Post written by Laura
I’ve just returned from an exciting and utterly diverse trip to Egypt with my best mate Bridget. We had an amazing time experiencing the unique landscapes of the White Desert, exploring the ancient Egyptian Pyramids and visiting the huge metropolis of Cairo.
We stayed in 4 completely different accommodations in 4 nights ranging from basic camping to 5 star luxury! This was the itinerary:
- Sat eve: arrive late and stay in Cairo hostel
- Sun eve: basic camp in the White Desert
- Mon eve: small comfortable hotel next to the Pyramids of Giza
- Tue eve: luxury 5 star hotel in Cairo
This post covers the ‘White Desert’ the first section of the trip. Having arrived at Cairo International airport late on Saturday night we had a few hours sleep before being collected at 6 am in the dark to start the trip.
We stayed in the Champollion Hostel in Cairo Downtown which is highly recommended. The owner was so kind and helpful and even offered to cook us eggs for breakfast just before our 6 am departure! And incidentally Jean-Francois Champollion was a French explorer who played a major role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs.
We changed 40 euros at the hostel which gave us a small amount of Egyptian pounds for any incidentals we may need. This gave us a far better exchange rate than that quoted by Travelex at Heathrow airport!
Anyway, the mini bus picked everyone up and 11 of us were soon on our way heading south west through Egypt’s section of the Sahara desert for the next 4-5 hours! The Egyptian pounds came in handy half way through as we stopped at a small service station and had to pay 5 EGP per person to use the toilets (around 13 pence).
Bahariya is the nearest oasis to Cairo a distance of approximately 340 km away. The oasis is set in an oval shaped valley and is 94 km long. We were driven to the Safari Camp Bahariya Oasis hotel which is located in the outskirts of the village of El Bawiti.
Upon arrival we had to remove our shoes before being welcomed into the above room by Amir who I had been liaising with via whatsapp prior to the trip. Over mint tea Amir explained the itinerary and asked if we had any questions.
The 11 of us sat at a long table where we were given tasty lentil and vegetable soup with warm bedouin flat bread and a main course (I had the veggie option which was spicy aubergines with rice).
After lunch we were split into smaller groups and allocated to separate jeeps to set off into the desert. Bridget and I sat at the back of the ‘rustic’ jeep with Tash and Mahati from Tokyo in front of us and Danny from North London in the very front seat next to Baddur, our driver.
Our first stop was in the Black Desert which surrounds Oasis Bahariya. The desert is black due to iron and volcanic activity in the desert. We stopped for about 20 minutes and were able to climb about half way up the above hill which gave us panoramic views of the Black Desert.
Next was a stop at a warm spring… not a hot spring as the temperature was fairly mild. Tash and Mahati went in for a dip while Bridget, Danny and myself decided just to watch… this spring water comes from deep underground and is used by local farmers for their crops.
By now the desert temperature had reached about 25 degrees which was pleasant and comfortable. The White Desert can be visited all year round however winter is a good time as it would be much hotter in the summer! We climbed back into the jeep for our next stop…
Things got really exciting as we approached the Old White Desert National Park and Baddur took us for a (very) bumpy off-road spin through the desert! He stopped at a panoramic viewpoint and the 5 of us sank in the thick soft sand as we made our way downhill into the valley below.
The Egyptian name for the White Desert is ‘Sahara el Beyda’ and was established as protected national park in 2002. This part was previously under the sea millions of years ago.
The name of this unique desert comes from the layer of chalk and limestone which partly covers the landscape with the rest being the yellow sand. This part is the older section of the desert.
Many fossils are to be found dotted around in the desert.
We continued driving and the scenery started to change. We were approaching the white chalk rock formations which had been carved into strange shapes from centuries of erosion by wind and sand.
Baddur stopped a few times for us to get out of the jeep and take some photos. The above was called ‘mushroom rock’ although there was actually many similar mushroom rocks!
The rocks in this next part of the desert were more rounded and flatter and looked like large blobs of meringue! These rocks are known as ‘inselbergs’ which mean ‘isolated hills that stand above a flat plain and look like an island’. The name comes from the German words for ‘insel’ (island) and ‘berg’ (mountain).
We were all quite in awe of this spectacular landscape but soon it was time to head to the campsite…
Baddur parked his jeep next to one pre-set up tent and while he prepared the campsite, lit the fire and started to cook the dinner, the 5 of us had some free time to wander around and explore our surroundings.
We were based on our own as a small group of 6 (including Baddur) as the rest of our original group had dispersed to their own little camping area of the White Desert.
Darkness fell early and the sun began to set at around 5 pm if not a bit sooner. We were treated to the most incredible vibrant and constantly evolving skies which were changing colour in all directions around us. What an amazing experience and a fabulous memory to have.
Once the sun had set we were treated to amazing skies constantly changing from oranges to pinks and finally to dark purple shades.
It was almost completely dark and Baddur was still cooking the dinner. It took a while but nobody was in a hurry as we were enjoying the peace and solitude of our spectacular surroundings.
And taking a head torch is a necessary piece of camping kit as by now it was getting colder and there was a need to fumble around in our luggage to dig out another layer or two.
And dinner was well worth the wait! We enjoyed soup followed by barbequed chicken, the most tasty vegetable stew ever and perfectly cooked rice. We sat cross legged around the low table and all thought dinner was delicious. There was plenty of food to go round and more than enough for seconds!
While Baddur cleared our plates the 5 of us sat on colourful square stools around the campfire. It was here we enjoyed the best traditional bedouin style mint tea of the trip. This is made in a special way of it being poured from a height into a second pot, back into the original pot and another pouring a couple of times. The tea is served with sugar and from his small sack of herbs, Baddur added lemongrass. All in all it was so tasty we had about 3 small cups each!
There were a few small wispy clouds but it was generally a clear and pollution free night sky. I looked out of the tent a bit later in the evening and the moon was shining brightly illuminating the desert. Unfortunately I didn’t think to take any pictures of this.
Danny, Tash and Mahati slept outside under the stars however Bridget and I shared a tent which was cosy with thick lined sleeping bags and heavy camel wool blankets.
After a comfortable night we woke up early as it was starting to get light at about 6 am. The door to our tent faced east which enabled us to watch the sunrise over the desert from our beds.
While we had all been getting ready Baddur had laid the breakfast table for the 5 of us. I enjoyed warm Bedouin style flat bread, honey and black coffee. Our tent was the green one in the picture above.
We milled around while Baddur dismantled the tents and the campsite. I had looked out for desert animals but only really saw a raven early in the morning. The previous evening, while we were sitting around the campfire, Baddur spotted a desert fox running off after helping itself to one of Tash’s biscuits! Tash had left the packet lying around on the dinner table.
The temperature overnight had dropped to around 14 degrees meaning it was relatively cold first thing in the morning and a need for wearing layers.
Once all was packed up, at around 7:45 am we piled back into the jeep and set off to explore more rock formations. Above is one of the most famous and is often seen on White Desert trip advertisements.
We spent some time driving through the desert with Baddur stopping a few times for us to get out of the jeep and take photos. We left the White Desert and started our drive back towards the hotel. But not before our final stop at the Crystal Mountain!
Crystal Mountain is a rocky gem ridge made from thousands of colourful jewels which sparkle when the sun shines on them.
We climbed higher and had spectacular panoramic views across the White Desert.
From the Crystal mountain we were driven back to the Safari Camp hotel where we stopped for about 30 minutes as the other jeeps arrived before re-grouping back to 11 of us and transferring to the mini bus for the drive back to Cairo.
Lunch, dinner and breakfast were supplied as part of the trip but while the mini bus stops en route both ways the service station mostly sells crisps, biscuits and drinks so it’s handy to have snacks with for the second day.
After 4-5 hours we were dropped off in Giza ready for the next part of our adventure which was to visit the Pyramids…
Summary
What a wonderful experience! I loved every minute of this short 2 day / one night unique desert adventure. I had booked it with Viator however you can book direct if you check out http://www.whitedeserttravel.com.
frombluetogreen.com 