We just returned to Cairo after spending a few days in the Sahara Desert in and around an oasis called Bahariyya. What an amazing place!!!
We started off with a 5 hour bus ride that was not air conditioned and was painfully bumpy and slow. However, we arrived to find our host Patrick waiting with cold water and a beautiful lunch for us. We met a Canadian couple, Gretchen and Paul, who were just finishing their tour and were heading back to Cairo later that afternoon. After lunch and a few hours to cool down and relax, we headed off to see a few sights in the immediate area. We saw Pyramid Mountain, the Salt Lake, the English House and then finally watched a breath-taking sunset from a nearby mountain top.
It was dark when we finally got back to camp and our host and some friends were sitting around the camp fire and chatting. We were invited to join them for some Bedouin Whiskey. Now we're in a pretty strict Muslim country and we thought that alcohol was forbidden. Turns out we were partially right. The Bedouin Whiskey was actually mint tea:) It was tasty and everyone had a big laugh at our expense. After a huge dinner, we hit the sack early in anticipation of a big day of hiking in the desert.
The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the desert. It was a relatively cool morning and we were ready to get started. Several hours later everyone else awoke and started shuffling around. Things don't move to fast in the desert! We finally got on the road around noon and made numerous stops along the way at the Black Desert, Crystal Rock, the Old White Desert and a few cafes so our guides could take a quick break to smoke some hashish. They asked us if we wanted some, but we respectfully declined. We finally arrived at the New White Desert where we were told we would camp for the night. Camp is a bit of a misnomer since all they did was park the 4-wheeler, throw a rug up to block the wind on two sides, throw another on the sand and then toss a few mats over the top of these. This is what is known as a Bedioun Camp. They did build a fire with wood they had brought and we had a nice dinner after we watched another amazing sunset.
Shortly after dark, we were visited by several small desert foxes in our camp. They are quite shy, but know that they can get food and water from the campers, so they will get quite close to collect whatever is thrown their way.
About 11:00, we turned in for the night. It was a beautiful starry night and we all fell asleep rather quickly. That is, until the sand storm began! I have no idea when is started, and it was gentle at first. but eventually, we had to climb under these old moldy smelly blankets to keep the sand off of us. It was not much of a night's sleep, and in the morning I had sand in every possible location on my body. My teeth were even gritty from it. There wasn't much you could do but laugh it off and just look forward to the shower we would get when we got back into Bahariyya.
Other than the sand storm, the place was spectacular. The New White Desert has huge pinnacles of gypsum and was once the ocean floor. We actually found sea shells in the sand while we were there and I found what I believe are chunks of fossilized staghorn coral. It was laying every where and apparently more shows up all the time at the wind continues to erode the gypsum.
The Black Desert was quite strange. As you might imagine it appears black. However, any place that contains footprints or tire tracks, reveals the typical tan colored sand below. Tracks that appear to have been made some time ago, show signs of turning black again. My theory is ... there is some mineral in the sand that changes color from either exposure to oxygen, similar to iron, only black instead of red. Or, the mineral reacts to sunlight, possibly the UV rays. In either case, it was pretty amazing to see it.
Crystal mountain also lived up to it's billing. I've seen lots of geodes in and around Oregon, but they pale in comparison to the size of this thing. The signs are very clear about breaking them and taking them, but our hosts kept insisting that we do and kept trying to break off pieces while we tried to stop them. I guess they aren't used to people who read the rules and obey them:)
Overall it was a great couple of days and I took enough photos to fill an entire 512 meg card while we were there!
So here we are back in Cairo again, but this time it's only for a day and then we get on a train to Aswan in the deep south. The temperatures get as high as 50C there (122F). This is the region that has the most interesting sights outside of Cairo. We have booked ourselves on a 6 day tour of the sights. After that we will be heading to the coast of the Red Sea for some R & R and hopefully some more diving.
Until next time,
Eric
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