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Expedition Guide

Diaa Shawki Michail

Diaa Shawki Michail has explored the Egyptian desert for 25 years, guiding nearly 5,000 overland expeditions into the White Desert. He has also guided the Egyptian military in search and rescue operations in the desert.

Travel Facts

Country Name

Egypt

Capital

Cairo

Coordinates

27 00 N, 30 00 E

Area

• Total: 1,001,450 sq km
• Land: 995,450 sq km
• Water: 6,000 sq km

Elevation Extremes

• Low: Qattara Depression -133 m
• High: Mount Catherine 2,629 m

Population

80,335,036

Demonym

Egyptian

Climate

Month	High	Low	Rain
Jan	65	49	0.20
Feb	68	50	0.20
Mar	73	54	0.10
Apr	82	59	0.10
May	89	64	0.00
Jun	93	70	0.00
Jul	93	72	0.00
Aug	92	72	0.00
Sep	90	69	0.00
Oct	85	65	0.00
Nov	75	58	0.10
Dec	67	51	0.20

Time Zone

EET (UTC+2)

Currency

Egyptian pound (EGP)

Voltage

220 V

Calling Code

+20

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50 Tours of a Lifetime

Egypt: Traces of Lost Civilizations

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Egypt - Traces of Lost Civilizations

• Expedition Type [ Desert Expeditions ]
• Difficulty [ Mild ]
• Activities [ Camping, Hiking ]
• Duration [ 9 Days ]

Expedition Timeline

We have travelled for days over the desert in 4X4 vehicles to arrive here. We've brought everything with us: water, food, fuel, supplies, GPS locator and our indispensable guide. We seek out primitive paintings in caves and on rock, as well as the tools, axes, beads and bones of a people who inhabited this area 18,000 years ago. The occasional piece of WWII military debris, untouched in this harsh but stunning desert environment, makes our quest all the more intriguing.

People once thrived here when a branch of the Nile supplied life-sustaining water, and each stop brings new hope of uncovering a pottery shard or some other clue to a culture long departed. This region once pulsed with life; a lake, now vanished, once reflected the crisp blue desert sky. Now it's an uninhabitable expanse of pure white sand punctuated with mushroom-shaped chalk formations and rife with archaeological mysteries. Uninhabitable, but not inaccessible, not to us.

Days 1-2

Arrive Cairo/El-Baharia Oasis

Arrive in Cairo and enjoy the remainder of the day at leisure. The next morning, depart in 4x4 vehicles for the el-Baharia Oasis, site of a massive Greco-Roman burial ground and rich in antiquities. After lunch at a local café, set off in 4x4 vehicles for the drive to your camp in Abou Mouhkarik, where the dunes reach heights of more than 200 feet.

Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at the First Residence / Mobile Camp [ B L D ]

Day 3

El-Baharia Oasis/Wadi Bateekh

Make an early start today, driving to the Djarra Cave, discovered by pure chance in 1872 by geographer Gerhard Rohlfs. So remote is this location that the cave was not visited again for more than a century. Explore the cave, noting its large stalagmites and stalactites, some of which are so large they actually touch. Continue to your next campsite, taking a 37-mile drive through the Water Malon Stone Valley (Wadi Bateekh), a flat landscape dotted with naturally smoothed black stones.

Mobile Camp [ B L D ]

Days 4-5

Wadi Bateekh/White Desert

Your journey continues toward the White Desert to observe its Dali-esque white chalk formations that rise out of the desert sand like huge mushrooms. These chalk formations are the remnants of an ancient seabed formed sixty-five mission years ago from the calcium carbonate of bones and shells. The next morning, head toward the Aqabat area with its larger chalk formations. Stop at Ain el Serw where there is a natural spring that has been in constant use since the time of Roman rule in the region. Mobile Camping

Mobile Camp [ B L D ]

Days 6-7

White Desert

Today is spent driving the Qaraween dunes, some of the most magnificent in the area. The next morning, travel to Farafra Oasis, where you can bath in the hot natural springs. Later in the day, enjoy a camel ride before you retire for the evening in your camp.

Mobile Camp [ B L D ]

Days 8-9

White Desert/Depart Cairo

Drive to the el-Baharia Oasis to visit the Hall of the Mummies, a site containing more then 1,000 mummies that was discovered by pure chance in 1997. In the afternoon, continue toward Cairo for a farewell dinner. The next morning, your expedition concludes as you board your homebound flight.

Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at the First Residence [ B L D ]

The colors on the rock were vivid and rich, as if the figures had been painted yesterday. We'd trekked thousands of miles to reach the middle of nowhere, and found ourselves in the heart of a civilization long past.

Departure Dates & Pricing

Prices are in USD, per person, based on double occupancy. Alternate Departure Dates can be arranged. Prices are subject to change.