The first thing that comes to the mind of many about the ancient landscape of Egypt is its Great Pyramid of Giza, with little or no idea about an interesting geomorphic surface present in the North African country. The land area which is the 300-sq-km national park of the White Desert – 20km northeast of Farafra, on the east side of the road.
Egypt is unarguably described as the cradle of civilization, with the derivations of reading and lettering systems, mathematics early signs from the ancient country.
The Pharaoh kingdom is also the destination for the ruins of Memphis and Thebes, the Great Sphinx artifacts, and many more.
The white rock is described to have mystically sprout from the ground into a beautiful geomorphic form of different shapes by the dry desert winds and seen as a trove of amazement.
“The White Desert is so different from any place on the planet,” Ziad Omran, co-founder of the adventure travel company Destination 31, told CNN.
“Once they experience adventure travel there, they end up coming back again with their friends. So, they can experience it for themselves.”
The five-hour journey to the White Desert from Cairo often starts with a stop at a completely dissimilar landscape, the Black Desert. Apart from a single road that stretches into the distance, there is no evidence of life found in the environment.
Touring through the beautiful landscape, activities on the White Desert spans across numerous unique mountain range from dune bashing and sandboarding to mountain biking and kayaking in the adjacent Bahariya Oasis.
The White Desert is a locale in the national park, and to have a natural view of the scenery, it is required of someone to have a dune bashing across the weird desert that was described to be an ocean or sea in the time past. The geo-chronological evidence of the environment is with respect to the collection of calcified limestone rocks sculpted over time by sand and wind.
The White abstract shapes is continuously changing their color with time of day, with a color turn from brilliant white to creamy, till arriving at a golden brown coloration. It was noted by Lonely Planet that the structural formations are best viewed at sunrise or sunset, when the sun lights them with orangey-pink hues, or under a full moon, which gives the landscape a ghostly Arctic appearance.
On the west side of the Farafra–Bahariya highway, away from the wind-hewn sculptures, chalk towers called inselbergs burst from the desert floor into a spectacular white canyon. Between them run grand boulevards of sand, like geologic Champs-Élysées. No less beautiful than the east side of the road, the shade and privacy here makes it a great area to camp.
Navigation strategically to the tourist destination requires the awareness of two flat-topped mountains known as the Twin Peaks about 50km north. More spectacular is the view from the top of the surrounding symmetrical hills, all shaped like giant ant-hills.
Available also is the Crystal Mountain, a large rock composed of quartz, that is found right beside the main road to the north of Naqb As Sillim, and has a large hole through its middle.
The Valley of Agabat is soft sandy hill situated between the massive rock formations that is used for sand boarding.
In a bid to make the tour to the desert very interesting and remarkable for travelers, the local Bedouins usually prepare a traditional dinner over an open fire for visitors who are camped.
According to CNN, the entrancing aroma of the dinner often attracts attention from one of the rare residents of the White Desert – the fennec fox, also known as the sand fox. The harmless and colorful animals which are hardly found around seldom come to the campsites to feed on visitors’ leftovers.
A tour to the alluring White Desert National Park in the ancient land of Egypt will be a tale of moonlight ready to share.
