FWC Egypt Camp, 23rd - 30th October 2011
Daily updates in realtime straight from the desert!
Day 1 (23rd October)
Safely arrived in Cairo via Zurich. Met at airport by Alain & Ahmed who will guide us in the desert. Over the following 5 hours we leave the city gridlock behind and start driving into the desert. Spectacular sunset is followed by long drive on dark desert roads with starlit sky on full show. Conversation with Ahmed reveals his love is desert rally driving and a full technical description of how to build a rally car and race it in the desert. Arrive at oasis hotel. Fabulous rooms and late dinner followed by sweet mint tea sitting around campfire whilst identifying constellations.
Day 2 (24th October)
0630 run on the tarmac. All the lorry drivers blew their horns - just in case we couldn't see them. Hearty breakfast then training under shade in a citrus grove. Into town for lunch followed by some culture at the local mummy museum, painted Byzantine tombs and ancient temples. Afternoon stretching as the sun set in a blaze of glory. The evening entertainment was sitting in a hot spring in town to relax aching muscles. Sleep was easily achieved.
Day 3 (25th October)
For morning see Day 2 (you know how it goes on camp!). By 11.30 we are packed ready to leave for the "real" desert - no more green oasis. The Landcruisers are impressively stacked with camping gear, water, fuel, wood for cooking and spades to dig us out. Wish us luck - the hardship starts here... running water will not be taken for granted by us. Over and out until we're back within signal.
Spectacular place to camp with enormous white rocks rising out of the sand. Nothing but sand and ricks for miles around. Our camp is in a natural sand whirlpool which forms a sheltered dip. Our guides had already sent people ahead and we eat grilled chicken with rice and vegetables under the biggest sky I have ever seen. The Milky Way is in all it's glory. George has brought a bottle of Laphroaig and a fierce debate ensues over whether ice or water are allowed. As we go to sleep, some outside under the stars a tiny fox leaves it's footprints all around us.
Day 4 (26th October)
So far... Early morning run on sand dunes tests our feet and joints. After a traditional breakfast we train in the shade of the giant White rocks. The sun moves at an alarming speed and by 11.00 we have no shade left. So into the Landcruisers and drive through the flat sandy landscape to a wild oasis where we bathe using the running cool water and picnic for lunch. We are all learning the traditional desert methods for wrapping our heads. Next stop is to see massive shifting dunes and "play in the desert".
The afternoon became quite eventful. Whilst crossing the sand dunes two of the landcruisers got stuck on top of the ridges. Perched at the top of a sheer 50m drop they had to be dug out by hand. The sand dunes are unbelievably beautiful and photos do not do them justice. After training in the afternoon shade of the dunes we headed back to camp as the Saharan sun dropped like a burning stone below the horizon.
"Sleeping area camp is as comfortable as possible... elated... 4 hours of journey, high adrenalin rush, through sea of dunes... driving down near 90% inclines. Ready for goat meal that has been buried in sand to cook almost all day. Food has been good... lots of it!"
"Can't send photos not enought bandwidth but we're now sand dune surfing wow to scenery wow to drivers and to land cruiser and sheer wall of sand unbelievable." - Chief Instructor
Day 5 (27th October)
Morning routine was interrupted by breaking camp. Then more training in washing, locking, and breaking (you had to be there). Back to the remains of the camp for a shower off the back of a pickup truck. Then into the landcruisers and off across the desert. After crossing the dunes (beats rollercoasters hollow) we travel across a weird flat landscape that somehow keeps changing. Despite the heat we stop to inspect petrified wood, quartz crystal ridges and iron ore lumps - all just lying on the sand. A bumpy drive later we are suddenly in an unbelievable landscape called the White Desert. Huge, weathered pillars of rock rise out of the desert. We've just stopped for lunch under an organically shaped rock formation that reminds me of a weathered sphinx.
"We are now at the white desert. To describe our feeling of this place is beyond words. Sculpture of all shape and sizes by wind can give you mental hernia. My only thought is "be here". We can't send any photos not enough bandwidth but rest assured we have lots, hundreds."
"It's 12noon sun at its zenith having a rest and a bite to eat. Everyone is enjoying the open wide space and simple food whilst on the go we have traveled 600 or more on out metal camel call land cruiser. We are heading to the next watering hole or oasis call Farafra. The last oasis was serene."
The post-lunch drive continued through an outlandish landscape of natural sculpture towards the White Desert Mountains. We are in danger of running out of "wows" as we travel between towering white stone mountains. Going up a steep mountain track we arrive at a gap in a mountain with a sheer cliff in front. And training continues. Fouli the bedouin driver kindly makes hot sweet tea in tiny shot glasses. As the sum starts to set the Landcruisers pick our way down the steep rocky slope - beginning to feel like we are in an extended Toyota advertisement. Finally back on tarmac after 3 days on rock and sand and heading to the Farafara oasis. Although we are longing for a shower and cool sheets we are taken straight to a hot spring to bathe. The steaming sulphurous water is soothing our tired muscles. The hotel is of traditional adobe construction and we are welcomed with hibiscus syrup. Dinner and bed to provide vicious mosquitos with sustenance. If you ever think you are too small to matter spend a night inside a mosquito net with a mosquito - not mine!
"Dinner 3 course meal had goat and fillet of beef last night breakfast full Egyptian and sandwich with local bread coarse flour no yeast no problem for my wheat intolerance. We are now at the western part of the western desert."
Day 6 (28th October)
A camp first - no run! Instead early breakfast and training in the shaded courtyard of the hotel. After a stop in the hotel shop to inspect camelhair socks (Brillo pad tubes) that soften when you wash them we went to visit a local artist's studio. The heat was getting to some of us so we retreated to a shaded cafe for cold drinks whilst listening to the call to prayers (it's Friday). A brief stop to put air in the tyres turned into farce (too long to text - fill in on our return). Then out of the oasis and back into the desert. Lunch was in the shade of the only tree in that part of the desert. The rest of the afternoon was spent driving through a moonscape of mushroom shaped rocks which gave way to a softer, greener landscape. An improbable mimosa tree loomed up at us, covered in blossom and teemng with life. After a stop at a wild oasis we headed over the mountains through very soft sand putting the Landcruisers through yet another set of photogenic manouevres. The three drivers try never to lose sight of each other - a vital tactic in this terrain. Across a bumpy rocky plateau and back onto a road. Heading tiwards Baharaya oasis for our last two nights through a largely featureless rocky terrain they call "nomansland".
"We have come out of the desert through the most amazing sights that anyone can ever imagine. Straight to the hot bath and we became an instant local attraction with no herald of our coming. This hot bath is like a hot tub in the middle of no where a watering hole. The best sight and watering hole ever. A feeling never felt by soft living humans in cities. A good night rest in an almost Omar Khayyam room in the hotel gives us the strength to go one more day through another part of this desert. A feeling of awe wonderment and supreme humble."
Day 7 (29th October)
Well back in Baharaya everything looks flat. After the space and freedom of the desert being inside four walls suddenly feels oppressive. Spent yesterday evening sitting around open fire talking nonsense and looking at stars but we already have a "going home" feeling. Today the morning training in the citrus grove we are moving better and much time is spent consolidating everyone's understanding. "We're going for a quick drive before lunch" turns into a tour of the date palms in the oasis. Warm, sweet dates picked straight from the tree take the edge off our hunger. Suddenly the dark damp jungle of palms is replaced by open sand and the Landcruiser advert starts rolling again. As a break from the daily picnic we have lunch at a guest house, sitting cross-legged on rugs around low tables. By the standard of recent days today lacks adrenalin. After saying goodbye to George who is heading back to Cairo we head into town in search of diesel - not always readily available. Still searching...
Tanked up at last for the journey to Cairo - early start. On the way through Bahariya we stop at a juice bar to sample the sugar cane juice. This takes longer than expected because they only have 4 glasses. A stop at a grocers to buy "chay" - tea - which is imported from Sri Lanka via Libya??? Rushing back at sunset to get in some more training before final pack up.
Day 8 (30th October)
Well here we are driving back toward Cairo. We came down this way in the dark but this morning's rising sun reveals endless sand and rocks. Coming through Baharaya all the children were wandering to school, the market bustled with life and men in galabayas sat having breakfast in the cafes - life as it is lived everywhere. Now we are just doing the necessary of traveling home with no expectation of the day ahead... hang on just got to take a picture of those wild dogs over there. Perhaps it is worth staying awake.