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Photo : Ahmedherz — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The oases and the Western Desert · Bahariya

The Black Desert

Hills capped with dark basalt, on the road to the White Desert.

€€ Mid-range

Between Bahariya and Farafra, the sand turns dark: old volcanic flows left black basalt fragments on conical hills. You stop for an hour, climbing one of the mounds to watch the plain change colour.

The extra bit

The stop is on the White Desert road: both are seen in the same day, and the contrast is striking.

Know before you go

The black stones get extremely hot: closed shoes are essential to climb the hills.

Directions

Between Bahariya and Farafra, Western Desert

Directions

In the same spirit

  • White Desert

    Unmissable

    Chalk outcrops standing in the sand, carved by the wind. Beyond the tarmac it is 4×4 country.

    The oases and the Western DesertFarafra, New Valley

    €€€ High endSunset

  • Bahariya Oasis

    An oasis that Cairo coaches reach in a day: palm groves, hot springs, black-capped hills to the south.

    The oases and the Western DesertBahariya, Western Desert

    €€ Mid-rangeSunset

  • Dakhla Oasis

    Palm groves under a pink escarpment, and a mud-brick quarter called al-Qasr.

    The oases and the Western DesertDakhla, New Valley

    €€ Mid-rangeBest in the morning