The Western Desert of Egypt has far more to offer than just sand. Here you will find the Wadi al-Hitan UNESCO World Heritage Site—known for its hundreds of fossils of some of the earliest forms of whale—, the four oases of the “Oasis Circle”—Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga—, the secluded Siwa Oasis with its unique culture and many ancient sights, the surreal sculptures in the White Desert National Park, the enormous sand dunes of the Great Sand Sea, and the Gilf Kebir National Park, where rock art tell us about the thriving life before this mountain plateau became one of the most inhospitable places on earth.
Suggested Program:
Day 1
If you are coming from Cairo, you will be leaving Egypt’s capital between 7:00 and 8:00 am and arrive in Bahariya Oasis at about noon where we greet you with a tasty Egyptian lunch. We start our tour with the oasis tour to explore the Oasis Nature and Beauty. Later in the afternoon, we relax in the famous hot and cold springs of Bahariya Oasis. If wished, we arrange a camel ride in the palm groves of Bahariya. In the evening, we enjoy a spectacular sunset from atop English Mountain (Gebel al-Ingleez). You spend the night in a hotel of your choosing in Bahariya Oasis.
Day 2
After breakfast we board our proven and reliable Toyota Land Cruisers and head for the Black Desert with its dozens and dozens of small, black-topped hills of volcanic origin. Our next stop of this day is the Crystal Mountain, a ridge made of sparkling quartz crystals. We then continue our journey until we reach the lovely Agabat Valley—known for its scores of rock sugarloaves, where we camp for the night.
Day 3
The focus of our third day are the wonders of the spectacular White Desert National Park.This spectacular place with its blindingly white sculptures that nature has been shaping for hundreds and thousands of years looks like it is on another planet. The night will either be spent camping out in the desert or in a hotel of your choosing in Farafra Oasis.
Day 4
On our fourth day we visit the sights in and around Dakhla Oasis: the Deir al-Hagar, a temple dedicated to the Theban Triad, the picturesque historic center of al-Qasr, and the tombs of Qarat al-Muzawwaqa. The night will either be spent camping out in the desert or in a hotel of your choosing in Dakhla Oasis.
Day 5
The sights in and around Kharga Oasis are in the focus of our last day of our journey. The highlight of the day is the Necropolis of al-Bagawat. This necropolis is one of the earliest surviving and best-preserved Christian cemeteries in the world with hundreds of mud-brick Christian tombs sitting atop an earlier Egyptian necropolis. The most interesting buildings are the “Chapel of Peace” with figures of the Apostles, the “Chapel of Exodus” featuring paintings of biblical stories of the Old Testament, and the “Chapel of the Grapes” with paintings of grapevines. Moreover, we visit the the Temple of Hibis—probably the best preserved temple in the Western Desert (partly because it was buried in sand until it was discovered and excavated by a team from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1909)—and the Deir al-Munira, a Roman fortress that used to protected the Darb al-Arbaeen caravan route linking Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur province with Asyut in the Nile Valley. Drive to Luxor.
The itinerary outlined above is just a suggestion and can be altered based on your personal interests.
Tour Duration depends on the previously agreed visit program and sightseeing.
