Since Connor's parents were here for a week exploring Cairo, we thought we would top off the visit with a true desert excursion. And what an adventure, in both good and in less satisfactory ways, did it turn out to be! We chose as our destination Wadi el Hitan, which translates as 'Valley of the Whales,' a section of desert about 100 miles southwest of Cairo that once was a prehistoric sea. The area is renowned for its amazing showcase of 40 million year old fossils that dot the landscape, most notably those of ancient whales. So I found a travel company that could put together a one day, one night itinerary for us and away we went.
The driver and our English-speaking guide (hereafter known simply as the 'Trusty Guide') picked us up from our house promptly on Friday morning. As we happily bounced our way towards the first stop, which was meant to be a sailboat ride on a huge lake near an oasis, Trusty Guide casually mentioned that the company had not given him our specific itinerary and therefore he would just choose the stops along the way to the wadi from past experience. Ohhhhkay, we thought, I guess we should defer to his (better?) judgment. Trusty insisted that the town of Fayyoum, which has an oasis nearby of the same name, was a place not to be missed. Our first point of interest (I use that term loosely) was a decrepit water wheel, sitting motionless in a stream of stagnant and trash-filled water. Apparently these water wheels occur throughout Fayyoum and are a distinguishing characteristic of the town. We all tumbled out of the 4x4 to inspect the wheel, carefully dodging the litter and mud that lined the bank. We then piled into the car and were off again. Our next destination was a local spring. The place was packed with Egyptian families out for their afternoon constitutional. The spring's water had a sign boasting of its medicinal properties, principal of which was its amazing ability to 'neutralize gastric acid.' Lovely. The fountain into which the underground spring bubbled was mossy and needed a good scrub to showcase its contents properly. We then were whisked into the home (sorry, but 'hovel' is more apt here) of a local family, who promptly put two microscopic mangoes into Lynn's hand and requested baksheesh. Sheesh is right. Kay braved the bathroom at their modest abode but the city slicker in me emerged and I started to feel my skin crawl. We ended up sitting on grubby chairs near a disused swimming pool for our guide-imposed 'short rest.' At this point, it was heading towards lunchtime and we had not hit any of our planned stops yet. With growing concern for the probability that we would actually reach the whales before dusk, we headed in the direction of the desert. We head, but not without having to dissuade Trusty Guide from showing us the delights of two former palaces. Perhaps they would have been nice to see, but we were ready for the 'eco' part of this tour to begin.
Before heading into the great outdoors, however, it was time for a flat tire. Our back right wheel was completely devoid of air by the time we pulled over to the side of the highway. To his credit, our driver swapped it for the spare in a flash and we were off again, but now our primary focus was on getting the flat fixed. Weaving our way through the alleys of a nearby village, we finally found a tire repair place, which we would have mistaken for a rural home if not for the abundance of tires artfully decorating the front yard. Kay had a nice intercultural exchange with the children there. She snapped numerous pictures of them and showed them back to the kids, who were shy at first but by the end were posing and preening for the camera and having a wonderful time. They were so tickled and ecstatic from her overtures towards them; it was truly a special moment. Twenty minutes later, we were finally leaving civilization behind. Or so we thought.
As we entered the national park of Wadi el Rayan, we noticed an ominous patch of sky on the horizon. Hoping it was just a passing rain shower, pushing aside the fact that we are in the desert, we pressed on towards what is billed as a true site to behold: the waterfalls that pour into the valley lake, a rare site within Egypt. While posing for pictures atop an intriguing rock formation, our driver motioned for us to get back into the vehicle--quickly. We looked and sure enough, the wall of sand indeed was coming steadily and speedily closer.
We were all losing quite a bit of faith in Trusty at this point and the last thing we wanted was to be stuck in a sandstorm with him. Lynn casually but assertively asked if these storms are common, to which there was the answer 'No.' Lynn then inquired as to how long sandstorms usually last, to which Trusty replied with alarming non-chalance, 'Oh, one or two days.' Oh my. As the wind continued to pick up and a substantial amount of particulates began to assail us, we briefly ran out to view the waterfall, which was, to be honest, no great shakes. Trusty tried to insist that we take off our shoes and socks and wade across the swiftly moving water to see some more subsections of the falls, but having some regard for our safety, we declined. Vociferously.
By this time we were flat out starving (it is after 2pm) and we took shelter behind a wooden shack that is the park cafeteria. Dozens of Egyptian extended families were tucking into their grub and we had high hopes that a tasty meal would help offset the sense of impending sandstorm doom. What was placed before us, though, were styrofoam plates of wilted tomatoes, stale pita bread, and gelatinous canned tuna. Feeling like Pharaoh's Revenge was certain to be lurking in these sad vittals, we choked down what bread and rice we could manage and left hungry and dissatisfied. The restrooms here were the third of the day that I could not muster the courage to enter, but I knew that this trend could not continue much longer and I really was banking on the Valley of the Whales having decent facilities. Inshallah.
As we climbed into the car again, the sandstorm mercifully began to subside. 35 km down a sandy but well-marked desert track later, we were finally at Wadi el Hitan. Trusty announced straight away that the bathrooms here were very 'chic,' and for once he was dead on, and it was a relief in more ways than one. Around 4pm we entered the trail to see the fossils. The desert itself was simply breathtaking, with lunar-like rocks in all sorts of shapes and sizes cropping up from nowhere. The scenery was truly outstanding.
Halfway through our walk amongst the fossils, the park rangers drove up and informed us that the site was closed for the night. What?! This was the whole reason why we arranged the trip in the first place! We grudgingly turned around and trudged out of the park, consoling ourselves with the fact that at least we would be feasting on a barbecued chicken dinner that night, the segment of the itinerary to which I felt surely we would still be sticking. Oh no. The meal that Trusty arranged for us was not fresh chicken grilled over an open fire, but the leftovers from this park's cafeteria, which had to be reopened to feed us. I think the picture below that Connor took speaks for itself:
Yep, that plate on the far right is canned tuna again. Lynn has a serious aversion to tuna that stems back to his bachelor days, having had it for dinner for about four months straight for a period of time, and so the sight of it again was particularly odious to him. I nearly teared up, I must admit. But we managed to get a bit of it down the hatch in the end. Curiously, Trusty gathered up all the leftover tuna, piled it on top of a grocery bag, and began to take it up to our camp site for use as 'desert fox food.' Below is a photo of said fox. Can you spot him?
Now I am not exactly a seasoned camper, but I do know that one of the cardinal rules is not to invite critters near your tent by tempting them with meat. After several kindly insistences from both Kay and Lynn that this perhaps was not the best move, I shouted at Trusty that he better not bring that up to our site. Finally he acquiesced.We saw an amazing amount of stars as we sat next to the crackling fire before turning in for an early night. The wadi still was a special place on earth and no amount of logistical snags could take that away from it.
The next morning, we went a bit rogue and, with no sign of the promised breakfast, we announced that we were going back into the park for a walk. Trusty came along, fairly congenially, and we managed to walk the whole length of the 3 km trail and see all the skeletons and petrified mangrove bushes we wanted before heading back to Cairo. In the end, we got to explore the park twice, once at twilight and once with early morning light, which was a treat. All in all, we would not trade all the annoyances away for the chance to see the spectacular Wadi el Hitan. Just chalk it up to a big fat learning experience. 'T.I.E.,' we kept reminding ourselves, 'This is Egypt.'
