We had a later morning than the previous-but we still had to be up and ready to leave the hotel, after eating breakfast, by 6:30am. Do y’all think any of us are morning people yet? Hint: we’re not! Lol
Right at 6:30, we met Ahmad, our tour owner and our guide for today and tomorrow. We loaded into our van and started the 4 hour journey to The Oasis, a home/gathering spot/restaurant out in the middle of the desert. It was a long 4 hours, but once we made it there, Ahmad introduced us to our host, Akmed. He owns the Oasis and will be our driver through the White and Black Desert. He is a Beduin and knows this area well.
We were served a nice lunch with salad, veggies, soup, rice and beef. The beef tasted like pork roast to me, but I seemed to be the only one in our group that enjoyed it. I really can eat just about anything. After eating lunch and getting together our overnight bags, the four of us, Ahmad and Akmed got into the Toyota Landcruiser and started our trip into the desert.
The first time Akmed went off the paved road into the sands of the desert, I was a little nervous. He was a great driver though, and it ended up being a blast. He’d fly through the straight aways and then slide and drift into the sands.. we were all laughing and holding on for dear life. The speedometer needle didn’t work, so I never knew exactly how fast we were going, but I definitely let out quite a few squeals!
Terri put her airplane pillow around her neck like a brace and we all cried with laughter while getting jostled around. We stopped in the Black Desert, which is black from lava rocks on top of the tan/orange sand. Apparently thousands of years ago a volcano erupted here. Even the rocks are ancient. We also stopped at Crystal mountain, a mountain made of gorgeous crystal like rocks.
We passed the sandstone formations carved in odd forms from the wind. We also saw the area where the ancient ocean flowed, long since dried up now. Apparently archeologists found fossils and whale bones out here! That’s pretty spectacular to think about. There were formations with names like Mushroom Rock, Chicken Rock, and Camel Rock, all for obvious reasons. All of them were neat to see up close! The scenery was like being on another planet all together.
We got to sandboard down a huge sloping sand dune.. Andrea and I did it twice! As fun as it was going down, it was a workout coming back up-but totally worth it. Terri went down the slightly shorter side, so she could slide right down to where the truck was parked-can we say genius? Lol
We then went to where we were going to be camping for the night. The White Desert is called that because of the white sandstone chalk covering parts of the orange/yellow sand. The contrasting colors make it absolutely stunning to see in person, I hate that my phone is incapable of really capturing its beauty. We watched the sunset in the most vivid pinks and oranges-with the most clouds I’ve seen in Egypt to date. It was truly special.
While we were walking around and snapping photos of the sunset, Akmed and his team set up our tents and started making us dinner! When we walked back to camp, there was a large Beduin tent and our 3 smaller tents to sleep in. There was a bonfire going and chicken being cooked on a grill over the open flames. It was a lovely site!
We all sat around chatting until dinner was served, chicken, veggies, salad and soup. I’m not one for picking food off of bones-it’s something I struggle with-I literally get nauseous with it at times, but I think I managed my piece of chicken well. I loved the flavor and all of the other food too. When I was getting peer pressured into eating another piece of chicken, I almost lost it. I did my best to keep it together and remain polite-but I just don’t like eating off the bone. It’s wasteful to continue to give it to me. Ha.
Anyway. We sat around our fire and a couple from Australia came over to join us. Akmed made us tea to sip while soaking in the beauty of the desert at night. The stars were all out, the tea was fantastic, the experience was unforgettable.
Mom didn’t last too much longer after tea, she went and got in our tent and fell fast asleep quick. Terri was a little ways behind mom. Andrea and I laid on our backs watching the stars for another hour maybe, and then decided to follow suit. The tents are 2 person tents with screens to see out from. There wasn’t much airflow inside, but I was glad I could still see the stars from my bed.
Mom and I slept through sunrise. Ooops. I did get up at 5am to go pee, and was dumbfounded for a good 10 minutes out there alone, watching the sky in all of its starry glory. Pretty incredible stuff. We all ate breakfast together before making the drive back to the Oasis. There we gathered our luggage and transferred to the van, with lunch packed for us. We said our goodbyes to Akmed and started that long 4 hours back to Cairo.
Along the way- IT STARTED RAINING!! We got to see rain in the desert! How neat is that?! We napped, we listened to our phones-music and audiobooks-and eventually we made it to our hotel for the night. Thankfully, this hotel is connected to the airport-so we just have to walk down a hallway to connect to our airport terminal in the morning. Wahoo!
We said our goodbyes to Ahmad, checked in, stored away our stuff in our new rooms-and then decided to go eat right away, before any of us showered and got comfortable, because without a doubt, after a shower we knew we wouldn’t be getting dressed again and leaving those rooms until it was time to leave for our flight!
We ate burgers and fajitas at the restaurant by the gorgeous pool. It had stopped sprinkling, but the skies were still cloudy-the perfect excuse to go shower and fall asleep early. The food was fantastic, Andrea and I had some red wine (also great) and Connie and Terri had a beer! I guess they needed that after our off roading and 4×4 sand dude and camping experience!
Now, I’m showered, clean, and cozied up in my bed. I’m sure the second I sit this phone down I’ll be asleep. We head to our beach resort in Sharm El Sheikh tomorrow and I for one CANNOT WAIT. Sleeping in, all inclusive foods, pools and the Red Sea. Yes please! I think it’s time for some downtime! Goodnight