The Wild West- Bahariya Oasis

The first tour that I did through Wake Up Cairo was a 3 day/ 2 night excursion into Bahariya Oasis.  I figured that it would be nice to get out into nature before doing more historical sightseeing in Southern Egypt.

I took a 4.5 hour bus ride from Cairo's main bus station to Bahariya Oasis, which is about 200 kilometers east of the Libyan border.  When I arrived in the early afternoon I was met by the rest of my group.  There were only four of us in this small group tour.  We dropped our stuff off at Sahara Camp, which had great accommodation and fresh meals for their guests.

My cozy desert bungalow

After lunch our tour guide loaded us in the jeep for an internal 4x4 tour of Bahariya Oasis.  The drive was a lot of fun and the scenery was unlike anything I have seen before.  We ended the day by watching the sunset over Jebel Ingleezi (English Mountain) before going back to Sahara Camp for the night.  

Salt Lake, Bahariyya

English Mountain

We arrived back at the camp to another wonderful meal.  On these tours it is such a treat to come back from a long day out and have fresh food waiting for you! After dinner one of the workers prepared a traditional Egyptian tea for us.  It is essentially a very concentrated mint tea with a ton of sugar in it.  Although the tea is very strong it makes for a great dessert!

The next morning I joined on with another two guys to go into White Desert.  Along with the two other tourists in the group we had our tour guide and a security guard.  When I asked the tour guide if it was standard to bring a security guard into the desert he said that the only reason he was there was because of me! Apparently the Egyptian government pays for security guards to escort single (especially American) women into the desert.  I didn't know whether to be excited or nervous but I had my own personal bodyguard! 

Hanging out with my bodyguard

On our way to the White Desert we drove through the black desert and hiked up to the top for a view of the landscape.  From the black desert we did one more hike at Crystal Mountain.  At the top of this mountain there is a small cave with crystals inside, hence the name

Black Desert

Before going to the White Desert for the remainder of the day and night we went to a local village with a refreshing cold spring to eat lunch.  It was so refreshing to dip our feet in to cool down from the dry heat of the desert.

While I enjoyed Bahariya Oasis nothing compared to the white desert.  The White Desert is one of the most visually stunning places that I have ever been to.  The desert got its name from the shining white limestone that covers the ground, creating incredible rock formations in the sand.  Every turn we made led us to another amazing formation in this vast landscape.

My awesome tour group

Driving through the White Desert at sunset was magical! I truly felt like I was in some alternate universe...it felt very powerful.  Definitely one of the best experiences I have ever had.  It felt like we have thousands of miles of desert to ourselves.  We pulled over and set up a sleeping area before the sun went down completely.  With no lights in the distance we were able to see the entire skyline and all of the stars.  The desert is definitely the perfect place to sleep under the stars

I woke up the next morning at sunrise to an already prepared breakfast with hot tea.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast before having to pack up and leave the magical White Desert.  I could have easily hung out in the desert for another couple days but I had to continue on my journey to go down south!