Egypt is a country with a very interesting history and many interesting places. In Egypt you will definitely not get bored and remember the rest of your life. We go there every autumn as my husband is a fan of diving. Each time we book one or two trips to interesting and famous Egyptian places. The next beautiful and memorable place we visited is Wadi El Gemal in the Marsa Alam region - Camel Valley is one of the largest national parks in Egypt.
We booked three tours in one: Jeep safari, animal and bird watching safari, and easy hiking in the mountains.
Wadi El Gemal National Park is about 45 km from Marsa Alam. "Wadi" in Arabic means valley, "El Gemal" camel. The territory is extremely large. Along with the land area, the valley of the national park, the Mons Smaragd, sometimes called the Emerald mountains and the sea coast, it occupies as much as 7450 square kilometers and is one of the largest national parks in Egypt.
Since the park is guarded and to enter it requires a permit from the sea border and officers, after receiving this permit in the morning, we ordered transportation with local Bedouins in an all-terrain vehicle (jeep) and prepared for the hike. Since we are foreigners, we paid the national park visitor's fee, it is equal to 80 LE (~4.5€) for a person, and locals with the guide travel for free.
At the beginning of the day, it was overcast and we drove on a gravel road with barely visible sand. The views are the same at the beginning: the road, sand, mountains in the distance, withered grass, but after a good 40-50 km, the landscape begins to change. The sun's rays break through the clouds, and you can see the Acacia trees, which have particularly deep and lateral roots and are the lifeblood of the desert. Next, Salvadoran tree - bushes. The locals call it Suwak. Local residents used to make sticks and brush their teeth from the branch of this tree. Now a component of this tree is used in the production of toothpaste
We saw the first wild camels. The feeling was special, the valley is big and wide, and they move calmly in groups without being restricted and rummage through Acacia or Salvador (Suwak) trees, bushes or plants growing on the ground. They are often in pairs, both have a child, a young camel next to them. They are not afraid of people, because no one catches them, no one harms them or exploits them for their needs. I tried to get closer, even if I am not so brave, because they can spit when they're angry. I felt like I was on a real open-air wildlife safari.
We moved deeper into the park, we were in search of a water well. An easy walk in the mountains, I would recommend wearing shoes with non-slip soles as you will need to walk between rocks and stones. Beautiful mountains around, some smoothed by the wind, some porous. From the excrement left by the animals, I understand that they also come here. The water from the well, of course, it's interesting to taste it - the water tastes a bit salty, somewhat reminiscent of sea water, a bit muddy. I hope the "curse of the pharaoh" won't visit us tomorrow.
We continued the journey. Earlier in the Ptolemaic - Roman times, this Camel Valley was a trade route; trade between Asia and Africa took place. There are remaining ruins of Ptolemaic residences. Several millennia have passed, and they are still standing today, piled up from stones without any cement. There is a unique feeling that, only thanks to excellent mathematical calculations, stone plates of a certain size, stacked on top of each other in a special order, have survived to this day. A temple dedicated to the goddess of beauty, Isis, is tucked into the hill next to the block of residential houses and has remained in excellent condition. The houses are built a little higher on the mountain. The guide invited us to climb up and look at the valley from above. The path is stony, there are many clay pottery shards on the way, and finally we climbed the mountain.
The walls of the remaining houses are well preserved. In some places, we saw window niches, stone floors, utility rooms and doorways. We sat on a mountain. Beyond them are other mountains and another valley, called "False Valley". When the rains and torrential rains wash the mountains and flow down the current valley forming waterfalls, the water flows abundantly forming rivers and the roads become impassable. And if the amount of water is particularly high, part of it overflows and flows through the "False Valley". After the last rains, the valley becomes green, a lot of wild animals like wild goats, camels, rare and familiar bird species, rodents and insects come to the valley. Water works miracles, new life is born.
A deafening silence, only the whistling of the wind in your ears. At the bottom of the mountain, Bedouins are heating their meal on a fire, and in the distance above the top of the mountain, lightning flashes and, after a dozen seconds, thunder. Of course, I miss the rain the least.
It begins to darken fast and the Bedouins urge us to go down the mountain, eat dinner and drive back. Because if it starts to rain, we could get stuck in the desert for a few days. The food is especially delicious in nature, on a mat, with a mobile phone illuminating the food. Eh, total romance.
Having traveled more than 400 km in a day, I felt a little tired, but the impressions were taking over and I hope one day I will come here again. An excursion to Wadi El Gemal National Park is really impressive, but there are very few agencies in Egypt that offer this excursion and only on a certain day of the week.
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All photos are original.
With love
"Do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular" - R. T. BENNETH.