Travels in the Sharq: White Desert Expedition, Egypt

The Dude Mahmud, Desert Guide and Late Sleeper, shown here cranky after being woken up.

In Mid March we took a 3 day trip into the White Desert of Egypt. At the edge of the White Desert is an oasis town named Bahariyya about 350 km SW of Cairo. Its a long, barren drive. Upon our arrival we checked in with the tourist police, got our permit, and convinced them that we did not require an armed escort. From there we met our guide, Mahmud, who would lead us 250 km into the White Desert. After a lunch of fried fish at his house, we started our trip. An hour into it we stopped at the first of several oases, and the boys had a swim at a spring fed pool known as the camel trough. After some tea we got back on the trail, and were soon following Mahmud through deep sand. Mahmud drove a Landcruiser, and I followed in my Tacoma. Between us we got stuck 5 times that first day, and I'll admit that my faith in Mahmud was shaken. We were exhausted after digging the trucks out and finally setting up camp under the setting Egyptian sun. Mahmud and his helper set up camp then set about cooking supper. Lentil soup, warm flat bread, salad, and chicken cooked over the fire, washed down with cold Sakarra. We stared at more stars than we had ever seen, then bedded down for the night bone tired.

Coop enjoying a roll in the dunes.

The Road.

Stuck again, day one.

Day Two Luke was up before the sun and climbing about in the rocks and dunes on the horizon, right about from where this shot was taken. I had to reel him in. Coop followed me out, and we played around a bit and assumed that the guide would be up and getting breakfast started. We were wrong. Turns out Mahmud is a late sleeper, which is odd among men who make their living guiding. At around 0800 I had to rouse him up, and we bantered back and forth: "Mahmud, dude wake up its 8:00", then he would grunt and curse me in Egyptian though I pretended not to understand. After some coffee and omelets we drove back over the steep dunes toward an area known as the Mushroom Desert, a part of the White Desert. We drove a ways, then stopped for a long lunch during the heat of the day at another oasis. This time we all swam, and it felt good to wash off the dust. Three hours later (Mahmud napped after lunch) we were back on the trail. The Mushroom Desert was like driving on another planet, each formation stranger than the last. Eventually we picked an enormous rock that cast a long shadow, and set up camp in the shadow. We felt none of the stress of that first day, only a dusty weariness and a sense of satisfaction for how far we'd come. That night Coop and I decided to forgo the tent and sleep under the stars.