White Desert

The White Desert changes completely after sunset.   During the day, your attention goes downward and outward.   You look at chalk formations.   Golden sand.   Mushroom-shaped rocks.   Crystal Mountain.   Agabat Valley.   And the strange white landscape stretching across Egypt’s Western Desert.   Then the Sun disappears.   The formations become […]

On August 2, 2027, thousands of eclipse travelers will come to Egypt for one reason:   to stand in the Moon’s shadow during one of the longest total solar eclipses of the century.   But knowing that Egypt lies in the path of totality isn’t enough.   Knowing that Bahariya Oasis lies in the path

Few natural landmarks summarize Egypt’s White Desert as perfectly as its mushroom-shaped rocks.   A narrow white pedestal rises from the desert floor.   Above it sits a much larger rounded mass of chalk.   From a distance, the entire formation can look like an enormous mushroom growing from one of the driest landscapes on

At first glance, Egypt’s White Desert looks almost impossible.   You are standing in the Sahara, yet instead of the golden and reddish sand most people associate with a desert, the landscape ahead can look as if it has been covered by snow.   The ground is pale.   Huge white rocks rise from the

You book a White Desert safari in Egypt, open the itinerary and suddenly discover two places:   Old White Desert   and   New White Desert.   Naturally, the questions start.   Are they two different deserts? Is one actually older than the other? Which one has the famous mushroom-shaped rocks? Which is better for

Some places in Egypt are famous because of a single monument.   Agabat Valley is different.   There is no pyramid, temple or museum waiting at the end of the road. Instead, the attraction is the entire landscape: enormous pale cliffs rising above golden sand, isolated rock towers appearing on the horizon, dunes flowing between

In the middle of Egypt’s Western Desert, between dark volcanic-looking hills and the surreal white formations of the White Desert, there is a small geological landmark that seems to glitter in the sunlight.   This is Crystal Mountain Egypt, one of the most popular stops on the classic route from Bahariya Oasis toward the White

When most travelers imagine Egypt, they picture pyramids, temples, the Nile and ancient tombs.   But travel west of the Nile and the country changes completely.   Cities disappear. Roads become quieter. Palm-filled oases emerge from enormous desert landscapes. Black volcanic-looking hills give way to golden dunes, crystalline formations, prehistoric fossil sites and strange white

Traveling from Cairo to the White Desert is one of the easiest ways to exchange Egypt’s busy capital for one of the country’s most extraordinary natural landscapes.   Within the same journey, you can leave Cairo’s traffic behind, travel southwest toward Bahariya Oasis, switch into a desert 4×4, cross the dark volcanic-looking hills of the