After two nights in Cairo, we hit the ground running to a desert adventure! We were picked up early for a 5 hour drive out into the middle of the desert, where we would spend the next 24 hours. Our guide, Mohammed, would become our driver, desert expert, sandboarding guru, and chef extradoinaire. We met up with him in a small town, the Bahariya Oasis, in an otherwise Martian landscape. In his town, there were plenty of green trees, and we found out later that the majority of our food for that trip came from straight from his town.
Before we left with Mohammed on our grand adventure, we had a lovely lunch at a little restaurant. We were seated all the way in the back, in a stucco room with tall ceilings that helped keep us cool in the heat. There were cushions all around the perimeter of the room, with tables just a foot or so off the ground. We took off our shoes (I wasn’t sure and had to be told 😅) and found a comfy spot. Next, we were brought an assortment of plates of food. My favorite was a delicious chilled eggplant doused in olive oil and herbs. I would soon become the world’s biggest eggplant fan…at least the way the Egyptians prepare it. Heavenly! Just as we thought we couldn’t eat any more, another round of food comes out, with huge portions of rice and salad. This looked like a meal for a family! Haha, Jaimee and I did our best, but much was left untouched.
To polish off our lovely meal, we had a cup of mint tea….also becoming one of my favorites…especially after dinner. It just felt so..right!
After lunch, we met with Mohammed, and we jumped into a 4 wheel drive car, and we were off! First stop, the black desert, named for the dark black sand that is all that is left from the volcanoes that once populated the landscape. Once we reached the entrance, Mohammed gunned it through the sand, and most of it felt nearly as packed as the pavement, but there were times we were fish tailing and sailing through the sand. We make it to the stopping point, where we can get out and explore, so we layer up on the sunscreen and start to really take in our surroundings. Mohammed left the windows down, and I guess that was the open invitation for the flies…..apparently the only living thing in the desert, as far as I can see, lol. So when it was time to go, we had to shoo the flies from the car, and I’m quite sure we looked like maniacs driving down the road, haha.
It was at that stop we also realized our bags weren’t with us. They were supposed to have been loaded into the Jeep before we left, but somehow, that was overlooked. When we had arrived, someone took them for us while we had lunch, and we trusted they would get them where they needed to go. But silly us, we didn’t double check, haha. Whooops! But Mohammed called back and was able to have another car bring them to us. Thank you!!
We stopped at one more place, a tall hill worth climbing to see a 360 view of the black desert. How could we resist? Hehe. We get out into the scorching heat, both of us in sandals, but we begin our jaunt up the loose, sandy trail. It’s kicking our butt, but we persevere, and it’s totally worth it! The views from the top are amazing, and it’s so quiet with the exception of the wind, nearly blowing us over. It was just incredible to be in ths landscape to see it as far as the eye would reach.
Next stop was the Crystal Mountain, which is an area of the white desert where everywhere you turn are sparkly, shimmering crystals imbedded in the rocks. It was beautiful! Here, the sand was more white and reminded me of the beach sand, and naturally, I kicked off my sandals and walked around barefoot, connecting with the land. Dorky, yes, I know, hehe. We only spent a short time here, as we realized there was a caravan of Jeeps with tons of tourists, so we wanted to stay ahead of them, hehe.
Back in the car, and off we go to Aqabat Mountain, another series of incredible formations in the white desert. This place was one of my favorites and truly felt otherworldly. Again, I took advantage of the deep warm sand and took my sandals off, and took a stroll down the hill, taking in all that I was seeing. Being in the desert has got me feeling magical. I still wouldn’t say the desert is my favorite landscape, but being here made me feel so grounded to the earth and in awe of the millions of years of change the earth goes through. Knowing that at one time, this giant swarth of desert was a lush land with volcanoes and oceans truly puts into perspective the age of the earth and how finite our time on it is.
Next stop: sand boarding! I have done this before, when I was in Leon, Nicaragua, and we hiked up a young volcano and sat on our wooden tobagons and tore through the sharp volcanic rock. It was exhilarating and a bit terrifying, and I’d do it again any day. So, I’m very excited to try sand boarding on a big sand dune. Because, of course! Hehe. We get ready to slide down, and I’m thinking I’m an expert because of my volcano experience. How wrong was I? Haha. Very wrong. Jaimee went down and had a grand time, and I’m ready to use my learned techniques and fly down even faster, but, as it turns out, sand boarding down volcanic sand versus desert sand is quite different. On the volcano, leaning back makes you go much faster, whereas on the sand dune, if you lean back, you lose balance and flip over. So guess what happened to me? Haha. Yup. I ate it. And I ate it hard, lol. Determined to do it correctly, we hike back up the sand dune, and I confer with our guide, Mohammed, and he gives me instructions on how to do it properly…and I go successfully! Hoooray! Now I’m satisfied, having made it down the sand dune in one piece.
Our next stop would be our campsite for the night, in the middle of the white desert! I couldn’t wait for this, as I never got around to camping last year… And to camp in the desert would be a different and unique experience! While driving thought the white desert, we saw so many funky rock formations, and we wanted to spend more time there, but our guide had a goal in mind: a picture perfect sunset from the perfect spot. So, we hurry along and get there as soon as we can, hopefully arriving before the other tourist Jeeps. We climbed up this giant rock, and we were rewarded with 360 views of the white desert, which used to be an ocean, and most of the sand and structures are a white-sand, beachy color. The setting sun cast pastel color rays all around us, and the pink and purple reflected off the white. It was certainly a sight to behold. It was mesmerizing to watch and to pause and take a few deep breaths of gratitude and absolute senereity. A beautiful way to end the day.
We finally make it to our campsite, and there is already a fabric tent there, and for a moment, we think we’ll be sleeping in there. It was so beautiful and colorful, and was tall enough to have standing room in the middle. Well, it turns out, that’s where our guide would sleep, and also the tent is the storage unit for the overnight equipment. Our pop-up tent was in there, along with some mattresses and sleeping bags, and of course, cooking equipment.
Mohammed got a fire going, and while Jaimee and I relaxed and looked up in awe at the biggest sky I’ve ever seen, he began preparing our dinner. That dinner would end up being our favorite meal of the entire trip and ranks quite high in the lifetime of meals we’ve both enjoyed. All the ingredients were super fresh and from Mohammed’s town, all organic and grown with love. And the flavors of the food were off the chart! We must have thanked Mohammed a million times! And while eating dinner, we realized for the first time that Mohammed speaks fluent English! We had no idea! Haha. He was being shy, I guess, and when we had asked him questions, he would reply with short answers, never really engaging us in conversation, until now.
With our new knowledge of Mohammed’s English and our happy, full bellys, we all went to lay around the fire and chatted for a good while. Mohammed brought over some of the best tea I have ever had. It’s common to have tea after dinner in Egypt, a nice fresh cup of mint tea. Egypt is definitely turning me into a tea drinker. I’ve always loved coffee, so when given the option of coffee or tea, I’d always choose coffee, but I’m learning to indulge in the after dinner tea as it helps digest the food and ease the full belly syndrome. We enjoyed the crackling fire next to us and the sparkling stars above us. I was dying to see a shooting star, and after a near constant gazing of the dark sky, only illuminated by the moon, I was rewarded! I didn’t want to sleep at all, I just wanted to continue watching for the magnificent shooting starts, but I knew I’d be better off if I got some sleep. So I crawl into the tent and get comfortable.
We woke up the next morning, and the cool desert air greeted us, helping to wake us from our dreamy states. Mohammed was busy preparing a breakfast for us and cleaning up the camp site a bit. What an amazing experience! We walked around the area, taking in our surroundings and being absolutely tickled with the fact we were standing in the middle of the Egpytian desert.
We took our time, meandering our way back to the main road, that would eventually take us back to where we began the desert trip. Along the wa, we saw some camels just strolling through the desert…how cool! On our way back, we stopped by a natural cold spring, which was surprisingly busy, and dipped our toes into the cool waters. We had a quick coffee, and off we went to the hot spring. While at the hot spring, we realized the car had a flat tire. So Mohammed jumped out, grabbed a tool kit from the back, and immediately began changing the tire. We offered to help him in any way we could, but he wouldn’t accept it. I don’t blame him, as I certainly know next to nothing when it comes to changing a tire, lol.
Before we knew it, we were on our way back to the Oasis and then back to Cairo. We made it back before sunset and went to another rooftop area that had hookah and a view of the pyramids, although, this time, they weren’t lit up, and were just looming dark shadows on the horizon. It was a lovely night, and another perfect end to a perfect day.
Taking Off With Amelia 