Day 1: Join tour Cairo
Arrive Cairo and check-in at hotel. Overnight hotel. H+.
Day 2: Drive to Marsa Matruh viaWadi Natrun
A morning drive brings us to the coastal highway west of Alexandria. On our way we visit the pleasant valley of Wadi Natrun, meaning the Valley of Salts. Driving on to the Mediterranean coast we arrive in El Alamein, a tiny village made famous by the pivotal tank battle that raged around it for eleven days in October 1942. Although Winston Churchill’s comment that ‘before Alamein we never had a victory; after Alamein we never had a defeat’ is not completely accurate, it is true that Alamein became a turning point in World War II, as the relentless progress of Germany’s Afrika Korps towards British Egypt and the strategically important Suez Canal was finally halted by the Allied Eighth Army at Alamein. Soon afterwards the Axis armies of Germany and Italy were forced to evacuate from Tunisia, leaving the Allies in full control of North Africa. We visit the sombre, neat war graves of the British and Commonwealth Cemetery, where 7,000 white headstones commemorate the dead, and also visit the small museum – a chance to learn more about the battle and its strategic importance. We continue to Marsa Matruh to arrive later this evening. Overnight hotel H+ (included meals: B).
Day 3: Drive to Siwa
We have the chance of an early swim in the Mediterranean from our hotel before embarking on a long drive first west, then south across bleak desert terrain to Siwa. En-route we stop at Rommel’s Beach, where a large cave housed Rommel’s headquarters for a time during the North Africa campaign. The cave has now been converted into a small museum dedicated to the so-called ‘Desert Fox’. Then leaving the coastline we drive inland onto the bleak limestone desert plateau, magnetically drawn through vast emptiness towards the remote, verdant oasis of Siwa, lying in a shallow depression. After the journey across the rocky plateau the fertility of the oasis is astonishing: as much a surprise today as it must have been to traders and merchants arriving with their camel caravans in the past. Siwa’s date and olive trees are provided with water by more than 300 freshwater springs – and according to legend the great Cleopatra bathed in one of them. As dusk draws in and the evening light softens the characteristic Siwan mudbrick architecture, it is easy to understand why Siwa was chosen as a location for many scenes in the film ‘The English Patient’. 2 nights hotel H+ (included meals: B).
Day 4: In Siwa
This morning we take to bikes – the terrain is flat – to uncover the gems of Siwa Oasis. On our tour we visit some of the key sites, including the old town of Shali, established in the 13th century and much of it now crumbling into ruin, as well as the Temple of the Oracle at Aghurmi, where Alexander the Great once stood to consult the divine Oracle. In 331 BC Alexander the Great trekked through the scorching desert for eight days to reach the Oracle of Amun on a quest to confirm that he was the son of Amun as well as the son of Zeus. After a positive reply, Alexander left to spend the next four years conquering the lands between Egypt and India, secure in his own immortality. The afternoon is left free to wander around Siwa and take in the unique ambience of the oasis. We recommend investigating the arts and crafts displayed and for sale in the traditional town centre, or perhaps wander through the carefully tended fruit groves and palm plantations. (Included meals: B).
Day 5: 4WD through dunes to Bahrein Oasis via Areg Oasis
This morning we take to our 4-wheel-drive vehicles and head south into rolling sands dunes for an exhilarating ride through the undulating orange landscape. We plan to visit Areg Oasis a depression surrounded by spectacular white chalk cliffs, in stark contrast to the rest of today’s scenery. We visit the Areg Tombs and explore the area by foot before continuing on to our night spot in Bahrein Oasis where we see the 13th Dynasty temple still under excavation. Overnight wild camp C (included meals: B, L, D).
Day 6: 4WD through the Great Sand Sea to Ain Della
In the morning we move from the road into the Great Sand Sea. Described as the biggest dune field in the world, the Great Sand Sea begins immediately to the south of Siwa Oasis and stretches southwards for over 800 kilometres to the mysterious Gilf Kebir, close to the Sudanese border. This is one of the least explored places on earth: nothing lives in the dune fields and the shifting sands themselves, some 150 metres in height, have proven treacherous to travellers and explorers in the past. In fact during the Persian rule in ancient Egypt in the 6th century BC, the ruler Cambyses is said to have dispatched an army of 50,000 men across the northern edges of the Great Sand Sea to destroy the Oracle of Amun in Siwa. The army was simply never seen or heard of again, presumably having given up to thirst or been buried by a sandstorm. Needless to say, we journey into the desert in the expert hands of local Siwans, who know the terrain and understand the desert better than anyone. We plan to set up camp in time to watch the sun setting over the sand sea from the ridge of one of the dunes in Ain Della. Overnight wild camp C (included meals: B, L, D).
Day 7: 4WD to the White Desert
We start the day heading south towards the White Desert. On our way we visit the ancient Roman fort town of Farafra, where we have lunch and explore the town by foot. In the afternoon we set out by jeeps into the White Desert. Here we encounter a surreal scene – vast, wind eroded chalk sculptures rise from the desert sands, some in the shape of mushrooms, some pinnacles and some domes. These landforms look magical towards the end of the day, as their colours change through shades of orange and pink, then by moonlight they glow luminous and the eerie silence of the desert pervades. Overnight wild camp C (included meals: B, L, D).
Day 8: Drive to Cairo via Bahariya Oasis
We enjoy dawn and the early morning in the White Desert, perhaps stopping to look at the amazing variety of fossils and quartz crystals to be found here, along with weirdly shaped iron pyrites and marcasite spread across the desert floor. Later we return to the main road and travel by bus on the surfaced road back to Cairo. On the way we visit Bahariya Oasis, surrounded on all sides by a high escarpment, pausing to explore one of the most remarkable recent excavations in Egypt – the Valley of the Golden Mummies. Apparently discovered by accident in 1996 when a donkey stumbled into a hole in the desert floor, the golden mummies excavated from this burial site close to the Temple of Alexander the Great are fascinating not least because they represent the ordinary people of ancient Egypt – not the kings, queens and noblemen. Some mummies are quite plain, simply wrapped in linen without a sarcophagus, whereas others wear gilded facemasks and were found surrounded by funerary artefacts. The site is still being excavated and is closed to the public, but a number of mummies are on display close by. Overnight hotel H+ (included meals: B).
Day 9: Tour ends Cairo (Included meals: B).
