The Desert
On Friday and Saturday, we got a breath of fresh air in the Black and White Deserts. There were eight of us total plus two guides. We left Cairo Friday morning and drove five hours in a cramped land cruiser to the small town of Bawiti, in the Bahariya oasis, in central Egypt. Bawiti redefined my idea of "small town." The only cars in the town are related to tourism or the army, and the locals travel around by donkey and donkey-pulled carts. Most of the buildings are mud-brick and there the town has little in common with its average 1st world counterpart. I don't mean to imply backwardness, just that my conception of "middle of nowhere" has changed.
We had lunch at the camp run by the safari company before we headed into the Black Desert that afternoon. The Black Desert is covered in small black rocks over the yellow sand. It was cool, but nothing compared to the White Desert, which felt like another planet. Chalky rock formations litter the fine, white sand. We stopped at several points to take pictures and watch sunset, and we set up camp before it got too dark. We ate roast chicken and potatoes, drank tea, and sat around the campfire with another safari group that camped near ours. Later, we pulled our mats and blankets out and found our own spots to watch the stars and go to bed.
The next morning, we got up as it started to warm up around 8 am. After eating and packing up, we headed out in the jeeps just as a sandstorm was rolling in. It started out as just a light breeze, but got progressively worse. We stopped at a couple more points, but the storm made standing outside unpleasant (inside the jeeps was only slightly better). We made our way back to Bawiti, stopping at one point to help pull a large truck out of a pile of sand on the highway. People have to help each other out in such an extreme environment.
We had lunch again in Bawiti and lounged around until they were done doing maintenance on the jeeps, then we made the trip back to Cairo. After a well-needed shower, the group met for dinner at Abu El-Sid, one of the nicest restaurants in Cairo.
We had lunch at the camp run by the safari company before we headed into the Black Desert that afternoon. The Black Desert is covered in small black rocks over the yellow sand. It was cool, but nothing compared to the White Desert, which felt like another planet. Chalky rock formations litter the fine, white sand. We stopped at several points to take pictures and watch sunset, and we set up camp before it got too dark. We ate roast chicken and potatoes, drank tea, and sat around the campfire with another safari group that camped near ours. Later, we pulled our mats and blankets out and found our own spots to watch the stars and go to bed.
The next morning, we got up as it started to warm up around 8 am. After eating and packing up, we headed out in the jeeps just as a sandstorm was rolling in. It started out as just a light breeze, but got progressively worse. We stopped at a couple more points, but the storm made standing outside unpleasant (inside the jeeps was only slightly better). We made our way back to Bawiti, stopping at one point to help pull a large truck out of a pile of sand on the highway. People have to help each other out in such an extreme environment.
We had lunch again in Bawiti and lounged around until they were done doing maintenance on the jeeps, then we made the trip back to Cairo. After a well-needed shower, the group met for dinner at Abu El-Sid, one of the nicest restaurants in Cairo.
posted by Bob Martin at 10:28 AM
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