Egypt’s White Desert

Early morning we woke up (being tucked into bed at 8pm last night), well rested and eager to get back on the road. The family was still sleeping so we quietly got up, dressed and pushed our bikes back outside. Here is where the Motomias spent the night…

As Francois adjusted our chains for the day ahead Mr. Omar came outside to usher us back in for breakfast.

Wow! We had another amazing breakfast – hard boiled eggs, dates, labne, falafel and tea. Each time we stopped eating he shouted and shook his head instructing us to eat up :o) He then asked if we didn’t want to stay another night and we had to show him the map of the road that lay ahead explaining the distance that we still had to cover. They all came outside to say their goodbyes and ended up feeling like family. When we wanted to hand over some money for all they have done for us he kindly refused and sent us off. We were very grateful for their hospitality and kindness.

At our next police check point we got some more tea. The five youngish officials were very excited to see us and our tea drinking session ended with them taking photos of us and them posing next to us too. I kept a low profile throughout :o) The desert road was still beautiful and we pushed on towards Farafara Oasis.

About 20km before reaching Farafara, Francois was the first to run out of fuel. We stopped to fill the tank with fuel from our fuel bags. While we stopped we had another tea drinking invitation from a fellow biker, it seems if you want to travel here you need much more time to drink tea. Just as we got ready to leave again, the Voetspore team passed us again from behind. They spent the night in the desert a few kilometres back.

About 10km further I also ran out of fuel and we had to make another quick pit stop to fill my bike too. In Farafara we had lunch with the Voetspore team and caught up with all their stories. We then found out from the restaurant that there is currently no fuel in Farafara. Luckily the one guy working at the restaurant offered to help the two of us out with petrol that he had in a can at home. This should do the trick until we reach the last oasis at Bahariya.

Back on the road we were now entering the most beautiful part of the Western Desert route so far – the White Desert . It looks like someone spilled heaps of salt in the desert…

and the area is lined with chalk formations taking on all kinds of forms and shapes.

Truly an amazing sight.

About 50km South of Bahariya Oasis starts the Black Desert where a black powder covers the sand. This is formed by the erosion of the mountains surrounding the area.

In Bahariya we made a fuel stop, glad to be able to fill our fuel bags and tanks again. It was already 15h30 and we only had another hour and a half of sunshine left so we decided to push on as far as possible and camp in the desert again tonight. This would be our last night camping on the trip so we were looking forward to one last night in the desert.

About 60km along the road we found a stunning spot in the desert to camp.

It was fun getting the Motomias there driving along the dunes and sand. We pitched our tent here while sun set

and made some noodles and tuna for old time’s sake.

Our camp in the moonlight…

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow will be our final day driving into Alexandria from where the bikes will be shipped back to South Africa. It was fun talking about our highlights and most challenging times on the trip these past three months. We went to bed feeling happy and tired after a long day’s ride.