Western Desert
Finally getting a chance to get some of these photos up. These are from my 3 nights camping in the desert near the Bahariah Oasis which is a little north west of the center of Egypt. This has to be by far my favorite excursion yet!!! We visited the White Desert, the Black Desert and the Western Desert all of which were relatively close to each other but quite distinctly different. Our first day took us out pretty far from the oasis with a stop off at a Bedouin village for lunch. I would have liked to enjoy the village more but they obviously are used to large tourist buses stopping here for photos and expecting Baksheesh (tips) in return. After lunch was where the pavement ended. Our driver was quite the skilled driver in the sand. Rolling along up and down and around sand dunes, he never got stuck in the sand the entire time we were out there. There were many times I thought for sure this is it, we had better get out and start shoveling or something but his experience was phenomenal. He was telling us over the campfire one evening that he comes from the south-western most point of Egypt and before working with the tour groups would make runs back and forth in transportation convoys of 5 jeeps, taking 25-30 days one way. He definitely knew how to read the dunes to see where the sand would be the most compact.
In the Western Desert, we began to see these "fields" of small black rocks. When we finally stopped to camp we were able to walk around a bit and do some exploring. The black rocks were in all sorts of crazy shapes and forms. The puzzle was finally solved. They were fossils. Fossilized coral, seashells, sea amenities, snails and clams. They were everywhere.
Needless to say, my pack is a little heavier now.
The White Desert is equally unique due to the chalky white formations of rocks. We were going to camp here for one night but this desert is a little easier accessible and there were many groups spending only one night there so we only spent a few hours here which was fine with us as it was a very large group and the serenity of the night before was calling at us. Here are a few pics.
The final night was spent in the Black Desert. Although not as beautiful as the others there are still wonders here.
By far, the best part about the 3 days spent in the desert was the camping! There is an eery silence here that reminds you just how far away from anything living. I don't think there has ever been a place where I have heard this complete silence. No airplanes overhead, no bird or animal sounds, no traffic noise in the distance, just pure, sweet, 100% silence. And then there were the STARS!!!
Of course we brought along a sheesha or hookah. This is Cam, sparking up the coals. We had Apple, the best flavor if you ask me.
Sean, warming by the campfire.
And here's our Bedouin camp.
