Egypt Sahara Desert - Driving and Sightseeing
Article and Photos by Andie Byrnes ©2008-2009
The
vehicles for desert travel are four wheel drives, often very large,
with immense staying power and excellent traction. I’ve always
travelled in Toyota Land Cruisers, which have had the bench seats taken
out and had comfortable car-seats fitted, but there are several other
types of vehicle. If comfort is important to you then you might want
to check with the tour company.
All of your luggage will be transported on top of the cars, which means that you don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the day once you have deposited it for loading in the morning. Although you will want to take some items into the car with you some tour companies restrict the number and size of bags that you are allowed to take with you inside the car – it is best to check with them if you feel strongly on the subject. Do take essentials into the car – your water, some sweets, your hat, a long sleeved shirt, perhaps a scarf and your sun protection cream. Then you can just sit back and enjoy the ride.
The cars are filled with fuel before you leave civilization, and all that is needed for the rest of the trip is carried on the roof racks. There is no water available naturally in the desert once the oases have been left behind so water is also taken along, with extra capacity in case there are delays.
The best strategy for off-road passenger travel is to move with the car, not to fight it. Some people hold rigidly to the hand grips and try to maintain an upright position, often finding that they ache to bits by the end of the first day. I’ve always found it more comfortable to wedge myself in the corner between the seat and the vehicle and then loll around a lot - it isn’t elegant but it saves the muscles from hurting, and I can write, drink and sleep like that! If you are going to sleep in one of the vehicles, and if your seat belt is actually functional (not a foregone conclusion) it would be very wise to strap yourself in - the terrain is unpredictable and you really don’t want to go over a sharp bump and find yourself waking up on the driver’s lap. I love travelling this way – the views are amazing, the cars are terrific and the experience is second to none. Lean back and enjoy it. You won’t ever enjoy travelling any other way as much after you’ve been on one of these trips.
Don’t be surprised or concerned if you see the drivers inflating or deflating the tyres – the vehicles will cover the terrain more efficiently with more or less air depending on the softness of the sand.
On the side of any desert car you will see long rectangular metal tracks - these are for rescuing the vehicle when it becomes stuck in soft sand, which it will. Getting stuck is part of life, and is nothing to worry about - there are multiple ways of unsticking a vehicle, and it is taken in one’s stride. You may be asked to leave the car to reduce its weight, and you may be asked to add your assistance to rocking the car from side to side to help free it. Apart from that, just sit back and relax and leave it to the experts to resolve! It is great fun to sit and watch the activity and the drivers are quite accustomed to being part of the view.
During the day, in cars or out of them, drink lots of fluid. Dehydration is a powerful enemy and worries me far more than scorpions and snakes. When your tour leader lets you know how much you are recommend to drink on a daily basis, try to meet that requirement. I am told that it is a very bad idea to glug it down in huge mouthfuls during hot spells - if you mete it out in regular doses it will be a lot more effective. When you are offered tea, coffee, soup or soft drinks, I recommend that you take advantage - these are all helping to keep you nicely hydrated. You may need to take your own water bottle with you - a bottle from the hotel when you arrive will do nicely - this is because travel companies often take water in gerrycans so you refill your bottle on a daily basis. An empty spare is a good precaution. When you are told your water allowance for a day, bear in mind that unlike UK water bottles, most Egyptian mineral water comes in one and a half litre bottles. If you think you are using litre bottles you can quickly use far more than your allotted amount. This can be a key factor in the desert!
As I’ve said before, the heat can be deceptive and a cool breeze can lead you to seriously underestimate the damage that the sun in inflicting. Sun stroke makes you feel sick and dizzy and can lead to worse things. Take a hat, drink lots of fluid and make use of shade when it is available. I’ve seen what dehydration does to people and it seems so silly to become so unwell when it is so easy to avoid.
Meeting other people
Apart from the smugglers who operate in the border areas near Libya
and the Sudan you are unlikely to meet anyone who is not part of a tour.
The area is too arid to support even the hardiest of Bedouin and their
livestock.
Other tourists, however, are quite likely to be seen as the numbers of visitors to the area rise to visit a very limited number of focal points. The busiest of the sites in the area are, as you would expect, the Cave of Swimmers and the Mestekawi Foggini cave. In both cases you may well have the places completely to yourselves but you may also need to wait for another party to clear the site before you can visit it.
The wait is a chance to enjoy some more fabulous scenery and then, when you have the sites to yourselves, the experience is so worth waiting for. There is real magic in those sites.
It is usually great fun to exchange notes with the other tour members, and it is always lovely to watch the drivers greeting each other and exchanging stories.
Your relationship with the desert
Finally,
and very importantly, it is worth considering your relationship with
the desert. The eastern Sahara has been formed over millions of years,
resulting in many coloured sands and a fabulous topography.
Libyan glass, an extraordinarily beautiful and unique item, was formed 29 million years ago. Archaeological artefacts date to 100s of thousands of years in age. Rock art is measurable in terms of millennia, and is extraordinary in terms of its vitality and originality. There are even slender signs of plant and animal life which are quite wonderful. Like so many other things in life, once these things are destroyed, they are destroyed forever.
The painted Cave of Swimmers no longer in the pristine state that it was in when it was discovered by Almasy, Libyan glass is removed in sack-full’s for making jewellery to sell to tourists, and prehistoric artefacts are lifted and taken by travellers to the desert, who should know better, as souvenirs.
Rock art is especially easy to harm - please don’t damp it down to improve the colours, please don’t trace it, don’t use flash on your camera (which can burn out the pigments), don’t touch it (damp salty hands can be terribly harmful) and be careful not to brush up against it with clothing or rucksacks.
If you are lucky enough to find prehistoric artefacts, please put them back exactly as you found them - the relative pattern in which they were left thousands of years ago can tell archaeologists a lot about how and why they were deposited. If you are privileged enough to take a tour in the desert, please remember that it is vulnerable and that your impact on it should be as minimal as possible.
I hope that you love the place and leave and I am sure that you will, so be sure to leave it the way you loved it – intact.
You will find references to books and papers at the following page,
together with useful web links and file downloads:
http://www.gilfkebir2008.cd2.com/html/resources.html
Egypt Sahara Desert - Planning your Trip
Egypt Sahara Desert - What to bring on your trip
Andie Byrnes trained as an archaeologist and is presently carrying out post-graduate studies in Egyptian Archaeology (prehistory) at UCL, London. She writes and manages Egyptology News, the most comprehensive news blog about Ancient Egypt and related topics.
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