Desert and Oasis

EGYPT

Deserts & Oases

 All oases of the  Western Desert

The White Desert

cotets  WELCOME TO THE DESERT 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

SUGGESTIOn OF TOURS P.26-27

SHORT TRIPS

P.28-29

LOnG TRIPS

P.30-31

ExPEDITIOnS

DESERT ALTERnATIvES jOURnEYS THAT CAn BE MIxED  WITH MORE GEnERAL HOLIDAYS In EGYPT

P.34-35

 WHALE vALLEY & BEYOnD

P.36-37

QATTARA DEPRESSIOn & THE nORTH COAST

P.38-39

THE SAnD SEA OASES

P.40-41

ROCK ART In THE WESTERn DESERT

P.42-43

SAILInG THE SAnD SEA 

P.44-45

 WESTERn DESERT GRAnD TOUR

BEDOUIn LIFE & LORE In THE DESERT THE DESERT ASSOCIATIOn: EDK  PRACTICAL InFORMATIOn DO’S & DOn’TS EGYPT GEnERAL MAP 5

 rts Dese t & Oases  G U I D E E GYP T

Welcome to the The desert is oe of the mysterious places o earth where ormal rules about liig are suspeded ad ee abset. More like the sea tha ay comparable ladmass the desert stretches away to the horizo blikig as if it is its opposite- a giat la ke- but of course this is ust a mirage. To isit the desert is to pluge ito a place of marels. Moastic ad spiritual folk hae traeled to the desert sice the begiig of history to get away from distractions of life to nd a communion betwee ma ad the atural world i all its awe, woder ad astess. Some of those aciet moasteries are still ihabited i the Egyptia desert still far from ‘ciilizatio’. Sad dues ear Bahariya

The desert is aboe all a clea placethere are, oce you leae the oases, no mosquitoes and no ies, and the groud is as clea as atiseptic- whe a Bedoui cuts his foot he  will rub sad i the woud to haste healig as sad i the deep desert is as clea ad bacteria free as thigs get. The sheer ariety of the Egyptian Sahara is staggering. It is the most   varied desert on the planet. Ulike the edless grael plais of Libya, the Egyptia desert ladscape ca chage abruptly from steep lies of seif dune to rocky canyons to   vertiginous escarpments to plains dotted with strange conical hills to sand sheets that seem to stretch for eer oly to ed i a cofusio of star dues after a distace. The ariety is edless which is why    walkig is always fasciatig i the The White Desert

desert Egyptian desert. At rst the very lack of aythig apparet causes oe to focus ad ope up. I our busy moder lies we close ourseles off to surie, but i the desert we retur to our primeval state where every rock, ower and ying bird is of vital interest.

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

The, after a while, you begi to see that desert is ot a dead world, a empty world at all- it is overowing  with things to nd and look at: fossils, int scrapers, lizards, beetles, diminutive fennec foxes with their  huge ears, falcons, petried wood, The Black Desert

The White Desert

stoe aes ad spear heads left behid from whe the etire desert   was a wetter saaah; gridig stoes, ostrich egg shells, 5000 year old rock art paitigs ad carigs, old camel route markers, Roma

pottery, acacia trees cligig to life, ochre deposits, pre-historic shark’s remais- the list goes o- the desert is a place of marels ust waitig to be foud. Egypt is 95% desert. Yet for much of its history Egypt has bee the story of the fertile 5% that lies alogside the rier nile. More ad more, though, people are begiig to alue the oerlooked desert, this great wilderess which is a place of icredible beauty ad wild solitude.

The White Desert

7

BASIC FEATURES ABOUT EGYPT AnD ITS DESERTS

 Where did all the sand come from? Scietists hae yet to fully agree o this oe. Some of the curret theories iclude the idea that the costat growth ad the shrikage of the Mediterraea oer the last 70 millio

  years geerated what might be thought of as the world’s biggest beach. The sea came ilad as far as the oasis of Bahariya, which is oer 300km from the curret Mediterraea coast of Egypt, ad the retreated.

 Wadi Hamra

WILDLIFE In THE DESERT

The aimals you epect to see i the desert are ot the oes you will see. Most people epect to see sakes ad scorpios- 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 ito the desert, especially at old campsites, you may get a shy isit from a Feec fo, whose P E O P L E

I n

T H E

big ears help keep it cool without sweatig.   You ca also epect to see pad footed geckos ad other desert lizards. Beetles with elogated legs to keep them aboe the hot sad.   Weddan, or wild sheep, still eist dow ear Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir. Ibe, log hored deer, are still see i the Easter desert, some as ear as twety kilometers from Cairo.

D E S E R T

I the Oases people are the same stock ad same traditios as the people of the nile- broadly speaking. Mixed with them and inuenc ig them are   Arab Bedouin from the East, and Berbers origially 

from North West Africa. The differet oases hae differet mies- for eample i Siwa the culture is ery  differet sice the maority are origially of Berber origi.

Dakhla

E x P L O R E R S

O F

T H E

D E S E R T

Germa, Egyptia, British ad Italia eplorers hae all played their part i discoerig the secrets of the Sahara i recet times. Oe of the most promiet was Gerhard Rohlfs  who attempted to reach the Libya Oasis of Kufra from Dakhla i 1874. I the ed he tured orth to Siwa after receiig a rare two days of rai at a place foreer after amed Regenfeld- raineld.   After Rohlfs came the aristocratic Egyptia eplorer Hassaei Bey,  whose si moth ourey from Siwa past Uweiat ad ito the Suda raks as oe of the greatest desert oureys of all time. Hassaei Bey was not only the rst explorer to  visit Uweinat, he was also the rst to glimpse the Gilf Kebir. At the same time, usig half tracked ehicles, the Egyptia Royal, Price Kemal  Al-Din made the rst extensive joureys aroud the Gilf Kebir plateau,   which he named and was the rst to map. Tracked ehicles were followed by  the motor car. Eplorers such as Cout Laszlo Almasy of Hugarythe real life model for the book ad moie character “The English Pa-

tient ” ad Maor Ralph Bagold of Britai droe for thousads of miles i adapted Model A Fords through coutry o oe had eer see for may years, ad certaily eer mapped. Moder eplorers of the desert hae teded to reliquish the car for the camel ad walkig o foot. Germa Carlo Bergma ad Dutch  woma Arita Baaies hae used camels to track thousad of miles alog aciet camel routes that hae log bee disused.

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

The White Desert

TIMInG In THE DESERT

Oe day ca be all you eed to get a real taste of the desert.   You ca walk up a due ad feel the true emptiess of the place ee   whe you are oly 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a  vour. See the icredible ight sky; sit by the re and next morning watch the su rise i all its glory. Longer trips of a few days are even better  as you will hae a chace to lear somethig of the stars ad see how aried the desert is. no trip, howeer, is likely to last more tha two weeks without restockig o

fuel ad water. But ee o this, the logest time you are likely to sped i the desert you will still ot feel it is quite log eough...

Bedouin re camp

9

the

Oases Trael i the Egyptia desert is

much as it does aywhere i

diided betwee the deep des-

this itercoected world, ad

ert ad the Oases. The Oases

for this the desert traeler should

are i the low parts of the des-

be grateful. Kids still wae at you

ert, earer to the water table.

ad smile, people will still wat

Each oasis sits i its ow hollow 

to talk to you- simply to be your

or depressio, which ca be

fried rather tha to score some

thousads of kilometers i area.

moey. Ideed i the Oases it pays to leae behid your cyical hardeed traeler eterior ad take people as they come.   Withi the Oases themseles

Dakhla

Each oasis has its ow character- which you will discer  whe you isit. Fayoum, with its extensive elds and gardens,

ad proimity to Cairo, is ery  differet i feel to Siwa with its origially Berber populatio ad isolated positio. The Oases are all, howeer, away from the hurly burly of mass tourism ad mass employmet employmet.. Time stads still i the Oases, as Dakhla Oasis

   S    E    S    A    O    E    H    T Siwa Ecolodge Adrere Amellal

people are ot so sophisticated as to inate prices much- the

hagglers here are amateurs compared to the Bazaars of Cairo. For etertaimet you ca seek  out Bedoui music- which ca Dakhla Oasis

be marelous ad improised, hot

sprigs,

aciet

mou-

mets, temples ad fortresses, museums ad crafts. just walkig the streets of ay  oasis is a act of eploratio as  you lear about a culture alie to your ow, liig i oe of the driest places i the world.

Bahariya Oasis

Dakhla Oasis

The White Desert

11

El Fayoum The Fayoum as it is kow is the only articial oasis, created ot by water sprigig forth from the groud but by a log caal, aturally 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 gies the special character to the Fayoum. The lake used to be maor place for duck  hutig ad the hotels o its souther shore hosted such lumiaries as Wisto Churchill ad Kig Farouk as they  took pot shots at ying birds. Though there is still some duck shootig there

Lake Qaru

is far more bird watchig both o this lake ad the earby Wadi Rayya another articially created expanse of water. Lake Qarun was a freshwater lake until recent times. This has bee proven by the sh skeletons and freshwater plakto remais foud i mud deposits. I aciet times the ood of the Nile was powerful eough to charge the lake with ew    water. Howeer sice the 1900s,   whe the British itroduced both a dam at Aswa (aticipatig the later high dam) ad a system of irrigatio by more etesie caalizatio alog the nile, the water eterig the lake has bee more ru off from agriculture tha fresher water direct from the nile. The growth i saliity meas the sh now caught in Lake Qarun are predominantly sea sh introduced from the Mediterraea.

there is also the monastery of   Wadi Rayyan where moder day  moks carry o the traditios of their forebears who origially dug rock caes here at the daw of Christiaity.  At the isitor cetre of Wadi Rayya it is possible to iew the lake which is ofte faoured by birds migratig south ad orth from Africa to Egypt who glimpse this ast stretch of water as a atural restig place.

   S    I    S    A    O    M    U    O    Y    A    F    L    E

  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 metioed that Whale valley, or Wadi Hita, contains some of the best prepre served fossil skeletons of etict   whales aywhere i the world. Huge ad strage this hautig place is well worth a isit.

I the Fayoum Oasis itself you will nd a reasonably modern central tow surrouded by masses of palm tree platatios. There are aciet water wheels to iew ad plety of ruis of Pharaoic ad Roma origi- some i the desert orth of Lake Qaru. Camels do a lot of the dokey    work, so to speak, these beig oasis camels that lie o gree fodder kow as birseem rather tha o the tagled thors of the desert. Fayoum icludes the protected area of Wadi Rayya, a desert area that surrouds two lakes coected by a small waterfall the oly oe i the Egyptia desert. As   well as wadis ad hills to eplore  Wadi Hita

13

Bahariya Bahariya feels like the rst real desert oasis in Egypt.   You reach it after a four or ve hour’s drie from Cairo alog a   well made road that sees a bit of tanker trafc but little else. There is oly oe stop e route-a bar-like tea house-after 150km (ad a smaller oe about 10km further o) ad that is it. It was o the right had side of the road, i the directio of Wadi Natrun, that Frech Flyer Atoie de Sait Eupery crashed i 1935. 1935. Sur iig o a half pit of coffee ad a orage Eupery suried- ad later wrote about the eperieces i the marelous desert book ‘‘ Wind, Sand and Stars’’ .

sprigig up with safaris tailored to match the growig breed of traellers out to do more tha stad ad stare.   At Bahariya itself the mai tow   you drie through is Bawati. There are other smaller illages clustered   withi the depressio of the oasis, may of them metioed i Roma times. Bahariya has bee ihabited for may ceturies ad it was here that the so called Golden Mummies were uearthed a few years ago.

Beig relatiely ear to Cairo B a hariya has attracted a umber of foreigers oer the years i search of peace ad desert freedom. They  hae started, or bee ioled with, the seeral eco-spiritual compaies Mummies i Bahariya

Some of the mummy cases ca be see i the museum i Bawiti   which you drie past o the way  i. There are shops sellig most thigs- here you ca buy your Bedoui scarf’s ad rugs.

  All aroud Bawiti there are aciet sites waitig to be isited.  Whe oe tires of sightseeig the oasis is well equipped with hot sprigs that gush from the earth ad clease you of the sad of desert traelig.

Temple of Alexander  O the road goig i the directio of Siwa is the temple dedicated to Alexander- the oly oe that still eists i Egypt- perhaps he came back through Bahariya after isitig the oracle at Siwa.

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

  After the dusty atmospheric tow of Bawiti oe dries through the Black Desert, called this because the air has oidized the magaese i the rocks makig them black.

Golde Mummies

Look out for the traditioal shops such as the bakery which is a small blackeed hole i the wall through which hads pass to receie their daily bread. The hills behid the tow iclude Gebel Dest- this was where importat diosaur remais were foud by Germa paleotoligist Eric Strommer early a hudred years ago. He discoered a tyraosaurus-like cariore called Spiosau Jurasrus, which, if you hae see ‘‘ Jurassic Park III ’’ does battle with T-Re  towards the end of the lm.

Bahariya

?  Hot Sprig

DID YOU KnOW? The Bahariya illages of Madisha ad Zabu are threateed by ecroachig sad. A huge wae of a due has already egulfed may houses ad ow  looms oer a street of small buildigs. 15

Farafra Farafra is the nearest oasis to the White Desert. People usually    isit this desert from Bahariya ad miss out o seeig Farafra. Which is a pity as Farafra has a special charm all of its ow.

The Farafroies hae had their umber swelled i recet years by the ew alleys settlemet scheme. Wells were drilled to supply with water these ew farms ad the populatio has icreased cosiderably from a few thousad i the 1980s to oer 15,000 today. May of these people lie i the ew hamlets that surroud the mai tow of Qasr Farafra which ow has aroud 5000 ihabitats. This has led to a icrease i the umber of shops o the highway  as you drie through- always a useful thig for resupplyig a desert ourey.

toman, times. At rst sight it seems as if the old mud walled, origially  Roma, fortress i tow has falle ito disrepair, largely washed away  by freak raifall sice the 1950s.

The other mud fortresses- otably i Dakhla Oasis are uihabited- but despite its parlous state of repair the Farafra fortress still has a few families thus proidig a uique sese of cotiuity to the aciet past of the oases.

 As you walk aroud Farafra with its low, ti roofed buildigs it is hard to picture it i Roma, or ee OtPalm Trees i Farafra

Crafts of Farafra Ulike Siwa, with its ewelry, ad Dakhla ad Kharga with their ceramics, there is o great craft traditio celebrated i Farafra apart from the spiig of wool- both from camels ad sheep. Uusually, both for Egypt ad the world i geeral, spiig is cosidered a male occupatio. Heay fellows ca be see strollig the mai street twirlig a spidle ad bobbi as they  chat with frieds ad drik a glass of mit tea. Kittig, too, as amogst sailors, is a occupatio practiced by me as well as a few liberated  wome i Farafra.

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

The White Desert

Farafra has its ow istitutiosbut they are people rather tha places. There is the ubiquitous ‘Mr Socks’ a relatie of the Bedoui Badawi cla who bombs aroud o his moped with a woode crate full of had kitted socks ad other useful Bedoui type apparel. The socks are great for the desert at ight ad good for paddig aroud oasis hotels whe you do ot wat a stray mosquito goig for your akles.  Wome kittig i Farafra

Hot Springs   As i Bahariya, Farafra is well endowed with hot springs. What could be more relaig tha soakig away the desert sad after a hard safari through the White Desert? Bir Sitta, Well Six, is particularly good for traellers, especially  if sufferig a few aches ad pais from the ew eperiece of camel ridig. The large hot bath cotais traces of sulphur which are said to aid muscle ad oit recoery.

Bedouis ear Farafra

? 

DID YOU KnOW? The rst census of Farafra in 1892 put the populatio at a mere 542 ihabitats, oe thirtieth of its curret populatio.

17

Dakhla Dakhla is among the most remote Oases beig far from both Cairo ad Luor. Yet it is well worth the epediture i time ad effort.   You pass from Farafra alog oe of the loeliest stretches of road i Egypt. If you stop, you ca stad by   your silet car ad hear othig but the wid for ages.

It is a large oasis coerig a large area with may small illages ad hamlets. You will kow whe you hae arried as may of the famers like to wear straw hats- which you do ot see i other oases. Dakhla is cosidered to be oe of the oldest ihabited places i Africa, or rather Mut, its largest town is. Mut, which means mother in the   Ancient Egyptian tongue, is really  the mother of all dwellig places. Houses carbo dated to 13,000 years ago hae bee uearthed there.

Qasr  Dakhla is home to may aciet remais, hot sprigs ad towerig oer it – the escarpmet which domiates the skylie o the orther side. I the oasis tow of Qasr (like may of the Oases, the mai tow is called Qasr after the fortress) a Dutch lead team of locals hae succeeded i almost completely  rebuildig the dark mud walled old tow.

Balat City i Dakhla

This place of narrow alleys ad secret passages is oe of the great sights of Dakhla. Lose yourself i a edless labyrith which is like somethig out of desert sequeces i ‘‘Starwars‘‘ or the moie ‘‘The Shel‘‘. tering Sky ‘‘.

bee ecaated, some robbed but as you cast your eyes further there are may more similar lookig hills spread throughout Dakhla.

   S    I    S    A    O    A    L    H    K    A    D Deir El Haggar

Biking in Mut To see all the atiquities i Dakhla  you ca ride i the back of a pick  up, take a tai or hitch lifts. Better, probably, is to hire a pedal bike.  You ca hire bicycles i all the Oases. Mut is o eceptio- though   with its wide largely empty roads it makes for some of the best o-road cyclig i Egypt. Dakhla

Deir El Haggar   A few kilometers before Qasr is the intriguing Roman ruin of Deir El Haggar. This place was oce uder sad- which helped presere the pait o the carigs. There is somethig ery recet about pait ad to see some that is 2000 years old is quite amazig. Oe ca compare oeself to the great eplorer Rolhfs   who sigature ca be see quite clearly o a colum i frot of the temple of Deir El Haggar. But he cared it whe the sad was much higher. now cleared away to reeal more of the temple, his grafti is a good three meters above the groud.   Across the way from this restored roman temple comple are conical hills full of tombs . Some hae

Little girl i Dakhla oasis

? 

DID YOU KnOW? Desert raiders origiatig i Chad attacked Dakhla up util the 19th cetury usig iro boomerags. These are ot so differet i desig to the boomerags used by the   Aciet Egyptias to catch small birds. 19

Kharga Kharga is the largest of the OaOa ses, the admiistratie cetre of

In Roman times Kharga was a

the new valley Goerorate. It is also the earest to the nile valley, beig oly two hours from Luor. It has a large populatio of oer 70,000 people ad plety of ew  buildigs i the cetre.

are may may remais remais alog alog with wi th tho those se of more aciet times. Sice the camel’s itroductio aroud 500BC, Kharga has bee the fial post o the Forty Days Road from Suda- alog which all the trade of East Africa used to come. Ee today great caraas of camels come alog this route- but they  are maily destied to be eate oce they hae arried at Cairo.

  As you arrie the tag of dates assaults your ose ad the sight of row upo row of date palms. Though busy ad moder, i parts, Kharga still retais the romace of the desert. Pottery is one of the crafts celebrated in Kharga. I the mai

tow of Qasr there are umerous shops sellig ceramic products as well as a pottery factory you ca take a tour roud. You ca also get some good bargais at Kharga’s liely bazaar or souk    which is located i the souther part of Qasr tow i the buzzig Mida Showla.

powerful centre of activity. There

Chapel Ceilings of BagaBaga wat Here are the domed roofs of one of the best preserved Christian cemeteries in the world. There are 263 orate tombs ad may 

chapels. The roof paitigs are of particular iterest. Ask to see the paitig that depicts the zodiac surroudig portraits of Mary ad jesus. This ery same desig ap-

Paris, Egypt

Iside of ‘‘The Peace Chapel’’ i the necropolis of Bagawat

pears i pre-Christia Ptolemaic Egyptia art i the Temple of Dedera but sadly the origial was remoed to the Loure i 1820.

It is widely belieed that Baris i Kharga is amed after Paris i Frace. Perhaps this is a eample of the great sese of humour Egyptias display. The world famous architect Hassa Fathi desiged an ecologically sound village to replace old Baris, hece new  Baris. Ufortuately the locals did ot take to beig moed ad new  Baris is ow deserted, a iterestig eample of great architecture that somehow misses the mark.

   S    I    S    A    O    A    G    R    A    H    K

But oe ca trace the lie that coects the two utterly differet religios.

 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 sice before Roma times. A icredible place that sits below the escarpmet but 220metres aboe the desert oor it commands great  istas. All aroud are scattered ad broke pots that date all the way  back through Islamic times to Christia to Roma ad before.

Palm Trees i Kharga Oasis

? 

Fortress Ai Um Dabadib

DID YOU KnOW? Kharga was a peal coloy  most famously i aciet Egyptia ad Roma times. Oe of the most famous imates was the poet ad satirist jueal (AD60 to 130) who was imprisoed for his rude remarks about the court of the Emperor Hadria. He was later pardoed ad retured to Rome. 21

Siwa Siwa Oasis is the favourite of many desert travellers.

It has a uique atmosphere, a ambiece that is geuiely relaig, truly a magical place.

There are o maor hotel chais though there are a few highly idiidual top class places to stayPrice Charles stayed at oe 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 sice aciet times.

Siwa ecolodge Adrere Amellal

It ca be reached either alog the desert road from Bahariya or, more usually, dow from Marsa Matruh o the orther coast. Siwa ecolodge Adrere Amellal

There is also a air serice though  you need to check rst about when ights are leaving from Cairo.

Today Siwa olies ad Siwa bottled water are considered the nest ad purest i Egypt. It is a easily 

supported claim as there is othig produced here that might be a pollutat. Siwa has two populations, origially. The Siwans, who are berber i origi, ad the Bedouin,   who ihabit illages aroud the edge of the Oasis ad whose gaily  dressed wome are ot as reclusie as the atie Siwas. Oe is struck i Siwa by the ruied mud tow of Old Shali that was abadoed, fially, i the 1980s after seere rai damage. It is et to the ew tow of Shali ad looks like a ruied castle made of mud pies. You ca isit it by pickig your  way through the darkeed passage ways but mid where you step.

Siwan Crafts Siwa has the best craft traditradi tion of ay of the oases. You ca get uique ceramic tai, Sahara cooking pots, handmade and red i bread oes rather tha kils.  Weddig dresses of stuig desig are made by wome, who dress plaily the rest of the year.

Music in Siwa  You will otice that Siwans are uninhibited and talented musicians. Siwas ted to keep i musical practice for the four big festials they hold each year, as well as their highly musical weddigs. The biggest festial, Siayha, which ayoe ca atted, draws oer 10,000 Si  was to earby jebel Dakhour for three days of feastig, dacig ad sigig.

Siwa

Shali

Siwa is most famous as being the site of the Oracle visited by    Alexander the Great in 331BC. He arried ad demaded that the Oracle aswer his questio (reputed to be ‘Will I rule the world?’ the aswer beig ‘Yes, but ot for ery  log’). As well as beig able to isit the reputed site of the Oracle there is Cleopatra’s pool ad the ruied tow to isit, to ame but a few of the sights.

   S    I    S    A    O    A    W    I    S

? 

DID YOU KnOW? Despite there beig a suke boat i Lake Shiatta, there   were o boats i Siwa after aciet times. Oly I 1924 did traeler Byro de Prorok  maage to cross, i a hastily cotried dighy, to the islads i the salty lakes where he found no treasure but int tools ad other sigs of prehistoric occupatio. 23

the

Desert tours The desert beckos- but where ad how will you go? I took a log time gettig used to the idea that actually I could go aywhere i the desert. It is like the sea- o oe ows it ad othig stops you roamig i ay directio. nothig stops you ecept the eed for water ad fuel of some kid. I thik it is best to thik of the desert as a place where you walk. Certaily you ca oly eperiece its woders whe you are up close ad persoal with the sad ad the rock. Driig ad camel ridig may  get you to where you wat to be but it will be your ow legs that always complete both the outer ad ier  ourey of a desert of quest. That said, the choice of trasport depeds o how deep you wat to go ito the desert ad how much time you hae. The tours listed below are a tiy fractio of what is possible. There purpose is to get you thikig. You ca the start talkig   with guides ad safari operators from a strog positio of kowledge.  At the ery least you will hae a accurate picture of what is possible, the sheer width of rage of possible desert oureys.

Desert driving Curretly driig is how most people eperiece the desert. Whe the cars get stuck, as they do from time to time, you will lear how to etract them by diggig away the sad ad layig sadplates – metal

tracks you ca drie oer- to affect a escape. Lots of pushig is always required- the more that push the quicker you get back o your ourey.

There is o eperiece quite the same as driig at speed oer   whale back dues. The sad ad sky seem to merge ad distace is distorted. The drier has to be careful ot to go oer the kife edge of a due- ad these ca pop up ay  time. The groud is utterly smooth ad all you hear is the swishig of sad uder the tyres. It is as close to ying as you can get without leaving the groud.   Ascedig steep dues seems to go agaist what is possible- but with a big eough ru-up ay due, if, of hard sad, ca be coquered. Descedig a slip face also looks impossible at rst. Though a face of loose sad is eer more tha 35 degrees or so it will look from the top like a 60 degree slope. The car will simply slide dow the slope as log as it desceds perpedicular ad ot at a agle- the moemet is slow ad rather pleasat.

Cars go far ad fast ad for a trip to the Gilf Kebir you will hae to go by  car uless you facy a moth log camel ourey. Cars do mess up the desert. This is ot a problem i sad sice the wid will wipe away  ay tracks. Driers i the Great Sad Sea, the Siwa due desperados ad the raiders of the world’s logest due, Abu Moharik, are o threat to the desert. Howeer, driig oer pebbly desert leaes tracks that eer go. I hae foud the tracks made by Laszlo Almasy’s Baby Ford epeditio i 1930- seety years o ad still clear. Eetually oe hopes that car driers will stick to eistig slops whe they cross the ulerable parts of the desert ad oly  fa out whe they hit pure sad.

Camel riding and walking

Camels also leae tracks- but these are egligible compared to those left by a car. Camels are siletapart from sortig ad coughig. They walk at huma speed, maybe 4.5km/h, so you are as comfortable o or off the saddle. Ridig a camel that is part of a camel trai is easy- keep oe had o the saddle ad use the other to steady  the book you are readig- you caot read while beig drie i a car- camels smooth out the bumps rather better. Camels are arguably more roma-

tic ad more ‘real desert’ tha carsbut you will ot go so far as you will i a ehicle. Howeer, if you walk i the desert, ee a few kilometers from the road will feel isolated.

Desert thrills The desert is also legitimately a place for thrill seekers- as log as they kow the risks. Dirt bike riders whoop with oy at the prospect of burig aroud a giat bowl of sad or up ad oer small dues.  Accidets happe whe you fail to see some small chage i the desert surface- a hole or sudde ed to the due.

   S    R    U    O    T    T    R    E    S    E    D

Sand boarding icreases i popularity year by year. Though ot as fast as sow boardig, with the right wa you ca shoot dow some of the massie dues i the Great Sad Sea ad hae thrills to spare. There is o ski-lift to get you back to the top agai ad its either a walk  that will get you t quicker than almost aythig else, or hitchig a ride i a 44 ruig i a cycle from top to bottom.

Though riding a mountain bike may soud crazy i the desert, the latest generation of ‘at tyre’ moutai bikes make it possible. These bikes, developed at rst for rid ig o sow, are ow beig used for makig desert oureys aroud the  world. But ee a ormal moutai bike ca be ridde o much of the desert- as log as you aoid dues ad do ot mid pushig from time to time. Of course you are limited by haig to carry water, but as I metioed with walkig- if you ride ee a few kilometers aloe or i a small group ito the desert it will feel like a great ourey.

25

Shortweeke Trips weeked d getaways getaways up to 3 days

1. AROUnD FAYOUM AnD WADI HITAn The Fayoum ad 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 trafc is ne.   Wadi Rayyan is a protected area with lakes ad desert promisig iterest for all.

 Wadi Rayya

ig rager from Wadi Rayya will usually guide the drier.

 Wadi Hita

 Wadi Hitan - Whale Valley  It is easy to isit the  Whale Valley  i a day from Cairo. A accompay-

? 

DID YOU KnOW? Bedoui legeds aboud i   Wadi Rayya of buried treasure. Rayya they claim was a kig who was laid to rest here   with all his gold. Stragely,   widespread i the Wadi are circular ‘sad dollars’, fossilised aemoes that look like stoe cois. Maybe this is the real treasure.

The whales i questio are etict mammals with eel shaped bodies about 20meters log- bigger tha a grey whale- closer to the size of a blue whale. The teeth were sharp ad saw-like, idicatig a differet diet to moder whales. They are belieed to hae eisted here 40millio   years ago. Kow as basilosaurus isis they retai feet, of a kid, ulike moder whales which ust hae remat proectig boes. The icredible lies of ertebrae, each oe weighig 20kilos or more, make for a eerie sight, as if oe has arried at a graeyard of the diosaurs, which, i a sese, oe has. There are smaller whale remais too- the ve meters dorudon which may be related to eistig whales.

2. AROUnD HURGHADA In THE EASTERn DESERT

The Eastern Desert   You eter a quite differet world   whe you cross the nile from the sandy Western Desert to the mounmountainous and rocky Eastern one . Still dry ad arid, but this time there are hills, ad alleys ad wadis, cuttig through the whole area from the Red Sea to the nile Rier.

   S    P    I    R    T    T    R    O    H    S

St Paul’s Moastery 

St Athoy’s Moastery 

Monastery of St Anthony  St Anthony  (251-356AD) is cosidered to be oe of the fouders of Christia moasticism ad as such the moastery raks as the oldest i the world. 320meters aboe the moastery is the cae where St Athoy lied. Climb the 1158 steps  which will take oer half ad hour to get to the cae. The etrace is tiybut it wides out ito the tiy chapel   where the mok worshipped. It is hard to imagie liig here for forty    years- but of such commitmet moasteries are built.

Climb Egypt’s highest Peak- Gebel Shayib Egypt’s highest cotietal Africa peak is Gebel Shayib- the oerall highest beig Gebel Kataria i the Siai, which is classed as Asia. Gebel Shayib is reered as a moutai of mystical importace to the M’aaza ad whe oe climbs i the early daw ad sees the equisite raibow effect of the su shiig through a ‘mist oasis’ oe ca uderstad their reerece.

? 

Church of St Athoy’s Moastery 

DID YOU KnOW? O the Red Sea Coast south of Marsa Alam there is the Middle East’s largest rock  spire- the Bereice Bodki. not ofte climbed due to its remote locatio it is isible for miles. 27

Log Trips

4-7 days allowig more

i depth eperiece of the desert 1. THE WHITE DESERT CIRCUIT The White Desert is justiably the most well- kow desert destiatio i Egypt- ad for good reaso. For sheer quatity of uearthly ad beautiful wid-cared rock formatios it is uequalled i ay desert i the world. It also eoys easy access from the road- some of the best camp spots beig oly a couple of kilometers from the asphalt- though  you would eer kow that.

Monoliths and canyons Comig alog the road from Bahariya you will be struck by the huge iselbergs, mooliths that look like rockets o the lauch pad ad the huched shoulders of giats. This area betwee the road ad the escarpmet edge, which rus pretty much parallel to the road is a great place for eplorig.

The White Desert

The Sphinx Valley 

The White Desert

Further alog the road to  Ain Dalla o the right is the icredible alley of the sphies- atural sphies that again conrm the origin of Phara oic art i the atural forms of the  Wester Desert.

2. AROUnD SIWA- WALK, SAIL, SURF AnD DIvE THE GREAT SAnD SEA  Though a fair amout of car powered due bashig goes o at Siwa it is far more i keepig with its traquil atmosphere ad ecological leaigs to take atural powered trasport. Your basic motor will be  your feet with camel back up. For a break there will be wid assistace for sad sailig ad graitatioal pull for sad boardig.

settig of high dues ad hills that surroud the small lake.

   S    P    I    R    T    G    n    O    L

The Great Sad Sea

Sand Boarding

The Great Sad Sea

Bir Wahed Bir Wahed is a mii oasis ad hot sprig some 12km south of Siwa at the start of the dues of the Great Sand Sea. Bir Wahed was drilled by  ma i search of oil- but the result is more marelous- especially i the

Here at Bir Wahed you ca also try    your had at sand boarding. But the bigger dues are further southbut all withi a reasoable distace of Siwa. You ca brig your ow sowboard- which does work- especially  o the really steep dues, ad the Siwas hae all the right waes to make boards really y. They also hae custom boards that are the fastest of all.

3. TOWARDS THE jARA CAvES After a day’s trael ig from Bahariya you will nally arrive at the Jara Caves, or El Caf as the Bedoui call it. These are the largest dry caes i Egypt - it is easily the size of a church dow there, with great thick  stalactites hanging down. The oor is sady ad tracked by beetles.

Do’t worry about sakes ad scorpios- it is far too dry for these creacr eatures- ad if you are carryig a torch eerythig alie dow there will hide away from you. Iside the cae are a few prehistoric carigs of atelope ad giraffe.

?  Sad dues ear Bahariya

DID YOU KnOW? Camels   witer log as etatio to eat.

ca go a etire without drikig as there is fresh egaailable for them 29

Epeditios from 10-21 days

eplorig 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 sh. Most of the oases were ihabited i the past, ad ee ot so log ago were the summer quarters of some Bedoui people ad their aimals.

Siwa

 Arag  Arag is the earest oasis to Siwa ad o the opposite side of the road from Bahrei. You caot see it from the road, it is beyond the rst ridge of what becomes the Qattara depression- scee of that Great War moie Ice Cold i Ale.   Arag has also got rock cut tombs  which are always worth a peak.

Bahariyya Oasis The Great Sad Sea

? 

DID YOU KnOW? The area betwee Siwa ad Bahariya is supposed to be where the Lost Army  of Kig Cambyses met their doom in a terric sadstorm i 524BC.

The Great Sand Sea South of Siwa you soo eter the Great Sad Sea. This is the world’s largest sad sea with dues up to 400meters high.

2. DOWn TO THE GILF KEBIR AnD BEYOnD For people who hae see the moie or read the book ‘‘The English Patient ‘‘‘‘ the this is the tour to make.

ad baboos. The art here is accurately dated by the last time there  was ay water i the regio- 50007000 years ago.

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 Uweiat they  look at the rock art i the alley of Karkur Talh. This alley, amed after the acacia trees which still grow  here, is home to ast quatities of rock art- both drawigs ad egraigs.

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, discoered, or, more accurately, rediscoered the caes cotaiig pictures of the famous swimmers.

   S    n    O    I    T    I    D    E    P    x    E

 Wadi Hamra

Silica glass Thought to be caused by a giant meteorite landing about 29 million  years ago, the silica glass is spread i surprisigly small area- about 50 square kilometers or less, i the Great Sad Sea. Kig Tutakhamu’s chest scarab was made of silica glass. How it was trasported from that remote part of the desert to Thebes is aother mystery.

Silica Glass

Mestikawy Cae

nearby is the Mestikawy Cae, foud i 2002 o a epeditio led by Coloel Ahmed Mestikawy, cosidered the largest sigle site of rock  art i Africa. It cotais a amazig quatity of pictures of aimals log sice etict here such as giraffes

? 

DID YOU KnOW? Laszlo Almasy, the real life model of ‘‘The Eglish Patiet’’, i the moie of the same ame, belieed he discoered the log lost oasis of Zerzura i the wadis of the Gilf Kebir. 31

D E S E R T

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

oureys

that ca be mied

 with more geeral holidays i Egypt

Many people, perhaps on the rst trip to Egypt, want to mix a desert journey   with appreciatio of the aciet sites of the nile valley ad perhaps also the Red Sea resorts. With that i mid it is possible to make may shorter combied tours of great iterest.

SAKKARA, DAHSHUR, FAYOUM, WADI RAYYAn

Head out of Cairo towards the stepped pyramid of Sakkara ad the aciet temple comple. The iestigate the Red Pyramid ad the mysterious Bent Pyramid before cotiuig alog the road to Fayoum Oasis and Wadi Rayyan.

LUxOR, KHARGA, DAKHLA 

The Temples of Luxor and Karnak  are a must for ayoe with a iterest i Aciet Egypt. You ca the take the bus or a tai to Kharga ad the Dakhla where you ca iew more aciet moumets.

 ALExAnDRIA, EL ALAMEIn, MARSA MATRUH, SIWA 

 Alexandria is the old cetre of Ptolemeia Egypt, eplore the catacombs ad the ew Library, eat great seafood ad head towards the old battleelds of El Alamein ad the the sea resort of Marsa Matruh. The take the three hour bus or car drie dow to Siwa where you ca sample all the delights of the desert.

CAIRO, BAHARIYA, FARAFRA, DAKHLA, KHARGA, LUxOR

This is the graddaddy of mied trips with a big desert compoet. Start i Cairo ad head out ia the Pyramids. The dow towards Bahariya- if i a 44 you ca take i the valley of the  Whales. The isit Farafra and Dakhla and Kharga, before edig up at the glorious archeological treasure troe of Luor.

HURGHADA DIvInG, GOUnA KITE SURFInG AnD CLIMBInG GEBEL SHAYIB

Millios of tourists come to Egypt for its ecellet diig. Hurghada is oe of the mai cetres ad offers a wide ariety of diig opportuities from reefs to wrecks to sorkelig. Oce you hae had  your ll under water check out the surface at Gouna where there is one of the nest centres for kite-surng in the world. After that head ilad ad climb the highest moutai o mailad EgyptGebel Shayib.

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

CAIRO, PYRAMIDS, FAYOUM

 With ot much time o your hads but a desire to see the desert head out of Cairo West to the Pyramids ad after eoyig them to the full cotiue alog the desert road towards Bahariya. After a hudred kilometers tur south towards Lake Qarun, followig   your way through the amazig fossil beds o each layer of the escarpmet. At the edge of the lake pick up the road ad head towards Wadi Rayya ad the valley of the Whales.

HURGHADA, vALLEY OF THE KInGS, KHARGA 

Hurghada, home to sea, sad, diig ad ightlife makes a great place to start ay holiday i Egypt. With resorts spread alog the coast either side of the mai tow there is plety of choice. Whe Whe   you tire of the pool head ilad for the culture- ad take i the  Valley of the Kings. From Luxor head out to Kharga ad the desert.

33

Templates of Desert Tours 7 - D A Y

T O U R

Whale valley valley & Beyod Importat note: These tours are eamples ad for iformatio purposes oly. Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailor them to suit coditios ad demad.

This icredible alue tour takes i three of the ‘must see’ sights of the Egyptia Desert- Whale valley, jara Caes ad the White Desert.

Leaig Cairo early you arrie at Wadi Rayya where it is possible to iew both the giat Lake of Qaru ad the smaller lakes of Rayya.

  Whale valley is a short drie further o ad you will be able to admire the eposed gigatic remais of fossilized ad log etict whales. From there  you cross the world’s logest sigle due system, the mysterious Abo Moharik  due. This takes you to the huge stalactitic jara caes, which iside is big enough to t several buses!

  You cross ow to the ewel of the Egyptia wilderess- the White Desert- a strage ad woderful ladscape of chalky buttes ad iselbergs replete with beautiful soft sad ad marelous wid cared boulders. You may also isit from here Farafra Oasis, famous for its hot sprigs. From here it is a day’s drie back to Cairo ia Bahariya Oasis where you might care to stop ad iew the illustrious Golde Mummies discoered i 1999.

a El Natroun

Cairo 1 Giza

  r  a    i  o  n

   t  a   s  s    a    r  e     t

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

   Q    p    e     D

PYRAMIDS OF SAQQARA  y Q a r o u n   l   l e   a Lake    V

Qaroun Lake

    l   e     a

2

El Fayoum

    h

    W

3

4

Wadi El Rayan

Fayoum Oasis

     e

             l

               i

      N

10 Bawiti

 e  s

  n

   e      t

r

  W

 t  s e r  e  D

9

7 Farafra Oasis

    W

TONA EL GABAL RUINS

  t e    h  i

White Desert

El Minya

5

   D

   s

    e

 e

r t

ALEXANDER THE GREAT TEMPLE

Qasr Farafra

8

Mallawi

6

  r

Beni Suef

   e

   v     i

    R

Bahariyya Oasis

Memphis

E            D    n D        a          O s       e          Y    E    B t         s          & e      e         Y    E    L r         L    A    v BANI HASAN    E    L TOMBS    A    H    W

t    

TEL EL AMARNA

A   b  

u  

M  o 

N   

h a r 

i k D u n e

Asyut

i      l     

e    

R    

i       

v      e      r         

Sohag

Abu Minqar

ROUTE: 1

Cairo,

2

Lake Qaru,

3

Wadi Rayya,

4

Whale valley,

5

Abo Moharik Due,

6

jara Caes,

7

Wadi Karawee,

8

White Desert,

9

Farafra Oasis,

10

Bahariya Oasis,

Sphi ad The Great Pyramid i Giza

Cairo Bahariya Oasis

35

Templates of Desert Tours 8 - D A Y

T O U R

Qattara Depressio ad the north Coast Importat note: These tours are eamples ad for iformatio purposes oly. Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailor them to suit coditios ad demad.

Follow i the footsteps of Aleader the Great ad isit Siwa by traelig through the fasciatig wilderess of the norther Coast.  You start from the tow amed after its fouder, Aleadria ad motor south ito the Qattara Depressio, the lowest poit i Egypt, a iid ad etraordiary  ladscape of shiftig sads ad rare plats, scee of the famous moie 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 leel ad a place of jurassic fossil remais. From here you traerse the depressio to the tiy oasis settlemet of Qara. The it is time to go south to Siwa, the most remote Oasis i Egypt ad the most culturally dierse with its mi of Berber, Bedoui ad Egyptia cultures. Here you may care to cosult the oracle ust as Aleader did i 332BC. north from Siwa lies Marsa Matruh, a delightful sea resort ad home to the cae comple used by the Germa Geeral Rommel to mastermid his attacks o the British ad Australia forces at El Alamei. Which is your et destiatio- a uique historical eperiece with a military museum ad cemeteries datig from WW2. It is oly a few hours’drie back to the fasciatig city of  Aleadria.

e d  i t

e r r a n e a n

S e Roset

Sidi Barani Sallum

Marsa Matruh

Alexandria

6

       A        Y        B        I        L

Sidi Abd el Rahman

7

1

Porto Marina

Borg El Arab

El Alamein

2

Wadi El Natrou

  i o n  s   s

  e

  p  r

   e

    D Siwa

5

Siwa Siwa Oasis

4

Gabal El Mawta

   r   a

Qara Oasis

    a

       t         t

    a

     Q

Cleopatra Bath

AMON Gabal TEMPLE El Dakrur

3

Arag Oasis

  t

T h e G r e a  d S e a  S a n

  s

  e

  n

   r

   e

   s    e

    W

t

   D

 e

 r  t

White Desert

Farafra Oasis

 e  W h i t

Bawiti

B a h a r i y y a ALEXANDER Oasis THE GREAT TEMPLE

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

  r  t   e  s

  D e

Qasr Farafra

ROUTE: 1

Aleadria,

2

El Mogra Lake,

3

Qattara Depressio,

4

Qara Oasis,

5

Siwa Oasis,

6

Marsa Matruh,

7

El Alamei, Aleadria,

 Wester Desert, edge of Qattara Depressio

 Aleadria

Marsa Matruh beach

37

Templates of Desert Tours 1 0 - D A Y

T O U R

The Sad Sea Oases Importat note: These tours are eamples ad for iformatio purposes oly. Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailor them to suit coditios ad demad. The remote ad mostly uihabited oases of the orther Sad Sea offer a uique ad woderful isight ito the Wester Desert i ladscapes of rare ad stuig beauty. It is oly a half day’s drie to Bahariya Oasis, your gateway to the orther Sad Sea. From here, where you may eoy bargaiig with the locals oer Bedoui hadicrafts, you trael offroad to the largest of the uihabited Oasis lakesSitra. The it is o to nuwamisa, ad the Bahrei where there are aciet tombs cut ito the hillside- some ee with mummy wrappigs ad skeletal remais. north from Bahrei is the idyllic oasis of Arag, which is still used from time to time by Bedoui herdsme. There are more abadoed dwelligs here ad the chace of glimpsig the rare gazelle of the Egyptia desert. net stop is Siwa, surrouded by salt water lakes it is place packed with aciet moumets together with a people both welcomig ad helpful. If you get the chace to hear some Siwas makig music- take that opportuity for they  are truly gifted. From Siwa you pluge south ito the Great Sad Sea, driig betwee the log lines of dunes that reach over three hundred and fty meters high. Your desti atio is the old well of Ai Dalla, kow sice before Roma times ad after that the maestic White Desert ad the cosy oasis tow of Farafra.

a ro

El Natroun

Giza

  r  a   n   a    i o

   t

   Q    p    e

AMON TEMPLE

PYRAMIDS Qaroun OF SAQQARA Lake  y   l l e Qaroun Lake   a    V Fayoum

    D

Gabal El Mawta Cleopatra Siwa Bath

       A        Y        B        I        L

  s

    t   s    a    r  e

Qara Oasis

Siwa

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

    l  e

5

Arag

Siwa Oasis

    a       h

    W

4

El Barhein

Wadi El Rayan

   r

   e

     v

      i

Sitra

T h e G  d S e a  S a n

  e

   D White    n Desert    r

    e

     t

     s      e

     W

7

      e

Bawiti   r  t Bahariyya

  e

  s

Ain Dalla Farafra Oasis

   t  t e

                          i

       N

El Minya TONA EL GABAL RUINS

  r   t   e

  s

 W h  i

                      l

ALEXANDER THE GREAT TEMPLE

Oasis

  D  e

Ben Sue

    R

2

 t  r e a

6

El Fa

Oasis

Nuwamisa

3

Me

8 Qasr Farafra

   S

   EHA BANI    S    A TOMBS

   O    A Mallawi    E    S    D TEL EL AMA    n    A    S Asyut    E    H    T

Abu Minqar

N e w  w 

V  a  

l  l    e  

y   

Ain Umm Dabadib

El Qasr Dakhla Oasis

Mut Regenfeld

G   

e  

l  f  

AL BAGAWAT BAGAWAT NECROPOLIS

Al Kharga

Kharga Oasis

Bulaq

Baris

K e b i r

ROUTE: 1

Cairo,

2

Bahariya Oasis,

3

nuwamisa,

4

Bahrei,

5

Arag, Siwa Oasis,

6

Great Sad Sea,

7

Ai Dalla,

8

Farafra Oasis,

Islamic Cairo

Cairo

The White Desert

39

Templates of Desert Tours 1 3 - D A Y

T O U R

Rock Art i the Wester Desert Importat note: These tours are eamples ad for iformatio purposes oly. Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailor them to suit coditios ad demad.

 visit the largest sigle site of rock art i Africa- the Mestikawy Cae, the itriguig rock  carigs of Karkur Talh as well as the Swimmer’s Cae, made famous by the moie ‘‘The English Patient ‘‘. ‘‘. From your start at the remote oasis of Dakhla, the oldest cotiually ihabited place i Africa, you trael through remote desert to Bir Terfawi, your etry poit to the ast sad sheets that lead to the Gilf Kebir. It is here you will iew the astoudig rock  paitigs ad egraigs of the Shaw cae, located i recet times by eplorer  W.B. Keedy Shaw, the Mestikawy cae, which was foud i 2003 by eplorer   Ahmed Mestikawy ad the Cae of the Swimmers which was amed by Laszlo  Almasy, the Hugaria real life model o whom ‘‘ The English Patient ‘‘‘‘ is based. Further south ear the massif of Uweiat you may isit Karkur Talh, a area full of rock  art ad offerig the chace of glimpsig the rare ad reclusie wild sheep kow as the wedda. From the Gilf you may retur ia Abu Ballas, a eerie hill where thousads of broke pots hae bee foud. It is ow belieed this was part of a water storage trail leadig to Uweiat i Pharaoic times. Back i Dakhla you should isit the restored fortress tow of Qasr- a labyrith of twistig passages o wider tha two people- a truly amazig place.

a  l    

l     e   

       y        e                  l                   l

       a

       V

El Qasr

       a        c        c

       A        Y        B        I        L

Dakhla Oasis

              i

             l

           i

     S

Mut

1 Regenfeld

G e l f   f  

K  e  

b  i    

Wadi Abu El Malik

r   

9

Abu Ballas

Gilf El-Kebir Protectorate

6

Wadi Soura

Mestikawy Cave

7

Tro p i c o f C a n c e r

Wadi Furaq

Memorial

Wadi Wissa

4

8

Peter and Paul

3

Tarfawi Well

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

2

5 UWEINAT MOUNT 1 934 M

Karkur Talh

SUDAN ROUTE: 1

Dakhla Oasis,

2

Bir Terfawi,

3

Wadi Furaq,

4

Shaw Cae,

5

Uweiat (Karkur Talh),

6

Mestikawy Cae,

7

Swimmer’s Cae,

8

Wadi Wissa,

9

Abu Ballas,

Qasr illage i Dakhla Oasis

Dakhla Oasis

 Wadi Hamra

41

Templates of Desert Tours 1 4 - D A Y

T O U R

Sailig the Sad Sea Importat note: These tours are eamples ad for iformatio purposes oly. Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailor them to suit coditios ad demad.

The largest Sad Sea i the world is your ocea for a few weeks as you eplore this amazig desert of towerig dues, little kow oases ad prehistoric remais. Leaig Cairo behid behid you make your way to Bahariya Oasis ad the o to the ma estic uihabited lake of Sitra. Driig through the orther ed of the Great Sad Sea you alterate isitig the fasciatig oases of Bahrei, nuwamisa ad Arag with rollig dues ad cayos of remarkable beauty. As this area was oce uder the Mediterraea there are ample opportuities to see fossil remais such as shark’s teeth ad ‘sad dollars’.  You emerge from the orther leg of the ourey at Siwa, the calmest ad most mysterious of the Oasis tows. Your stay should take i the collapsig mud tow of Shali which looks like a set out of ‘‘ Star Wars’’! Wars’’! From here you will be eager to plunge deeper ito the Great Sad Sea, driig dow the edless due corridors past fatastic displays of star, barcha ad seif dues. Through this surreal ladscape you emerge at the Ammoite scarp, most recetly discoered by the Germa eplorer Rohlfs. The top of the scarp is littered with the fossil remais of ammoites. From here you reerse the ourey Rohlfs made i 1873 ad arrie at the place he called RegenfeldRegenfeld- ‘raineld’ in German- a place where it rained and allowed allowed him to rell his water bottles. Past Regenfeld you hit the Abu Ballas trail and view the strange  water moutai ad its myriad broke pots before leaig the sad at Dakhla ad returig to Cairo ia the stuig White Desert.

   i o

   t  a   s     t   s    a    r  e    Q    p    e     D

Qara Oasis

Siwa

AMON TEMPLE

Gabal El Mawta Cleopatra Siwa Bath

       A        Y Siwa        BOasis        I        L

4

5

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA PYRAMIDS Qaroun OF SAQQARA Lake Qaroun Lake

El Fay

Fayoum Oasis Wadi El Rayan

Arag

   r

   e

Nuwamisa

3

     v

       i

El Barhein

Sitra

 t  r e a

      e

  s   e

   D White    n Desert    r

Bawiti

    e

6

       t

Ain Dalla

     s      e

     W

  D e

BANI HA TOMBS

   A    E    S    D TEL EL   n AMA    A    S    E Asyut    H    T    G    n    I    L    I    A    S

Mallawi A     b    u   

11

M   

o  

h  a 

r  i  k  k 

Qasr Farafra

Farafra Oasis

       N

TONA EL GABAL RUINS

   t    r   e   s

  t e   t

                          i

El Minya

Oasis

 W h  i

                      l

ALEXANDER THE GREAT TEMPLE

  eBahariyya

T h e G  d S e a  S a n

Beni Suef

     R

2

  r  t

Me

D u n e

Abu Minqar

N e w  w 

7

V  a  

l  l  e  

       y        e

y   

                 l                   l

       a

Ain Umm Dabadib

El Qasr

       V

Dakhla Oasis

       a        c        c

                 i

                l

              i

Regenfeld

      S

8

10

Al Kharga

Kharga Oasis

Bulaq

Baris

G e l  

f   K  

Mut

AL BAGAWAT NECROPOLIS

e  

b  i    

r     

9

Dush EZBET DUSH

ROUTE: 1

Cairo,

2

Bahariya Oasis,

3

Sitra, nuwamisa, Bahrei,

4

Arag,

5

Siwa Oasis,

6

Great Sad Sea,

7

Ammoite Scrap,

8

Regefeld,

9

Abu Ballas,

10

Dakhla Oasis,

11

White Desert,

Sad dues ear Bahariya oasis

Cairo necropolis of Qila el-Dabba, Mastaba of Ketika i Dakhla oasis

43

Templates of Desert Tours 1 9 - D A Y

T O U R

Wester Weste r Desert Grad Tour Importat note: These tours are eamples ad for iformatio purposes oly. Broadly similar tours are aailable but idiidual operators will amed ad tailor them to suit coditios ad demad. For the ardet eplorer of deserts the Grad Tour beckos. You will be able to isit the remote rock art sites of Uweiat ad the Gilf Kebir, trael up to the mysterious ad woderful zoe of silica glass followed by a epic orther crossig of the Great Sad 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 itroductio to the woders of the Egyptia Desert. From here you proceed south util  you gai Abu Ballas, the broke pot moutai which guards the etrace to the Gilf Kebir regio. Driig swiftly the seeral hudred kilometers to the Gilf, you eter the plateau, which rears 350meters aboe the desert, ad cross its souther part through Wadi Wissa. Here  you may iew the rock art of the Shaw Cae before headig dow to Uweiat to see  wildlife such as the rare wedda sheep ad etesie rock art i may differet locatios. Back to the Gilf you will take i both both the epic Mestikawy cae ad the famous famous Swimmer’s cae as see i the moie ‘‘The English Patient ’’. ’’. Both cotai amazig rock paitigs. The it is time to go oer the Gilf Plateau by ascedig the Aqaba Pass ad descedig ito the 100km log Wadi Hamra, agai a site of much fasciatig rock art. From here you drie orth to the Silica Glass area, a highly localized source of pure atural glass formed whe a meteorite hit the desert 29millio years ago. net you follow the rst motor explorers of the Western Desert and head north to Siwa past the atmospheric ‘forest’ of petried palm trees. As you enter Siwa from the south you may glimpse the  ackals that still ihabit this regio. From the etraordiarily idyllic Oasis of Siwa you retur across the desert to Bahariya ad the to Cairo haig completed a ourey of truly epic proportios.

Qara Oasis

AMON TEMPLE

Siwa

       A        I Siwa        B Oasis        Y        L

    t   s  s    a   e    Q    r

    t

PYRAMIDS OF SAQQARA Memphis

   p    e     D

Siwa Arag

13

14

T h e  G r e  d S e a  S a n

  s   e

   n

   r    e

    t    s

12

   D White

2

    e

        y

      e                l                 l

       a

       V        a        c        c

                i

              l

            i

Regenfeld

11 G e l f  f  Wadi Abu El Malik

K  e  

b  i    r   

Qasr Farafra

Mallawi

b     

u    

r  i  k 

D u n e

Asyut

3

e     s    

s    t     e  

TEL EL AMARNA

e    r   r  t   n  

N    i   l   

   U    O    T r     Qena    D ABYDOS N e w  V     n Ain Umm a l  l      A DANDARA e   Dabadib    R KARNAK y      G VALLEY El Qasr    T OF THE KINGS    R AL BAGAWAT Luxor Al Kharga    E Mut    S NECROPOLIS    E Dakhla Esna    D Oasis Bulaq TEMPLE    n Kharga    R OF KHNOUM Oasis Edfu    E    T    S    E Baris Kom Ombo    W Dush Saluga

Sohag

i     v   

e    

& Ghaz ale

SAAD EL-ALI, EL-ALI, THE HIGH DAM KALABSHA

EZBET DUSH

Tro p i c o f C a n c e r

Wadi Furaq

and Paul

6 UWEINAT MOUNT 1 934 M

MONS CLAUDIANUS    R

R   

Abu Ballas

Wadi 9 Wissa 8 5 Memorial 4 Peter

MONS PORPHYRITES

e  

Wadi Soura

7

D     

M    

10 Mestikawy Cave

E      

TONA EL GABAL RUINS

o   h  a  

G     u    Abu l     Rudei f    

ST ANTONY’S ST PAUL’S o    MONASTERY MONASTERY Ras f    El S    Gharib u   BANI HASAN a      TOMBS

ALEXANDER

A      

Za’farana SERABIT EL KHADIM

Beni Suef

Abu Minqar

    W

     S

   t  e   h  i   r   t   W  s  e  e

  D

Desert Farafra Oasis

El Fayoum

  r t Bahariyya THE GREAT TEMPLE El Minya  e Oasis Bawiti

 a   t

Qaroun Lak e Fayoum Oasis Wadi El Rayan

in Cairo S Ras Sidr

    e       t      u     o       R      n       i     e     a       b      r      A           l       E

Asw PHILAE

Nasser Lake

Tarfawi Well

AMADA Tushka ABU SIMBEL

WADI EL-SUBUA

Qasr Ibram

ROUTE: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Cairo, White Desert, Abu Ballas, Wadi Wissa, Shaw Cae, Uweiat, Mestikawy Cae, Wadi Soura, Aqaba Pass, Wadi Hamra, Silica Glass, Great Sad Sea, Siwa Oasis, Bahariya Oasis, Cairo

The White Desert

 Wadi Soura

45

Bedoui life & lore i the desert The Bedoui are the traditioal omadic tet dwellers of the Arabia ad Egyptia deserts. There is a tribal culture reected in the saying, “My brother ad I agaist my cousi. My cousi ad I agaist the world.” Groups traditioally formed aroud a patriarch gure. In times of strife or special eed the groups worked as oe tribe. The Bedoui of Arabia  were the rst converts to Islam and spread it throughout north Africa as far as Spai i the 7th cetury.

Bedoui people are traditioally a oral culture ad their history is kept i stories ad poems. It is hard therefore for outsiders to get a completely denitive version of their history. Bedouis derie a idetity from a cofederatio of families that hae commo iterests, rather tha a

commo origi. This meas the origial Arabia tribes oer time foud commo cause with the idigeous omadic tribes of Egypt. Though omads are aerse to their daughters marryig settlers they are ot too opposed to them marryig other omads of perhaps differet ancestry. This exibility explains why, despite edemic discrimiatio by  the settled folk of Egypt, the Bedoui cotiue to thrie. The mai tribe o the orther coast of the Egypt are the Awlad ‘Ali. They  date themseles from Bedoui migratio i the 11th cetury AD. O the East coast there are two mai tribal groups: the Ma’aza ad the   Ababda. The Ababda claim descet from the Arab migrat Abad i the 13th cetury. Culturally they are closer to the hamitic Bea omads of Suda ad Ethiopia. The Ma’aza are a large tribal group comprisig may clas or families that hae arried oer the ceturies from the  Arabia Peisula. The most recet cla is the Khushma who came about 150 years ago. Though the  Ababda ad the Ma’aza hae traditioally bee somewhat opposed

either side attacks the other o haig less authetic origis. Their disputes are about lad ad behaiour ot about race. Europeas oer the ceturies hae bee fasciated by the Bedoui. Such gures as Jacob Burkhardt, Sir Richard Burto ad Wilfred The siger were eamoured of their hoour code ad tough ways- i sharp cotrast they felt to the effete ways of city dwellers. The Bedoui hoour code icludes such otios as automatic protectio of guests, guarateed hospitality to those who ask  ad acts of secret charity kow oly to the gier. These otios eist still but are much udermied by  the coditios of moder liig. The traditioal ustice system of the Bedoui is a court atteded by all the elders of the tribe- ad other tribes if there is a itertribal dispute. I Egypt, amogst the Red Sea tribes, this would be held i the presece of a small boat hagig from a tree. The boat symbolizes our trasitory stature o Earth ad how    we are duty boud to moe o. Perhaps, too, it is an inuence from earlier ihabitats of the area who cared boat shapes o the rock   walls- the same shaped boats used by the Pharaohs. Util the early 19th cetury the Bedoui cotrolled the deserts of Egypt

ad the Egyptias cotrolled the fertile nile valley ad Delta. The Bedoui cosider themseles Arabs   with their origi beig the triagle from Syria to Iraq dow to Saudi   Arabia. They rst arrived as part of the origial iasio force of Egypt durig the great Islamic coquests. This rst wave of Bedouin married ito the Egyptia populace, though some aturally ihabited the desert regios which they shared i a ueasy truce with Berber ad Tebu tribal groups. Further waes of Bedoui repeatedly  arried either through the Siai or across the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia. The latest migratios were little more tha two hudred years ago.

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

The Bedouin now  nowadays the Bedoui of Egypt ca be ery roughly diided ito four groups. There are the Siai Bedoui – who are still close to their omadic roots- ee those that are workig i Sharm el-Sheikh. They were able to adapt from omadic trael i the hills to takig tourists alog their old routes. The there are the Red Sea Coast tribes: maily the Ma’aza ad the Ababda. These retai a cosiderable amout of old practices though they hae adopted moder techology ad some moder coeieces. Ieitably, the richer families who hae made moey  from sellig lad for resort deelopmet hae chaged more tha the poor. Thirdly you hae the Awlad Ali who domiate o the orth coast- these hae bee assimilatig for years ito Aleadria culture. Most recetly they hae also become   wealthy through deelopmet of seaside apartmets all alog the orth coast.

47

Fially there are the Bedoui who lie i the Wester Desert oases. They are coected by iterest to both the Awlad Ali ad the Red Sea Bedoui, though their lieage may  be somewhat distat from either, haig lied for seeral ceturies or more i the oases. These were the truck driers of the camel agetrasportig produce to the nile by  camel up util the 1980s. May  the tured to farmig ad the to the much more lucratie tourist busiess. They still retai a lot of Bedoui characteristics though- a loe of falcory, the desert ad campre music.

Bedouin Travel Tips If you carry water bottle wrap it i a cloth ad wet the cloth eery so ofte. Do this i the early morig  whe the water is still ery cold ad it will remai cold i the heat of the day. Istead of tyig comple kots simply utwist the strads of the rope ad past the ed through makig a loop. You ca add a stop kot if  you like.

Bedouin, camels and cars Bedoui look after their camels ad their cars ery well. I Africa coutries oe is used to cars beig i a poor state- ot the lad cruisers drie by Bedoui. Because they  eed to be ultra-reliable for desert use the Bedoui keep them i better coditio tha most Europeas keep their cars. This is a carryoer from the care of camels. Whe   you trael with Bedoui do’t epect a cup of coffee or tea whe   you stop. First they will uload the camels ad the they will make them comfortable ad feed them. Oly the will they make camp ad food for themseles ad ayoe traelig with them. Likewise i cars if you hae had a pucture durig the day the Bedouin will x the tyre before xing food for anyone. Their quiet ability to keep workig ad  workig hard is a sometimes surprisig cotrast to Europea otios of a happy go lucky people.

Stand your kettle in front of the re so that the wind blows the ames all roud the kettles sides as well as the bottom.  Wid ca be strog at ight ad a apping tent can be annoying- or ee blow dow. The Bedoui use the saddles ad erry cas to build a kid of eclosure about kee height or maybe a little more. Whe you lie dow behid it you are completely  out of the wid.

  Always make some kid of reassurig oise whe you are aroud camels. It does’t matter if its hummig, clickig or quiet sigig or   whisperig- the reassurace is the thig.

Finding direction Bedoui are reputedly brilliat at nding their way in the desert and they are- but there is o magic to it, ust etreme familiarity. They kow  that the wid is usually from the north West ad that dues alig  with that preailig wid. They kow  that the su, i witer at midday, is i the south. Fially the ladscape i its mai features is simple- eery  oasis has a escarpmet alog oe or more sides. These cliff edges that ca ru for hudreds of kilometers ca be used as hady referece poits for traelig, as ca the legthy orth/south Wester Desert road.

Bedouin cooking Bedoui ca be great cooks. Two faorite dishes are sad baked bread ad fried dates. To make the bread you mix a dough of our, salt, a little sugar ad water. This you roll out at. You then scoop away the embers of the re and lay the bread i the sad. The coer with sad ad embers. After te miutes tur the bread oer ad cook the other side. Adust the time depedig o the thickess of the bread ad how  may embers you hae. Though  you may imagie the sad will stick  it does ot. Carefully brush with your had ad you will hae a marelous loaf of bread.

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

49

Fried dates is ery simple- ust a little oil in a pan over the re. Eaten when soft with the bread they are sweet ad 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 ad they  respect it more tha other groups, for eample oases dwellers, who may make a liig out of the desert but do ot appreciate it i the same way.

The Bedoui attitude to the desert is ot setimetal. It is more like that of a coastal dwelling sailor or sh erma to the sea. He may ee profess ‘to hate the desert’ but this is  ust talk. The desert is i their boes ad they are brought up to eoy its bouty, its freedom ad to respect greatly its dagers. Bedoui do ot take uecessary  risks. O ay ourey more tha a  walk from the highway they will take two ehicles- pick-ups usually. You sometimes get people smugglers usig a sigle ehicle as they cross from Suda. These are ot Bedoui,  who would eer take such a risk. I camp they are itriguig to watch. They all work i a kid of coordiated system yet without ayoe giig orders. Ee the head guide will do food preparatio ad settig up

the camp. There is eer ay sese of the big leader recliig while the miios do the hard work. This sese of iate democracy eteds ee to traelig. Bedoui ca dig their heels i ad be reluctat to go somewhere. It may be because they are worried about their camels, or it could simply be that they are gettig hugry themseles. But the iterestig thig is they are always ope to a reasoed debate. If you are set o somethig ad ca calmly but persuasiely put your poit across

they will chage their mids. Ager and ordering eventually backre- the best method is to sit dow ad epect a good log sessio of talkig. Bedoui are aturally well maered. They keep clea ad they  either crack okes about laatory  habits or epect you to crack okes about theirs. They do ot make a big deal about toilet arragemets but, they eer leae aythig i a place you are likely to stumble upo. Though the left had is traditioally the oe used to wipe the backside you will see they eat with both hads, though faorig the right. There is o eed to be paraoid about touchig someoe or somethig with your left had. They are far more sesitie to you puttig  your feet ear their faces or food.

The ew desert

associatio of E.D.K. E.D.K. CODE OF ETHICS

• Safety  • Quality Cotrol (esure a quality product ad eceed customer epectatios) • Sustaiable Deelopme Deelopmett • Respect for the eiromet ad local culture

E.D.K. CODE OF COnDUCT

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

• Take nothing and leave nothing. • Do’t touch pre-historic paitigs ad egraigs. • Respect the silece of the desert. • Respect local customs ad traditios. • Ask your tour operator for releat brochures.

EDK stads for Egyptia Desert Keepers.

Their isio is to make the Egyptia Desert the ultimate destiatio for resposible traelers while preserig its culture ad ecology for geeratios to come. The missio statemet of EDK is as follows: “We are a professioal associatio of trael agecies that orgaizes, promotes ad sells resposible desert trael i a way that coseres the eiromet ad improes the well beig of local people. We are a cohesie body of desert tourism eperts that share eperieces ad kowledge i order to eleate Egypt’s desert tourism to the highest possible eco stadards.

51

Practical Ifo CLOTHES

Forget T-shirts ad shorts- if you are  walkig for ay legth of time you will get badly su burt ee with the sucream o. Brig a hat with a brim or better get the guide to show you how  to wear a Bedoui style scarf- easily  bought at ay oasis. Log quick-dry  type trousers are best, baggy ad

  Wet wipes are essetial for gettig clea i a o-washig eiromet. Use them before a meal as ifectios are most easily spread from had to mouth. Take a toilet roll ad whe you have nished burn the toilet paper- it

 will last as log as papyrus otherwisethousads of years. Bury the rest uder a good pile of stoes.

lightweight. The kid with zip off shorts ca be opeed 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 coetioal est will keep you cooler loger. Baggy cotto and linen shirts are also ne if they are

ot too heay. I the eeig it ca get really cold by comparison. Bring a eece and a

  widproof acket of some kid, or a sweater ad maybe a dow acket. Logohs are ot a bad idea too. Brig boots or, better, Tea type sadals as log as they comfortable. Traiers are ot so good. PERSOnAL GEAR

TRAnSPORT

The best way to the see the desert is o foot. now you ca either walk uaccompaied all the way or you ca drie to a ice part of the desert ad the walk, or you ca walk alogside a camel carryig all your ictuals ad supplies. The choice is yours. May take the car optio- ad i Egypt there are umerous guides ad guidig compaies who will set up eerythig you eed for a good desert trip. If you stipulate you wat to walk at least two hours a day, or oe, they will be happy to oblige. Usually you start   walkig i the morig as they pack  up the camp ad the you ca also get dropped off some way from camp at ight ad walk alog the tracks they 

  You do ot eed much. Suglasses,

leae. Ay guide who wo’t allow you

su cream ad plasters for potetial

to walk ad eoy the utter freedom of

blisters. Your preferred paikiller- a hot

the desert is ot worth goig with.

dry day ca leae you with a headache if you’e ust arried from the

  All guides will carry sadplates for

froze orth. A headlamp is ery use-

gettig out of soft sad, a ack, spare

ful- you do’t eed the most epe-

tyre if ot two, ad a few key spares

sie but do’t be tempted by the ultra-

such as fa belt ad perhaps water-

cheap oes as they always break.

pump. May ow hae sat phoes-

Small bioculars ca be useful. Ay 

though this is ot really as great a help

camera should be kept i a plastic

as it may seem. Sat phoes do’t stop

bag most of the time as sad gets e-

mistakes happeig- it is better to go

erywhere- ad will am motors.

 with a good guide in the rst place.

MAPS

SHELTER

Haig a map makes it more fu. You

Tets are usually offered but you brig

ca get maps off the et or from the

  your ow sleepig bag. Get a three

Egyptian Map Ofce in Giza. It is best

or ee four seaso bag as it ca get

to ask the guide or a tour compay 

chilly at ight i witer. I started off

represetatie to make the purchase

always sleepig i tets- ow I rarely 

as it ca get complicated.

do- the apping sound made by 

ee a small breeze ca be rather  WATER

distractig- ad you do’t get to see

I summer you may eed 5litres a

the incredible night sky! Mattresses

day. If you drik aymore the you

are always proided but agai if you

are doig too much eercise. You

  wriggle dow i some sad you will

may well feel sick too. I witer ad

be plety comfortable with ust your

spring 1-3litres should sufce in addi -

sleepig bag.

   n    O    I    T    A    M    R    O    F    n    I    L    A    C    I    T    C    A    R    P

tio to ay driks ad soup you may  cosume.  Water is usually carried i bottles ad boes. This is ot ery eco-friedlymake sure the guide collapses the bottles ad brigs them back to the Oasis. jerry cas of water are better but clumsier ad potetially dirtier. O a camel trip you might carry a few  boes for ust drikig ad the rest i  erries for cookig. FOOD

Desert food is simple food. Traditioall Traditioally  y  it is dates, bread ad tea. A little meat ad rice if you are lucky. Fortuately  there are some great desert chefs out there- some of the best food i Egypt is cooked upo the desert i my eperiece. Epect pasta ad rice ad bread as the carbohydrate ad the meat ad egetable sauces ad letil soup which can be terric.

 Also barbecued lamb ad chicke o the camp re. For breakfast- bread,

hoey ad eggs- most guides kow  how to make bread under the re in

the Bedoui style ad that’s always a fu thig to do.

53

Do’s & Do’ts    S    T    ’    n    O    D    &    S    ’    O    D

The desert is a beig eiromet – util you make a mistake- the it ca be lethal. I summer you ca epect to last less tha three days  without water. I witer, much loger, probably a week. It is the ery  lack of water that makes the desert a dagerous place to make a mistake. Also its remoteess. I would ot iclude dagers from sakes ad scorpios because they are rarer here tha i more built up areas of the Mediterraea. I hae see more scorpios i the South of France than in the Sahara! Do take care of the eiromet ad make sure you leae the campsite as you nd it. Don’t take away  aythig that damages or reduces the ladscape i ayway. Do feel free to tell driers ad tour guides to take away rubbish rather tha bur it. Do take two or more ehicles. Whe makig a log trip ito the desert which meas ay trip where you will be more tha 25km from a road it is adised that you take two ehicles. Don’t bother  with forcig three ehicles o a trip whe you oly hae two. For a trip to the Gilf Kebir the old adice was to take three ehicles, but this was i the days of less reliable cars. Two will sufce as long as they are ot oerloaded. Do check out the guide. Whe hirig a guide with ehicles see how  he loads the car- does he store fuel et to food? Is the ehicle itself dirty  ad i eed of attetio? Are the tyres wor ad iappropriate? Thakfully poor guides are rare. The desert is recogized by all as a serious place to hae a breakdow

ad almost all guides go well prepared. Do ask to ask  to see the camels rst on a camel ourey. Do they look reasoably healthy? Do they hae humps or are they skiy ad emaciated? For a log trip you wat a healthy camel. net ask to mout a camel (if it is your itetio to eer ride- may  camel traelers eer ride- they  simply walk alogside their beasts) ad see if the guide holds dow the eck util you hae mouted properly. Most accidets with camels   whe moutig or dismoutig  whe the camel suddely bucks ad throws its load- you- off. If a guide is attetie at these momets he kows. Do plan on drikig betwee 1 ad 3 litres of water a day i witer i additio to ay tea, coffee or soup. Do drink i log bursts whe you are cool- early morig ad early eeig ad luch beig best. Don’t wear traiers for walkig – the sad will get iside the liig ad make the show too tight. They also let too much sad i goig dow dues. Sadals ad boots are better.