Desert and Oasis

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All oases of the

Western Desert

Deserts& Oases

EGYPT



The White Desert



WELCOME TO THE DESERT

OASESP.12-13

P.14-15

P.16-17

P.18-19

P.20-21

P.22-23

FAYOUM OASIS

BAHARIYA OASIS

FARAFRA OASIS

DAKHLA OASIS

KHARGA OASIS

SIWA OASIS

SUGGESTIOn OF TOURS

THE DESERT ASSOCIATIOn: EDK

PRACTICAL InFORMATIOn

DO’S & DOn’TS

EGYPT GEnERAL MAP

BEDOUIn LIFE & LORE In THE DESERT

cotets

P.26-27

P.28-29

P.30-31

SHORT TRIPS

LOnG TRIPS

ExPEDITIOnS

DESERT ALTERnATIvESjOURnEYS THAT CAn BE MIxED

WITH MORE GEnERAL HOLIDAYS In EGYPT

P.34-35

P.36-37

P.38-39

P.40-41

P.42-43

P.44-45

WHALE vALLEY & BEYOnD

QATTARA DEPRESSIOn& THE nORTH COAST

THE SAnD SEA OASES

ROCK ART In THE WESTERn DESERT

SAILInG THE SAnD SEA

WESTERn DESERT GRAnD TOUR

5



Welcome to theThe desert is oe of the mysterious places o earth where ormal

rules about liig are suspeded ad ee abset. More like the

sea tha ay comparable ladmass the desert stretches away to

the horizo blikig as if it is its opposite- a giat lake- but of coursethis is ust a mirage. To isit the desert is to pluge ito a place of

marels.

Moastic ad spiritual folk hae tra-

eled to the desert sice the begi-

ig of history to get away from dis-

tractions of life to nd a communionbetwee ma ad the atural world

i all its awe, woder ad astess.

Some of those aciet moaster-

ies are still ihabited i the Egyptia

desert still far from ‘ciilizatio’.

Deser ts

& OasesE G Y P T G U I D E

The desert is aboe all a clea place-

there are, oce you leae the oases,no mosquitoes and no ies, and

the groud is as clea as atisep-

tic- whe a Bedoui cuts his foot he

will rub sad i the woud to haste

healig as sad i the deep desert is

as clea ad bacteria free as thigs

get.

The sheer ariety of the Egyptian

Sahara is staggering. It is the most

varied desert on the planet. Ulike

the edless grael plais of Libya,

the Egyptia desert ladscape ca

chage abruptly from steep lies

of seif dune to rocky canyons to

vertiginous escarpments to plainsdotted with strange conical hills to

sand sheets that seem to stretch for

eer oly to ed i a cofusio of star

dues after a distace.

The ariety is edless which is why

walkig is always fasciatig i the

The White Desert

Sad dues ear Bahariya



W E L C O M E T O T H E D E S E R T

Egyptian desert. At rst the very lack of

aythig apparet causes oe to fo-

cus ad ope up. I our busy moder

lies we close ourseles off to surie,

but i the desert we retur to our pri-meval state where every rock, ower

and ying bird is of vital interest.

The, after a while, you begi to see

that desert is ot a dead world, a

empty world at all- it is overowing

with things to nd and look at: fos-

sils, int scrapers, lizards, beetles,diminutive fennec foxes with their

huge ears, falcons, petried wood,

stoe aes ad spear heads left

behid from whe the etire desert

was a wetter saaah; gridig

stoes, ostrich egg shells, 5000 yearold rock art paitigs ad carigs,

old camel route markers, Roma

pottery, acacia trees cligig to life,

ochre deposits, pre-historic shark’s

remais- the list goes o- the desert

is a place of marels ust waitig to

be foud.

Egypt is 95% desert. Yet for much

of its history Egypt has bee the

story of the fertile 5% that lies

alogside the rier nile.

More ad more, though, people

are begiig to alue the oer-

looked desert, this great wilder-

ess which is a place of icred-ible beauty ad wild solitude.

The Black Desert

The White Desert

The White Desert

7

desert



P E O P L E I n T H E D E S E R T

I the Oases people are the same

stock ad same traditios as the

people of the nile- broadly speak-ing. Mixed with them and inuenc-

ig them are Arab Bedouin from

the East, and Berbers origially

B A S I C F E A T U R E S A B O U T E G Y P T A n D I T S D E S E R T S

Where did all the sand come from?

Scietists hae yet to fully agree o

this oe. Some of the curret theories

iclude the idea that the costat

growth ad the shrikage of the

Mediterraea oer the last 70 millio

years geerated what might be

thought of as the world’s biggest beach.

The sea came ilad as far as the oasis

of Bahariya, which is oer 300km

from the curret Mediterraea coast

of Egypt, ad the retreated.

The aimals you epect to see i

the desert are ot the oes you will

see. Most people epect to see

sakes ad scorpios- whe i fact

these are rare, ery rare i the deep

desert. You are much more likely to

see falcons wheeling in the sky or

a jerboa, a small rodent, hopping

along. Deeper ito the desert, espe-cially at old campsites, you may get

a shy isit from a Feec fo, whose

big ears help keep it cool without

sweatig.

You ca also epect to see pad

footed geckos ad other desert

lizards. Beetles with elogated legs

to keep them aboe the hot sad.

Weddan, or wild sheep, still eist

dow ear Uweinat and the Gilf

Kebir. Ibe, log hored deer, arestill see i the Easter desert, some

as ear as twety kilometers from

Cairo.

W I L D L I F E I n T H E D E S E R T

from North West Africa. The differ-

et oases hae differet mies- for

eample i Siwa the culture is ery differet sice the maority are orig-

ially of Berber origi.

Wadi Hamra

Dakhla



T I M I n G I n T H E D E S E R T

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

Oe day ca be all you eed to get

a real taste of the desert. You ca walk up a due ad feel

the true emptiess of the place ee

whe you are oly 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 a-

vour. See the icredible ight sky; sit

by the re and next morning watchthe su rise i all its glory.

Longer trips of a few days are even

better as you will hae a chace

to lear somethig of the stars ad

see how aried the desert is. no trip,

howeer, is likely to last more tha

two weeks without restockig o

fuel ad water. But ee o this, the

logest time you are likely to spedi the desert you will still ot feel it

is quite log eough...

Germa, Egyptia, British ad Ital-

ia eplorers hae all played their

part i discoerig the secrets of the

Sahara i recet times. Oe of the

most promiet was Gerhard Rohlfs

who attempted to reach the Libya

Oasis of Kufra from Dakhla i 1874.

I the ed he tured orth to Siwa

after receiig a rare two days of

rai at a place foreer after amed

Regenfeld- raineld.

After Rohlfs came the aristocraticEgyptia eplorer Hassaei Bey,

whose si moth ourey from Siwa

past Uweiat ad ito the Suda

raks as oe of the greatest des-

ert oureys of all time. Hassaei

Bey was not only the rst explorer to

visit Uweinat, he was also the rst to

glimpse the Gilf Kebir. At the sametime, usig half tracked ehicles,

the Egyptia Royal, Price Kemal

Al-Din made the rst extensive jour-

eys aroud the Gilf Kebir plateau,

which he named and was the rst

to map.

Tracked ehicles were followed by

the motor car. Eplorers such as

Cout Laszlo Almasy of Hugary-

the real life model for the book ad

moie character “The English Pa-

tient ” ad Maor Ralph Bagold of

Britai droe for thousads of miles

i adapted Model A Fords through

coutry o oe had eer see for

may years, ad certaily eer

mapped.

Moder eplorers of the desert hae

teded to reliquish the car for the

camel ad walkig o foot. Ger-

ma Carlo Bergma ad Dutch-

woma Arita Baaies hae used

camels to track thousad of milesalog aciet camel routes that

hae log bee disused.

The White Desert

Bedouin re camp

W E L C O M E T O T H E D E S E R T

9



Oasesthe

Trael i the Egyptia desert is

diided betwee the deep des-

ert ad the Oases. The Oases

are i the low parts of the des-ert, earer to the water table.

Each oasis sits i its ow hollow

or depressio, which ca be

thousads of kilometers i area.

Each oasis has its ow char-

acter- which you will discer

whe you isit. Fayoum, with its

extensive elds and gardens,

ad proimity to Cairo, is ery

differet i feel to Siwa with its

origially Berber populatio ad

isolated positio.

The Oases are all, howeer,

away from the hurly burly of mass

tourism ad mass employmet.

Time stads still i the Oases, as

much as it does aywhere i

this itercoected world, ad

for this the desert traeler should

be grateful. Kids still wae at youad smile, people will still wat

to talk to you- simply to be your

fried rather tha to score some

moey. Ideed i the Oases it

pays to leae behid your cyi-

cal hardeed traeler eterior

ad take people as they come.

Withi the Oases themseles

Dakhla

Dakhla Oasis



be marelous ad improised,

hot sprigs, aciet mou-

mets, temples ad fortresses,

museums ad crafts.

just walkig the streets of ay

oasis is a act of eploratio as

you lear about a culture alie

to your ow, liig i oe of the

driest places i the world.

people are ot so sophisticated

as to inate prices much- the

hagglers here are amateurs

compared to the Bazaars of

Cairo.

For etertaimet you ca seek

out Bedoui music- which ca

Bahariya Oasis

Dakhla Oasis The White Desert

Dakhla Oasis

Siwa Ecolodge Adrere Amellal

T H E O A S E S

11



El FayoumThe Fayoum as it is kow is the

only articial oasis, created ot

by water sprigig forth from the

groud but by a log caal, atu-

rally formed by the ooding Nile,

that dates from Biblical times, called

Joseph’s canal.

This stretches from the nile to the

great lake of Birket Qarun. It is this

huge lake, which o a rough day looks

ery much like the sea that gies the

special character to the Fayoum. The

lake used to be maor place for duck

hutig ad the hotels o its souther

shore hosted such lumiaries as Wi-

sto Churchill ad Kig Farouk as they

took pot shots at ying birds. Though

there is still some duck shootig there

Lake Qaru



is far more bird watchig both o this

lake ad the earby Wadi Rayya

another articially created expanse

of water.

Lake Qarun was a freshwater lake

until recent times. This has bee

proven by the sh skeletons and

freshwater plakto remais foud

i mud deposits. I aciet times

the ood of the Nile was powerful

eough to charge the lake with ew

water. Howeer sice the 1900s, whe the British itroduced both a

dam at Aswa (aticipatig the

later high dam) ad a system of

irrigatio by more etesie ca-

alizatio alog the nile, the wa-

ter eterig the lake has bee

more ru off from agriculture tha

fresher water direct from the nile.

The growth i saliity meas the

sh now caught in Lake Qarun are

predominantly sea sh introduced

from the Mediterraea.

I the Fayoum Oasis itself you will

nd a reasonably modern centraltow surrouded by masses of

palm tree platatios. There are

aciet water wheels to iew ad

plety of ruis of Pharaoic ad

Roma origi- some i the desert

orth of Lake Qaru.

Camels do a lot of the dokey work, so to speak, these beig

oasis camels that lie o gree

fodder kow as birseem rather

tha o the tagled thors of the

desert.

Fayoum icludes the protectedarea of Wadi Rayya, a desert

area that surrouds two lakes co-

ected by a small waterfall the

oly oe i the Egyptia desert. As

well as wadis ad hills to eplore

there is also the monastery of

Wadi Rayyan where moder day

moks carry o the traditios of

their forebears who origially dug

rock caes here at the daw of

Christiaity.

At the isitor cetre of Wadi Rayya

it is possible to iew the lake which

is ofte faoured by birds migrat-

ig south ad orth from Africa

to Egypt who glimpse this ast

stretch of water as a atural rest-

ig place.

Away to the west of the Fayoum

is the Whale Valley, which is part

of a tour described later i this

guide.

For ow it should be metioed

that Whale valley, or Wadi Hita,contains some of the best pre-

served fossil skeletons of etict

whales aywhere i the world.

Huge ad strage this hautig

place is well worth a isit.

Wadi Hita

13

E L F A Y O U M

O A S I S



BahariyaBahariya feels like the rst real

desert oasis in Egypt.

You reach it after a four or ve

hour’s drie from Cairo alog a

well made road that sees a bit of

tanker trafc but little else. There is

oly oe stop e route-a bar-like

tea house-after 150km (ad a small-

er oe about 10km further o) ad

that is it. It was o the right had side

of the road, i the directio of Wadi

Natrun, that Frech Flyer Atoie deSait Eupery crashed i 1935. Sur-

iig o a half pit of coffee ad

a orage Eupery suried- ad

later wrote about the eperieces

i the marelous desert book ‘‘Wind,

Sand and Stars’’ .

Beig relatiely ear to Cairo

Bahariya has attracted a umber of

foreigers oer the years i search

of peace ad desert freedom. They

hae started, or bee ioled with,

the seeral eco-spiritual compaies

sprigig up with safaris tailored to

match the growig breed of trael-

lers out to do more tha stad ad

stare.

At Bahariya itself the mai tow

you drie through is Bawati. There

are other smaller illages clustered

withi the depressio of the oasis,

may of them metioed i Ro-

ma times. Bahariya has bee

ihabited for may ceturies

ad it was here that the so calledGolden Mummies were uearthed

a few years ago.

Mummies i Bahariya



The Bahariya illages ofMadisha ad Zabu arethreateed by ecroach-ig sad. A huge wae of adue has already egulfedmay houses ad ow looms oer a street of smallbuildigs.

DID YOU KnOW?

?

15

B A H A R I Y A O A S I S

Some of the mummy cases ca

be see i the museum i Bawiti

which you drie past o the way

i. There are shops sellig most

thigs- here you ca buy your

Bedoui scarf’s ad rugs.

Look out for the traditioal shops

such as the bakery which is a

small blackeed hole i the wall

through which hads pass to re-

ceie their daily bread.

The hills behid the tow iclude

Gebel Dest- this was where impor-

tat diosaur remais were foud

by Germa paleotoligist Eric

Strommer early a hudred years

ago. He discoered a tyraosau-

rus-like cariore called Spiosau-

rus, which, if you hae see ‘‘ Juras-

sic Park III’’ does battle with T-Re

towards the end of the lm.

All aroud Bawiti there are a-

ciet sites waitig to be isited.

Whe oe tires of sightseeig the

oasis is well equipped with hot

sprigs that gush from the earth

ad clease you of the sad ofdesert traelig.

Temple of Alexander

O the road goig i the directio

of Siwa is the temple dedicated

to Alexander- the oly oe that still

eists i Egypt- perhaps he came

back through Bahariya after isit-

ig the oracle at Siwa.

After the dusty atmospheric tow

of Bawiti oe dries through the

Black Desert, called this because

the air has oidized the maga-ese i the rocks makig them

black.

Hot Sprig

Bahariya

Golde Mummies



FarafraFarafra is the nearest oasis to

the White Desert. People usually

isit this desert from Bahariya ad

miss out o seeig Farafra. Which

is a pity as Farafra has a special

charm all of its ow.

The Farafroies hae had their

umber swelled i recet years

by the ew alleys settlemet

scheme. Wells were drilled to sup-

ply with water these ew farms

ad the populatio has icreased

cosiderably from a few thousad

i the 1980s to oer 15,000 today.May of these people lie i the

ew hamlets that surroud the

mai tow of Qasr Farafra which

ow has aroud 5000 ihabitats.

This has led to a icrease i the

umber of shops o the highway

as you drie through- always a

useful thig for resupplyig a des-

ert ourey.

As you walk aroud Farafra with its

low, ti roofed buildigs it is hard

to picture it i Roma, or ee Ot-

toman, times. At rst sight it seems

as if the old mud walled, origially

Roma, fortress i tow has falle

ito disrepair, largely washed away

by freak raifall sice the 1950s.

The other mud fortresses- ota-bly i Dakhla Oasis are uihab-

ited- but despite its parlous state

of repair the Farafra fortress still

has a few families thus proidig

a uique sese of cotiuity to the

aciet past of the oases.

Palm Trees i Farafra



17

F A R A F R A O A S I S

Crafts of Farafra

Ulike Siwa, with its ewelry, ad

Dakhla ad Kharga with their ce-

ramics, there is o great craft tra-

ditio celebrated i Farafra apart

from the spiig of wool- both

from camels ad sheep. Uusually,

both for Egypt ad the world i ge-

eral, spiig is cosidered a male

occupatio. Heay fellows ca be

see strollig the mai street twirl-

ig a spidle ad bobbi as they chat with frieds ad drik a glass of

mit tea. Kittig, too, as amogst

sailors, is a occupatio practiced

by me as well as a few liberated

wome i Farafra.

Hot Springs

As i Bahariya, Farafra is well en-

dowed with hot springs. What

could be more relaig tha soak-

ig away the desert sad after a

hard safari through the White Des-

ert? Bir Sitta, Well Six, is particu-

larly good for traellers, especially

if sufferig a few aches ad pais

from the ew eperiece of camel

ridig. The large hot bath cotais

traces of sulphur which are said to

aid muscle ad oit recoery.

Farafra has its ow istitutios-but they are people rather tha

places. There is the ubiquitous ‘Mr

Socks’ a relatie of the Bedoui

Badawi cla who bombs aroud

o his moped with a woode

crate full of had kitted socks

ad other useful Bedoui type ap-

parel. The socks are great for the

desert at ight ad good for pad-

dig aroud oasis hotels whe you

do ot wat a stray mosquito go-

ig for your akles.

The rst census of Farafra in

1892 put the populatio at

a mere 542 ihabitats, oe

thirtieth of its curret popula-

tio.

DID YOU KnOW?

?

Wome kittig i Farafra

The White Desert

Bedouis ear Farafra



DakhlaDakhla is among the most remote

Oases beig far from both Cairo

ad Luor. Yet it is well worth the e-pediture i time ad effort.

You pass from Farafra alog oe

of the loeliest stretches of road i

Egypt. If you stop, you ca stad by

your silet car ad hear othig but

the wid for ages.

It is a large oasis coerig a largearea with may small illages ad

hamlets. You will kow whe you

hae arried as may of the famers

like to wear straw hats- which you do

ot see i other oases.

Dakhla is cosidered to be oe of

the oldest ihabited places i Af-

rica, or rather Mut, its largest town

is.

Mut, which means mother in the

Ancient Egyptian tongue, is really

the mother of all dwellig places.

Houses carbo dated to 13,000 years

ago hae bee uearthed there.

Qasr

Dakhla is home to may acietremais, hot sprigs ad tower-

ig oer it – the escarpmet which

domiates the skylie o the orth-

er side. I the oasis tow of Qasr

(like may of the Oases, the mai

tow is called Qasr after the fortress)

a Dutch lead team of locals hae

succeeded i almost completely

rebuildig the dark mud walled old

tow.

Balat City i Dakhla



19

Desert raiders origiatig iChad attacked Dakhla uputil the 19th cetury usigiro boomerags. These areot so differet i desig tothe boomerags used by the

Aciet Egyptias to catchsmall birds.

DID YOU KnOW?

?

D

A K H L A O A S I S

This place of narrow alleys ad se-

cret passages is oe of the great

sights of Dakhla. Lose yourself i a

edless labyrith which is like some-

thig out of desert sequeces i

‘‘Starwars‘‘ or the moie ‘‘The Shel-

tering Sky ‘‘.

Deir El Haggar

A few kilometers before Qasr is the

intriguing Roman ruin of Deir El

Haggar. This place was oce uder

sad- which helped presere the

pait o the carigs. There is some-

thig ery recet about pait ad to

see some that is 2000 years old is

quite amazig. Oe ca compare

oeself to the great eplorer Rolhfs

who sigature ca be see quite

clearly o a colum i frot of the

temple of Deir El Haggar.

But he cared it whe the sad wasmuch higher. now cleared away to

reeal more of the temple, his graf-

ti is a good three meters above the

groud.

Across the way from this restored

roman temple comple are coni-

cal hills full of tombs. Some hae

bee ecaated, some robbed but

as you cast your eyes further there

are may more similar lookig hills

spread throughout Dakhla.

Biking in Mut

To see all the atiquities i Dakhla

you ca ride i the back of a pick

up, take a tai or hitch lifts. Better,

probably, is to hire a pedal bike.

You ca hire bicycles i all the Oa-

ses. Mut is o eceptio- though

with its wide largely empty roads it

makes for some of the best o-road

cyclig i Egypt.

Deir El Haggar

Dakhla

Little girl i Dakhla oasis



KhargaKharga is the largest of the Oa-

ses, the admiistratie cetre of

the new valley Goerorate. It is

also the earest to the nile valley,

beig oly two hours from Luor.

It has a large populatio of oer

70,000 people ad plety of ew buildigs i the cetre.

As you arrie the tag of dates

assaults your ose ad the sight

of row upo row of date palms.

Though busy ad moder, i

parts, Kharga still retais the ro-mace of the desert.

Pottery is one of the crafts cel-

ebrated in Kharga. I the mai

tow of Qasr there are umerous

shops sellig ceramic products

as well as a pottery factory you

ca take a tour roud. You ca

also get some good bargais

at Kharga’s liely bazaar or souk

which is located i the souther

part of Qasr tow i the buzzig

Mida Showla.

In Roman times Kharga was a

powerful centre of activity. There

are may remais alog with those

of more aciet times. Sice

the camel’s itroductio aroud

500BC, Kharga has bee the fial

post o the Forty Days Road fromSuda- alog which all the trade

of East Africa used to come. Ee

today great caraas of camels

come alog this route- but they

are maily destied to be eate

oce they hae arried at Cairo.

Chapel Ceilings of Baga- wat

Here are the domed roofs of one

of the best preserved Christian

cemeteries in the world. There

are 263 orate tombs ad may

chapels. The roof paitigs are of

particular iterest. Ask to see the

paitig that depicts the zodiac

surroudig portraits of Mary ad

jesus. This ery same desig ap-



?

21

K H A R G A O A S I S

pears i pre-Christia Ptolemaic

Egyptia art i the Temple of De-dera but sadly the origial was re-

moed to the Loure i 1820.

But oe ca trace the lie that

coects the two utterly differet

religios.

Ain Um Dabadib

Ain Um Dabadib, located some

40km orth of the main town of

Qasr Kharga, is an amazing for -

tress that has bee occupied sice

before Roma times. A icredible

place that sits below the escarp-

met but 220metres aboe the

desert oor it commands great

istas. All aroud are scattered ad

broke pots that date all the way

back through Islamic times to

Christia to Roma ad before.

Paris, Egypt

It is widely belieed that Baris i

Kharga is amed after Paris i

Frace. Perhaps this is a eampleof the great sese of humour Egyp-

tias display. The world famous

architect Hassa Fathi desiged

an ecologically sound village

to replace old Baris, hece new

Baris. Ufortuately the locals did

ot take to beig moed ad new

Baris is ow deserted, a iterestig

eample of great architecture that

somehow misses the mark.

Kharga was a peal coloy most famously i acietEgyptia ad Roma times.

Oe of the most famousimates was the poet adsatirist jueal (AD60 to130) who was imprisoedfor his rude remarks aboutthe court of the EmperorHadria. He was later par-doed ad retured toRome.

DID YOU KnOW?

Palm Trees i Kharga Oasis

Fortress Ai Um Dabadib

Iside of ‘‘The Peace Chapel’’ i the necropolis of Bagawat



SiwaSiwa Oasis is the favourite of

many desert travellers.

It has a uique atmosphere, a

ambiece that is geuiely rela-

ig, truly a magical place.

It ca be reached either alog

the desert road from Bahariya or,more usually, dow from Marsa

Matruh o the orther coast.

There is also a air serice though

you need to check rst about when

ights are leaving from Cairo.

There are o maor hotel chais

though there are a few highly i-

diidual top class places to stay-

Price Charles stayed at oe whe

he isited i 2006.

Surrounded by lakes that are too

saline to support shing Siwa has

been famous for its olive groves

and palm gardens sice aciet

times.

Today Siwa olies ad Siwa bot-

tled water are considered the nest

ad purest i Egypt. It is a easily

Siwa ecolodge Adrere Amellal

Siwa ecolodge Adrere Amellal



23

Despite there beig a sukeboat i Lake Shiatta, there

were o boats i Siwa after

aciet times. Oly I 1924did traeler Byro de Prorok maage to cross, i a hast-ily cotried dighy, to theislads i the salty lakes wherehe found no treasure but inttools ad other sigs of prehis-toric occupatio.

DID YOU KnOW??

S I W A

O A S I S

supported claim as there is oth-

ig produced here that might be

a pollutat. Siwa has two popula-

tions, origially. The Siwans, who are

berber i origi, ad the Bedouin,

who ihabit illages aroud the

edge of the Oasis ad whose gaily

dressed wome are ot as reclusie

as the atie Siwas.

Oe is struck i Siwa by the ruied

mud tow of Old Shali that was

abadoed, fially, i the 1980safter seere rai damage. It is et

to the ew tow of Shali ad looks

like a ruied castle made of mud

pies. You ca isit it by pickig your

way through the darkeed passage-

ways but mid where you step.

Siwa is most famous as being

the site of the Oracle visited by

Alexander the Great in 331BC. He arried ad demaded that

the Oracle aswer his questio (re-

puted to be ‘Will I rule the world?’ theaswer beig ‘Yes, but ot for ery

log’). As well as beig able to isit

the reputed site of the Oracle there

is Cleopatra’s pool ad the ruied

tow to isit, to ame but a few of

the sights.

Siwan Crafts

Siwa has the best craft tradi-

tion of ay of the oases. You ca

get uique ceramic tai, Sahara

cooking pots, handmade and red

i bread oes rather tha kils.

Weddig dresses of stuig desig

are made by wome, who dress

plaily the rest of the year.

Music in Siwa

You will otice that Siwans are un-

inhibited and talented musicians.

Siwas ted to keep i musical

practice for the four big festials

they hold each year, as well as their

highly musical weddigs. The big-

gest festial, Siayha, which ayoeca atted, draws oer 10,000 Si-

was to earby jebel Dakhour for

three days of feastig, dacig ad

sigig.

SiwaShali



Desert toursthe

The desert beckos- but where ad

how will you go? I took a log time

gettig used to the idea that actu-

ally I could go aywhere i the des-

ert. It is like the sea- o oe owsit ad othig stops you roamig

i ay directio. nothig stops you

ecept the eed for water ad fuel

of some kid.

I thik it is best to thik of the

desert as a place where you walk.

Certaily you ca oly eperiece

its woders whe you are up close

ad persoal with the sad ad the

rock. Driig ad camel ridig may

get you to where you wat to be but

it will be your ow legs that always

complete both the outer ad ier

ourey of a desert of quest.

That said, the choice of trasportdepeds o how deep you wat to

go ito the desert ad how much

time you hae. The tours listed be-

low are a tiy fractio of what is pos-

sible. There purpose is to get you

thikig. You ca the start talkig

with guides ad safari operators

from a strog positio of kowledge.

At the ery least you will hae a ac-

curate picture of what is possible,

the sheer width of rage of possible

desert oureys.

Desert driving

Curretly driig is how most people

eperiece the desert. Whe the

cars get stuck, as they do from

time to time, you will lear how to

etract them by diggig away the

sad ad layig sadplates – metal

tracks you ca drie oer- to affect

a escape. Lots of pushig is always

required- the more that push the

quicker you get back o your our-

ey.

There is o eperiece quite the

same as driig at speed oer

whale back dues. The sad ad

sky seem to merge ad distace isdistorted. The drier has to be care-

ful ot to go oer the kife edge of

a due- ad these ca pop up ay

time. The groud is utterly smooth

ad all you hear is the swishig of

sad uder the tyres. It is as close to

ying as you can get without leaving

the groud.

Ascedig steep dues seems to

go agaist what is possible- but with

a big eough ru-up ay due, if,

of hard sad, ca be coquered.

Descedig a slip face also looks

impossible at rst. Though a face of

loose sad is eer more tha 35degrees or so it will look from the top

like a 60 degree slope. The car will

simply slide dow the slope as log

as it desceds perpedicular ad

ot at a agle- the moemet is

slow ad rather pleasat.



tic ad more ‘real desert’ tha cars-

but you will ot go so far as you will

i a ehicle. Howeer, if you walk i

the desert, ee a few kilometers

from the road will feel isolated.

Desert thrills

The desert is also legitimately a

place for thrill seekers- as log

as they kow the risks. Dirt bike rid-

ers whoop with oy at the prospect

of burig aroud a giat bowl ofsad or up ad oer small dues.

Accidets happe whe you fail to

see some small chage i the des-

ert surface- a hole or sudde ed to

the due.

Sand boarding icreases i popu-

larity year by year. Though ot as

fast as sow boardig, with the

right wa you ca shoot dow some

of the massie dues i the Great

Sad Sea ad hae thrills to spare.

There is o ski-lift to get you back to

the top agai ad its either a walk

that will get you t quicker than almost aythig else, or hitchig a

ride i a 44 ruig i a cycle from

top to bottom.

Though riding a mountain bike

may soud crazy i the desert,

the latest generation of ‘at tyre’

moutai bikes make it possible.These bikes, developed at rst for rid-

ig o sow, are ow beig used for

makig desert oureys aroud the

world. But ee a ormal moutai

bike ca be ridde o much of the

desert- as log as you aoid dues

ad do ot mid pushig from time

to time. Of course you are limited

by haig to carry water, but as I

metioed with walkig- if you ride

ee a few kilometers aloe or i a

small group ito the desert it will feel

like a great ourey.

Cars go far ad fast ad for a trip to

the Gilf Kebir you will hae to go by

car uless you facy a moth log

camel ourey. Cars do mess up

the desert. This is ot a problem isad sice the wid will wipe away

ay tracks. Driers i the Great Sad

Sea, the Siwa due desperados

ad the raiders of the world’s logest

due, Abu Moharik, are o threat to

the desert. Howeer, driig oer

pebbly desert leaes tracks that

eer go. I hae foud the tracks

made by Laszlo Almasy’s Baby Ford

epeditio i 1930- seety years

o ad still clear. Eetually oe

hopes that car driers will stick to e-

istig slops whe they cross the ul-

erable parts of the desert ad oly

fa out whe they hit pure sad.Camel riding and walking

Camels also leae tracks- but theseare egligible compared to those

left by a car. Camels are silet-

apart from sortig ad coughig.

They walk at huma speed, maybe

4.5km/h, so you are as comfort-

able o or off the saddle. Ridig

a camel that is part of a camel

trai is easy- keep oe had o the

saddle ad use the other to steady

the book you are readig- you ca-

ot read while beig drie i a

car- camels smooth out the bumps

rather better.

Camels are arguably more roma-

25

D E S

E R T T O U R S



Bedoui legeds aboud i

Wadi Rayya of buried trea-sure. Rayya they claim was akig who was laid to rest here

with all his gold. Stragely, widespread i the Wadi arecircular ‘sad dollars’, fossil-ised aemoes that look likestoe cois. Maybe this is thereal treasure.

DID YOU KnOW??

Short Trips

The Fayoum ad especially Wadi

Rayyan are a great place to rst

taste the desert.

Wadi Rayyan

To get here from Cairo takes about

an hour and a half if the trafc is

ne. Wadi Rayyan is a protected

area with lakes ad desert promis-

ig iterest for all.

Wadi Hitan - Whale Valley

It is easy to isit the Whale Valley i

a day from Cairo. A accompay-

up to 3 days weeked getaways

1. AROUnD FAYOUM AnD WADI HITAn

ig rager from Wadi Rayya will

usually guide the drier.

The whales i questio are etict

mammals with eel shaped bodies

about 20meters log- bigger tha

a grey whale- closer to the size of

a blue whale. The teeth were sharp

ad saw-like, idicatig a differet

diet to moder whales. They are be-

lieed to hae eisted here 40millio

years ago. Kow as basilosaurus

isis they retai feet, of a kid, u-

like moder whales which ust hae

remat proectig boes.

The icredible lies of ertebrae,each oe weighig 20kilos or more,

make for a eerie sight, as if oe

has arried at a graeyard of the di-

osaurs, which, i a sese, oe has.

There are smaller whale remais

too- the ve meters dorudon which

may be related to eistig whales.

Wadi Hita

Wadi Rayya



O the Red Sea Coast south

of Marsa Alam there is the

Middle East’s largest rock

spire- the Bereice Bodki.

not ofte climbed due to its

remote locatio it is isible

for miles.

DID YOU KnOW?

?

27

S H O R T T R I P S

Climb Egypt’s highestPeak- Gebel Shayib

Egypt’s highest cotietal Africa

peak is Gebel Shayib- the oerall

highest beig Gebel Kataria i

the Siai, which is classed as Asia.

Gebel Shayib is reered as a mou-

tai of mystical importace to the

M’aaza ad whe oe climbs i the

early daw ad sees the equisite

raibow effect of the su shiig

through a ‘mist oasis’ oe ca u-

derstad their reerece.

The Eastern Desert

You eter a quite differet world

whe you cross the nile from the

sandy Western Desert to the moun-

tainous and rocky Eastern one. Still

dry ad arid, but this time there are

hills, ad alleys ad wadis, cuttig

through the whole area from the

Red Sea to the nile Rier.

Monastery of St Anthony

St Anthony (251-356AD) is cosid-

ered to be oe of the fouders ofChristia moasticism ad as such

the moastery raks as the oldest

i the world. 320meters aboe the

moastery is the cae where St A-

thoy lied. Climb the 1158 steps

which will take oer half ad hour to

get to the cae. The etrace is tiy-

but it wides out ito the tiy chapel

where the mok worshipped. It is

hard to imagie liig here for forty

years- but of such commitmet

moasteries are built.

2. AROUnD HURGHADA In THE EASTERn DESERT

St Athoy’s Moastery

Church of St Athoy’s Moastery

St Paul’s Moastery



Log Trips

The White Desert is justiably the

most well- kow desert destia-

tio i Egypt- ad for good reaso.

For sheer quatity of uearthly ad

beautiful wid-cared rock forma-

tios it is uequalled i ay desert i

the world. It also eoys easy accessfrom the road- some of the best

camp spots beig oly a couple of

kilometers from the asphalt- though

you would eer kow that.

Monoliths and canyons

Comig alog the road from

Bahariya you will be struck by thehuge iselbergs, mooliths that

look like rockets o the lauch pad

ad the huched shoulders of gi-

ats. This area betwee the road

ad the escarpmet edge, which

rus pretty much parallel to the road

is a great place for eplorig.

i depth eperiece4-7 days allowig more

1. THE WHITE DESERT CIRCUIT

The Sphinx Valley

Further alog the road to Ain Dalla

o the right is the icredible alley of

the sphies- atural sphies that

again conrm the origin of Phara-

oic art i the atural forms of the

Wester Desert.

of the desert

The White Desert

The White Desert



Camels ca go a etire

witer without drikig as

log as there is fresh eg-

etatio aailable for them

to eat.

DID YOU KnOW??

29

L O n G T R I P S

settig of high dues ad hills that

surroud the small lake.

Sand Boarding

Here at Bir Wahed you ca also try

your had at sand boarding. But

the bigger dues are further south-but all withi a reasoable distace

of Siwa. You ca brig your ow sow-

board- which does work- especially

o the really steep dues, ad the

Siwas hae all the right waes to

make boards really y. They also

hae custom boards that are the

fastest of all.

Though a fair amout of car pow-

ered due bashig goes o at Siwa

it is far more i keepig with its tra-

quil atmosphere ad ecologicalleaigs to take atural powered

trasport. Your basic motor will be

your feet with camel back up. For a

break there will be wid assistace

for sad sailig ad graitatioal

pull for sad boardig.

Bir Wahed

Bir Wahed is a mii oasis ad hot

sprig some 12km south of Siwa at

the start of the dues of the Great

Sand Sea. Bir Wahed was drilled by

ma i search of oil- but the result

is more marelous- especially i the

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

3. TOWARDS THE jARA CAvES

Do’t worry about sakes ad scor-

pios- it is far too dry for these crea-

tures- ad if you are carryig a torch

eerythig alie dow there will hide

away from you.

Iside the cae are a few prehistoric

carigs of atelope ad giraffe.

After a day’s trael ig from Ba-

hariya you will nally arrive at the

Jara Caves, or El Caf as the Bed-

oui call it.

These are the largest dry caes

i Egypt - it is easily the size of a

church dow there, with great thick

stalactites hanging down. The oor

is sady ad tracked by beetles.

The Great Sad Sea

The Great Sad Sea

Sad dues ear Bahariya



The area betwee Siwaad Bahariya is supposedto be where the Lost Army of Kig Cambyses mettheir doom in a terricsadstorm i 524BC.

DID YOU KnOW?

?

Epeditios

Bahariya road

The ‘road’ from Bahariya to Siwa

takes you past a sequence of large

oasis lakes, most of which are

salty and without sh. Most of the

oases were ihabited i the past,ad ee ot so log ago were the

summer quarters of some Bedoui

people ad their aimals.

eplorig the deepdesert areas

from 10-21 days

1. ExPLORInG BETWEEn BAHARIYA, SIWA AnD THE GREAT SAnD SEA

Arag

Arag is the earest oasis to Siwa

ad o the opposite side of the

road from Bahrei. You caot see

it from the road, it is beyond therst ridge of what becomes the

Qattara depression- scee of that

Great War moie Ice Cold i Ale.

Arag has also got rock cut tombs

which are always worth a peak.

The Great Sand Sea

South of Siwa you soo eter the

Great Sad Sea. This is the world’s

largest sad sea with dues up to

400meters high.

Bahariyya Oasis

Siwa

The Great Sad Sea



Laszlo Almasy, the real l ifemodel of ‘‘The Eglish Pa-tiet’’, i the moie of thesame ame, belieed hediscoered the log lostoasis of Zerzura i the wa-dis of the Gilf Kebir.

DID YOU KnOW?

?

31

E x P E D I T I O n S

ad baboos. The art here is accu-

rately dated by the last time there

was ay water i the regio- 5000-

7000 years ago.

Silica glass

Thought to be caused by a giant

meteorite landing about 29 million

years ago, the silica glass is spread

i surprisigly small area- about

50 square kilometers or less, i the

Great Sad Sea. Kig Tutakha-

mu’s chest scarab was made of

silica glass. How it was trasported

from that remote part of the desertto Thebes is aother mystery.

For people who hae see the mo-

ie or read the book ‘‘The English Pa-

tient ‘‘ the this is the tour to make.

Uweinat and Karkur Talh

Deep in the corner of Egypt where

it borders Sudan and Libya lies the

mountain of Gebel Uweinat. Most

people are i a bit of hurry to see

the Gilf as well so at Uweiat they

look at the rock art i the alley ofKarkur Talh. This alley, amed af-

ter the acacia trees which still grow

here, is home to ast quatities of

rock art- both drawigs ad egra-

igs.

The Gilf Kebir - Wadi Soura

and the Mestikawy cave At 900metres high, souring up from

the at desert is the astounding

major plateau known as the Gilf

Kebir. This is where Laszlo Almasy,

the real life character o whom

‘‘The English Patient’’ was based,

discoered, or, more accurately,

rediscoered the caes cotaiigpictures of the famous swimmers.

nearby is the Mestikawy Cae,

foud i 2002 o a epeditio led

by Coloel Ahmed Mestikawy, co-

sidered the largest sigle site of rock

art i Africa. It cotais a amazig

quatity of pictures of aimals log

sice etict here such as giraffes

2. DOWn TO THE GILF KEBIR AnD BEYOnD

Mestikawy Cae

Silica Glass

Wadi Hamra



that ca be mied with more geeral holidays i Egyptoureys

D E S E R T A L T E R n A T I v E S

SAKKARA, DAHSHUR, FAYOUM, WADI RAYYAn

Head out of Cairo towards the stepped pyramid of Sakkara ad

the aciet temple comple. The iestigate the Red Pyramid

ad the mysterious Bent Pyramid before cotiuig alog the

road to Fayoum Oasis and Wadi Rayyan.

The Temples of Luxor and Karnak are a must for ayoe with

a iterest i Aciet Egypt. You ca the take the bus or a tai

to Kharga ad the Dakhla where you ca iew more aciet

moumets.

Alexandria is the old cetre of Ptolemeia Egypt, eplore the

catacombs ad the ew Library, eat great seafood ad head

towards the old battleelds of El Alamein ad the the sea resortof Marsa Matruh. The take the three hour bus or car drie dow

to Siwa where you ca sample all the delights of the desert.

Many people, perhaps on the rst trip to Egypt, want to mix a desert journey with appreciatio of the aciet sites of the nile valley ad perhaps also

the Red Sea resorts. With that i mid it is possible to make may shorter

combied tours of great iterest.

LUxOR, KHARGA, DAKHLA

ALExAnDRIA, EL ALAMEIn, MARSA MATRUH, SIWA



This is the graddaddy of mied trips with a big desert compo-

et. Start i Cairo ad head out ia the Pyramids. The dow

towards Bahariya- if i a 44 you ca take i the valley of the

Whales. The isit Farafra and Dakhla and Kharga, before edig

up at the glorious archeological treasure troe of Luor.

Millios of tourists come to Egypt for its ecellet diig. Hurghada

is oe of the mai cetres ad offers a wide ariety of diig op-

portuities from reefs to wrecks to sorkelig. Oce you hae had

your ll under water check out the surface at Gouna where there

is one of the nest centres for kite-surng in the world. After thathead ilad ad climb the highest moutai o mailad Egypt-

Gebel Shayib.

With ot much time o your hads but a desire to see the deserthead out of Cairo West to the Pyramids ad after eoyig them

to the full cotiue alog the desert road towards Bahariya. After

a hudred kilometers tur south towards Lake Qarun, followig

your way through the amazig fossil beds o each layer of the

escarpmet. At the edge of the lake pick up the road ad head

towards Wadi Rayya ad the valley of the Whales.

Hurghada, home to sea, sad, diig ad ightlife makes a great

place to start ay holiday i Egypt. With resorts spread alog the

coast either side of the mai tow there is plety of choice. Whe

you tire of the pool head ilad for the culture- ad take i the Valley of the Kings. From Luxor head out to Kharga ad the des-

ert.

CAIRO, PYRAMIDS, FAYOUM

HURGHADA, vALLEY OF THE KInGS, KHARGA

HURGHADA DIvInG, GOUnA KITE SURFInG AnD CLIMBInG GEBEL SHAYIB

CAIRO, BAHARIYA, FARAFRA, DAKHLA, KHARGA, LUxOR

33

D E S E R T A L T E R n A T I v E S



of Desert ToursTemplates

7 - D A Y T O U R

This icredible alue tour takes i three of the ‘must see’ sights of the Egyptia

Desert- Whale valley, jara Caes ad the White Desert.

Leaig Cairo early you arrie at Wadi Rayya where it is possible to iew both

the giat Lake of Qaru ad the smaller lakes of Rayya.

Whale valley is a short drie further o ad you will be able to admire the

eposed gigatic remais of fossilized ad log etict whales. From there

you cross the world’s logest sigle due system, the mysterious Abo Moharik

due. This takes you to the huge stalactitic jara caes, which iside is big

enough to t several buses!

You cross ow to the ewel of the Egyptia wilderess- the White Desert- a

strage ad woderful ladscape of chalky buttes ad iselbergs replete with

beautiful soft sad ad marelous wid cared boulders. You may also isit

from here Farafra Oasis, famous for its hot sprigs. From here it is a day’s drie

back to Cairo ia Bahariya Oasis where you might care to stop ad iew the

illustrious Golde Mummies discoered i 1999.

Importat note: These tours are eamples ad for iformatio purposes oly.

Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailor

them to suit coditios ad demad.

Whale valley & Beyod



1

2

34

5

6

7

8

9

10

QarounLake

N i l e

R i v e

r

N i

l e

R i v

e r

QarounLake

WadiEl Rayan

WhiteDesert

Bahariyya

Oasis

FayoumOasis

FarafraOasis

W h

a l e

V a l l e

y

A b u M

o h a r i k Dune

D e p r e s s

i o n

Q a t t a

r a

aEl Natroun

W h i t e

D e s e r t

W e s t

er n

D e s

er t

D

e

s

e r

t

E

a

s

t

e

ALEXANDERTHE GREAT TEMPLE

TONA EL

GABAL RUINS

BANI HASAN

TOMBS

TEL EL

AMARNA

PYRAMIDS

OF GIZA

PYRAMIDS

OF SAQQARA

Bawiti

Qasr Farafra

Abu Minqar

Mallawi

Memphis

Beni Suef

El Minya

El Fayoum

Asyut

Sohag

Giza

Cairo

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,

2 Lake Qaru,

3 Wadi Rayya,

4 Whale valley,

5 Abo Moharik Due,

6 jara Caes,

7 Wadi Karawee,

8 White Desert,

9 Farafra Oasis,

10 Bahariya Oasis,

Cairo

Sphi ad The Great Pyramid i Giza

Bahariya Oasis

35

W H A L E v A L L E Y & B E Y O n D




8 - D A Y T O U R

Follow i the footsteps of Aleader the Great ad isit Siwa by traelig

through the fasciatig wilderess of the norther Coast.

You start from the tow amed after its fouder, Aleadria ad motor south

ito the Qattara Depressio, the lowest poit i Egypt, a iid ad etraordiary ladscape of shiftig sads ad rare plats, scee of the famous moie Ice

Cold in Alex. Your rst stop is El Mogra, a salt water lake surrounded by ve

fresh water wells. It is 34meters below sea leel ad a place of jurassic fossil

remais. From here you traerse the depressio to the tiy oasis settlemet of

Qara. The it is time to go south to Siwa, the most remote Oasis i Egypt ad

the most culturally dierse with its mi of Berber, Bedoui ad Egyptia cultures.

Here you may care to cosult the oracle ust as Aleader did i 332BC.

north from Siwa lies Marsa Matruh, a delightful sea resort ad home to the

cae comple used by the Germa Geeral Rommel to mastermid his at-

tacks o the British ad Australia forces at El Alamei. Which is your et desti-

atio- a uique historical eperiece with a military museum ad cemeteries

datig from WW2. It is oly a few hours’drie back to the fasciatig city of

Aleadria.


Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailorthem to suit coditios ad demad.

Qattara Depressioad the north Coast



1

2

3

45

6

7

L

I B Y A

e d i t e r r a n e a n S e

WhiteDesert

Siwa

SiwaOasis

BahariyyaOasis

FarafraOasis

BorgEl Arab

W h i t e D e s e r t

T he G r e a t

Sea S a n d

WadiEl Natrou

Q a t t a r a

D e p r

e s s i o n

W e s

t e r n

D e s e

r t

AMON

TEMPLE

ALEXANDER

THE GREAT TEMPLE

QaraOasis

SallumSidi Barani

Gabal

El Mawta

GabalEl Dakrur

CleopatraBath

AragOasis

Bawiti

Qasr Farafra

Sidi Abdel Rahman Porto

Marina

Marsa

Matruh

El Alamein

Roset

Siwa

Alexandria

ROUTE:

1 Aleadria,

2 El Mogra Lake,

3 Qattara Depressio,

4 Qara Oasis,

5 Siwa Oasis,

6 Marsa Matruh,

7 El Alamei, Aleadria,

Aleadria

Marsa Matruh beach

Wester Desert, edge of Qattara Depressio

37

Q

A T T A R A D E P R E S S I O n A n D T H E n O R T H




1 0 - D A Y T O U R

The remote ad mostly uihabited oases of the orther Sad Sea offer a

uique ad woderful isight ito the Wester Desert i ladscapes of rare ad

stuig beauty.

It is oly a half day’s drie to Bahariya Oasis, your gateway to the orther Sad

Sea. From here, where you may eoy bargaiig with the locals oer Bedoui

hadicrafts, you trael offroad to the largest of the uihabited Oasis lakes-

Sitra. The it is o to nuwamisa, ad the Bahrei where there are aciet

tombs cut ito the hillside- some ee with mummy wrappigs ad skeletal

remais. north from Bahrei is the idyllic oasis of Arag, which is still used from

time to time by Bedoui herdsme. There are more abadoed dwelligs

here ad the chace of glimpsig the rare gazelle of the Egyptia desert.

net stop is Siwa, surrouded by salt water lakes it is place packed with aciet

moumets together with a people both welcomig ad helpful. If you getthe chace to hear some Siwas makig music- take that opportuity for they

are truly gifted.

From Siwa you pluge south ito the Great Sad Sea, driig betwee the log

lines of dunes that reach over three hundred and fty meters high. Your desti-

atio is the old well of Ai Dalla, kow sice before Roma times ad after

that the maestic White Desert ad the cosy oasis tow of Farafra.




The Sad Sea Oases



2

34

5

6

7 8

L I B Y A

Qaroun Lake

N

i

l

e R

i v e

r

QarounLake

WadiEl Rayan

WhiteDesert

Siwa

Siwa

Oasis

BahariyyaOasis

FayoumOasis

FarafraOasis

DakhlaOasis

KhargaOasis

Ain UmmDabadib

W h

a l e

V a l

l e y D e p r e

s s i o

n

Q a t t

a r a

W h i t e D

e s e r t

T he G r e a tSea S a n d

Ne w V a l l e y

El Natroun

G e l f K ebir

W e s t

e r

n D

e s

e r t

AMON

TEMPLE

ALEXANDER

THE GREAT TEMPLE

AL BAGAWAT

NECROPOLIS

TONA EL

GABAL RUINS

BANI HA

TOMBS

TEL EL AMA

PYRAMIDS

OF GIZA

PYRAMIDS

OF SAQQARA

Qara Oasis

Siwa

Arag

Bawiti

Baris

Qasr FarafraAin Dalla

Abu Minqar

Regenfeld

El Qasr

Mut

Mallawi

Bulaq

MeGabalEl Mawta

CleopatraBath

El Barhein

Nuwamisa

Sitra

Al Kharga

BenSue

El Minya

El Fa

Asyut

Gizaa ro

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,

2 Bahariya Oasis,

3 nuwamisa,

4 Bahrei,

5 Arag, Siwa Oasis,

6 Great Sad Sea,

7 Ai Dalla,

8 Farafra Oasis,

Cairo

Islamic Cairo

The White Desert

39

T H E S A n D S E A O A S E S




1 3 - D A Y T O U R

visit the largest sigle site of rock art i Africa- the Mestikawy Cae, the itriguig rock

carigs of Karkur Talh as well as the Swimmer’s Cae, made famous by the moie

‘‘The English Patient ‘‘.

From your start at the remote oasis of Dakhla, the oldest cotiually ihabited place

i Africa, you trael through remote desert to Bir Terfawi, your etry poit to the ast

sad sheets that lead to the Gilf Kebir. It is here you will iew the astoudig rock

paitigs ad egraigs of the Shaw cae, located i recet times by eplorer

W.B. Keedy Shaw, the Mestikawy cae, which was foud i 2003 by eplorer

Ahmed Mestikawy ad the Cae of the Swimmers which was amed by Laszlo

Almasy, the Hugaria real life model o whom ‘‘The English Patient ‘‘ is based.

Further south ear the massif of Uweiat you may isit Karkur Talh, a area full of rock

art ad offerig the chace of glimpsig the rare ad reclusie wild sheep kowas the wedda.

From the Gilf you may retur ia Abu Ballas, a eerie hill where thousads of broke

pots hae bee foud. It is ow belieed this was part of a water storage trail lead-

ig to Uweiat i Pharaoic times.

Back i Dakhla you should isit the restored fortress tow of Qasr- a labyrith of twist-

ig passages o wider tha two people- a truly amazig place.




Rock Art i the Wester Desert



1

23

4

5

6

7

8

9

Gilf El-KebirProtectorate

SUDAN

L I B Y A

DakhlaOasis

Tro pic of Cancer

S i l

i c c a

V a

l

l

e

y

WadiAbu ElMalik

WadiSoura

WadiWissa

WadiFuraq

a l l e

Gel f K e b i r

UWEINAT MOUNT

1 934 M

El Qasr

Mut

Regenfeld

Abu Ballas

Peterand Paul

Karkur Talh

MestikawyCave

MemorialTarfawi

Well

ROUTE:

1 Dakhla Oasis,

2 Bir Terfawi,

3 Wadi Furaq,

4 Shaw Cae,

5 Uweiat (Karkur Talh),

6 Mestikawy Cae,

7 Swimmer’s Cae,

8 Wadi Wissa,

9 Abu Ballas,

Dakhla Oasis

Qasr illage i Dakhla Oasis

Wadi Hamra 41

R O C K A R T I n T H E W E S T E

R n D E S E R T




1 4 - D A Y T O U R

The largest Sad Sea i the world is your ocea for a few weeks as you eplore this

amazig desert of towerig dues, little kow oases ad prehistoric remais.

Leaig Cairo behid you make your way to Bahariya Oasis ad the o to the ma-

estic uihabited lake of Sitra. Driig through the orther ed of the Great Sad

Sea you alterate isitig the fasciatig oases of Bahrei, nuwamisa ad Arag with

rollig dues ad cayos of remarkable beauty. As this area was oce uder the

Mediterraea there are ample opportuities to see fossil remais such as shark’steeth ad ‘sad dollars’.

You emerge from the orther leg of the ourey at Siwa, the calmest ad most

mysterious of the Oasis tows. Your stay should take i the collapsig mud tow of

Shali which looks like a set out of ‘‘Star Wars’’! From here you will be eager to plunge

deeper ito the Great Sad Sea, driig dow the edless due corridors past fa-

tastic displays of star, barcha ad seif dues. Through this surreal ladscape you

emerge at the Ammoite scarp, most recetly discoered by the Germa eplorer

Rohlfs. The top of the scarp is littered with the fossil remais of ammoites.

From here you reerse the ourey Rohlfs made i 1873 ad arrie at the place he

called Regenfeld- ‘raineld’ in German- a place where it rained and allowed him to

rell his water bottles. Past Regenfeld you hit the Abu Ballas trail and view the strange

water moutai ad its myriad broke pots before leaig the sad at Dakhla ad

returig to Cairo ia the stuig White Desert.




Sailig the Sad Sea



2

3

45

6

7

8

9

10

11

L I B Y A

Qaroun Lake

N

i

l

e R i v e r

QarounLake

WadiEl Rayan

WhiteDesert

Siwa

SiwaOasis

BahariyyaOasis

FayoumOasis

FarafraOasis

DakhlaOasis

KhargaOasis

Ain UmmDabadib

A b u M

o h a r

i k D u ne

S i l i

c c

a

V a

l

l

e

y

D e p r e s s

i o

Q a

t t a

W h i t e

D e s e

r t

T he G r e a tSea S a n d

Ne w V a l l e y

G e l f K e b

i r

W e s t

e r n

D

e s

e r t

AMON

TEMPLE

ALEXANDER

THE GREAT TEMPLE

AL BAGAWAT

NECROPOLIS

TONA EL

GABAL RUINS

BANI HA

TOMBS

TEL EL AMA

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

PYRAMIDS

OF SAQQARA

EZBET DUSH

Qara Oasis

Siwa

Arag

Bawiti

Baris

Qasr Farafra

Abu Minqar

Regenfeld

El Qasr

Mut

Mallawi

Bulaq

Me

Dush

GabalEl Mawta

CleopatraBath

El Barhein

Nuwamisa

Sitra

Ain Dalla

Al Kharga

BeniSuef

El Minya

El Fay

Asyut

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,

2 Bahariya Oasis,

3 Sitra, nuwamisa, Bahrei,4 Arag,

5 Siwa Oasis,

6 Great Sad Sea,

7 Ammoite Scrap,

8 Regefeld,

9 Abu Ballas,

10 Dakhla Oasis,

11 White Desert,

Cairo

Sad dues ear Bahariya oasis

necropolis of Qila el-Dabba, Mastaba of Ketika i Dakhla oasis

43

S A I L I n G T H E S A n D S E A




1 9 - D A Y T O U R

For the ardet eplorer of deserts the Grad Tour beckos. You will be able to isit the

remote rock art sites of Uweiat ad the Gilf Kebir, trael up to the mysterious ad wo-

derful zoe of silica glass followed by a epic orther crossig of the Great Sad Sea

to Siwa- a journey only rst completed in 1933.

Driving down from Cairo you rst leave the asphalt at the White Desert to get a brief

itroductio to the woders of the Egyptia Desert. From here you proceed south util

you gai Abu Ballas, the broke pot moutai which guards the etrace to the Gilf

Kebir regio.Driig swiftly the seeral hudred kilometers to the Gilf, you eter the plateau, which

rears 350meters aboe the desert, ad cross its souther part through Wadi Wissa. Here

you may iew the rock art of the Shaw Cae before headig dow to Uweiat to see

wildlife such as the rare wedda sheep ad etesie rock art i may differet loca-

tios.

Back to the Gilf you will take i both the epic Mestikawy cae ad the famous Swimmer’s

cae as see i the moie ‘‘The English Patient ’’. Both cotai amazig rock paitigs.

The it is time to go oer the Gilf Plateau by ascedig the Aqaba Pass ad desced-

ig ito the 100km log Wadi Hamra, agai a site of much fasciatig rock art. From

here you drie orth to the Silica Glass area, a highly localized source of pure atural

glass formed whe a meteorite hit the desert 29millio years ago. net you follow the

rst motor explorers of the Western Desert and head north to Siwa past the atmospheric

‘forest’ of petried palm trees. As you enter Siwa from the south you may glimpse the

ackals that still ihabit this regio.

From the etraordiarily idyllic Oasis of Siwa you retur across the desert to Bahariya ad

the to Cairo haig completed a ourey of truly epic proportios.




Wester Desert Grad Tour



2

3

45

6

7

89

10

11

12

13

14 L Y B I A

Qaroun Lake

N a s s e rL a k e

G u

l f o f S

u

N i l e

R i v

e r

Saluga& Ghazale

WadiEl Rayan

WhiteDesert

Siwa

SiwaOasis

BahariyyaOasis

FayoumOasis

FarafraOasis

DakhlaOasis

WadiAbu ElMalik

WadiSoura

WadiWissaWadi

Furaq

KhargaOasis

Ain UmmDabadib

Tro pic of Cancer

A b u M

o h a r i k D une

S i

l i

c c

a

V a

l

l e y

D e p r e s s

Q a t t

W h i t e

D e s e

r t

T he G r e a t

Sea S a n d

New V a l l e

y

Gel f K e b i r

W e s t

e r n

D e s e r t

D e s e r t

E

a s t e r n

S i n

ST ANTONY’S

MONASTERYST PAUL’S

MONASTERY

SERABIT

EL KHADIM

MONS

CLAUDIANUS

MONS

PORPHYRITES

UWEINAT MOUNT

1 934 M

AMON

TEMPLE

ALEXANDER

THE GREAT TEMPLE

EZBET DUSH

AL BAGAWAT

NECROPOLIS

ABU SIMBEL

PHILAE

AMADA

WADI

EL-SUBUA

SAAD EL-ALI,

THE HIGH DAM

KALABSHA

DANDARAKARNAK

TEMPLE

OF KHNOUM

ABYDOS

VALLEYOF THE KINGS

TONA ELGABAL RUINS

BANI HASAN

TOMBS

TEL EL

AMARNA

PYRAMIDS

OF SAQQARA

Qara Oasis

Siwa

Arag

Bawiti

Baris

Dush

Qasr Farafra

Abu Minqar

El Qasr

Regenfeld

Abu Ballas

Mut

Peterand Paul

MestikawyCave

Memorial

Mallawi

Bulaq

E l - A

r b a e i n

R o

u t e

Za’farana

Ras SidrMemphis

RasGharib

AbuRudei

QasrIbram

Tushka

Qena

Kom Ombo

Al Kharga

TarfawiWell

El

Beni Suef

El Minya

El Fayoum

Esna

Asyut

Sohag

Luxor

Edfu

Asw

Cairo

ROUTE:

1 Cairo,

2 White Desert,

3 Abu Ballas,

4 Wadi Wissa,

5 Shaw Cae,

6 Uweiat,

7 Mestikawy Cae,

8 Wadi Soura,

9 Aqaba Pass,

10 Wadi Hamra,

11 Silica Glass,

12 Great Sad Sea,

13 Siwa Oasis,

14 Bahariya Oasis,

Cairo Wadi Soura

The White Desert

45

W E S T E R n D E S E R T G

R A n D T O U R



The Bedoui are the traditioal o-

madic tet dwellers of the Arabia

ad Egyptia deserts. There is a

tribal culture reected in the saying,

“My brother ad I agaist my cousi.

My cousi ad I agaist the world.”

Groups traditioally formed aroud

a patriarch gure. In times of strife

or special eed the groups worked

as oe tribe. The Bedoui of Arabia

were the rst converts to Islam and

spread it throughout north Africa as

far as Spai i the 7th cetury.

Bedoui people are traditioally a

oral culture ad their history is kept i

stories ad poems. It is hard there-

fore for outsiders to get a complete-

ly denitive version of their history.

Bedouis derie a idetity from a

cofederatio of families that hae

commo iterests, rather tha a

commo origi. This meas the

origial Arabia tribes oer time

foud commo cause with the i-

digeous omadic tribes of Egypt.

Though omads are aerse to their

daughters marryig settlers they are

ot too opposed to them marryig

other omads of perhaps differetancestry. This exibility explains why,

despite edemic discrimiatio by

the settled folk of Egypt, the Bedoui

cotiue to thrie.

The mai tribe o the orther coast

of the Egypt are the Awlad ‘Ali. They

date themseles from Bedoui mi-

gratio i the 11th cetury AD. O

the East coast there are two mai

tribal groups: the Ma’aza ad the

Ababda. The Ababda claim de-

scet from the Arab migrat Abad i

the 13th cetury. Culturally they are

closer to the hamitic Bea omads

of Suda ad Ethiopia. The Ma’aza

are a large tribal group comprisigmay clas or families that hae

arried oer the ceturies from the

Arabia Peisula. The most recet

cla is the Khushma who came

about 150 years ago. Though the

Ababda ad the Ma’aza hae tra-

ditioally bee somewhat opposed

Bedoui life& lore i the desert



ad the Egyptias cotrolled the

fertile nile valley ad Delta. The

Bedoui cosider themseles Arabs

with their origi beig the triagle

from Syria to Iraq dow to Saudi

Arabia. They rst arrived as part ofthe origial iasio force of Egypt

durig the great Islamic coquests.

This rst wave of Bedouin married

ito the Egyptia populace, though

some aturally ihabited the des-

ert regios which they shared i a

ueasy truce with Berber ad Tebu

tribal groups.

Further waes of Bedoui repeatedly

arried either through the Siai or

across the Red Sea from Saudi Ara-

bia. The latest migratios were little

more tha two hudred years ago.

The Bedouin now

nowadays the Bedoui of Egypt

ca be ery roughly diided ito four

groups. There are the Siai Bedoui

– who are still close to their omadic

roots- ee those that are workig i

Sharm el-Sheikh. They were able to

adapt from omadic trael i the

hills to takig tourists alog their old

routes. The there are the Red Sea

Coast tribes: maily the Ma’aza ad

the Ababda. These retai a co-

siderable amout of old practices

though they hae adopted mod-

er techology ad some moder

coeieces. Ieitably, the richerfamilies who hae made moey

from sellig lad for resort deelop-

met hae chaged more tha the

poor.

Thirdly you hae the Awlad Ali who

domiate o the orth coast- these

hae bee assimilatig for years

ito Aleadria culture. Most re-cetly they hae also become

wealthy through deelopmet of

seaside apartmets all alog the

orth coast.

either side attacks the other o

haig less authetic origis. Their

disputes are about lad ad be-

haiour ot about race.

Europeas oer the ceturies hae

bee fasciated by the Bedoui.

Such gures as Jacob Burkhardt,

Sir Richard Burto ad Wilfred The

siger were eamoured of their ho-

our code ad tough ways- i sharp

cotrast they felt to the effete ways

of city dwellers. The Bedoui hoour

code icludes such otios as au-tomatic protectio of guests, guar-

ateed hospitality to those who ask

ad acts of secret charity kow

oly to the gier. These otios e-

ist still but are much udermied by

the coditios of moder liig.

The traditioal ustice system of theBedoui is a court atteded by all

the elders of the tribe- ad other

tribes if there is a itertribal dis-

pute. I Egypt, amogst the Red

Sea tribes, this would be held i the

presece of a small boat hagig

from a tree. The boat symbolizes our

trasitory stature o Earth ad how

we are duty boud to moe o.

Perhaps, too, it is an inuence from

earlier ihabitats of the area who

cared boat shapes o the rock

walls- the same shaped boats used

by the Pharaohs.

Util the early 19th cetury the Bed-

oui cotrolled the deserts of Egypt

47

B E D O U I n L I F E & L O R E I n T H

E D E S E R T



Fially there are the Bedoui who

lie i the Wester Desert oases.

They are coected by iterest to

both the Awlad Ali ad the Red Sea

Bedoui, though their lieage may

be somewhat distat from either,haig lied for seeral ceturies

or more i the oases. These were

the truck driers of the camel age-

trasportig produce to the nile by

camel up util the 1980s. May

the tured to farmig ad the

to the much more lucratie tourist

busiess. They still retai a lot of Bed-oui characteristics though- a loe

of falcory, the desert ad camp-

re music.

Bedouin, camels and cars

Bedoui look after their camels ad

their cars ery well. I Africa cou-

tries oe is used to cars beig ia poor state- ot the lad cruisers

drie by Bedoui. Because they

eed to be ultra-reliable for desert

use the Bedoui keep them i bet-

ter coditio tha most Europeas

keep their cars. This is a carryoer

from the care of camels. Whe

you trael with Bedoui do’t e-pect a cup of coffee or tea whe

you stop. First they will uload the

camels ad the they will make

them comfortable ad feed them.

Oly the will they make camp ad

food for themseles ad ayoe

traelig with them. Likewise i cars

if you hae had a pucture durigthe day the Bedouin will x the tyre

before xing food for anyone. Their

quiet ability to keep workig ad

workig hard is a sometimes surpris-

ig cotrast to Europea otios of

a happy go lucky people.

Bedouin Travel Tips

If you carry water bottle wrap it i

a cloth ad wet the cloth eery so

ofte. Do this i the early morig

whe the water is still ery cold ad

it will remai cold i the heat of the

day.

Istead of tyig comple kots sim-

ply utwist the strads of the rope

ad past the ed through makig

a loop. You ca add a stop kot if you like.

Stand your kettle in front of the re

so that the wind blows the ames all

roud the kettles sides as well as the

bottom. Wid ca be strog at ight ad a

apping tent can be annoying- or

ee blow dow. The Bedoui use

the saddles ad erry cas to build a

kid of eclosure about kee height

or maybe a little more. Whe you lie

dow behid it you are completely

out of the wid.

Always make some kid of reas-

surig oise whe you are aroud

camels. It does’t matter if its hum-

mig, clickig or quiet sigig or

whisperig- the reassurace is the

thig.



Bedouin cooking

Bedoui ca be great cooks. Two

faorite dishes are sad baked

bread ad fried dates. To make the

bread you mix a dough of our, salt,

a little sugar ad water. This you roll

out at. You then scoop away the

embers of the re and lay the bread

i the sad. The coer with sad

ad embers. After te miutes tur

the bread oer ad cook the other

side. Adust the time depedig o

the thickess of the bread ad how

may embers you hae. Though

you may imagie the sad will stick

it does ot. Carefully brush with your

had ad you will hae a marelous

loaf of bread.

Finding direction

Bedoui are reputedly brilliat at

nding their way in the desert and

they are- but there is o magic to

it, ust etreme familiarity. They kow

that the wid is usually from the

north West ad that dues alig with that preailig wid. They kow

that the su, i witer at midday, is

i the south. Fially the ladscape

i its mai features is simple- eery

oasis has a escarpmet alog oe

or more sides. These cliff edges that

ca ru for hudreds of kilometers

ca be used as hady referecepoits for traelig, as ca the

legthy orth/south Wester Desert

road.

49

B E D O U I n L I F E & L O R E I n T H E

D E S E R T



Fried dates is ery simple- ust a little

oil in a pan over the re. Eaten when

soft with the bread they are sweet

ad delicious.

How to travel like a Bedouin?

The Bedoui are quite simply the

best people i the desert. They are

the most at home there ad they

respect it more tha other groups,

for eample oases dwellers, who

may make a liig out of the des-

ert but do ot appreciate it i thesame way.

The Bedoui attitude to the desert isot setimetal. It is more like that

of a coastal dwelling sailor or sh-

erma to the sea. He may ee

profess ‘to hate the desert’ but this is

ust talk. The desert is i their boes

ad they are brought up to eoy its

bouty, its freedom ad to respect

greatly its dagers.

Bedoui do ot take uecessary

risks. O ay ourey more tha a

walk from the highway they will take

two ehicles- pick-ups usually. You

sometimes get people smugglers

usig a sigle ehicle as they cross

from Suda. These are ot Bedoui, who would eer take such a risk.

I camp they are itriguig to watch.

They all work i a kid of coordiat-

ed system yet without ayoe gi-

ig orders. Ee the head guide will

do food preparatio ad settig up

the camp. There is eer ay sese

of the big leader recliig while the

miios do the hard work.

This sese of iate democracy e-

teds ee to traelig. Bedoui cadig their heels i ad be reluctat to

go somewhere. It may be because

they are worried about their camels,

or it could simply be that they are get-

tig hugry themseles. But the iter-

estig thig is they are always ope

to a reasoed debate. If you are set

o somethig ad ca calmly butpersuasiely put your poit across

they will chage their mids. Agerand ordering eventually backre- the

best method is to sit dow ad e-

pect a good log sessio of talkig.

Bedoui are aturally well ma-

ered. They keep clea ad they

either crack okes about laatory

habits or epect you to crack okesabout theirs. They do ot make a

big deal about toilet arragemets

but, they eer leae aythig i

a place you are likely to stumble

upo.

Though the left had is traditio-

ally the oe used to wipe the back-side you will see they eat with both

hads, though faorig the right.

There is o eed to be paraoid

about touchig someoe or some-

thig with your left had. They are

far more sesitie to you puttig

your feet ear their faces or food.



The ew desert

associatioof E.D.K.

EDK stads for Egyptia Desert Keepers.

Their isio is to make the Egyptia Desert the ultimate destiatio for re-

sposible traelers while preserig its culture ad ecology for geeratios

to come.

The missio statemet of EDK is as follows: “We are a professioal associa-

tio of trael agecies that orgaizes, promotes ad sells resposible desert

trael i a way that coseres the eiromet ad improes the well beig

of local people. We are a cohesie body of desert tourism eperts that share

eperieces ad kowledge i order to eleate Egypt’s desert tourism to the

highest possible eco stadards.

E . D . K . C O D E O F E T H I C S

• Safety

• Quality Cotrol (esure a quality product

ad eceed customer epectatios)

• Sustaiable Deelopmet

• Respect for the eiromet ad local culture

• Take nothing and leave nothing.

• Do’t touch pre-historic paitigs ad egraigs.

• Respect the silece of the desert.

• Respect local customs ad traditios.

• Ask your tour operator for releat brochures.

E . D . K . C O D E O F C O n D U C T

51

T H E n E W

D E S E R T A S S O C I A T I O n

O F E . D . K .



Practical Ifo

Forget T-shirts ad shorts- if you are

walkig for ay legth of time you will

get badly su burt ee with the su-

cream o. Brig a hat with a brim or

better get the guide to show you how

to wear a Bedoui style scarf- easily bought at ay oasis. Log quick-dry

type trousers are best, baggy ad

lightweight. The kid with zip off shorts

ca be opeed to let i the breeze

rather tha zipped completely off. O

a really hot day a baggy ma-made

bre shirt is best. On ordinary days a

wickaway or coetioal est will

keep you cooler loger. Baggy cotto

and linen shirts are also ne if they are

ot too heay.

I the eeig it ca get really cold

by comparison. Bring a eece and a

widproof acket of some kid, or asweater ad maybe a dow acket.

Logohs are ot a bad idea too.

Brig boots or, better, Tea type sa-

dals as log as they comfortable.

Traiers are ot so good.

CLOTHES

You do ot eed much. Suglasses,

su cream ad plasters for potetial

blisters. Your preferred paikiller- a hot

dry day ca leae you with a head-

ache if you’e ust arried from the

froze orth. A headlamp is ery use-

ful- you do’t eed the most epe-

sie but do’t be tempted by the ultra-

cheap oes as they always break.

Small bioculars ca be useful. Ay

camera should be kept i a plastic

bag most of the time as sad gets e-

erywhere- ad will am motors.

PERSOnAL GEAR

The best way to the see the desert is

o foot. now you ca either walk u-

accompaied all the way or you cadrie to a ice part of the desert ad

the walk, or you ca walk alogside

a camel carryig all your ictuals ad

supplies. The choice is yours.

May take the car optio- ad i

Egypt there are umerous guides ad

guidig compaies who will set up e-

erythig you eed for a good desert

trip. If you stipulate you wat to walk at

least two hours a day, or oe, they will

be happy to oblige. Usually you start

walkig i the morig as they pack

up the camp ad the you ca also

get dropped off some way from campat ight ad walk alog the tracks they

leae. Ay guide who wo’t allow you

to walk ad eoy the utter freedom of

the desert is ot worth goig with.

All guides will carry sadplates for

gettig out of soft sad, a ack, spare

tyre if ot two, ad a few key spares

such as fa belt ad perhaps water-

pump. May ow hae sat phoes-

though this is ot really as great a help

as it may seem. Sat phoes do’t stop

mistakes happeig- it is better to go

with a good guide in the rst place.

Wet wipes are essetial for gettig

clea i a o-washig eiromet.

Use them before a meal as ifectios

are most easily spread from had to

mouth. Take a toilet roll ad whe you

have nished burn the toilet paper- it

will last as log as papyrus otherwise-

thousads of years. Bury the rest uder

a good pile of stoes.

TRAnSPORT



MAPS

Haig a map makes it more fu. You

ca get maps off the et or from the

Egyptian Map Ofce in Giza. It is best

to ask the guide or a tour compay

represetatie to make the purchase

as it ca get complicated.

WATER

I summer you may eed 5litres a

day. If you drik aymore the you

are doig too much eercise. You

may well feel sick too. I witer ad

spring 1-3litres should sufce in addi-

tio to ay driks ad soup you may

cosume.

Water is usually carried i bottles ad

boes. This is ot ery eco-friedly-

make sure the guide collapses the

bottles ad brigs them back to the

Oasis. jerry cas of water are better

but clumsier ad potetially dirtier. Oa camel trip you might carry a few

boes for ust drikig ad the rest i

erries for cookig.

SHELTER

Tets are usually offered but you brig

your ow sleepig bag. Get a three

or ee four seaso bag as it ca get

chilly at ight i witer. I started off

always sleepig i tets- ow I rarely

do- the apping sound made by ee a small breeze ca be rather

distractig- ad you do’t get to see

the incredible night sky! Mattresses

are always proided but agai if you

wriggle dow i some sad you will

be plety comfortable with ust your

sleepig bag.

FOOD

Desert food is simple food. Traditioally

it is dates, bread ad tea. A little meat

ad rice if you are lucky. Fortuately there are some great desert chefs out

there- some of the best food i Egypt

is cooked upo the desert i my e-

periece. Epect pasta ad rice ad

bread as the carbohydrate ad the

meat ad egetable sauces ad le-

til soup which can be terric.

Also barbecued lamb ad chicke o

the camp re. For breakfast- bread,

hoey ad eggs- most guides kow

how to make bread under the re in

the Bedoui style ad that’s always a

fu thig to do.

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O R M A T I O n



Do’s & Do’tsThe desert is a beig eiromet – util you make a mistake- the it

ca be lethal. I summer you ca epect to last less tha three days

without water. I witer, much loger, probably a week. It is the ery

lack of water that makes the desert a dagerous place to make a

mistake. Also its remoteess. I would ot iclude dagers from sa-

kes ad scorpios because they are rarer here tha i more built up

areas of the Mediterraea. I hae see more scorpios i the South

of France than in the Sahara!

Do take care of the eiromet

ad make sure you leae the

campsite as you nd it.

Don’t take away aythig that da-

mages or reduces the ladscape iayway.

Do feel free to tell driers ad tour

guides to take away rubbish rather

tha bur it.

Do take two or more ehicles. Whe

makig a log trip ito the desert- which meas ay trip where you will

be more tha 25km from a road it is

adised that you take two ehicles.

Don’t bother with forcig three e-

hicles o a trip whe you oly hae

two. For a trip to the Gilf Kebir the

old adice was to take three ehi-

cles, but this was i the days of less

reliable cars. Two will sufce as long

as they are ot oerloaded.

Do check out the guide. Whe hi-

rig a guide with ehicles see how

he loads the car- does he store fuel

et to food? Is the ehicle itself dirty

ad almost all guides go well pre-

pared.

Do ask to see the camels rst on a

camel ourey. Do they look reaso-

ably healthy? Do they hae humpsor are they skiy ad emaciated?

For a log trip you wat a healthy ca-

mel. net ask to mout a camel (if

it is your itetio to eer ride- may

camel traelers eer ride- they

simply walk alogside their beasts)

ad see if the guide holds dow the

eck util you hae mouted pro-perly. Most accidets with camels

whe moutig or dismoutig-

whe the camel suddely bucks

ad throws its load- you- off. If a

guide is attetie at these momets

he kows.

Do plan on drikig betwee 1 ad

3 litres of water a day i witer i ad-

ditio to ay tea, coffee or soup.

Do drink i log bursts whe you are

cool- early morig ad early ee-

ig ad luch beig best.

Don’t wear traiers for walkig the

D O ’ S & D O n ’ T S

Desert and Oasis

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Transcript of Desert and Oasis