Desert Gazal

26/12/2024

20/12/2024

The Bahariya Oasis is one of the places that you should go to more than once because it is beautiful and will catch your eye. The white desert with the strange shapes of rocks like camels and chicks and the white layer that is hidden by the color of the sand. The black desert in Jabal Al-Marsous and the carbon formations that have a distinctive shape to the place that deserves to be engraved in memory. Crystal and the Moon Cave are among the most beautiful places you can see and be amazed at their beauty, other than of course the safari you can do and camping in this place, especially when you are sitting around the fire at night. You will see the stars and the Milky Way in the most beautiful place and the most beautiful atmosphere you can experience. Black_Sahara

13/12/2024

رحلات سفارى غزال الصحراء

رحلة سفارى الى الواحات البحرية والصحراء البيضاء 3 يوم / 2 ليلة

البرنامج 3 أيام / 2 ليلة

اليوم الأول: التجمع صباحاً و التوجه إلي طريق 6 أكتوبر ثم الواحات البحرية و الوصول للفندق + غداء بالفندق
ثم التوجه إلي الصحراء لزيارة
مدينة الواحات القديمة زيارة البحيرة ووادى النخيل ثم زيارة منطقة ساند ديون ( كثبان رملية مرتفعة ) ثم زيارة وادى الجمال وعيون مياه جوفية ساخنة ثم زيارة جبل الانجليز وتصوير غروب الشمس من أعلى الجبل

ثم العودة إلى الفندق والعشاء – وعمل سهرة للأستمتاع بالموسيقى البدوية

اليوم الثاني: الإفطار بالفندق ثم ركوب سيارات السفارى ) all our cars Toyota Land cruser 4x4 ) من خارج الفندق ( 4 أفراد فى كل سيارة ) ثم زيارة
الصحراء السوداء ثم زيارة القرية البدوية وتناول الغذاء بجوار البير البارد ثم زيارة جبال الكريستال ثم زيارة منطقة العقبات
ثم زيارة الماجيك سبرينج والصحراء البيضاء القديمة ووادي المشروم ثم التخييم فى الصحراء البيضاء وتناول العشاء والأستمتاع بالحفلة البدوية

اليوم الثالث: الفطار بالمخيم ثم العودة الى الفندق وتناول وجبة الغداء والعودة الى القاهرة مباشرة

الأسعار تشمل الأتى:
- الأنتقال من القاهرة/الواحات البحرية/ القاهرة
- الأقامة فى فندق الواحات البحرية ( الغداء + العشاء + الغداء بالصحراء
+ العشاء بالصحراء + الإفطار بالصحراء + الغداء بالواحات ) + المياه المعدنية
- جميع التنقلات الداخلية اثناء الرحلات
- مرشد سياحى و مرافق
- حفلة عشاء فى الفندق وحفلة أخرى فى الصحراء و التخييم فى الصحراء
_ جميع المعدات واحتياجات السفارى والكامب والتخييم
سعر الفرد 4400 فندق قصر الباويطي في اي بي للتواصل والحجز كلمنا على : 01271678021 - 01029663833

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02/12/2024

Viagem de safári ao Oásis Bahariya e ao Deserto Branco 3 dias / 2 noites

O programa é de 3 dias / 2 noites

Primeiro dia: Reunir-se pela manhã e seguir para a Estrada 6 de Outubro, depois Bahariya Oasis, chegando ao hotel + almoço no hotel
Então vá para o deserto para uma visita
A antiga cidade oásis, visitando o lago e o Palm Valley, depois visitando a área de Sand Dunes (dunas de areia altas), depois visitando o Vale dos Camelos e fontes de águas subterrâneas quentes, depois visitando o Monte Inglis e fotografando o pôr do sol do topo do montanha.

Depois retorno ao hotel e jantar

O segundo dia: Café da manhã no hotel, depois passeio em carros safari (todos os nossos carros Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4) fora do hotel (4 pessoas em cada carro), depois uma visita
O Deserto Negro, depois visite a vila beduína e almoce ao lado de uma cerveja gelada, depois visite as Montanhas de Cristal, depois visite a área de obstáculos
Em seguida, visite a Fonte Mágica, o antigo Deserto Branco e o Vale do Cogumelo, depois fotografe o pôr do sol no Deserto Branco

Terceiro dia: Café da manhã no hotel e retorno direto ao Cairo

Os preços incluem o seguinte:
Todas as visitas em
- Bahariya Oasis (almoço no Bahariya Oasis + almoço no Deserto Branco
Água mineral
- Todos os movimentos internos durante viagens
-
- O deserto branco
_Todos os equipamentos e necessidades de safari

26/11/2024

Desert Gazal

Welcome to the Desert Gazal
TOUR EGYPT
White Desert is JoyFresh airNature
About Us
Desert Gazal
We have an integrated team from Bahariya Oasis, and they are highly experienced, and fully familiar with all areas of the desert.

We have the best desert guides for the area, great experience, plentiful information.

With us, you live the adventure and discover new and interesting places that you will not see anywhere.





Save Your Money
With us, you will save a lot of money, and you will get a service that you will not find in many places.

ٍSafari Programs
Pro 01
01 Night

02 Days

White Desert
Day 1.

Start 7:00 Am from Cairo Bahariya , have lunch then visit the Black Desert Go to the Bedouin village and see the hot and cold water springs, Crystal Mountain , agabat area And sand skating by board And visit the open cave and adventure , and small valley ,Then, visit the Roman water spring ........ .

Including:

1- tickets for protected areas.

2- Private car from Cairo to Oasis and back.

3- All camping equipment including mats, sleeping bags, camel blankets and pillows. .....

Pro 02
02 Nights

03 Days

White Desert
Start from Cairo to Bahariya and have lunch and go to visit the black desert - the small village - cold water springs - Crystal Mountain - Sheikh Abdullah area and visit the watermelon valley ..........

Including:

1- tickets for protected areas.

2- Private car from Cairo to Oasis and back. .....

Pro 03
03 Nights

04 Days

D. Jara Cave
Day 1.

Start from Cairo to Bahariya and have lunch and go to visit the black desert - the small village - cold water springs - Crystal Mountain - Sheikh Abdullah area and visit the watermelon valley ....... .

Including:

1- Jeep with experienced driver English speaking.

2- Meals – water - hot and cold drinks - juice and fruit.

3- All camping equipment including mats, sleeping bags, camel blankets and pillows. .....

Pro 04
03 Nights

04 Days

South Route (From Cairo to Luxor)
Start from Cairo to Bahariya and have lunch and go to visit the black desert - the small village - cold water springs - Crystal Mountain - Sheikh Abdullah area and visit the watermelon valley - forests – Agabat area ..........

Including:

1- tickets for protected areas.

2- Private car from Cairo to Oasis and back. .....

Pro 05
03 Nights

04 Days

Siwa Oasis (Overnight Hotel)
Day 1.

We start from Cairo in the morning for a long drive. Will have a nice break with lunch in Marsah Matruh ........ .

Including:

1- Jeep with experienced driver English speaking.

2- Meals – water - hot and cold drinks - juice and fruit.

3- All camping equipment including mats, sleeping bags, camel blankets and pillows. .....

Pro 06
03 Nights

04 Days

Siwa Oasis 02 nights (Hotel ) & 01 night (Camp)
We start from Cairo in the morning for a long drive. Will have a nice break with lunch in Marsah Matruh ..........

Including:

1- Jeep with experienced driver English speaking.

2- Meals – water - hot and cold drinks - juice and fruit.

3- All camping equipment including mats, sleeping bags, camel blankets and pillows. .....

Contact Us
Bawiti, Baharuya Oasis, Giza, Egypt
01271678021(02+)

01029663833(02+)
[email protected]

Directions

25/11/2024

The White Desert... A unique Egyptian attraction

Between its icy shape and carved rocks, the tourist is confused about which is more beautiful and which is more strange

25/11/2024

In the heart of the Western Desert in Egypt, more than five hundred kilometers from Cairo, and about forty-five kilometers north of the Farafra Oasis in the New Valley Governorate, extends the "White Desert". An area exceeding three thousand square kilometers, it extends between the Bahariya Oasis and the Farafra Oasis. "White" is currently considered one of the most important tourist destinations for safari and adventure enthusiasts, especially after the Egyptian government declared it a nature reserve in 2002. "Aptly named", visitors to the White Desert always repeat this description upon arrival; as the white color covers most of its parts, so that you imagine that you are in an icy area, despite its very hot weather. It also contains extremely beautiful sand formations resulting from an occasional sandstorm that passed through the area ages ago, in addition to palm trees and acacia trees that grow among the rocks, so you find yourself in front of a complete artistic painting in which reality blends with fantasy. The White Desert is not only distinguished by its sand formations, it is also an art museum for studying desert environments and geographical phenomena; Because it contains caves, ancient inscriptions, mummified remains, and many rare and endangered plants and animals.

25/11/2024

Oases & Safari

Bahariya Oasis

Bahariya Oasis is approximately 360 km away from Cairo. Located in 6Th of October Governorate, it has an art museum and the main agricultural products are guavas, mangos, dates, and olives.
Bahariya consists of many villages of which Bawiti is the largest and the administrative center. Qasr is Bawiti's neighboring/twin village. To the east, about ten kilometers away are the villages of Mandishah and el Zabu. A smaller village called Aguz lies between Bawiti and Mandishah. Harrah, the eastern most village, is a few kilometers east of Mandishah and el Zabu. Hiez is the last village, but it may not always be considered as part of Bahariya because it is so far from the rest of the villages, about fifty kilometers south of Bawiti.
The people of the oasis, or the Wahati people ( meaning "of the oasis" in Arabic), are the descendants of the ancient people who inhabited the oasis, Bedouin tribes from Libya and the north coast, and other people from the Nile Valley who came to settle in the oasis.
The majority of Wahati people in Bahariya are Muslims. There are many mosques in Bahariya. The nature of social settings in the oasis is highly influenced by Islam.
Also, traditional music is very important to the Wahati people. Flutes, drums, and the simsimeyya (a harp-like instrument) are played at social gatherings, particularly at weddings. Traditional songs sung in rural style are passed down from generation to generation, and new songs are invented as well. Music from Cairo, the greater Middle East, and other parts of the world are now easily accessible to the people of the oasis.
Agriculture is still an important source of income, though now the iron ore industry close to Bahariya provides jobs for many Wahati people. Recently there has also been an increase in tourism to the oasis because of antiquities (tombs, mummies and other artifacts have been discovered there), and because of the beautiful surrounding deserts. Wahati and foreign guides lead adventure desert tours based out of Bahariya to the surrounding white and black deserts, and sometimes to Siwa or the southern oases. Tourism is a new and important source of income for locals, and it has brought an international presence to the oasis.
here is also the ruin of a temple to Alexander the Great located within the Bahariya Oasis. It is believed by some Egyptologists that the Greek conqueror passed through Bahariya while returning from the oracle of Ammon at Siwa Oasis. Excavations of the Greco-Roman necropolis, known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies began in 1996. Approximately thirty-four tombs have been excavated from this area.
In the spring of 2010, a Roman-era mummy was unearthed in a Bahariya Oasis cemetery. The 3-foot-tall female mummy was found covered with plaster decorated to resemble Roman dress and jewelry. In addition to the female mummy, archaeologists found clay and glass vessels, coins, anthropoid masks and 14 Greco-Roman tombs. Director of Cairo and Giza Antiquities Mahmoud Affifi, the archaeologist who led the dig, said the tomb has a unique design with stairways and corridors, and could date to 300 B.C. This find came as a result of excavation work for the construction of a youth center.
Carcharodontosaurus & Bahariasaurus(meaning "Bahariya lizard") dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation, which date to about 95 million years ago. It was a huge theropod, it was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934, though the type specimen was destroyed during World War II.

Farafra Oasis

The Farafra Oasis is the smallest oasis located in Western Egypt, near latitude 27.06° North and longitude 27.97° East. It is located in the Western Desert of Egypt, approximately mid-way between Dakhla and Bahariya.
Farafra has an estimated 5,000 inhabitants (2002) living within its single village and is mostly inhabited by the local Bedouins. Parts of the village has complete quarters of traditional architecture, simple, smooth, unadorned, all in mud colour. Local pride has also secured endeavours to secure local culture. Also located near Farafra are the hot springs at Bir Setta and the El-Mufid lake.
A main geographic attraction of Farafra is its White Desert (known as Sahara el Beyda, with the word sahara meaning a desert). The White Desert of Egypt is located 45 km (30 miles) north of Farafra. The desert has a white, cream color and has massive chalk rock formations that have been created as a result of occasional sandstorm in the area. The Farafra desert is a typical place visited by some schools in Egypt, as a location for camping trips.


WHITE DESERT

Cream landscape
About 45 km north of Farafra, the White Desert begins. It is truly white, in clear contrast with the yellow desert elsewhere. At night, and many of the organized trips out here include overnight stay out in the desert, it gets a character reminding of an Arctic landscape.
The rock formations of the desert are often quite dramatic, and you should not miss out on the weird rock balancing on top of a white pillar.

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN

Sparkling like diamonds
The name "mountain" is result of Arabic speakers using the word for mountain also for formations that are really small. The Crystal Mountain is not really a mountain, rather a rock or ridge.
But "crystal" is a correct description, and a stop here is definitely worth the time. Resembling the crystals of the Superman movies, the quartz crystals manage to fascinate most visitors. Although you should not break off crystals from the rock, there are plenty of loose crystals spread around on the ground. Walking away from the most frequented parts, there are crystal lumps as big as footballs.
There is also a natural arch here, man-high.

BLACK DESERT

Windblown and volcanic
The Black Desert is a region of volcano-shaped mountains with large quantities of small black stones. The stones lie out across the orange-brown ground, so that it is not quite as black as many people may hope for. Especially after visiting the White Desert, which has formation that are really white, many will imagine a desert as dramatic as this.
Climbing one of the many soft peeks, the view from the top is really nice, with similar peeks continuing on into the haze.

Dakhla Oasis


Dakhla Oasis also spelt Dakhleh known colloquially as the inner oasis, is one of the seven oases of Egypt's Western Desert, ,khla Oasis lies in the New Valley Governorate, 350 km from the Nile and between the oases of Farafra and Kharga. It measures approximately 80 km (50 mi) from east to west and 25 km (16 mi) from north to south.
Prehistory

The human history of this oasis started during the Pleistocene, when nomadic tribes settled sometimes there, in a time when the Sahara climate was wetter and where humans could have access to lakes and marshes. But about 6 000 years ago, the entire Sahara became drier, changing progressively into a hyper-arid desert (with less than 50 mm of rain per year). However, specialists think that nomadic hunter-gatherers began to settle almost permanently in the oasis of Dakhleh in the period of the Holocene (about 12 000 years ago), during new, but rare episodes of wetter times. In fact, the drier climate didn't mean that there was no more water in what is now known as the Western Desert. The south of the Libyan Desert has the most important supply of subterranean water in the world, and the first inhabitants of the Dakhla Oasis had access to surface water sources.
Pharaonic Period

The first contacts between the pharaonic power and the oases started around 2550 BCE.
Islamic Period

The fortified Islamic town of Al Qasr was built at Dakhla Oasis in the 12th century probably on the remains of a Roman era settlement by the Ayyubid kings of Egypt.
After 1800

The first European traveller to find the Dakhla Oasis was Sir Archibald Edmonstone, in the year 1819.He was succeeded by several other early travellers, but it was not until 1908 that the first egyptologist, Herbert Winlock, visited Dakhla Oasis and noted its monuments in some systematic manner. In the 1950s, detailed studies began, first by Dr. Ahmed Fakhry, and in the late 1970s, an expedition of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale and the Dakhla Oasis Project each began detailed studies in the oasis.

Geography

Dakhla Oasis consists of several communities, along a string of sub-oases. The main settlements are Mut, Al-Qasr, Qalamoun, together with several smaller villages. Some of the communities have identities that are separate from each other. Qalamoun has inhabitants that trace their origins to the Ottomans.

Kharga Oasis

El-Kharga', also known as Al-Kharijah, (meaning the outer oasis) is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Libyan Desert, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley, and is some 150 km long. It is located in and is the capital of El Wadi el Gedid governorate. This oasis, which was known as the 'Southern Oasis' to the Ancient Egyptians is the largest of the oases in the Libyan desert of Egypt and "consists of a depression about 160km long and from 20km to 80km wide.

Kharga is the most modernized of Egypt's western oases. The main town is a highly functional town with all modern facilities, and virtually nothing left of old architecture. Although framed by the oasis, there is no oasis feeling to it; unlike all other oases in this part of Egypt.

A regular bus service connects the oasis to the other Western oases and to the rest of Egypt. A railway line Kharga - Qena (Nile Valley) - Port Safaga (Red Sea) has been in service since 1996.

Darb el-Arbain caravan route

The Darb el-Arbain trade route, passing through Kharga in the south and Asyut in the north, was a long caravan route running north-south between Middle Egypt and the Sudan. It was used from as early as the Old Kingdom of Egypt for the transport and trade of gold, ivory, spices, wheat, animals and plants. The maximum extent of the Darb el-Arbain was northward from Kobbei, 25 miles north of al-Fashir, passing through the desert, through Bir Natrum and Wadi Howar, and ending in Egypt.

All the oases have always been crossroads of caravan routes converging from the barren desert. In the case of Kharga, this is made particularly evident by the presence of a chain of fortresses that the Romans built to protect the Darb el-Arbain. The forts vary for size and function, some being just small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation. Some were installed where earlier settlements already existed, while others were probably founded anew. All of them are made of mud bricks, but some also contain small stone temples with inscribed walls.

Described by Herodotus as a road "traversed ... in forty days," the Darb el-Arbain became by his time an important land route facilitating trade between Nubia and Egypt. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the Forty Days Road.

Archaeological sites

The Temple of Hibis is a Saite-era temple founded by Psamtik II which was erected largely by the Persians (Darius the Great and Darius II) during their rule over Egypt ca. 500 BC. It is located about 2 kilometres north of modern Kharga, in a palm-grove. There is a second 1st millennium BC temple in the southern most part of the oasis at Dush. An ancient Christian cemetery at Al-Bagawat also functioned at Kharga Oasis from the 3rd to the 7th century AD. It is one of the earliest and best preserved Christian cemeteries in the ancient world.

Siwa Oasis

Siwa appears at first as a sweet and innocent place deep in the desert which has just opened its eyes to the modern world and still let's itself be amazed. Which is not wrong, the asphalted road opened first in 1984. But the history goes deep beyond the earliest civilizations, to Paleolithic times. In the 1st millennium BCE, Siwa was famous with the ancient Egyptians, thanks to its oracle. The oracle was though to be so true and powerful that generals feared its predictions. Both when the Persian king Cambyses invaded in 525 and with Alexander the Great before his expeditions into Asia in 331 BCE, was the oracle consulted.
During these times, Siwa was a wealthy place, well illustrated by the Gebel al-Mawta and its rich tombs. In early Islamic times, Siwa went into decline and sometime in the 13th century was down as little as 200. Today the population is on the rise, and has since long passed 20,000. Most live in the town Siwa, the rest are spread across over 10 smaller villages.

Ruins of Shali

The ruins of Shali dates back to the 13th century, and was in full use until 3 days of heavy rain destroyed it in 1926. The houses were originally built to last a couple of decades, then be rebuilt or fixed after light rain. The building material was kershef, a mixture of salt and clay. It is not water-proof. Shali is supposed to have risen 60 metres above the ground level of the oasis, helped by the two mountains here. It must have been a fabulous sight. It still is, but none of 5 story houses still stand.
Shali today offers great view, the ruinous state have created many fine views. But surprisingly, you will find that some of the houses are still inhabited, although this only applies to the ones at the foot of Shali. The town of Siwa is the cutest thing, a couple of streets and a little park in front of Shali. If you head out one of the streets in eastern direction, you find yourself walking on sandy tracks going through well-kept oasis gardens. No wonder why so many people love this place!

The oasis

The oasis is easy to explore, there are numerous little tracks running through it. None are paved, sand is the thing here. Most of the time there are high palm frond walls facing the tracks, but anyone higher than 1.75 should have no problem looking in on the farms.

Gebel al-Mawta

The Gebel al-Mawta looks great from a distance, but it is even more impressive up close. The name means simply Mountain of the Dead, and it is the place where Siwans for over 2000 years buried their loved ones. The mountain is truly perforated, it must be centuries since there was no more room for new graves. The lower part of the mountain has countless mounds, with small passageways to the tombs.
Most of the tombs belonged to families, and arranged according to the same patterns as graves all around Egypt. The larger ones had ceremonial chambers, while the smaller ones had ceremonies performed outside the grave.
The mountain holds a couple of truly great graves, full of wall-paintings equally beautiful to the noble tombs of Luxor or Aswan. Unfortunately, there are strict rules on photographing here, so the finest of the lot was out of reach of me and my camera.

Alexander's oracle

The Oracle of Amon is today mainly remembered for being visited by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, when he was seeking confirmation that he was the son of Zeus (whom the Greeks associated with the Egyptian Amon). Nobody knows what the oracle told Alexander, the answer was whispered into his ear. But it probably was confirmative; Alexander expressed ever since a wish to be buried at Siwa, and he embarked upon great conquests in the east, conquests that only a son of a god would dare to embark upon.
The oracle of Siwa was one of the 6 most influential in the known world of those days. It probably came into use some time in the 6th century, as an expansion of the up to 200 year older temple dedicated to Amon-Re. The impact of this site in ancient times appears slightly strange and fascinating at the same the same time to modern visitors. The actual temple is so small, but the entire setting is like out of a fantasy novel. The temple complex, complete with a well (quite well-preserved) takes all of a little mountian rising up from the oasis. Seen from a distance, the site is like a white island floating on green palms. Upon entering, a wall rises above you, and when standing next to the temple you will have fabulous views.
Unfortunately, there is little to fascinate a visitor with the temple structure itself, no wall-paintings and no fine details have survived. It is best when seen from a distance. The temple itself. It is really very small, but as most visitors never were allowed to enter, just stand on the ground 12 metres beneath, it probably appeared to be quite impressive.

Temple of Amon

If the oracle has been badly treated by time, the Temple of Amon is in an even worse condition. Just a piece of a wall still stands, held up by crude modern bricks. Fortunately some fine wall-paintings on the western side of the wall have survived.
It is believe to have been built by the command of King Nectanebo 2 in the 4th century BCE. It would have been standing if it hadn't been for an Ottoman general who blew it up in 1896 to get building material.

Cleopatra's Pool

It sounds like an historical place, but there is no reason to believe that Cleopatra had anything to do with it. The fine name indicates however that this is one of Siwa's nicest pools. Nowadays it is used by local men for bathing, but foreign female visitors will not be denied entry. It was formerly used by local brides for bathing, but that practice has now moved to the nearby Tamusi bath, which is more secluded.
Cleopatra's Pool has a little cafe, sheltered from the sun and good for hot days.

Gebel Dakrur

There is no better place to take in fabulous views over the entire oasis than at Gebel Dakrur. It is a fair climb, but can probably be vertigous for some.
The mountain has three peeks, and lies near the Birket Zeitun. But there are stunning views over the western part of the oasis too.Every year, the Tourist Festival is held on the mountain's foot.

Fatnis Island

The Fatnis Island lies about 10 metres out into the Birket Siwa, and is completely covered by palms, except for the circular, tiled pool. The entire setting is beautiful, actually quite romantic should that be of any use for you. Coming out here, best done by a bike (just ask any you pass by for "Fatnis"), an hour or so before sunset is perfect. You start with swim, then head down to the coffee shop to take in the sunset over the Libyan Desert.
The total experience here was even better before, and as the water has been sinking due to some much needed drainage projects, Fatnis might not stay an island in the future.

Alexander's Tomb

Siwa hit the news in 1991 when it was claimed that the tomb of Alexander the Great had been found. It was a structure with Macedonian inscriptions in Greek letters, it was 55 metes long and complete with much decorations.
It had been discovered by Greek Liana Souvlatzi, but the dimensions of the possible discovery apparently clogged her objectiveness. It was later on discovered that some of the inscriptions had been misread, and now she is not allowed to return to the site for further excavations.
The most popular theory for the tomb is that it belonged to a Macedonian general. However, the tomb might give hints to where Alexander is buried. It is not certain that he was even buried in Siwa according to his wish, rathar in Alexandria.
For the casual visitor, there is little to see except the long corridor. All moveable objects have been put into sealed storage rooms.

Birket Siwa

The Birket Siwa is the visually most attractive of the two salt lakes of Siwa. It starts where the palm groves end, and it is framed by table-top mountains. The largest is the Adrar al-Milal, or White Mountain.
Today the lake is receding and it is becoming more and more saline. Much of it has now a surface of thick crust.
Birket Siwa is best visited as a part of a trip to Fatnis Island. There are passageways running from the island and out into the lake. This does not give the impression that you cross the lake, there are less and less clear borders between lake and land.

Birket Zeitun

Far fewer visit the lake of Birket Zeitun than Birket Siwa.The reason is simple, it is not as visually impressive. The surrounding landscape is fairly flat. There are several villages along the northern shore of the lake, all made from prefab material, making it all look quite tragic compared to the sweet irregularity of the town of Siwa. But there some really fine palm groves here, several pools, and friendly people not as spoiled with seeing foreigners as the central Siwans.

Well of Abu Shuruf

Abu Shuruf is famous in Siwa for its fine pool as well as its many female donkeys. The pool is one of the most inviting in all of Siwa, few by the fiercest well of them all. Warm water gushes out of the ground not too far away from the oval pool. The female donkeys is another matter, and of course you will not notice this unless you know a bit about donkeys. It is supposed that the Siwan saying "Have you been to Abu Shuruf" is a question to a man if he has had s*x.

Bir Wahed

Bir Wahed is both one of the new tourist traps of Siwa, and a quiet, secluded place for spending the late afternoon and evening. This is a well set out 12 km southwest of Siwa. It is truly a veird place, with water right in the middle of the sand dunes, without the typical oasis vegetation.
Bir Wahed is visited as part of a 4WD excursion, and is considered to be the best place for women to bathe, as there are no locals here.Oases & Safari

Bahariya Oasis

Bahariya Oasis is approximately 360 km away from Cairo. Located in 6Th of October Governorate, it has an art museum and the main agricultural products are guavas, mangos, dates, and olives.
Bahariya consists of many villages of which Bawiti is the largest and the administrative center. Qasr is Bawiti's neighboring/twin village. To the east, about ten kilometers away are the villages of Mandishah and el Zabu. A smaller village called Aguz lies between Bawiti and Mandishah. Harrah, the eastern most village, is a few kilometers east of Mandishah and el Zabu. Hiez is the last village, but it may not always be considered as part of Bahariya because it is so far from the rest of the villages, about fifty kilometers south of Bawiti.
The people of the oasis, or the Wahati people ( meaning "of the oasis" in Arabic), are the descendants of the ancient people who inhabited the oasis, Bedouin tribes from Libya and the north coast, and other people from the Nile Valley who came to settle in the oasis.
The majority of Wahati people in Bahariya are Muslims. There are many mosques in Bahariya. The nature of social settings in the oasis is highly influenced by Islam.
Also, traditional music is very important to the Wahati people. Flutes, drums, and the simsimeyya (a harp-like instrument) are played at social gatherings, particularly at weddings. Traditional songs sung in rural style are passed down from generation to generation, and new songs are invented as well. Music from Cairo, the greater Middle East, and other parts of the world are now easily accessible to the people of the oasis.
Agriculture is still an important source of income, though now the iron ore industry close to Bahariya provides jobs for many Wahati people. Recently there has also been an increase in tourism to the oasis because of antiquities (tombs, mummies and other artifacts have been discovered there), and because of the beautiful surrounding deserts. Wahati and foreign guides lead adventure desert tours based out of Bahariya to the surrounding white and black deserts, and sometimes to Siwa or the southern oases. Tourism is a new and important source of income for locals, and it has brought an international presence to the oasis.
here is also the ruin of a temple to Alexander the Great located within the Bahariya Oasis. It is believed by some Egyptologists that the Greek conqueror passed through Bahariya while returning from the oracle of Ammon at Siwa Oasis. Excavations of the Greco-Roman necropolis, known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies began in 1996. Approximately thirty-four tombs have been excavated from this area.
In the spring of 2010, a Roman-era mummy was unearthed in a Bahariya Oasis cemetery. The 3-foot-tall female mummy was found covered with plaster decorated to resemble Roman dress and jewelry. In addition to the female mummy, archaeologists found clay and glass vessels, coins, anthropoid masks and 14 Greco-Roman tombs. Director of Cairo and Giza Antiquities Mahmoud Affifi, the archaeologist who led the dig, said the tomb has a unique design with stairways and corridors, and could date to 300 B.C. This find came as a result of excavation work for the construction of a youth center.
Carcharodontosaurus & Bahariasaurus(meaning "Bahariya lizard") dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation, which date to about 95 million years ago. It was a huge theropod, it was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934, though the type specimen was destroyed during World War II.

Farafra Oasis

The Farafra Oasis is the smallest oasis located in Western Egypt, near latitude 27.06° North and longitude 27.97° East. It is located in the Western Desert of Egypt, approximately mid-way between Dakhla and Bahariya.
Farafra has an estimated 5,000 inhabitants (2002) living within its single village and is mostly inhabited by the local Bedouins. Parts of the village has complete quarters of traditional architecture, simple, smooth, unadorned, all in mud colour. Local pride has also secured endeavours to secure local culture. Also located near Farafra are the hot springs at Bir Setta and the El-Mufid lake.
A main geographic attraction of Farafra is its White Desert (known as Sahara el Beyda, with the word sahara meaning a desert). The White Desert of Egypt is located 45 km (30 miles) north of Farafra. The desert has a white, cream color and has massive chalk rock formations that have been created as a result of occasional sandstorm in the area. The Farafra desert is a typical place visited by some schools in Egypt, as a location for camping trips.


WHITE DESERT

Cream landscape
About 45 km north of Farafra, the White Desert begins. It is truly white, in clear contrast with the yellow desert elsewhere. At night, and many of the organized trips out here include overnight stay out in the desert, it gets a character reminding of an Arctic landscape.
The rock formations of the desert are often quite dramatic, and you should not miss out on the weird rock balancing on top of a white pillar.

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN

Sparkling like diamonds
The name "mountain" is result of Arabic speakers using the word for mountain also for formations that are really small. The Crystal Mountain is not really a mountain, rather a rock or ridge.
But "crystal" is a correct description, and a stop here is definitely worth the time. Resembling the crystals of the Superman movies, the quartz crystals manage to fascinate most visitors. Although you should not break off crystals from the rock, there are plenty of loose crystals spread around on the ground. Walking away from the most frequented parts, there are crystal lumps as big as footballs.
There is also a natural arch here, man-high.

BLACK DESERT

Windblown and volcanic
The Black Desert is a region of volcano-shaped mountains with large quantities of small black stones. The stones lie out across the orange-brown ground, so that it is not quite as black as many people may hope for. Especially after visiting the White Desert, which has formation that are really white, many will imagine a desert as dramatic as this.
Climbing one of the many soft peeks, the view from the top is really nice, with similar peeks continuing on into the haze.

Dakhla Oasis


Dakhla Oasis also spelt Dakhleh known colloquially as the inner oasis, is one of the seven oases of Egypt's Western Desert, ,khla Oasis lies in the New Valley Governorate, 350 km from the Nile and between the oases of Farafra and Kharga. It measures approximately 80 km (50 mi) from east to west and 25 km (16 mi) from north to south.
Prehistory

The human history of this oasis started during the Pleistocene, when nomadic tribes settled sometimes there, in a time when the Sahara climate was wetter and where humans could have access to lakes and marshes. But about 6 000 years ago, the entire Sahara became drier, changing progressively into a hyper-arid desert (with less than 50 mm of rain per year). However, specialists think that nomadic hunter-gatherers began to settle almost permanently in the oasis of Dakhleh in the period of the Holocene (about 12 000 years ago), during new, but rare episodes of wetter times. In fact, the drier climate didn't mean that there was no more water in what is now known as the Western Desert. The south of the Libyan Desert has the most important supply of subterranean water in the world, and the first inhabitants of the Dakhla Oasis had access to surface water sources.
Pharaonic Period

The first contacts between the pharaonic power and the oases started around 2550 BCE.
Islamic Period

The fortified Islamic town of Al Qasr was built at Dakhla Oasis in the 12th century probably on the remains of a Roman era settlement by the Ayyubid kings of Egypt.
After 1800

The first European traveller to find the Dakhla Oasis was Sir Archibald Edmonstone, in the year 1819.He was succeeded by several other early travellers, but it was not until 1908 that the first egyptologist, Herbert Winlock, visited Dakhla Oasis and noted its monuments in some systematic manner. In the 1950s, detailed studies began, first by Dr. Ahmed Fakhry, and in the late 1970s, an expedition of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale and the Dakhla Oasis Project each began detailed studies in the oasis.

Geography

Dakhla Oasis consists of several communities, along a string of sub-oases. The main settlements are Mut, Al-Qasr, Qalamoun, together with several smaller villages. Some of the communities have identities that are separate from each other. Qalamoun has inhabitants that trace their origins to the Ottomans.

Kharga Oasis

El-Kharga', also known as Al-Kharijah, (meaning the outer oasis) is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Libyan Desert, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley, and is some 150 km long. It is located in and is the capital of El Wadi el Gedid governorate. This oasis, which was known as the 'Southern Oasis' to the Ancient Egyptians is the largest of the oases in the Libyan desert of Egypt and "consists of a depression about 160km long and from 20km to 80km wide.

Kharga is the most modernized of Egypt's western oases. The main town is a highly functional town with all modern facilities, and virtually nothing left of old architecture. Although framed by the oasis, there is no oasis feeling to it; unlike all other oases in this part of Egypt.

A regular bus service connects the oasis to the other Western oases and to the rest of Egypt. A railway line Kharga - Qena (Nile Valley) - Port Safaga (Red Sea) has been in service since 1996.

Darb el-Arbain caravan route

The Darb el-Arbain trade route, passing through Kharga in the south and Asyut in the north, was a long caravan route running north-south between Middle Egypt and the Sudan. It was used from as early as the Old Kingdom of Egypt for the transport and trade of gold, ivory, spices, wheat, animals and plants. The maximum extent of the Darb el-Arbain was northward from Kobbei, 25 miles north of al-Fashir, passing through the desert, through Bir Natrum and Wadi Howar, and ending in Egypt.

All the oases have always been crossroads of caravan routes converging from the barren desert. In the case of Kharga, this is made particularly evident by the presence of a chain of fortresses that the Romans built to protect the Darb el-Arbain. The forts vary for size and function, some being just small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation. Some were installed where earlier settlements already existed, while others were probably founded anew. All of them are made of mud bricks, but some also contain small stone temples with inscribed walls.

Described by Herodotus as a road "traversed ... in forty days," the Darb el-Arbain became by his time an important land route facilitating trade between Nubia and Egypt. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the Forty Days Road.

Archaeological sites

The Temple of Hibis is a Saite-era temple founded by Psamtik II which was erected largely by the Persians (Darius the Great and Darius II) during their rule over Egypt ca. 500 BC. It is located about 2 kilometres north of modern Kharga, in a palm-grove. There is a second 1st millennium BC temple in the southern most part of the oasis at Dush. An ancient Christian cemetery at Al-Bagawat also functioned at Kharga Oasis from the 3rd to the 7th century AD. It is one of the earliest and best preserved Christian cemeteries in the ancient world.

Siwa Oasis

Siwa appears at first as a sweet and innocent place deep in the desert which has just opened its eyes to the modern world and still let's itself be amazed. Which is not wrong, the asphalted road opened first in 1984. But the history goes deep beyond the earliest civilizations, to Paleolithic times. In the 1st millennium BCE, Siwa was famous with the ancient Egyptians, thanks to its oracle. The oracle was though to be so true and powerful that generals feared its predictions. Both when the Persian king Cambyses invaded in 525 and with Alexander the Great before his expeditions into Asia in 331 BCE, was the oracle consulted.
During these times, Siwa was a wealthy place, well illustrated by the Gebel al-Mawta and its rich tombs. In early Islamic times, Siwa went into decline and sometime in the 13th century was down as little as 200. Today the population is on the rise, and has since long passed 20,000. Most live in the town Siwa, the rest are spread across over 10 smaller villages.

Ruins of Shali

The ruins of Shali dates back to the 13th century, and was in full use until 3 days of heavy rain destroyed it in 1926. The houses were originally built to last a couple of decades, then be rebuilt or fixed after light rain. The building material was kershef, a mixture of salt and clay. It is not water-proof. Shali is supposed to have risen 60 metres above the ground level of the oasis, helped by the two mountains here. It must have been a fabulous sight. It still is, but none of 5 story houses still stand.
Shali today offers great view, the ruinous state have created many fine views. But surprisingly, you will find that some of the houses are still inhabited, although this only applies to the ones at the foot of Shali. The town of Siwa is the cutest thing, a couple of streets and a little park in front of Shali. If you head out one of the streets in eastern direction, you find yourself walking on sandy tracks going through well-kept oasis gardens. No wonder why so many people love this place!

The oasis

The oasis is easy to explore, there are numerous little tracks running through it. None are paved, sand is the thing here. Most of the time there are high palm frond walls facing the tracks, but anyone higher than 1.75 should have no problem looking in on the farms.

Gebel al-Mawta

The Gebel al-Mawta looks great from a distance, but it is even more impressive up close. The name means simply Mountain of the Dead, and it is the place where Siwans for over 2000 years buried their loved ones. The mountain is truly perforated, it must be centuries since there was no more room for new graves. The lower part of the mountain has countless mounds, with small passageways to the tombs.
Most of the tombs belonged to families, and arranged according to the same patterns as graves all around Egypt. The larger ones had ceremonial chambers, while the smaller ones had ceremonies performed outside the grave.
The mountain holds a couple of truly great graves, full of wall-paintings equally beautiful to the noble tombs of Luxor or Aswan. Unfortunately, there are strict rules on photographing here, so the finest of the lot was out of reach of me and my camera.

Alexander's oracle

The Oracle of Amon is today mainly remembered for being visited by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, when he was seeking confirmation that he was the son of Zeus (whom the Greeks associated with the Egyptian Amon). Nobody knows what the oracle told Alexander, the answer was whispered into his ear. But it probably was confirmative; Alexander expressed ever since a wish to be buried at Siwa, and he embarked upon great conquests in the east, conquests that only a son of a god would dare to embark upon.
The oracle of Siwa was one of the 6 most influential in the known world of those days. It probably came into use some time in the 6th century, as an expansion of the up to 200 year older temple dedicated to Amon-Re. The impact of this site in ancient times appears slightly strange and fascinating at the same the same time to modern visitors. The actual temple is so small, but the entire setting is like out of a fantasy novel. The temple complex, complete with a well (quite well-preserved) takes all of a little mountian rising up from the oasis. Seen from a distance, the site is like a white island floating on green palms. Upon entering, a wall rises above you, and when standing next to the temple you will have fabulous views.
Unfortunately, there is little to fascinate a visitor with the temple structure itself, no wall-paintings and no fine details have survived. It is best when seen from a distance. The temple itself. It is really very small, but as most visitors never were allowed to enter, just stand on the ground 12 metres beneath, it probably appeared to be quite impressive.

Temple of Amon

If the oracle has been badly treated by time, the Temple of Amon is in an even worse condition. Just a piece of a wall still stands, held up by crude modern bricks. Fortunately some fine wall-paintings on the western side of the wall have survived.
It is believe to have been built by the command of King Nectanebo 2 in the 4th century BCE. It would have been standing if it hadn't been for an Ottoman general who blew it up in 1896 to get building material.

Cleopatra's Pool

It sounds like an historical place, but there is no reason to believe that Cleopatra had anything to do with it. The fine name indicates however that this is one of Siwa's nicest pools. Nowadays it is used by local men for bathing, but foreign female visitors will not be denied entry. It was formerly used by local brides for bathing, but that practice has now moved to the nearby Tamusi bath, which is more secluded.
Cleopatra's Pool has a little cafe, sheltered from the sun and good for hot days.

Gebel Dakrur

There is no better place to take in fabulous views over the entire oasis than at Gebel Dakrur. It is a fair climb, but can probably be vertigous for some.
The mountain has three peeks, and lies near the Birket Zeitun. But there are stunning views over the western part of the oasis too.Every year, the Tourist Festival is held on the mountain's foot.

Fatnis Island

The Fatnis Island lies about 10 metres out into the Birket Siwa, and is completely covered by palms, except for the circular, tiled pool. The entire setting is beautiful, actually quite romantic should that be of any use for you. Coming out here, best done by a bike (just ask any you pass by for "Fatnis"), an hour or so before sunset is perfect. You start with swim, then head down to the coffee shop to take in the sunset over the Libyan Desert.
The total experience here was even better before, and as the water has been sinking due to some much needed drainage projects, Fatnis might not stay an island in the future.

Alexander's Tomb

Siwa hit the news in 1991 when it was claimed that the tomb of Alexander the Great had been found. It was a structure with Macedonian inscriptions in Greek letters, it was 55 metes long and complete with much decorations.
It had been discovered by Greek Liana Souvlatzi, but the dimensions of the possible discovery apparently clogged her objectiveness. It was later on discovered that some of the inscriptions had been misread, and now she is not allowed to return to the site for further excavations.
The most popular theory for the tomb is that it belonged to a Macedonian general. However, the tomb might give hints to where Alexander is buried. It is not certain that he was even buried in Siwa according to his wish, rathar in Alexandria.
For the casual visitor, there is little to see except the long corridor. All moveable objects have been put into sealed storage rooms.

Birket Siwa

The Birket Siwa is the visually most attractive of the two salt lakes of Siwa. It starts where the palm groves end, and it is framed by table-top mountains. The largest is the Adrar al-Milal, or White Mountain.
Today the lake is receding and it is becoming more and more saline. Much of it has now a surface of thick crust.
Birket Siwa is best visited as a part of a trip to Fatnis Island. There are passageways running from the island and out into the lake. This does not give the impression that you cross the lake, there are less and less clear borders between lake and land.

Birket Zeitun

Far fewer visit the lake of Birket Zeitun than Birket Siwa.The reason is simple, it is not as visually impressive. The surrounding landscape is fairly flat. There are several villages along the northern shore of the lake, all made from prefab material, making it all look quite tragic compared to the sweet irregularity of the town of Siwa. But there some really fine palm groves here, several pools, and friendly people not as spoiled with seeing foreigners as the central Siwans.

Well of Abu Shuruf

Abu Shuruf is famous in Siwa for its fine pool as well as its many female donkeys. The pool is one of the most inviting in all of Siwa, few by the fiercest well of them all. Warm water gushes out of the ground not too far away from the oval pool. The female donkeys is another matter, and of course you will not notice this unless you know a bit about donkeys. It is supposed that the Siwan saying "Have you been to Abu Shuruf" is a question to a man if he has had s*x.

Bir Wahed

Bir Wahed is both one of the new tourist traps of Siwa, and a quiet, secluded place for spending the late afternoon and evening. This is a well set out 12 km southwest of Siwa. It is truly a veird place, with water right in the middle of the sand dunes, without the typical oasis vegetation.
Bir Wahed is visited as part of a 4WD excursion, and is considered to be the best place for women to bathe, as there are no locals here.Oases & Safari

Bahariya Oasis

Bahariya Oasis is approximately 360 km away from Cairo. Located in 6Th of October Governorate, it has an art museum and the main agricultural products are guavas, mangos, dates, and olives.
Bahariya consists of many villages of which Bawiti is the largest and the administrative center. Qasr is Bawiti's neighboring/twin village. To the east, about ten kilometers away are the villages of Mandishah and el Zabu. A smaller village called Aguz lies between Bawiti and Mandishah. Harrah, the eastern most village, is a few kilometers east of Mandishah and el Zabu. Hiez is the last village, but it may not always be considered as part of Bahariya because it is so far from the rest of the villages, about fifty kilometers south of Bawiti.
The people of the oasis, or the Wahati people ( meaning "of the oasis" in Arabic), are the descendants of the ancient people who inhabited the oasis, Bedouin tribes from Libya and the north coast, and other people from the Nile Valley who came to settle in the oasis.
The majority of Wahati people in Bahariya are Muslims. There are many mosques in Bahariya. The nature of social settings in the oasis is highly influenced by Islam.
Also, traditional music is very important to the Wahati people. Flutes, drums, and the simsimeyya (a harp-like instrument) are played at social gatherings, particularly at weddings. Traditional songs sung in rural style are passed down from generation to generation, and new songs are invented as well. Music from Cairo, the greater Middle East, and other parts of the world are now easily accessible to the people of the oasis.
Agriculture is still an important source of income, though now the iron ore industry close to Bahariya provides jobs for many Wahati people. Recently there has also been an increase in tourism to the oasis because of antiquities (tombs, mummies and other artifacts have been discovered there), and because of the beautiful surrounding deserts. Wahati and foreign guides lead adventure desert tours based out of Bahariya to the surrounding white and black deserts, and sometimes to Siwa or the southern oases. Tourism is a new and important source of income for locals, and it has brought an international presence to the oasis.
here is also the ruin of a temple to Alexander the Great located within the Bahariya Oasis. It is believed by some Egyptologists that the Greek conqueror passed through Bahariya while returning from the oracle of Ammon at Siwa Oasis. Excavations of the Greco-Roman necropolis, known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies began in 1996. Approximately thirty-four tombs have been excavated from this area.
In the spring of 2010, a Roman-era mummy was unearthed in a Bahariya Oasis cemetery. The 3-foot-tall female mummy was found covered with plaster decorated to resemble Roman dress and jewelry. In addition to the female mummy, archaeologists found clay and glass vessels, coins, anthropoid masks and 14 Greco-Roman tombs. Director of Cairo and Giza Antiquities Mahmoud Affifi, the archaeologist who led the dig, said the tomb has a unique design with stairways and corridors, and could date to 300 B.C. This find came as a result of excavation work for the construction of a youth center.
Carcharodontosaurus & Bahariasaurus(meaning "Bahariya lizard") dinosaur found in the Bahariya Formation, which date to about 95 million years ago. It was a huge theropod, it was described by Ernst Stromer in 1934, though the type specimen was destroyed during World War II.

Farafra Oasis

The Farafra Oasis is the smallest oasis located in Western Egypt, near latitude 27.06° North and longitude 27.97° East. It is located in the Western Desert of Egypt, approximately mid-way between Dakhla and Bahariya.
Farafra has an estimated 5,000 inhabitants (2002) living within its single village and is mostly inhabited by the local Bedouins. Parts of the village has complete quarters of traditional architecture, simple, smooth, unadorned, all in mud colour. Local pride has also secured endeavours to secure local culture. Also located near Farafra are the hot springs at Bir Setta and the El-Mufid lake.
A main geographic attraction of Farafra is its White Desert (known as Sahara el Beyda, with the word sahara meaning a desert). The White Desert of Egypt is located 45 km (30 miles) north of Farafra. The desert has a white, cream color and has massive chalk rock formations that have been created as a result of occasional sandstorm in the area. The Farafra desert is a typical place visited by some schools in Egypt, as a location for camping trips.


WHITE DESERT

Cream landscape
About 45 km north of Farafra, the White Desert begins. It is truly white, in clear contrast with the yellow desert elsewhere. At night, and many of the organized trips out here include overnight stay out in the desert, it gets a character reminding of an Arctic landscape.
The rock formations of the desert are often quite dramatic, and you should not miss out on the weird rock balancing on top of a white pillar.

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN

Sparkling like diamonds
The name "mountain" is result of Arabic speakers using the word for mountain also for formations that are really small. The Crystal Mountain is not really a mountain, rather a rock or ridge.
But "crystal" is a correct description, and a stop here is definitely worth the time. Resembling the crystals of the Superman movies, the quartz crystals manage to fascinate most visitors. Although you should not break off crystals from the rock, there are plenty of loose crystals spread around on the ground. Walking away from the most frequented parts, there are crystal lumps as big as footballs.
There is also a natural arch here, man-high.

BLACK DESERT

Windblown and volcanic
The Black Desert is a region of volcano-shaped mountains with large quantities of small black stones. The stones lie out acr