Palm Gardens Desert Safaris

Egypt's Western Desert

Four Days / Three Nights

Private Desert Caravan - Daily departure

Click here for more images from the Oases

Palm Gardens
Four Days / Three Nights

Take a safari by Land Cruiser to the palm gardens of the Western Desert. Under the great expanses of rock and sand lie vast reserves of water, reaching the surface in valley oases where they nourish an Eden of palms and plenty. We’ll get a taste of just how special is this green world in the desert

Day 1 – Cairo, El Baharya (Lunch. Dinner )
We’ll set out from Cairo after breakfast in an air-conditioned four-by-four Toyota Land Cruiser, the perfect vehicle, combining ruggedness and comfort for our desert excursion. In short order, the throbbing capital gives way to a landscape of sand and rock. Throughout the 320-kilometer drive to the oasis of El Baharya, we’ll twist and turn up and over escarpments, then proceed over razor-straight asphalt laid through sand dunes. We’ll stop along the way for a picnic, and a chance to appreciate the surprising array of wildlife that survives in the parched region. We continue over English House Hill. Our destination for the day is the Hotel El Bechmou, where we’ll bathe in hot sulphureous waters under a nightly performance of shooting stars.

Day 2 – El Baharya, Mahmoud Eid, Black Desert, White Desert, Encampment
(Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner )
Hot tea or coffee will be most welcome in the morning while the desert is still cool. Then it’s off to the Golden Mummies: the fabulous desert tombs of Benentuie and Zed Amun. Zed Amun’s tomb is unique in all of ancient Egypt, a majestic columned space in place of the usual claustophobic chambers. We’ll view the Temple of Bess and Isis as well, and explore the village of Alexander built of mud bricks. A collection of pottery from the area is on display in the local museum of Mahmoud Eid oasis, where we’ll take a break for lunch. Afterward, we’ll ascend through the Black Desert to view an extraordinary vista of subtly varied landscapes, and cross to Crystal Mountain, named for minerals reflecting in the sun, an unforgettable view, and a challenge to capture by camera. Our motor safari continues for 160 kilometers across the White Desert, bedecked with limestone columns shaped like mushrooms and imaginary beasts. Our goal tonight is the desert itself. We’ll rest in a traditional Bedouin encampment, and enjoy a dinner cooked over hot coals.

Day 3 – White Desert, El Baharya, El Baharya (BLD)
We have most of today to spend in the White Desert, exploring the limestone formations and the Agabat dune. We’ll follow roads and veer off onto desert tracks as we keep an eye out for gazelles, foxes, and characteristic desert birds on their flight paths between oases. We’ll stop for a picnic lunch, then head back to El Baharya oasis and spend the night in El Baharya

Day 4 – El Baharya, Cairo (B)
After our last desert breakfast, we’ll climb aboard our Land Rovers, and head eastward, toward Cairo.

Price includes:

• Land transportation in air-conditioned four-wheel-drive Toyota Land Cruiser or comparable vehicle
• Services of driver and English-speaking guide
• Entrance fees
• All meals including dinner prepared at desert encampment
• Tea and coffee with meals, and one bottle of mineral water per day
• Use of tents, mattresses, and blankets
  

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Rate per person in double in USD $ :

Minimum 2 passengers is required =$ 1095 per person

A note about meals
Please note that some meals will be served in local desert style. For your Egyptian breakfast, expect orange juice, tea and coffee, marmalade, a selection of two cheeses, beans, and eggs.
A picnic lunch will typically include either tuna, sausage, sardines or beef with a green salad or a salad of cheese, tomato and fruit.
For dinner, expect a beef or chicken main coarse, with vegetable and rice or pasta.
Please inform your hosts in advance of dietary requests.

Why book with us ?

For travel during Easter, Christmas or New Year's, weeks a 10 percent supplement applies.