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The Desert Oases
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The desert oases are part of the real authentic Egypt that one can discover in
close contact with nature by Land Rover: Faiyoum Oasis, the largest, is famous
for its springs and its water wheels that are essential for irrigation. The
ruins of the ancient Karanis are evidence of the civilization of the Middle
Kingdom. Fishing and hunting can be organized at Lake Karoun. Siwa Oasis is
situated on the edges of the El-Qattara depression, it has innumerable springs,
many of which are thermal. The population is of Berber origins. It was here
that Alexander the Great was crowned as a true Pharaoh in the temple of Amoun.
The four oases of the Western Desert, Bahariya - Farafra - Dakhla - Kharga, are
situated along a depression created by the drying up of a branch of the Nile in
ancient times, and yet they still manage to survive thanks to the river's
springs and underground wells. Kharga, with 60,000 inhabitants, is the most
important oasis in the Western Desert and boasts the temple of Ibis and the Al
Bagawat Necropolis with its 243 chapels decorated in Coptic style. To reach the
Oasis of Farafra you cross the Black Desert, and enter into the White Desert, a
truly unique and surreal area made up of rocky formations shaped by wind
erosion and disappearance of internal waters.
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