church down there, with great thick
stalactites hanging down. The floor
is sandy and tracked by beetles.

? DID YOU KnOW?
Camels can go an entire
winter without drinking as
long as there is fresh veg-
etation available for them
to eat.
Sand dunes near Bahariya
29

Expeditions
from 10-21 days
exploring the deep
desert areas
1. ExPLORInG BETWEEn BAHARIYA, SIWA AnD THE GREAT SAnD SEA

Bahariya road

The ‘road’ from Bahariya to Siwa
takes you past a sequence of large
oasis lakes, most of which are
salty and without fish. Most of the
oases were inhabited in the past,
and even not so long ago were the
summer quarters of some Bedouin
people and their animals. Siwa
Arag
Arag is the nearest oasis to Siwa
and on the opposite side of the
road from Bahrein. You cannot see
it from the road, it is beyond the
first ridge of what becomes the
Qattara depression- scene of that
Great War movie Ice Cold in Alex.
Arag has also got rock cut tombs
which are always worth a peak.

Bahariyya Oasis

The Great Sand Sea

?
The Great Sand Sea
DID YOU KnOW?
The area between Siwa South of Siwa you soon enter the
and Bahariya is supposed Great Sand Sea. This is the world’s
to be where the Lost Army largest sand sea with dunes up to
of King Cambyses met 400meters high.
their doom in a terrific
sandstorm in 524BC.

2. DOWn TO THE GILF KEBIR AnD BEYOnD

For people who have seen the mov- and baboons. The art here is accu-
ie or read the book ‘‘The English Pa- rately dated by the last time there
tient‘‘ then this is the tour to make. was any water in the region- 5000-
7000 years ago.
Uweinat and Karkur Talh
Deep in the corner of Egypt where
it borders Sudan and Libya lies the

ExPEDITIOnS
mountain of Gebel Uweinat. Most
people are in a bit of hurry to see
the Gilf as well so at Uweinat they
look at the rock art in the valley of
Karkur Talh. This valley, named af-
ter the acacia trees which still grow
here, is home to vast quantities of
rock art- both drawings and engrav-
ings.
Wadi Hamra
The Gilf Kebir - Wadi Soura Silica glass
and the Mestikawy cave
Thought to be caused by a giant
At 900metres high, souring up from meteorite landing about 29 million
the flat desert is the astounding years ago, the silica glass is spread
major plateau known as the Gilf in surprisingly small area- about
Kebir. This is where Laszlo Almasy, 50 square kilometers or less, in the
the real life character on whom Great Sand Sea. King Tutankha-
‘‘The English Patient’’ was based, mun’s chest scarab was made of
discovered, or, more accurately, silica glass. How it was transported
rediscovered the caves containing from that remote part of the desert
pictures of the famous swimmers. to Thebes is another mystery.

Silica Glass

Mestikawy Cave

nearby is the Mestikawy Cave,
found in 2002 on an expedition led
? DID YOU KnOW?
Laszlo Almasy, the real life
model of ‘‘The English Pa-
tient’’, in the movie of the
by Colonel Ahmed Mestikawy, con- same name, believed he
sidered the largest single site of rock discovered the long lost
art in Africa. It contains an amazing oasis of Zerzura in the wa-
quantity of pictures of animals long dis of the Gilf Kebir.
since extinct here such as giraffes
31

DESERT A L T E R n A T Iv E S

journeys mixed
that can be
with more general holidays in Egypt
Many people, perhaps on the first trip to Egypt, want to mix a desert journey
with appreciation of the ancient sites of the nile valley and perhaps also
the Red Sea resorts. With that in mind it is possible to make many shorter
combined tours of great interest.

SAKKARA, DAHSHUR, FAYOUM, WADI RAYYAn

Head out of Cairo towards the stepped pyramid of Sakkara and
the ancient temple complex. Then investigate the Red Pyramid
and the mysterious Bent Pyramid before continuing along the
road to Fayoum Oasis and Wadi Rayyan.

LUxOR, KHARGA, DAKHLA

The Temples of Luxor and Karnak are a must for anyone with
an interest in Ancient Egypt. You can then take the bus or a taxi
to Kharga and then Dakhla where you can view more ancient
monuments.

ALExAnDRIA, EL ALAMEIn, MARSA MATRUH, SIWA

Alexandria is the old centre of Ptolemeian Egypt, explore the
catacombs and the new Library, eat great seafood and head
towards the old battlefields of El Alamein and then the sea resort
of Marsa Matruh. Then take the three hour bus or car drive down
to Siwa where you can sample all the delights of the desert.

CAIRO, BAHARIYA, FARAFRA, DAKHLA, KHARGA, LUxOR

This is the granddaddy of mixed trips with a big desert compo-
nent. Start in Cairo and head out via the Pyramids. Then down
towards Bahariya- if in a 4x4 you can take in the valley of the
Whales. Then visit Farafra and Dakhla and Kharga, before ending
up at the glorious archeological treasure trove of Luxor.

DESERT ALTERnATIvES
HURGHADA DIvInG, GOUnA KITE SURFInG AnD CLIMBInG GEBEL SHAYIB

Millions of tourists come to Egypt for its excellent diving. Hurghada
is one of the main centres and offers a wide variety of diving op-
portunities from reefs to wrecks to snorkeling. Once you have had
your fill under water check out the surface at Gouna where there
is one of the finest centres for kite-surfing in the world. After that
head inland and climb the highest mountain on mainland Egypt-
Gebel Shayib.

CAIRO, PYRAMIDS, FAYOUM

With not much time on your hands but a desire to see the desert
head out of Cairo West to the Pyramids and after enjoying them
to the full continue along the desert road towards Bahariya. After
a hundred kilometers turn south towards Lake Qarun, following
your way through the amazing fossil beds on each layer of the
escarpment. At the edge of the lake pick up the road and head
towards Wadi Rayyan and the valley of the Whales.

HURGHADA, vALLEY OF THE KInGS, KHARGA

Hurghada, home to sea, sand, diving and nightlife makes a great
place to start any holiday in Egypt. With resorts spread along the
coast either side of the main town there is plenty of choice. When
you tire of the pool head inland for the culture- and take in the
Valley of the Kings. From Luxor head out to Kharga and the des-
ert.

33

Templates
of Desert Tours
7 - DAY TO U R

Whale valley & Beyond
Important note: These tours are examples and for information purposes only.
Broadly similar tours are available but individual operators will amend and tailor
them to suit conditions and demand.

This incredible value tour takes in three of the ‘must see’ sights of the Egyptian
Desert- Whale valley, jara Caves and the White Desert.

Leaving Cairo early you arrive at Wadi Rayyan where it is possible to view both
the giant Lake of Qarun and the smaller lakes of Rayyan.

Whale valley is a short drive further on and you will be able to admire the
exposed gigantic remains of fossilized and long extinct whales. From there
you cross the world’s longest single dune system, the mysterious Abo Moharik
dune. This takes you to the huge stalactitic jara caves, which inside is big
enough to fit several buses!

You cross now to the jewel of the Egyptian wilderness- the White Desert- a
strange and wonderful landscape of chalky buttes and inselbergs replete with
beautiful soft sand and marvelous wind carved boulders. You may also visit
from here Farafra Oasis, famous for its hot springs. From here it is a day’s drive
back to Cairo via Bahariya Oasis where you might care to stop and view the
illustrious Golden Mummies discovered in 1999.

Wadi
El Natroun Cairo
1
a n Giza
ar sio PYRAMIDS
pr t s OF GIZA
D e Qat
e
PYRAMIDS
Qaroun Memphis
Lake OF SAQQARA
Qa ro u n
ley
V al L a ke
2

e
al
El Fayoum

Wh
4 3 Fayo u m
Wadi
El Rayan
Oa s is r Beni Suef

ve
Ri
Nile

Easte t
WHALE vALLEY & BEYOnD
Dese
10
Bawiti
Bahariyya
Oasis
ALEXANDER
t El Minya
er

rn
THE GREAT TEMPLE

r
5 BANI HASAN

es TONA EL TOMBS

D Des
ert
GABAL RUINS
Mallawi

n White
hit
e
6 TEL EL
W
er

D ese r t
9 A
AMARNA
bu
st

7 Mo
harik

N
Dune

il
Qasr Farafra Asyut
We

Farafra

e
Oasis
8

Ri
ve
r
Abu Minqar Sohag

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,
2 Lake Qarun,
3 Wadi Rayyan,
4 Whale valley,
5 Abo Moharik Dune,
Sphinx and The Great Pyramid in Giza
6 jara Caves,
7 Wadi Karaween,
8 White Desert,
9 Farafra Oasis,
10 Bahariya Oasis,
Cairo

Bahariya Oasis 35

Templates
of Desert Tours
8 - DAY TO U R

Qattara Depression
and the north Coast

Follow in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and visit Siwa by traveling
through the fascinating wilderness of the northern Coast.

You start from the town named after its founder, Alexandria and motor south
into the Qattara Depression, the lowest point in Egypt, a vivid and extraordinary
landscape of shifting sands and rare plants, scene of the famous movie Ice
Cold in Alex. Your first stop is El Mogra, a salt water lake surrounded by five
fresh water wells. It is 34meters below sea level and a place of jurassic fossil
remains. From here you traverse the depression to the tiny oasis settlement of
Qara. Then it is time to go south to Siwa, the most remote Oasis in Egypt and
the most culturally diverse with its mix of Berber, Bedouin and Egyptian cultures.
Here you may care to consult the oracle just as Alexander did in 332BC.

north from Siwa lies Marsa Matruh, a delightful sea resort and home to the
cave complex used by the German General Rommel to mastermind his at-
tacks on the British and Australian forces at El Alamein. Which is your next desti-
nation- a unique historical experience with a military museum and cemeteries
dating from WW2. It is only a few hours’drive back to the fascinating city of
Alexandria.

M e d i S e a
t e r r a n e a n
Sidi Barani Rosett
Alexandria
Sallum
Marsa
Matruh
6 Sidi Abd
LIBYA

el Rahman Porto
Marina
1
7 Bo rg
El Alamein El Arab

2 Wadi
El Natroun
s ion
es
pr

De
3

QATTARA DEPRESSIOn AnD THE nORTH
a
S i wa Qara
4
ta r
5 ElGabal
Mawta
Oasis
Qat

Siwa Cleopatra
Bath
Si wa AMON
Oa s i s
Gabal
TEMPLE El Dakrur
Arag
Oasis

r t Bawiti

T h e G re a t se Ba ha r i yya

De
ALEXANDER
Sea Sa nd Oa si s
THE GREAT TEMPLE

rn se
rt
De
e

W h i te
Whi te
st

D ese r t
We

Qasr Farafra
Fa ra fra
Oa si s

ROUTE:

1 Alexandria,
2 El Mogra Lake,
3 Qattara Depression,
4 Qara Oasis,
5 Siwa Oasis,
Western Desert, edge of Qattara Depression
6 Marsa Matruh,
7 El Alamein, Alexandria,
Alexandria

Marsa Matruh beach 37

Templates
of Desert Tours
10-DAY T O U R

The Sand Sea Oases

The remote and mostly uninhabited oases of the northern Sand Sea offer a
unique and wonderful insight into the Western Desert in landscapes of rare and
stunning beauty.

It is only a half day’s drive to Bahariya Oasis, your gateway to the northern Sand
Sea. From here, where you may enjoy bargaining with the locals over Bedouin
handicrafts, you travel offroad to the largest of the uninhabited Oasis lakes-
Sitra. Then it is on to nuwamisa, and then Bahrein where there are ancient
tombs cut into the hillside- some even with mummy wrappings and skeletal
remains. north from Bahrein is the idyllic oasis of Arag, which is still used from
time to time by Bedouin herdsmen. There are more abandoned dwellings
here and the chance of glimpsing the rare gazelle of the Egyptian desert.

next stop is Siwa, surrounded by salt water lakes it is place packed with ancient
monuments together with a people both welcoming and helpful. If you get
the chance to hear some Siwans making music- take that opportunity for they
are truly gifted.

From Siwa you plunge south into the Great Sand Sea, driving between the long
lines of dunes that reach over three hundred and fifty meters high. Your desti-
nation is the old well of Ain Dalla, known since before Roman times and after
that the majestic White Desert and the cosy oasis town of Farafra.

Wadi
El Natroun Cairo
a n Giza
ar sio PYRAMIDS
s OF GIZA

p r tt
e
D e Qa
Siwa Qara Oasis PYRAMIDS
AMON Qaroun OF SAQQARA Mem
TEMPLE Gabal Lake
El Mawta y
l l e Qaroun Lake
Va
LIBYA

Siwa Cleopatra Fayoum El Fay
5

e
Bath Oasis

al
Wh
Wadi
Arag El Rayan
Si wa
4 Beni

r
Oasi s Nuwamisa
Suef

ive
3
El Barhein

Nile R
Sitra
2
rt
ALEXANDER
Bawiti THE GREAT TEMPLE
T h e G re a t e Bahariyya

es
El Minya
Sea Sa nd
Oasis

THE SAnD SEA OASES
BANI HAS
TONA EL TOMBS
rt GABAL RUINS
D
se
De Mallawi
e
rn

White
Deser t Whit TEL EL AMAR
7 Ain Dalla
te

8 Asyut
Farafra Qasr Farafra
6
Wes

Oasis

Abu Minqar

N ew V
all
ey Ain Umm
Dabadib
El Qasr
Dakhla AL BAGAWAT
Oasis
NECROPOLIS
Al Kharga
Mut

Regenfeld Kharga
Oasis
Bulaq

Ge
lf K Baris
ebir

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,
2 Bahariya Oasis,
3 nuwamisa,
4 Bahrein,
5 Arag, Siwa Oasis,
Islamic Cairo
6 Great Sand Sea,
7 Ain Dalla,
8 Farafra Oasis,
Cairo

The White Desert 39

Templates
of Desert Tours
13-DAY T O U R

Rock Art in the Western Desert

visit the largest single site of rock art in Africa- the Mestikawy Cave, the intriguing rock
carvings of Karkur Talh as well as the Swimmer’s Cave, made famous by the movie
‘‘The English Patient‘‘.

From your start at the remote oasis of Dakhla, the oldest continually inhabited place
in Africa, you travel through remote desert to Bir Terfawi, your entry point to the vast
sand sheets that lead to the Gilf Kebir. It is here you will view the astounding rock
paintings and engravings of the Shaw cave, located in recent times by explorer
W.B. Kennedy Shaw, the Mestikawy cave, which was found in 2003 by explorer
Ahmed Mestikawy and the Cave of the Swimmers which was named by Laszlo
Almasy, the Hungarian real life model on whom ‘‘The English Patient‘‘ is based.

Further south near the massif of Uweinat you may visit Karkur Talh, an area full of rock
art and offering the chance of glimpsing the rare and reclusive wild sheep known
as the weddan.
From the Gilf you may return via Abu Ballas, an eerie hill where thousands of broken
pots have been found. It is now believed this was part of a water storage trail lead-
ing to Uweinat in Pharaonic times.

Back in Dakhla you should visit the restored fortress town of Qasr- a labyrinth of twist-
ing passages no wider than two people- a truly amazing place.

wV
al
l

ey
c a Va l l e y
El Qasr
D akhl a
LIBYA
Oasi s

Silic
Mut
1
Regenfeld

Gelf K
e bi
Wadi
Abu El Abu Ballas
r

9

ROCK ART In THE WESTERn DESERT
Malik

Gilf E l - Ke b i r
Protec to rate

6 Wad i
So u ra
Mestikawy
Cave
7
Trop i c of Ca ncer
Wa d i
Furaq
Wad i
Memorial Wi ssa
Tarfawi
Well
4 Peter 8
and Paul
2
3

5
UWEINAT MOUNT
1 934 M
Karkur Talh

SUDA N

ROUTE:

1 Dakhla Oasis,
2 Bir Terfawi,
3 Wadi Furaq,
4 Shaw Cave,
5 Uweinat (Karkur Talh),
Qasr village in Dakhla Oasis
6 Mestikawy Cave,
7 Swimmer’s Cave,
8 Wadi Wissa,
9 Abu Ballas,
Dakhla Oasis

Wadi Hamra 41

Templates
of Desert Tours
14-DAY T O U R

Sailing the Sand Sea

The largest Sand Sea in the world is your ocean for a few weeks as you explore this
amazing desert of towering dunes, little known oases and prehistoric remains.
Leaving Cairo behind you make your way to Bahariya Oasis and then on to the ma-
jestic uninhabited lake of Sitra. Driving through the northern end of the Great Sand
Sea you alternate visiting the fascinating oases of Bahrein, nuwamisa and Arag with
rolling dunes and canyons of remarkable beauty. As this area was once under the
Mediterranean there are ample opportunities to see fossil remains such as shark’s
teeth and ‘sand dollars’.
You emerge from the northern leg of the journey at Siwa, the calmest and most
mysterious of the Oasis towns. Your stay should take in the collapsing mud town of
Shali which looks like a set out of ‘‘Star Wars’’! From here you will be eager to plunge
deeper into the Great Sand Sea, driving down the endless dune corridors past fan-
tastic displays of star, barchan and seif dunes. Through this surreal landscape you
emerge at the Ammonite scarp, most recently discovered by the German explorer
Rohlfs. The top of the scarp is littered with the fossil remains of ammonites.

From here you reverse the journey Rohlfs made in 1873 and arrive at the place he
called Regenfeld- ‘rainfield’ in German- a place where it rained and allowed him to
refill his water bottles. Past Regenfeld you hit the Abu Ballas trail and view the strange
water mountain and its myriad broken pots before leaving the sand at Dakhla and
returning to Cairo via the stunning White Desert.

a n
ar sio
1 Cairo
s PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

p r tt
e
D e Qa
S i wa Qara Oasis PYRAMIDS
AMON Qa roun OF SAQQARA Mem
TEMPLE Gabal L a ke
El Mawta Qa roun L ake
Cleopatra
L I BYA

Siwa Bath
Fayoum El Fayo
Oa sis
S i wa
Oa s is
5 4 Arag Wadi
El Raya n
Beni

er
Nuwamisa
3 Suef

iv
El Barhein

Nile R
Sitra
2
rt
ALEXANDER
Bawiti THE GREAT TEMPLE
T h e G re a t e
es
El Minya
Sea Sa nd Ba h a r i yya
Oa s i s BANI HAS
TONA EL TOMBS
r t GABAL RUINS

D
se

SAILInG THE SAnD SEA
De Mallawi
rn
Wh i te e
Deser t Whit TEL EL AMAR
6

Ab
te

11 M

u
Ain Dalla oh
Fa ra fra Qasr Farafra
ari
k Du Asyut
ne
Wes

Oa s i s

Abu Minqar

N ew V
7 all
e Ain Umm
y
S i l i c c a Va l l e y

Daba dib
El Qasr
Da k h l a AL BAGAWAT
Oa s i s
NECROPOLIS
Al Kharga
Mut
Regenfeld
10 Kha rga
8 Oasis
Bulaq

Gelf Baris
Ke Dush
bi 9 EZBET DUSH
r

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,
2 Bahariya Oasis,
3 Sitra, nuwamisa, Bahrein,
4 Arag,
5 Siwa Oasis,
6 Great Sand Sea, Sand dunes near Bahariya oasis

7 Ammonite Scrap,
8 Regenfeld,
9 Abu Ballas,
10 Dakhla Oasis,
11 White Desert,
Cairo
necropolis of Qila el-Dabba, Mastaba of Kentika in Dakhla oasis 43

Templates
of Desert Tours
19-DAY T O U R

Western Desert Grand Tour

For the ardent explorer of deserts the Grand Tour beckons. You will be able to visit the
remote rock art sites of Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir, travel up to the mysterious and won-
derful zone of silica glass followed by an epic northern crossing of the Great Sand Sea
to Siwa- a journey only first completed in 1933.
Driving down from Cairo you first leave the asphalt at the White Desert to get a brief
introduction to the wonders of the Egyptian Desert. From here you proceed south until
you gain Abu Ballas, the broken pot mountain which guards the entrance to the Gilf
Kebir region.
Driving swiftly the several hundred kilometers to the Gilf, you enter the plateau, which
rears 350meters above the desert, and cross its southern part through Wadi Wissa. Here
you may view the rock art of the Shaw Cave before heading down to Uweinat to see
wildlife such as the rare weddan sheep and extensive rock art in many different loca-
tions.
Back to the Gilf you will take in both the epic Mestikawy cave and the famous Swimmer’s
cave as seen in the movie ‘‘The English Patient’’. Both contain amazing rock paintings.
Then it is time to go over the Gilf Plateau by ascending the Aqaba Pass and descend-
ing into the 100km long Wadi Hamra, again a site of much fascinating rock art. From
here you drive north to the Silica Glass area, a highly localized source of pure natural
glass formed when a meteorite hit the desert 29million years ago. next you follow the
first motor explorers of the Western Desert and head north to Siwa past the atmospheric
‘forest’ of petrified palm trees. As you enter Siwa from the south you may glimpse the
jackals that still inhabit this region.
From the extraordinarily idyllic Oasis of Siwa you return across the desert to Bahariya and
then to Cairo having completed a journey of truly epic proportions.

a sio 1
S i wa AMON Qara Oasis s PYRAMIDS
Cairo S i n a

p r tt
TEMPLE

D e Qa
e
OF SAQQARA Memphis Ras Sidr
Qaro u n Lake
LY B IA
Siwa Fayo u m
Oas i s
El Fayoum Za’farana SERABIT
S i wa Arag
Oa sis 13 Wad i
El Rayan Beni Suef
EL KHADIM

14

Gu
Abu
ST ANTONY’S Rudeis

lf
MONASTERY ST PAUL’S
t Bawiti ALEXANDER MONASTERY Ras El

of
er
THE GREAT TEMPLE
at Gharib

E a e s e e Riv

S
e
es
T h e G re d Bah ar i y ya El Minya BANI HASAN

u
n Oas i s TOMBS

D
Sea Sa TONA EL
D i te GABAL RUINS

st r
Whi te Wh ser t Mallawi MONS
n
TEL EL

Abu
De PORPHYRITES
r
Deser t
AMARNA

e
t n
oh

M
Farafra
er

Oasi s Qasr Farafra ar
ik D Asyut N
une
12 2 MONS

il
st

CLAUDIANUS

WESTERn DESERT GRAnD TOUR
Sohag
We

Abu Minqar

er
ABYDOS
Qena
N ew Va Ai n Um m
lle DANDARA
S i l i c c a Va l l e y

y D abad i b KARNAK
VALLEY
El Qasr
OF THE KINGS
Mut
AL BAGAWAT Al Kharga Luxor
NECROPOLIS
D akh l a
Regenfeld Oas i s Bulaq
Esna
Kh arg a TEMPLE
11 Oas i s OF KHNOUM Edfu
Gelf K Baris Kom Ombo
Wa d i eb Dush
A b u El i Sa l uga
& G ha za l e
Abu Ballas
3
r

Malik
EZBET DUSH SAAD EL-ALI, Aswa
THE HIGH DAM
10
ute

Wadi KALABSHA PHILAE
Ro

Mestikawy Sou ra
ein

Cave Tropi c of Cancer
7 Wadi 9 Wadi
rba

Nasser
El-A

Wissa
8 Furaq 5 Lake
Tarfawi
Memorial
Peter
4 Well
WADI
EL-SUBUA
and Paul
AMADA
Tushka
6 Qasr
Ibram
UWEINAT MOUNT ABU SIMBEL
1 934 M

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,
2 White Desert,
3 Abu Ballas,
4 Wadi Wissa,
5 Shaw Cave,
6 Uweinat,
7 Mestikawy Cave, The White Desert

8 Wadi Soura,
9 Aqaba Pass,
10 Wadi Hamra,
11 Silica Glass,
12 Great Sand Sea,
13 Siwa Oasis,
14 Bahariya Oasis,
Cairo
Wadi Soura 45

Bedouininlife desert
& lore the
The Bedouin are the traditional no- common origin. This means the
madic tent dwellers of the Arabian original Arabian tribes over time
and Egyptian deserts. There is a found common cause with the in-
tribal culture reflected in the saying, digenous nomadic tribes of Egypt.
“My brother and I against my cousin. Though nomads are averse to their
My cousin and I against the world.” daughters marrying settlers they are
Groups traditionally formed around not too opposed to them marrying
a patriarch figure. In times of strife other nomads of perhaps different
or special need the groups worked ancestry. This flexibility explains why,
as one tribe. The Bedouin of Arabia despite endemic discrimination by
were the first converts to Islam and the settled folk of Egypt, the Bedouin
spread it throughout north Africa as continue to thrive.
far as Spain in the 7th century.
The main tribe on the northern coast
of the Egypt are the Awlad ‘Ali. They
date themselves from Bedouin mi-
gration in the 11th century AD. On
the East coast there are two main
tribal groups: the Ma’aza and the
Ababda. The Ababda claim de-
scent from the Arab migrant Abad in
the 13th century. Culturally they are
closer to the hamitic Beja nomads
of Sudan and Ethiopia. The Ma’aza
Bedouin people are traditionally an are a large tribal group comprising
oral culture and their history is kept in many clans or families that have
stories and poems. It is hard there- arrived over the centuries from the
fore for outsiders to get a complete- Arabian Peninsula. The most recent
ly definitive version of their history. clan is the Khushman who came
Bedouins derive an identity from a about 150 years ago. Though the
confederation of families that have Ababda and the Ma’aza have tra-
common interests, rather than a ditionally been somewhat opposed

neither side attacks the other on and the Egyptians controlled the
having less authentic origins. Their fertile nile valley and Delta. The
disputes are about land and be- Bedouin consider themselves Arabs
haviour not about race. with their origin being the triangle
from Syria to Iraq down to Saudi
Europeans over the centuries have Arabia. They first arrived as part of
been fascinated by the Bedouin. the original invasion force of Egypt
Such figures as Jacob Burkhardt, during the great Islamic conquests.
Sir Richard Burton and Wilfred The This first wave of Bedouin married
siger were enamoured of their hon- into the Egyptian populace, though
our code and tough ways- in sharp some naturally inhabited the des-

BEDOUIn LIFE & LORE In THE DESERT
contrast they felt to the effete ways ert regions which they shared in an
of city dwellers. The Bedouin honour uneasy truce with Berber and Tebu
code includes such notions as au- tribal groups.
tomatic protection of guests, guar-
anteed hospitality to those who ask Further waves of Bedouin repeatedly
and acts of secret charity known arrived either through the Sinai or
only to the giver. These notions ex- across the Red Sea from Saudi Ara-
ist still but are much undermined by bia. The latest migrations were little
the conditions of modern living. more than two hundred years ago.

The traditional justice system of the
Bedouin is a court attended by all The Bedouin now
the elders of the tribe- and other
tribes if there is an intertribal dis- nowadays the Bedouin of Egypt
pute. In Egypt, amongst the Red can be very roughly divided into four
Sea tribes, this would be held in the groups. There are the Sinai Bedouin
presence of a small boat hanging – who are still close to their nomadic
from a tree. The boat symbolizes our roots- even those that are working in
transitory stature on Earth and how Sharm el-Sheikh. They were able to
we are duty bound to move on. adapt from nomadic travel in the
Perhaps, too, it is an influence from hills to taking tourists along their old
earlier inhabitants of the area who routes. Then there are the Red Sea
carved boat shapes on the rock Coast tribes: mainly the Ma’aza and
walls- the same shaped boats used the Ababda. These retain a con-
by the Pharaohs. siderable amount of old practices
Until the early 19th century the Bed- though they have adopted mod-
ouin controlled the deserts of Egypt ern technology and some modern
conveniences. Inevitably, the richer
families who have made money
from selling land for resort develop-
ment have changed more than the
poor.
Thirdly you have the Awlad Ali who
dominate on the north coast- these
have been assimilating for years
into Alexandrian culture. Most re-
cently they have also become
wealthy through development of
seaside apartments all along the
north coast.

47

Finally there are the Bedouin who Bedouin Travel Tips
live in the Western Desert oases.
They are connected by interest to If you carry water bottle wrap it in
both the Awlad Ali and the Red Sea a cloth and wet the cloth every so
Bedouin, though their lineage may
often. Do this in the early morning
be somewhat distant from either,
when the water is still very cold and
having lived for several centuries
it will remain cold in the heat of the
or more in the oases. These were
the truck drivers of the camel age- day.
transporting produce to the nile by
camel up until the 1980s. Many Instead of tying complex knots sim-
then turned to farming and then ply untwist the strands of the rope
to the much more lucrative tourist and past the end through making
business. They still retain a lot of Bed- a loop. You can add a stop knot if
ouin characteristics though- a love you like.
of falconry, the desert and camp-
fire music.

Bedouin, camels and cars
Bedouin look after their camels and
their cars very well. In African coun-
tries one is used to cars being in
a poor state- not the land cruisers
driven by Bedouin. Because they
need to be ultra-reliable for desert
use the Bedouin keep them in bet-
ter condition than most Europeans
keep their cars. This is a carryover
from the care of camels. When
you travel with Bedouin don’t ex-
pect a cup of coffee or tea when
you stop. First they will unload the
camels and then they will make
them comfortable and feed them.
Only then will they make camp and Stand your kettle in front of the fire
food for themselves and anyone so that the wind blows the flames all
traveling with them. Likewise in cars round the kettles sides as well as the
if you have had a puncture during bottom.
the day the Bedouin will fix the tyre Wind can be strong at night and a
before fixing food for anyone. Their flapping tent can be annoying- or
quiet ability to keep working and even blow down. The Bedouin use
working hard is a sometimes surpris-
the saddles and jerry cans to build a
ing contrast to European notions of
kind of enclosure about knee height
a happy go lucky people.
or maybe a little more. When you lie
down behind it you are completely
out of the wind.

Always make some kind of reas-
suring noise when you are around
camels. It doesn’t matter if its hum-
ming, clicking or quiet singing or
whispering- the reassurance is the
thing.

BEDOUIn LIFE & LORE In THE DESERT
Finding direction Bedouin cooking
Bedouin are reputedly brilliant at Bedouin can be great cooks. Two
finding their way in the desert and favorite dishes are sand baked
they are- but there is no magic to bread and fried dates. To make the
it, just extreme familiarity. They know bread you mix a dough of flour, salt,
that the wind is usually from the a little sugar and water. This you roll
north West and that dunes align out flat. You then scoop away the
with that prevailing wind. They know embers of the fire and lay the bread
that the sun, in winter at midday, is in the sand. Then cover with sand
in the south. Finally the landscape and embers. After ten minutes turn
in its main features is simple- every the bread over and cook the other
oasis has an escarpment along one side. Adjust the time depending on
or more sides. These cliff edges that the thickness of the bread and how
can run for hundreds of kilometers many embers you have. Though
can be used as handy reference you may imagine the sand will stick
points for traveling, as can the it does not. Carefully brush with your
lengthy north/south Western Desert hand and you will have a marvelous
road. loaf of bread.

49

Fried dates is very simple- just a little the camp. There is never any sense
oil in a pan over the fire. Eaten when of the big leader reclining while the
soft with the bread they are sweet minions do the hard work.
and delicious.
This sense of innate democracy ex-
How to travel like a Bedouin? tends even to traveling. Bedouin can
dig their heels in and be reluctant to
The Bedouin are quite simply the go somewhere. It may be because
best people in the desert. They are they are worried about their camels,
the most at home there and they or it could simply be that they are get-
respect it more than other groups, ting hungry themselves. But the inter-
for example oases dwellers, who esting thing is they are always open
may make a living out of the des- to a reasoned debate. If you are set
ert but do not appreciate it in the on something and can calmly but
same way. persuasively put your point across

The Bedouin attitude to the desert is they will change their minds. Anger
not sentimental. It is more like that and ordering eventually backfire- the
of a coastal dwelling sailor or fish- best method is to sit down and ex-
erman to the sea. He may even pect a good long session of talking.
profess ‘to hate the desert’ but this is
just talk. The desert is in their bones Bedouin are naturally well man-
and they are brought up to enjoy its nered. They keep clean and they
bounty, its freedom and to respect neither crack jokes about lavatory
greatly its dangers. habits nor expect you to crack jokes
about theirs. They do not make a
Bedouin do not take unnecessary big deal about toilet arrangements
risks. On any journey more than a but, they never leave anything in
walk from the highway they will take a place you are likely to stumble
two vehicles- pick-ups usually. You upon.
sometimes get people smugglers
using a single vehicle as they cross Though the left hand is tradition-
from Sudan. These are not Bedouin, ally the one used to wipe the back-
who would never take such a risk. side you will see they eat with both
hands, though favoring the right.
In camp they are intriguing to watch. There is no need to be paranoid
They all work in a kind of coordinat- about touching someone or some-
ed system yet without anyone giv- thing with your left hand. They are
ing orders. Even the head guide will far more sensitive to you putting
do food preparation and setting up your feet near their faces or food.

The new desert
association
of E.D.K.

THE nEW DESERT ASSOCIATIOn OF E.D.K.
E.D.K. CODE OF ETHICS

• Safety
• Quality Control (ensure a quality product
and exceed customer expectations)
• Sustainable Development
• Respect for the environment and local culture

E.D.K. CODE OF COnDUCT

• Take nothing and leave nothing.
• Don’t touch pre-historic paintings and engravings.
• Respect the silence of the desert.
• Respect local customs and traditions.
• Ask your tour operator for relevant brochures.

EDK stands for Egyptian Desert Keepers.

Their vision is to make the Egyptian Desert the ultimate destination for re-
sponsible travelers while preserving its culture and ecology for generations
to come.
The mission statement of EDK is as follows: “We are a professional associa-
tion of travel agencies that organizes, promotes and sells responsible desert
travel in a way that conserves the environment and improves the well being
of local people. We are a cohesive body of desert tourism experts that share
experiences and knowledge in order to elevate Egypt’s desert tourism to the
highest possible eco standards.

51

Practical Info
CLOTHES Wet wipes are essential for getting
clean in a no-washing environment.
Forget T-shirts and shorts- if you are
Use them before a meal as infections
walking for any length of time you will
are most easily spread from hand to
get badly sun burnt even with the sun-
mouth. Take a toilet roll and when you
cream on. Bring a hat with a brim or
have finished burn the toilet paper- it
better get the guide to show you how
will last as long as papyrus otherwise-
to wear a Bedouin style scarf- easily
thousands of years. Bury the rest under
bought at any oasis. Long quick-dry
a good pile of stones.
type trousers are best, baggy and
lightweight. The kind with zip off shorts
can be opened to let in the breeze TRAnSPORT

rather than zipped completely off. On
The best way to the see the desert is
a really hot day a baggy man-made
on foot. now you can either walk un-
fibre shirt is best. On ordinary days a
accompanied all the way or you can
wickaway or conventional vest will
drive to a nice part of the desert and
keep you cooler longer. Baggy cotton
then walk, or you can walk alongside
and linen shirts are also fine if they are
a camel carrying all your victuals and
not too heavy.
supplies. The choice is yours.
In the evening it can get really cold
Many take the car option- and in
by comparison. Bring a fleece and a
Egypt there are numerous guides and
windproof jacket of some kind, or a
guiding companies who will set up ev-
sweater and maybe a down jacket.
erything you need for a good desert
Longjohns are not a bad idea too.
trip. If you stipulate you want to walk at
least two hours a day, or one, they will
Bring boots or, better, Teva type san-
be happy to oblige. Usually you start
dals as long as they comfortable.
walking in the morning as they pack
Trainers are not so good.
up the camp and then you can also
PERSOnAL GEAR
get dropped off some way from camp
at night and walk along the tracks they
You do not need much. Sunglasses, leave. Any guide who won’t allow you
sun cream and plasters for potential to walk and enjoy the utter freedom of
blisters. Your preferred painkiller- a hot the desert is not worth going with.
dry day can leave you with a head-
ache if you’ve just arrived from the All guides will carry sandplates for
frozen north. A headlamp is very use- getting out of soft sand, a jack, spare
ful- you don’t need the most expen- tyre if not two, and a few key spares
sive but don’t be tempted by the ultra- such as fan belt and perhaps water-
cheap ones as they always break. pump. Many now have sat phones-
Small binoculars can be useful. Any though this is not really as great a help
camera should be kept in a plastic as it may seem. Sat phones don’t stop
bag most of the time as sand gets ev- mistakes happening- it is better to go
erywhere- and will jam motors. with a good guide in the first place.

MAPS SHELTER

Having a map makes it more fun. You Tents are usually offered but you bring
can get maps off the net or from the your own sleeping bag. Get a three
Egyptian Map Office in Giza. It is best or even four season bag as it can get

PRACTICAL InFORMATIOn
to ask the guide or a tour company chilly at night in winter. I started off
representative to make the purchase always sleeping in tents- now I rarely
as it can get complicated. do- the flapping sound made by
even a small breeze can be rather
WATER distracting- and you don’t get to see
In summer you may need 5litres a the incredible night sky! Mattresses
day. If you drink anymore then you are always provided but again if you
are doing too much exercise. You wriggle down in some sand you will
may well feel sick too. In winter and be plenty comfortable with just your
spring 1-3litres should suffice in addi- sleeping bag.
tion to any drinks and soup you may
consume.
Water is usually carried in bottles and
boxes. This is not very eco-friendly-
make sure the guide collapses the
bottles and brings them back to the
Oasis. jerry cans of water are better
but clumsier and potentially dirtier. On
a camel trip you might carry a few
boxes for just drinking and the rest in
jerries for cooking.
FOOD

Desert food is simple food. Traditionally
it is dates, bread and tea. A little meat
and rice if you are lucky. Fortunately
there are some great desert chefs out
there- some of the best food in Egypt
is cooked upon the desert in my ex-
perience. Expect pasta and rice and
bread as the carbohydrate and then
meat and vegetable sauces and len-
til soup which can be terrific.

Also barbecued lamb and chicken on
the camp fire. For breakfast- bread,
honey and eggs- most guides know
how to make bread under the fire in
the Bedouin style and that’s always a
fun thing to do.

53

Do’s & Don’ts
The desert is a benign environment – until you make a mistake- then it
can be lethal. In summer you can expect to last less than three days
without water. In winter, much longer, probably a week. It is the very
DO’S & DOn’TS

lack of water that makes the desert a dangerous place to make a
mistake. Also its remoteness. I would not include dangers from sna-
kes and scorpions because they are rarer here than in more built up
areas of the Mediterranean. I have seen more scorpions in the South
of France than in the Sahara!

Do take care of the environment and almost all guides go well pre-
and make sure you leave the pared.
campsite as you find it.
Do ask to see the camels first on a
Don’t take away anything that da- camel journey. Do they look reaso-
mages or reduces the landscape in nably healthy? Do they have humps
anyway. or are they skinny and emaciated?
For a long trip you want a healthy ca-
Do feel free to tell drivers and tour mel. next ask to mount a camel (if
guides to take away rubbish rather it is your intention to ever ride- many
than burn it. camel travelers never ride- they
simply walk alongside their beasts)
Do take two or more vehicles. When and see if the guide holds down the
making a long trip into the desert- neck until you have mounted pro-
which means any trip where you will perly. Most accidents with camels
be more than 25km from a road it is when mounting or dismounting-
advised that you take two vehicles. when the camel suddenly bucks
and throws its load- you- off. If a
Don’t bother with forcing three ve- guide is attentive at these moments
hicles on a trip when you only have he knows.
two. For a trip to the Gilf Kebir the
old advice was to take three vehi- Do plan on drinking between 1 and
cles, but this was in the days of less 3 litres of water a day in winter in ad-
reliable cars. Two will suffice as long dition to any tea, coffee or soup.
as they are not overloaded.
Do drink in long bursts when you are
Do check out the guide. When hi- cool- early morning and early eve-
ring a guide with vehicles see how ning and lunch being best.
he loads the car- does he store fuel
next to food? Is the vehicle itself dirty Don’t wear trainers for walking – the
and in need of attention? Are the ty- sand will get inside the lining and
res worn and inappropriate? make the show too tight. They also
Thankfully poor guides are rare. The let too much sand in going down
desert is recognized by all as a se- dunes. Sandals and boots are bet-
rious place to have a breakdown ter.

Desert and oasis brochure

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Desert and oasis brochure