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The Western Desert of Egypt:
Adventure Travel at its Best
By Cassandra Vivian
If I were talking about Tutankamun, this article
would attract readers automatically, such is the draw of Ancient
Egypt. But I am talking about Kharga Oasis, Gebel Uwaynat, and the
Great Sand Sea. Although all of them have mysteries as tantalizing
as those of ancient Egypt, they are for the most part
unrecognizable names in the United States. If I told you Medusa
turned men to stone in the Western Desert, would that hold your
interest? If I said after his 12 labors Hercules rested in the
Western Desert, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra romanced here, Antony
and Cleopatra faced defeat here, and the first Allied victory in
World War II took place here, would that do it? If I said the
heroine of the Academy Award winning film The English Patient died
in one of its caves --- ahh haa, now I gotcha, don’t I??
Egypt’s Western Desert is hard to describe in
one go. It is huge. It is one of the most arid regions on earth,
in fact, one of our last frontiers. German, English, and Italian
tourists have been basking in its hot springs and exploring its
ancient artifacts for centuries. It was primarily their explorers
who opened it up to the world in the 19th century. Americans seem
to think they had no part in its development, but a rag tag group
of Marines and sailors crossed the Western Desert from Alexandria
to Derna (in Libya) in 1805 in one of the most amazing military
expeditions in history. We don’t talk about it much (which is
too bad), but Derna was the first Marine battle on foreign soil
and the sword worn by marines at full dress today commemorates
"the shores of Tripoli."
History alone may not lure a traveler to the
Western Desert, but will! This is adventure offered up in degrees
so there is something for everyone: mild for those who insist on a
good shower and a swimming pool at the end of the day; strong for
those who like to go into the wilderness to camp, but know that
the paved road and the high tension lines are nearby; or intense,
where one tempts the fates and carries all the water, gasoline,
and food necessary for a 10-to-24-day
step-off-the-edge-of-the-earth escapade. Any one of these journeys
is worth putting on your wish list.
Mild: Loop the Loop to the Oases
For the traveler who likes a little bit of
adventure, but wants it peppered with modern conveniences, a trip
around the loop road will bring four major oases into focus. The
loop swings out of the Nile Valley near Cairo and returns to the
river near Luxor. It is a 700 mile journey that leads to four
distinctly different worlds filled with fascinating desert people,
antiquities, mysteries, and newly built resorts. The first oasis
on the loop road, Baharia Oasis, is 194 miles from Cairo.
Recently a great ‘discovery’ was made here.
Hundreds and hundreds of ancient mummies were uncovered, most
adorned with precious gold jewelry and amulets. Dubbed the Valley
of the Golden Mummies, the area is now under intensive excavation
and a tomb was actually opened for the first time on the Discovery
channel a few months ago. But Baharia is more that golden mummies,
which the world will soon see are a-dime-a-dozen in almost every
oasis in this desert (after all it, like the Nile Valley, the
desert has had thousands of years of history). Baharia’s
greatest treasure is its physical environment. The sand is golden!
A string of small hills runs in an almost perfect line from north
to south, most topped by black basalt stone. Both the hills and
the basalt are gifts of an ancient geological upheaval. Amid the
hills is the Black Desert where the golden sand is littered with
tiny black stones. Hard on your tires, but spectacular to your
eyes, there are dozens and dozens of places to camp.
In contrast to Baharia, Farafra Oasis, another
hundred miles along the route, has a White Desert. Giant white
chalk monoliths rise from a pure white desert floor, while smaller
outcroppings looking like donkeys, camels, and Bedouin, enchant
the visitor with their humor. Here one can roam off-road without
too much fear of getting lost. One can pitch camp under Snoopy the
dog or a napping Mexican with a huge sombrero. Couple these
wonders with the pure air of the desert, the almost lack of sound
(except for the wind), and how can one not think that this is
paradise! Farafra holds the most mysteries in the desert. It was
in Farafra that Cambyses, the Persian conqueror of ancient Egypt,
lost an army. 50,000 strong they set off from ancient Thebes
(modern Luxor) to attack the Oracle at Siwa Oasis. They never got
there. Herodotus said a sandstorm vanquished this army. Historians
have been looking for it ever since. Modern technology still
cannot find it.
Dakhla Oasis was a breadbasket of the Roman
Empire. It is lush with farmland growing vegetables and fruits in
the iron-rich red earth. Here medieval mudbrick Islamic villages
are perched on hills with impenetrable, sheer-sided outer
protective walls. The hot springs, where hot water gushes up from
deep in the earth and spills into an awaiting trough, allows the
traveler to lay back and float in a mist of steam while looking up
into a canopy of stars. All the oases have these intoxicating hot
springs. They are more controlled in Dakhla. So are the Bedouin
camps, where the young boys will beat their drums and sing around
a small fire in the evening. Dakhla is where one shoots off to the
deep desert. In the ancient past it was often invaded by desert
tribes who carried off its camels and women. So the people of
Dakhla went into the desert and destroyed the water wells for a
journey of five days. That stopped the invasions.
Kharga Oasis is the last oasis on the loop
before the Nile Valley. It seems to have had the longest
association with ancient Egypt. It is also the place where
Christians were banished in the 4th and 5th centuries and as a
souvenir of the time boasts one of the largest ancient Christian
cemeteries in the world: Bagawat. Kharga also claims the first
five star resort with swimming pool and air conditioning. At first
glance Kharga looks disappointing for its main village is a
replica of a Nile Valley town, but one must dig deeper.
Kharga Oasis’s greatest treasures, in addition
to its marching rows of crescent sand dunes, are the Roman
fortresses scattered along a famous slaver’s road called the
Darb el Arbain, the 40 Days’ Road. Roman scholars marvel at the
rubble of fortresses in Jordan and Iraq that stand only a few
meters high. Here in Egypt’s Western Desert, the unexplored
fortresses rise to four and five stories. And there are dozens of
them. To visit the fortresses and their surrounding cemeteries is
a 4x4 adventure. This is why all terrain vehicles were invented.
With a local guide in tow, one leaves the asphalt and heads into
the desert dodging huge multi-sided sand dunes called whale dunes.
The silence, while standing in front of an ancient fort, hurts the
ears. The imagination is boggled while trying to grasp the
possibility that once 20,000 people lived in this remote spot, or
that hundreds and hundreds of caravans pushing tens of thousands
of slaves stopped for water and rest.
Siwa Oasis is not on the loop, which makes it
difficult to visit when trying to tour as many of Egypt’s
tempting oases as possible. Yet Siwa is the most intoxicating; its
people the most independent and unique. All of its ancient
villages are perched on huge desert rocks which rise above seas of
swaying palm trees. Siwa is known for its dates and its olives. If
you want extra virgin olive oil, Siwa is the place. The press is
done by hand with a donkey walking round and round grinding the
olives between two massive stones.
Siwa is the seat of the ancient Oracle of Amun
for whom Alexander the Great made his desert trek. It is also the
place where desert jewelry, baskets, dresses, and traditions
remain strong. A Siwa basket is a treasure to die for. A Siwan
woman’s dress has been the hit of cocktail parties in
fashionable New York drawing rooms for decades.
To "do" the loop road a traveler needs
8-10 days, a good car, a map, and a sense of adventure. To add
Siwa you need 4-5 days more. The on road travel can easily be done
without a guide, it is a single road going to a specific place.
Once in the different oases one may sign up for day tours into the
desert. If doing it alone is a bit too adventuresome, there are
tour companies in Egypt and on the Internet who offer desert
travel at good prices.
Strong: Hiking and Camel Safari
If the short trip through the desert to distant
forts is not enough to satiate your lust for off road adventure,
there are three other ways you can get an adrenaline rush and a
sense of being an explorer without too much danger: day-tripping
in a 4x4, desert hiking on foot, and a genuine Bedouin led camel
safari. Ex pat’s living in Egypt go into the Western Desert on
4x4 weekend trips all the time. You can do the same on a day off
from a regular Nile Valley tour. Give up a shopping trip and head
for the desert for a day. One of the most exciting day excursions
is fossil hunting near Fayoum oasis, close to Cairo. In the
deserts around Fayoum you will find the richest bone beds in the
world (arguable): ancient rhinos, miniature elephants, early
primates, and an ancient whale with feet! As with all special
places, look but don’t touch and definitely don’t carry
away!
If you love birds, then take a day to go birding
in Egypt. There are companies that deal exclusively with watching
and enjoying birds in all sizes. Egypt is on the major flyway from
Europe to Africa and the birds are not to be believed. This is
great independent adventure and tour companies in Cairo will
accommodate the traveler for any and all of them.
There is at least one tour group that offers
hiking. Hiking trips are usually 7-10 day jaunts where hikers walk
10 to 14 miles a day through pristine terrain. Their belongings
and accommodations are carted ahead of them and a hot meal and
relaxing evening awaits the walker at the end of each day.
If you want to feel like all the great explorers
who came before, then a camel safari is the greatest adventure in
the Western Desert. Camel safaris can be anything from a few hours
in the desert to a 14 day expedition. This is as close to 19th
century explorers as you are going to get in North Africa.
Neither hiking nor camel riding are
do-it-yourself items. You need the safari companies. Some of the
best are found in the desert (as opposed to the Nile Valley
agencies who end up hiring the local guys), where Bedouin, who
once roamed the caravan trails, are now taking tourists to
immaculate, astonishing sites like desert caves and fossilized
waterfalls.
Deep Desert Extreme
For those looking for an intense extreme
experience, the wild, uninhabited southwestern desert awaits. This
is deep desert travel: no water, no roads, no gasoline, no food.
You lug it with you. Good guides are a must and 10-24 days
(without a bath) are needed. You will go where few have gone.
There are three major destinations to a deep desert journey: Gebel
Uwaynat, Gilf Kebir, and the Great Sand Sea.
Gebel Uwaynat straddles the border between
Egypt, the Sudan, and Libya, with sections of the mountain
cascading into each country. It is a strange and mysterious place.
Ancient nomads have left thousands of rock art images in Uwaynat’s
valleys. They are the most eastern of a chain that stretches
across the North African continent. Modern armies have left land
mines. Border patrols do not take lightly to people who have
mistakenly crossed into their country. This is a smuggler’s
paradise, so extreme caution is necessary.
The Gilf Kebir, north of Uwaynat, is a huge
plateau with dozens of valleys digging into its sides, some with
red sand dunes. This is the spot where the young heroine in The
English Patient lay in the Cave of Swimmers dying while her
Hungarian lover tried to save her. The story is false. Both the
cave and the Hungarian are real. The cave is spectacular. The
Hungarian is the illustrious and colorful Count Ladislaus Almasy
who explored this desert for decades, trying to discover its
exotic mysteries. In World War II, Almasy led two German spies
through the Western Desert, up and over the Gilf Kebir and through
Dakhla and Kharga to the Nile Valley. The spies lived in Cairo on
a house boat while they scouted out the British. All of this spy
business was featured in the book The Key to Rebecca.
The Great Sand Sea is a wasteland. It is
hundreds of miles of dunes on top of dunes on top of dunes. Some
of these dunes are almost 100 miles long. Here you climb up one
side with your 4x4 and slide down the other side, like a roller
coaster. At night you camp on the dunes and look at the stars,
which you can almost touch. For a visual dessert, there is the
exotic area of silica glass, that strange phenomenon believed to
have been created when a huge meteorite hit the earth and heated
the sand with such intensity that it turned to glass. Here again,
look, touch if you must, but as tempting as it is, leave it behind
when you depart. I know that is hard to do, even the ancient
Egyptians could not do it. Recently it has been proven that the
center stone of the pectoral necklace around the mummy of King
Tutankamun is nothing other than the silica green glass of the
Great Sand Sea.
These types of journeys require good guides and
good equipment. They don’t require the perfect body, the perfect
age, or perfect health (except for hiking, which does require
conditioning). The ‘perfect’ car does the work most of the
time, so big bellies and canes are possible. All sizes and shapes
of travelers come to the desert. All ages come. At 96, Theodore
Monod, one of the world’s great experts on the Libyan Desert,
was still traveling there. Don’t let the "fitness
gurus" discourage you! So, welcome to a new world: a world of
adventure and excitement,
______________
Cassandra Vivian is a writer and photographer
who lived in Egypt for many years. She has exhibited her
photographs and artifacts on the Western Desert at the Carnegie
Museum of Natural History, not once, but twice. Her book The
Western Desert of Egypt: An Explorer’s Handbook was recently
published by The American University in Cairo Press. It has
hundreds of maps, illustrations, and GPS waypoints.
The Cairo Times says, "Vivian has once
again produced an instant classic." The book is distributed
in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Although it is
available via Amazon.com and through bookstores nation wide, Ms.
Vivian has the right to sell the book in the US, so, if you want a
copy send a check of $29.50 and $4.00 shipping and handling to
Cassandra Vivian, 333 Manown Street, Apt 102 PG, Monessen PA
15062. She will be in Egypt January through mid April.
Have your Western Desert Adventure in 2001!
Join Cassandra Vivian author of The Western Desert of
Egypt: An Explorer's Handbook on an expedition to the
southern portion of the Western Desert. Cost of trip: US$2,850.
(if we get 12 people, $2400) Cairo to Cairo Dates March 3-18 for
16 days Cairo, Dakhla, Mud Pan, Gilf Kebir (Wadi Almasy, Wadi
Wassa, Shaw’s prehistoric cave, Wadi el Furaq, western Gilf,
Kemal el Din’s Monument), Clayton Craters, Peter and Paul
mountains, Karkur Talh, Uweinat area, Beacon Hill, Bir Sahara and
Tarfawi, Nusab el Bagoum, Bir Kuseiba, Darb el Arba’in, Sin el
Kaddab, Aswan.
Gilf Kebir is a huge plateau near the border of Libya, north of
Gebel Uwaynat. We will climb and skirt the eastern side, venture
into a few valleys, cut through the Wadi Wassa to the western
side.
Shaw’s Cave: This is not the Cave of Swimmers from The
English Patient. It is a second cave found on the western side of
the Gilf. The Cave of Swimmers is too far north for this
expedition.
Between the Gilf and Uwaynat We will visit the Kamal el Din’s
Monument, Clayton Craters, Peter and Paul mountains.
Karkur Talh in Gebel Uwaynat The mountain (Uwaynat) is the
large mountain along the southwestern border between Egypt and the
Sudan and Egypt and Libya. There are thousands and thousands of
rock art images in this area. However, only one valley, Karkur
Talh is in Egypt and accessible to us. That limits the
possibilities. Karkur Talh has sufficient images.
Crossing to the Nile: We will travel east to Bir Sahara and
Tarfawi to reach the Darb al-Arbain.
Darb al-Arbain: We will reach this famous slaver’s route in
the south near Shab, travel north to near Kharga Oasis, passing a
number of oases. While on the Darb we will make several detours to
visit additional sites like the Nabta Playa.
Karkur and Dunqul: On our way to Aswan we will visit several
oases and possibly an ancient Egyptian quarry.
Route and itinerary are subject to weather, travel conditions,
political climate, and other problems and emergencies. Be patient,
this is a true desert expedition. You will see amazing things.
This trip is not for the squeamish, the sick, or the difficult
person with demands. It is for the adventurer willing to adapt to
the changes and enjoy the desert.
Travel will be by at least two 4x4 vehicles, 3 to 4 persons per
vehicle (plus driver). Travel is mostly off-road. This is true
desert wilderness: no road, no phone, no gas, no water, nothing,
nothing, nothing.
Travelers must provide a photocopy of the data passport page
with photo and expiration date with payment. Bring an extra one
with you in case of emergency.
If you wish to sign up, contact Zarzora directly, but let me
know too. You may read all about the tour, the rules, and
everything else on the homepage of our tour operators Zarzora
Expeditions at http://www.zarzora.com/
You must have a 10% deposit to reserve your space sent directly to
Zarzora. It is all first come first serve and they already have 5
people signed up. If you contact them directly, be sure to tell
them I contacted you and you wish to be on my tour. Cassandra
Vivian
If interested you can email Cassandra for additional details:
cass@telerama.com
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