8 days / 7 nights Western
Safari desert
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Day 1 |
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Tours |
Arranged
if time of arrival to Cairo permits this. |
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Transfers |
Meet at airport and
transfer to Hotel |
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Accommodation |
Cairo |
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Day 2 |
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Tours |
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Transfers |
From Cairo to Baharia in
our 4 Wheel drive |
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Accommodation |
Baharia oasis |
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Day 3 |
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Tours |
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Visit the " English House " to watch the sunset over the desert
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Transfers |
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Accommodation |
Baharia oasis (With the
magical healing hot spring) |
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Description |
. The
English house which was a lookout post during World Was I is today
in ruins, but it's location on "the Black Mountain" give a unique
panorama view over the northern part of the Baharia Oasis. |
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Day 4 |
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Tours |
visits
around Baharia Oasis:
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Alexandre the great temple
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The tomb of ZedAmonEfAnkh
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The tomb of his son Bannentiu
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The ancient Roman spring Ain Bishmu.
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The
Crystal Mountain and the Black Desert
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Transfers |
From Baharia to White
desert near Farafra Oasis. |
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Accommodation |
Sleep the night in the
desert |
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Description |
The
early morning is for visits around Baharia Oasis. There are several
ancient temples in the oasis, The most famous is the one that has
the cartouche (Pharaonic name presentation) of Alexander the Great.
Unfortunately the combination of wind, location and time has eroded
these temples and there is today not much left to see.
We are going to visit the museum with some of the amazing "Gold
Mummies" found here just recently. Further two ancient Egyptian
tombs, first the tomb of ZedAmonEfAnkh and then the tomb of his son
Bannentiu. Before starting our journey deeper into the desert, we
will visit the ancient Roman spring Ain Bishmu and see how the
ancient irrigation system could provide enough water for the farming
land.
Back to your four-wheel car, the journey goes south - but we can't
leave Baharia before visiting the Crystal Mountain and the Black
Desert with it's many black topped mountains. Please remember when
coming to places as the Crystal Mountain: "Take nothing with you,
leave nothing behind".
Out of the Baharia depression and down the escarpment to Farafra
Oasis, one will soon start to see smaller white chalk cliffs - a
forewarning of the adventure ahead. The white cliffs "grows" going
south - and suddenly you are in the White Desert . If any
destination can be called "magic ", then it's the White Desert.
The Governorate of Wadi Gedid work today together with the Egyptian
Ministry of Environment on protecting the White Desert through
making it a National Natural Preserved area.
Before the magic night under the stars, in this one of the greatest
treasures of our planet - we will visit the "El Bahr " Cave with
wall paintings from prehistoric man. The name "El Bahr" come from
the word "sea" as one here find remains from the ocean once covering
this area. Ostrich eggs and other fossils have also been found here.
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Day 5 |
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Tours |
- Morning
dive in the hot spring of Bir Sitta
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take a tour in Farafra Oasis.
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The old Islamic town of Qasr Dakhla
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Museum in Mut
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Transfers |
White desert -- Farafra oasis -- Dakhla oasis |
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Accommodation |
Dakhla oasis
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Description |
After
a magical, but often cold night in the White Desert, a morning dive
in the hot spring of Bir Sitta is a most welcome start of the day.
Farafra, or the "Land of the Cow" as it was named in Ancient
Egyptian times, was up to recently the most remote human settlement
in the desert. So remote that it was not long time ago when a
representative of the Oasis had to take his camel and ride to Dakhla
Oasis to find out what day they should perform their Friday prayers,
as the inhabitants had totally lost track of the days.
Today the inhabitants are "mixed", as farmers have immigrated from
the Delta and the Nile Valley. We will see the old city as part of
the new agricultural areas of Farafra during our visit.
From Farafra we drive south towards Dakhla Oasis . In this huge
green farming oasis we will visit:
The old Islamic town of Qasr Dakhla in it's desert-medieval style,
built on top of a city from Roman times. Mut, the center of Dakhla
is still using it's Ancient Egyptian name after the goddess of Waset
(Luxor), and here we will visit the remains of the old city Qasr
Mut.
The small but important Ethnographic Museum in Mut give aunique
glimpse inside the traditional culture of the oasis. Plan of a
traditional house, locally produced items as dresses, jewelry, rugs
and more. The village scenes with clay figures by the local artist
Mabrouk are our wide screen in to this culture. The local culture
itself have it's wide screen "out of" the culture in the next house,
as that's the local cinema. Further visits will take you to the
"Temple of the Rock " and the Colored Mountain.
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Day 6 |
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Tours |
- The
unique "upside down" mastabas
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Museum where artifacts from the whole of Wadi Gedid's Ancient
Egyptian
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The Amon temple in Hibis
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Transfers |
Dakhla--Kharga |
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Accommodation |
Kharga Oasis Hotel |
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Description |
After breakfast we will visit the
unique "upside down" mastabas (burial monuments from the Ancient
Egyptian Old Kingdom) found close to Balat. Important monuments, as
the governors of Dakhla buried here show the importance of the Oasis
already in times the Pyramids where built in the Nile Valley - some
four thousand years ago.
Then it's time to say goodbye to the beautiful Oasis of Dakhla, and
start our drive towards the last oasis for our desert journey. This
is the Kharga Oasis, the center for the Governorate of Wadi Gedid -
a Governorate responsible for 40 percent of Egypt's land area.
Kharga
Visits in Kharga will of course have to include the Museum where
artifacts from the whole of Wadi Gedid's Ancient Egyptian, Christian
and Islamic periods are exhibited. The Amon temple in Hibis is one
of the only two temples known built during Persian rule of Egypt
(26th Dynasty). The inscriptions on the later built Roman gate give
very important understanding about Roman imperial rule in Egypt.
After Christianity came to Egypt with St. Mark the Evangelist, the
Christian community was in periods under hard prosecutions from
Roman rule with thousand and thousand of martyrs. Many fled to the
desert for protection. Kharga was one of these places and the result
of this is that we in Bagawat got one of the oldest and
best-preserved Christian cemeteries in the world.
Hibis temple
On top of a hill close to Hibis lies the Roman temple-fortress
Nadura, a typical lookout as the English House visited in Baharia -
apart from the fact that Nadura was built nearly two thousand years
earlier.
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Day 7 |
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Tours |
- The
old market area of Kharga.
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The village New Baris.
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Transfers |
Kharga -- Dakhla in our 4x4 Wheel drive |
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Accommodation |
Luxor City |
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Description |
.We
cannot leave the center of Kharga Oasis before you got the
opportunity to visit the old market area of Kharga. The market is
mainly serving the local population, but as visitor you will first
of all be able to see the real desert market. Then it will always be
items as hand-woven baskets that are good items to have back from
the journey, and your "souvenir" will be a small contribution to the
local industry as well. Especially Dakhla and Kharga have many
beautiful and locally produced crafts as the mentioned baskets (most
made from palm leaves), mats, rugs, pottery, some jewelry (silver
work basically), local dresses and the traditional hats made of palm
leaves in Dakhla.
Before leaving the oasis depression we will drive south passing many
villages also belonging to Kharga Oasis. Of newer history the
village New Baris is of special importance, as it was here the word
renowned architect Hassan Fathy tried to build a village for the
oasis. Now close to deserted, it still have the mark of a grand idea
and a beautiful architecture built on local traditions and in local
material. The counterpart to New Baris is Hassan Fathy's New Gourna
in Luxor.
Leaving the area where the prehistoric Nile was flowing, we are
driving east towards the Nile and the famous Nile Valley - or should
we rather say the "Nile Oasis"? Fact is that the thin valley is a
long Oasis surrounded by waste deserts on both sides. The Western
Desert (before named the "Libyan Desert") - which we have traveled,
and in East the "Eastern Desert" (formerly the "Arabian Desert")
which cover the area all the way to the Red Sea.
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Day 8 |
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Tours |
- Monuments from the times of
Ancient Waset
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Transfers |
Night Train back to Cairo |
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Accommodation |
Baharia oasis (With the
magical healing hot spring) |
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Description |
.After
a good breakfast we will visit some monuments from the times of
Ancient Waset (or Theben which the Greek called Luxor later) Some
may have been here before, so we will customize our visits according
to this and interest.
May this be the Valley of the Kings and Karnak or less known temples
and monuments here. Important for all will be to visit some of the
tombs of the Nobles showing the people, daily life and agriculture
in this Nile Oasis town some thousand years ago.
There are tombs here with reference to the Oases, and depending on
which tombs are open we will visit these |
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Price |
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US$ 2,598 per person Minimum 2
persons.
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Includes |
All meals, starting with dinner the first day and
ending with farwell dinner the last full day (day 7)
All visits and entrance fees according to above program.
Own desert and archeological guide (most major languages).
Own four by four wheel drive air conditioned car with desert driver.
Important: while nearly all safari tours in Egypt use cars where you
sit on benches sideways, this safari expedition only use cars where
you sit in the driver direction. Its long distances to cover, so we
consider this essential comfort. Maximum 3 adult persons per car .
With 4 persons there will be 2 cars, and so forth.
All hotels, see link to the desert hotels under day two, four and
five. Accommodation price is based on per person in double room.
Single room supplement is US$ 186.00
For the one night in open air (day 3), most prefer to bring own
sleeping bag. If you need sleeping bag, please advise.
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Does not include |
International flight.
Passport and visa fees.
Cancellation/accident/baggage/insurance.
Alcoholic beverages or others not included in the meals.
Phone calls, faxes, etc.
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Availability &
Reservations |
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the 8days Western desert Safari availability and prices.
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Welcome
to ...SafariEgypt.com (8 days
/ 7 nights Western Safari desert)