Photo : L-BBE — CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
The oases and the Western Desert · Farafra, New Valley
White Desert
Chalk outcrops standing in the sand, carved by the wind. Beyond the tarmac it is 4×4 country.
North of Farafra the road crosses a chalk plateau that the wind has hollowed into mushrooms, towers and animal shapes, set on pale sand. The ground is littered with fossil shells: this was seabed. It is a protected area, and the usual arrangement is a night under canvas among the blocks, with a driver who knows the desert. There is no water, no shade and no fuel — everything you use comes in from the oasis.
The extra bit
In the last two hours of daylight the chalk turns from white to pink to orange, and that is when the tent goes up. Coming from Bahariya, ask to stop at the Black Desert and at Crystal Mountain, both of which are on the way.
Know before you go
Winter nights get very cold: a warm sleeping bag is the minimum, not a precaution. A sandstorm can close the tracks or ruin a whole night, and nobody gives you your money back for bad weather. Fix the price with your driver before you leave the oasis, along with the length of the trip and what it covers — water, meals, bedding — and carry cash: there is no card machine in the desert. Fossils and crystals stay where they are.
