2,500km Through the Western Desert of Egypt..

[Cairodel]

I was recently asked to join "Raid4x4Egypt", an exercise to promote desert tourism here
in Egypt by opening/finding a route from as near as possible to Cairo, through the Abu
Muharraq Dunes to Kharga Oasis - an offroad trip of some 1,000km.

Starting point in Cairo..

First night's campsite, 140km down the Bahariyah road, then 10 km into the desert...

Into the desert proper...

Waiting for the rest to catch up....

Oooops...!!

At one point we had 7 out of 13 cars bogged down... Took about three hours to get moving
again, then we had to get down here....

Roman Fort on the approach to Kharga...

If anybody is interested, I'll post pics of the places we visited on the return trip to Cairo,
Including a day in the White Desert.

 

[spamel]

If anybody is interested? Are you joking? We're all interested! Some of them places look amazing. The roman fort is testament to the architecture of the time, as are the pyramids. The landscape is breathtaking. You are a very lucky man to be able to do that, I would love to take a trip like that one day.

 

[Shewie]

Nice shots there Del that looks superb, did you manage to finish / find the route ??


Rich

 

[Cairodel]

Ok, Spamel, watch this space... SWMBO nad I have been here 13 years come Christmas,
so we've been around a little bit, and I'm now running trips into the various parts of the
(Egyptian) deserts.. I'll post some more pics of the return trip from Dakhla Oasis back as
far as Siwa... It was all tarmac after that..!!
Shewie... The last pic was of a Roman Fort about 40km from Kharga, so yes, we made it
all the way down through Abu Muharraq to Kharga, where we were "honoured" with a
reception by the Governor, given a key-ring each...?!? And subjected to a display of local
wares and talents...
Local dancers...

Presentation of glass trophy to our "Fuhrer" by the Governor of the "New Valley"

 

[Cairodel]

Drove from Kharga to Dakhla, where we camped about 10km outside town....

Sunrise in Dakhla....

Wiz a wee bit windy......

Breakfast, then into the "Great Sand Sea", heading for Farafra on a semi-circular route...

Abu something-or -other Mountain in the distance - actually an escarpment that
separates the Great Sand Sea from Farafra Oasis....

To get to Farafra, we had to get down here...

 

[Cairodel]

On our "day off" in Farafra, we took a trip about 40km into the "White Desert"... talk about
"alien landscape"... some of it was quite spectacular....

There was a crows nest on top...

"Doc rock"

Had to drive over this....

to get to here....

To get some of this......

Passed this "Lonesome Pine" (Acacia, or Joshua Tree) on the way back...

Through this lot...

Stopped by this lake just before Farafra...

Young lad fishering....

 

[Marts]

Excellent photos. Thanks for posting them.

 

[Injati]

It really does look absolutely amazing. Very alien. How much driving were you doing every day, and what was the midday temperature like?

 

[Cairodel]

Injati, it was very much stop-and-go stuff, as we had to keep stopping for tail-enders to
catch up, so over 8-9 hrs per day, we covered 58km one day.!!?!!, to a max. of 350 another.
As we were into November, temperatures were moderate, maxing out around 34C, and the
nights pretty mild, not having to zip up the 'bag until around 3am.....

 

[EdS]

without starting the this make is better than that make - which vehicles coped best with the desert conditions.

Or am I right in guessing driver made more difference than vehicle.

Looks stunning.

 

[Cairodel]

without starting the this make is better than that make - which vehicles coped best with the desert conditions.

Or am I right in guessing driver made more difference than vehicle.

Looks stunning.

Absolutely right, Eds... Tyres and pressures make the biggest difference in these
conditions.. the wider the better, but a lot was also down to the drivers. Our "breakdown"
or "get out the cack" car was a Toyota Landcruiser, but with a 4.6, twin-turbo'ed engine
(same as the model in pic 11) and tyres you'd be arrested for in the UK....
The Cars involved in the 1st stage were 4 Defenders, 2 Disco's, 5 Landcruisers (diff. mods)
a Mitsy Pajero and a 4x4 Nissan pick-up which was much too low (clearance-wise).

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Good stuff, excellent stuff. Sort of stuff I need to do one summer hol (temps too much prob.) before the prices climb too high.

Will they sign it for tourists or just give out a satnav or gps route ?

Nick

 

[Cairodel]

S.C.R. If you, or anybody else on the forum is interested in a visit, just PM me. You'll
find the prices are EXTREMELY reasonable.... and I can arrange just about everything you
might need...
Hope this doesn't upset anybody....??!???