Desert Camping.
Back in November of 2009, we had a holiday for EID in Egypt. Few colleagues and ourselves decided we would head off for an adventure into the west of Egypt and go Desert Camping. Egypt is famous for many deserts, the 2 we were to visit were the Black and White Desert’s. The crew was formed, our friends Wael, Agnes, Neil, Kerry, Ryan and Meghan, Haley and I.
We left Cairo early in the morning to start our adventure. We had an amazing driver, maybe even a little too crazy that drove us from Cairo to Baharia in 4 hours. (Usually 6).
Upon arrival we were holed up in a little Bedouin house in Baharia while our cooks and guides assembled the 4 wheel drive trucks. After a quick breakfast we were off to get some last minute supplies. All loaded up, we then made our way to this natural spring resevoir. The water was unbelievably amazing. You could barely keep your hand inside the water for fear of it burning.
From there we made our way into the Oasis. Lush vegetation in the middle of the desert. Date palms and a myriad of other trees surrounded us as we drove through. We made a quick pit stop for pictures and exploration.
From the Oasis we made our way to a salt water lake in the middle of the desert. The lake was considered a dead lake, as the salinization levels were too deadly for anything to survive in.
Nice group photo:
From the dead lake it was off to the rest area. Bedouin style tents, pillows and blankets are the typical style of rest area in the Middle East. Since there is rarely ever any rain, these lounges are setup for travellers to eat and rest.
After some well deserved re
laxation and lunch, we were off to explore the Black Desert. The desert gets its name from the volcanic rock that covers the desert floor. Black stone litters the entire landscape, giving the illusion that the ground is charred black. High up on one of the mountains resides an old British Look Out station. We climbed the summit and took some time to explore. The station was crudely put together. The place was excellent vantage point to get a panoramic view of the desert.
After some 4 x 4 fun in the desert we made our way to night 1 of desert camping. While the cooks and guides set upon creating our elaborate camp, we took some time to walk around, stretch and even play a little frisbee in the dark. The crew setup a great fire and provided us with some drums. We banged out a few tunes and were welcomed by some real Bedouin musicians that played local tunes on drums and flutes into the late night. After being entertained, we all retired to the te
nts, looking forward to another fun filled day.
We quickly broke camp and made our way into the Black Desert again. With our 4×4 tracks all over the dunes we had a blast. The guides took turns scaring us as we went hurdling over the dunes. Some of the girls were not that impressed. For me and Ryan, we had the times of our lives.
We then made our way to this gigantic dune. I can not remember the name of it now, but it is quite famous in the Black Desert. After a steep hike up, all of us took time to relax before we decided to body surf all the way down. What was amazing is that miraculously I found 2 cell phones in the sand. Funny thing, they were both Wael’s they had fallen out of his pockets on his trip down.
To clean up, we stopped off at another hot spring bath. Apparently there are dozens of them all over the place. What was funny, was that when we first took a look at the murky, rust filled water, we were turned off by the idea of going in with our naked skin. Our opinions quickly changed when the owner unleashed the valves on the piping and the entire make shift bath tub was rinsed out in a heart beat with this beautiful crystalline spring water.
After a nice bath, few drinks and a good meal, we were off to the white desert. We may have taken a little more time in the tub then needed because we just barely caught the sundown to setup camp.
After a good nights rest, we were surprised by an equally good sunrise.
After breakfast we decided to explore around the area and snapped alot of great pics of the Dali’esque surroundings:
After driving and exploring a lot of different sites, we made our way to Crystal Mountain. An entire mountain made of crystal. We filled our pockets and watched the sun down for the last time in the desert.
What an amazing trip.
