Yesterday was an amazing day! The morning started with a delicious breakfast at our encampment. I wouldn't call what we did camping because we didn't pitch our own tents, we didn't slept in beds, we had running water (albeit no showers) and a mess hall and chef--let's hear it for 5-star camping in the desert!
After breakfast we went out into the white desert to enjoy seeing the very unusual rock formations. It was not hot yet, but the sun was strong and we knew it was only a matter of time.
Here's a photo of our tent. You can see it's quite comfortable and very romantic.
As we were heading out into the white desert, and before we went off-road, we came across some camels. Camels are not native to Egypt, but were imported from Asia.
We soon went off-road and visited the highlights of the White Desert, and there are many. It's such a unique area. In fact, one of the amazing things about the entire desert safari experience is that every excursion looks completely different! Such diversity in such a small area. The rock formations that are the most famous are the mushroom formations. The wind has eroded the rock in such a way that they're shaped like mushrooms. I guess the sediment layers near the base of the formations is softer (was less compacted?) and so erodes at a faster rate than the top layers. The wind and sand have created some masterful sculptures!
After visiting the mushroom area, we went to a spot with what appeared to be a very ancient tree on top of a hill. From this spot we had a panorama of the entire mushroom section of the white desert! We gathered for a merging heart tone.
From there we were driven to a small oasis and after that went to a rock formation that I called the Uluru of the White Desert. It was a large white rock protruding out of the desert. The views from the top of the rock were incredible. I don't think any photo could do it justice, although I hope all of the ones we took come close! We'll see.
By the time we left this location, it was getting really hot! We began making our way back to the encampment driving through more of the mushroom rock formations. On these stops more and more people remained in the jeeps to avoid the heat. At some locations we simply took our photos from the car and moved on--in typical tourist mode: been there, saw that, bought the t-shirt! :-)
Once we arrived back at the encampment it was at least 110˚ F! We were all seeking any shade we could find. Fortunately, there was a nice breeze and that helps. We had another gourmet lunch (by camping standards). I ate my first fresh pomegranate. It's a little work to the get at the fruit, but once you do it's delicious! It reminds me of the taste of the Italian liquor Compari (which I happen to like).
After lunch we packed our bags and headed towards the Baharya Oasis. Enroute our first stop a the Crystal Mountain. We tried to prepare people for what they would see at this stop by having a photo of it in our brochure, but some people had images in the mind of well, a crystal mountain! The fact is that it's not really a mountain and not a quartz crystal formation. It is, however, a large out cropping in the middle of the desert of crystals! Again, photos will follow if I can't get them uploaded from here.
After a merging heart tone at the crystal mountain, we headed into the Black Desert. On our inspection trip in January, we drove though the Black Desert without making any stops. Yesterday, they took us to an amazing location off road and it was amazing to see the Black Desert up close. It was nothing like I thought it would be. The light was perfect for photography and the temperature was at least 20 degrees cooler than it was in the desert! There was a strong wind and now everyone was more than willing to get out of the jeeps and enjoy themselves. One of the drivers made tea for everyone. A couple hours earlier we were all wilted flowers with no energy and now we were all laughing and enjoying ourselves.
Well, we're getting ready to leave the hotel and a photo is still uploading. I'll go ahead and post this and add the photos later.
Thanks and Love,
Stuart
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