Ahmed Safari Camp & Hotel Bawiti

... peoples squeals. The drivers claims to never have rolled it, a hard thing to believe, but were relieved on this occasion that he didn't prove us right. But we know for sure he has definitely been stuck, at least once that we know of. As we were stuck on a 45º angle, while they tried to dig us out for 20 minutes. All in all a great driver. <br>After a dip in a cold spring full of local children, we dined rather impressively, well with our ...

... center was open, he couldn't give us any definitive answers saying that every hotel and tour was equal in his eyes. He told us how much we should be paying for a tour of the deserts and rang our desired hotel for us, within 5 minutes we were picked up by the owner and on our way.<br>The camp was more than what we expected. The rooms were very basic but in a nice clean way. Every room was its own little reed hut, with a shady common area in the middle ...

... we were on our way to the White Desert. We drove around the white desert for a while, had lunch at an oasis, then found a good place to set up a camp at around 4pm. Bluto and Ekramy pulled down all the stuff that was tied to the top of the car - and set it all up. We had cushioned to sit on, blankets, a huge tarp and a table. Bluto got a fire going while we explored the desert. The sunset was amazing. It turned all ...

... for everyone!) and drove to Bawiti. We took a detour to avoid the traffic in Giza on this military road. Unpaved = sand dunes. Crazy. Then we stopped for some food to take on the road. KFC is good here, too! :) It was about a 4 hour drive through the desert on the longest, flattest, straightest road ever. Yes, Henry, straighter then the road from SA to Laredo ...

... is nonetheless. The important thing is that my friends and I feel (and are) perfectly safe. I'm confident that the attack was conducted by an amateur splinter group without any external support. I'm more confident that the Egyptian government will do its utmost to continue its battle against violent extremism. And I am most confident life will return to normal shortly. In the interim, of course my friends and I will avoid the major tourist sites and exercise ...

... all day. When the safari guys are not leading a group somewhere they are off and in town just hanging out in their family and friends' homes or at various business around town. It is common for the men to talk and drink tea throughout the day and especially in larger groups in the evening. Alon and I were often invited to tea. I think Alon went to one home three times in the four days we were in Bariya. Usually in these settings I am the ...

... the sun. There are giant buzzy bee insects with big bodies and little transparent wings and they remind me of a short fat man wearing a bee costume. There are dragonflies too. We have the camp to ourselves. We can already feel the stillness of the desert and all we can hear are donkeys and a lone Bedouin drummer in the moloka as we sit and drink spiced Bedouin tea from tiny glasses. The Bedouin are a desert-dwelling Arab nomadic pastoralist group, found throughout most of ...

... rock. The volcanoes themselves look like hills of sand except for the solid black masses at the top of them that look like charcoal off a grill. The rocks themselves were also holding the heat from the sun even though it was quite cool while we were there. Afterwards we headed to a fresh water spring and a little hut built around it where we chilled out for a couple hours, had lunch and swam in the sulpherous water. We then headed out to ...

... were better preserved and displayed. A couple of tombs of rich local merchants which were a good example of the tomb construction and art of the time. We also visited the Bes Temple, which was also the first time (outside the pyramids) we had to share a monument with other tourists. It got a little ridiculous when one tagged on to our lecture and even tried to ask Rado questions. By far the most impressive visits were the more natural sites. Having our own ...