Tenthousands
of years old rock paintings (Karkur Tahl, Sudan)
Rock
paintings (Karkur Tahl, Sudan)
Rock
paintings (Karkur Tahl, Sudan)
Rock
painting (Karkur Tahl, Sudan)
Handprint
(near Wadi Sora, Egypt)
View
from the Cave of Swimmers (Egypt)
Swimming
figures and ancient handprints in the Cave of Swimmers (Egypt)
Jebel
Uweinat - Gilf Kebir Expedition - in track of the "English
Patiente". Summary
and recommendation: A 18 days long tour, following the
- still visible -tracks of Count Laszlo Almasy, Brigadier
Ralph Bagnold, and other famous desert explorers to one of
the most remote and strikingly beautiful corner of the Planet.
Note: As
a result of new regulations in Egypt, we decided to halt our
deep desert operations in the magnificent
Gilf Kebir and Uweynat area. New regulations requiring a full
escort group of policemen which makes the whole tour insenseable.
Instead of we are plannig tours to approach Uweynat from the
Libyan side, along with other magical spots, eg. Wau el Namus.
Also there are plans to renew south Algerian operations to
visit the Tassili area around Djanet.
Destination country: Egypt, Sudan, Libya. Arrive and depart
in Cairo.
Schedule:TBA Duration: 15 days.
Price:TBA. Single
supplement: TBA.Price includes:
accommodations and meals, drinking water, vehicle hire with
fuel and driver guide, park entrance fees and ranger guides.
The price exclude: bank transfer loss, international
flight, visa, tips, drinks, personal travel insurance and
any other activities of personal request e.g. laundry, toalet
fees, phone calls, etc. Accommodation:
Tented mobile camps under the sky.First and
last nights in hotels of Cairo.
Transport:
Toyota HZJ 75 and 78 Land Cruisers.
Description:
"... This
expedition is planned to cover most important points of interest
in the Egyptian portion of the Libyan Desert. During the 18
days we shall visit the Eastern Gilf Kebir, Karkur Talh, Wadi
Sora, the northern Gilf valleys, then continue north to Siwa
accross the Great Sand Sea via the Libyan Desert Glass area..."
Itinerary:
"...The elusive lost oasis. Zarzora is coin phrased to
describe anything yet to be discovered in a far away place.
Some might say there's little to be discovered. That's not
the case with Zarzora. We design our exploring expeditions
aiming for that Wish-Oasis, a symbol of a mystery yet to be
discovered. The name is the destination..."
Day 1:Cairo - Dakhla.
All day drive on tarmac to Dakhla Oasis, spending the night
at the Hotel Mebarez. The cars will be fuelled in the evening,
allowing an early start the next day.
Day 2:Dakhla - Abu Hussein Dunes.
After
a 300 kms along the road south from Dakhla, we shall turn
west accross the Selima Sand Sheet. Camp is planned either
at the Abu Hussein dunes, or if we make better progress, at
the dunes 100 kms further west.
Day 3:Camp - Eight Bells - Shaw's Cave
- Southern Gilf.
Continue west to the eastern flanks of the Gilf Kebir, pass
by the WWII aerodrome at Eight Bells, visit Shaw's Cave in
Wadi Firaq, then continue south towards the tip of the Gilf
for camp.
Day 4:Gilf Kebir - Kemal el Din Monument
- Clayton's Craters - Karkur Talh.
Continuing south, we'll pass by the Prince Kemal el Din monument,
then continue towards Jebel Uweinat via "Clayton's Craters".
Camp will be at Karkur Talh.
Day 5-7:Karkur
Talh. We will spend three days visiting the
most important rock art sites in Karkur Talh, including many
of the recent discoveries.
Day 8:Karkur
Talh - Clayton's Craters - Wadi Sora.
In the morning we will drive north to Wadi Sora, visiting
the main caves in the best light in the afternoon.
Day 9:Wadi
Sora area. Full day visiting the recently
discovered sites in the Wadi Sora vicinity. In the afternoon
we'll visit Almásy's old campsite, "Chianti Camp".
Day 10:Wadi Sora - Aqaba - Wadi Hamra.
Backtracking 50 kilometres east, we'll ascend the Aqaba pass,
then continue up a series of sandy passes to the top of the
Gilf Plateau. We'll continue on the top of the Gilf to the
edge of Wadi Hamra. We'll camp in a small valley on the top,
as it's not possible to get the cars up again on the steep
sand slopes.
Day 11:Wadi Hamra - Wadi Abd el Melik.
We'll visit the green part of the valley and Rhotert's engravings
on foot, then continue along the top of the Gilf to Lama Pass,
the only possible descent into Wadi Abd el Melik.
Day 12:Wadi Abd el Melik.
We will spend a day exploring the upper reaches of
the eastern branch of wadi Abd el Melik on foot, which is
undrivable, and possibly unexplored. We'll visit a few known
rock art sites along the way.
Day 13:Wadi Abd el Melik - Libyan Desert
Glass area. After
a long drive north in the wadi, we'll reach the plains at
the western edge of the Gilf. We will turn east, cross the
low northern end of the Gilf via Wadi Gubba, and reach the
edge of the Great Sand Sea, the Libyan Desert Glass area.
Day 14-15: Libyan Desert Glass area.
A day and a half will be spent prospecting in the LDG area.
On the afternoon of the second day we'll start north along
the dune corridors.
Day 16-17:Great Sand Sea.
Two days will be required to cross the Great Sand Sea, last
camp will be among the dunes just before Siwa.
Day 18:Siwa
- Mersa Matruh - El Alamein - Cairo. Last day will
be spend driving back from Siwa to the mediterranean coast,
then back to Cairo, reaching there by late afternoon.
