Duration: 9 days by jeep
Grade 2: moderate
Route: Cairo- Al Alamein- Siwa- Araq Oasis- Bahrein - Great Sea of Sand- Pillar Rock- Regenfeld - Abu Minqar- Farafra - Cairo
Day 1 Alamein - Siwa
Meeting at hotel in Cairo at 6 AM, and transfer to Alamein visiting the WWII war museum. Lunch en route to Marsah Matrouh. Arrival at Siwa around sunset. Dinner at a local restaurant and check into the hotel - Siwa Resort.
Day 2 Siwa Sights
Wake up at 7 AM for breakfast in the hotel. Tour the oasis today: Temple of the Oracle, old Shali town, Mountain of the Dead and Cleopatra Spring. A Siwan barbeque dinner ends the day.
Day 3 Areq Oasis – Lake Sutra
Early rise and breakfast at hotel. Load the vehicles and head toward the remote yet beautiful oasis of Areq. We explore the white cliffs of the great depression and the ancient Roman tombs. Following lunch we resume our track toward the lake of Sutra , situated amid the dunes. We camp a little further from the lake to avoid the treacherous bites of the mosquitoes.
Day 4 Lake Bahrein – Great Sand Sea
After breakfast we collect our camping gear and head towards the awesome lakes of Bahrein and continue south into the heart of the Great Sea of Sand and sail across its fearsome dunes. Camp in the dunes.
Day 5 Pillar Rock – Sand Boarding
We resume our challenge in the great dunes heading towards the abandoned distinct 5 meter high pillar, called Pillar Rock and continue our venture into the heart of the Sand Sea choosing the highest possible sand dunes where we enjoy sand boarding.
Day 6 Regenfeld - Sand Boarding
Today we head towards Regenfeld named by the famous explorer Gerhard Rohlfs. Here the dunes are very high about 200m and offer opportunities for serious Sand Boarding.
Day 7 Sand Boarding Highlight 300 m
After the usual morning routine we head to a 300 meter high hill where a sand dune slopes down from the very top to the foot of the hill. This is the highlight of the sand boarding tour. Only the professional and most trained should descend this dune. We camp here for two nights.
Day 8 Sand boarding and Photography
Wake up at leisure and sand board down the high hill. This is an excellent opportunity for photography as we ascend the hill at predawn. In the afternoon we explore a major caravan trail in the vicinity of this area. I had been fortunate to discover a prehistoric rock carvings of giraffes.
Day 9 Abu Minqar – Farafra – Bahariya - Cairo
An early rise is essential to drive north to Abu Minqar, from here we head to Farafra where we will enjoy a hot water bath in the natural hot spring and visit the old mud brick town of Qasr al Farafra . Drive to Baharyia Oasis where lunch is served en-route and then back to Cairo.
An extra day can be added in the end of the tour to spend it in the white desert and have a celebration BBQ night.