21 Days
Grade: 4 (difficult)
Route:
Cairo- Abu Minqar- Great Sea of Sand- Regendfeld- El Burg and a New Discovery- Abu Ballas- Saviem Ballies- Eatsren Gilf Al Kebir- Eight Bells- Uwienate Mountain- Karkur Talh- Karkur Murr- Wady Soura- Aqaba Pass- Wady Humra- Wady Abdel Malak- Silica Glass- Great Sea of Sand- Siwa
Detailed Program
Day 1: Abu Minqar - Bahariya
Meet in the hotel and take seat in the private hired bus to the lonely and isolated town of Abu Minqar , located in the eastern edge of the Great Sea of Sand. Lunch halfway in Bahryia oasis and camp will be set in the middle of the dunes.
Day 2: Regenfeld – Western Desert
Arrive at Regenfeld, named by Gerhard Rolphs during the first ever scientific expedition into the Western Desert .
Day 3: Uwienate Desert – Abu Ballas
Drive in the middle of the dunes into the open landscape of the Uwienate Desert to a major landmark named El Burj (the Tower).Climb this major and beautiful sight. Then resume to a solitary rock where I discovered the earliest engravings of Giraffes. Camp at Abu Ballas.
Day 4: Gilf al Kebir Plateau
Leave Abu Ballas behind and head SW to the Hills with the stone circles on top and the Saviem Ballies. Resume our venture south to the Eastern Cliffs of the Gilf Al Kebir Plateau. Camp at sight of the Huge Black Plateau.
Day 5: Eight Bells - Uwienate
Visit the renown WWII British air field at the Eight Bells and head further south toward the Uwienate Mountain .
Day 6: Karkur Talh
Arrive at Mountain Uwienate, venture into Karkur Talh and locate a fabulous spot for our first base camp.
Day 7: Karkur Talh
Wake up at leisure and following breakfast we explore the wadi, take our time for photographing one of the most brilliant and awesome prehistoric sites of the Great Sahara. We will return to our camp for lunch and head back to the inner branches of Karkur Talh for more sites.
Day 8: Karkur Murr
We drive to Karkur Murr and visit some sites at the Wadi Wehesh, many of them I discovered in a 40- day expedition in 2007. We set our second base camp.
Day 9: Kissu Mountain
We venture further south to Kissu Mountain to check some of the few rock art found there. Return back to the base camp by sunset.
Day 10: Wadi Soura
We head towards the renown Wadi Soura that hosts the Cave of the Swimmers, the Site discovered by Almasy in the early 1930s. Set our second base camp.
Day 11: Swimmer Cave – Aqaba Pass
Wake up at leisure to visit the sites around the Swimmer Cave, and the New Cave discovered in 2002. Here we will have the chance to explore the area on foot in search for new undiscovered sites. Following lunch we head towards the Difficult Pass (Aqaba Pass); the only passage that bisects the massive plateau of the Gilf Al Kebir dividing it into two huge east and west parts. This pass was discovered and used by Almasy to smuggle two German spy agents during WWII.
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