Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Desert Safaris

Our great friend and regular driver Rageeb has just acquired a flashy new jeep for desert tours, with air conditioning. He has been doing desert tours for us for some time but having only a minibus has had to keep to the regular roads. Now with this, the latest model in land cruisers, he can go any where. So if you want a trip in the Western Deserts please contact us and we can arrange Rageeb for you.



Oasis, Great Sand Sea, Uwaynat Desert, Gilf el Keber, Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, Bahariya, Siwa, Areg, Qara, Baris, Dush, Darb al Arbain Desert, Forty Days Road, Wadiryyan (Fayoum) are all places you can visit by desert safari. You can experience everything from a one day tour to 2 weeks or more depending on your desires. Below is an example of a 1 day and 5 day tour. Trips can be arranged from Alexandria to Abu Simbel through the desert.

One Day Luxor – Baris - Dush – Kharga - Luxor

The tour starts in the early morning from the new road and takes the ancient caravan tracks. This is a short cut between Luxor and Kharga where you are free to wander in desert, see a real oasis, met local people and see places of beauty. The route takes you via the Black Valley, Crystal Quarry, Deers Valley, Alabaster Valley, sand dunes and the Temple of Isis at Duch.

Visit one of the oldest Christian necropolises in the world at Bagawat home of the oldest Basilisk church, the Exodus Chapel and Peace Chapel. Then onto the Temple of Hibis built by the Persian king Darius in the 26th Dynasty. The best preserved temple in the Western Desert built for the God Amun Ra.

You will see many different types of sand and rock formations with plenty of wild life birds and reptiles together with a hit spring swim.

Five Day Tour Kharga, Dakhla, Qasir, Sand Sea, Farafra, White Desert, Bahariya, Black Desert, Valley of the Golden Mummies

Day 1 Depart Luxor for Kharga, Visit Bagawat the oldest Christian necropolis and Ptolemaic temple of Hibis. Camp beyond the Roman fortress under the desert sky

Day 2 Drive to Dakhla where you will experience traditional Bedouin hospitality and have a hot spring swim.

Day 3 Experience the beauty of Qasir, the oldest inhabited Islamic town, just outside Dakhla. Visit the old city of Mut and Balalt, one of the earliest Pharaonic sites. Our drive takes us deep into the Western Desert and close to the great Sand Sea. Visit Farafra Oasis for lunch and head into the magical White Desert to look for fossils and black pyrites. . The White Desert is the largest I the world, there are beautiful formations such as mushrooms and ice cream cones!!! The to the chalk and limestone formations in the desert for dinner and an overnight camp sleeping under the stars.

Day 4 – On to Bahariya oasis via the Crystal Mountain where you can hunt for quartz. Take a hot spring swim close to the black desert and its pyramid shaped mountain of Visit the Valley of the golden mummies

Day 5 Leave for Cairo, see the pyramids, sphinx and Egyptian museum

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