Camping in the Western Desert

Yesterday we emerged from the desert after four days camping. This update will be short as I don’t have much to say about camping or the desert. The scenery did change quite a lot as we drove through the Western desert, from black to white sand, and yellow in between. The black is apparently from volcanic activity and the white is because the area was once part of the sea.

Our truck is quite comfortable and very well fitted-out, with 4 double seats facing front, another four double seats with benches in between and two double seats in the back facing inwards. There’s a locker for our bags and camping gear, tents go on the roof, food is packed away securely in side hatches and as it’s a truck we are quite high off the ground. The inside has heaps of storage space and has been fitted with 8 12-volt chargers so we can keep phones / computers / cameras etc going. Alison and Rogan, our tour leader and driver, sit in the cabin which is separated from the rest of us but we can tap on their window to talk to them when necessary.

Everyone has been assigned duties and cooking groups, though thankfully Alison and Rogan determine what we’re eating and we really just have to cut things up and wash up. Cooking duty lasts one day and there are five groups. When we are in towns we don’t have to worry about it. My additional duty is to help manage a bar we run for the group, but my buddy is quite enthusiastic about it all so I’m happy to just hand drinks out.

The three nights rough camping were as they sound, with no showers or amenities. I’m going to have quad muscles of steel by the end of this trip …

Our first campsite - not a bad view for my first rough camp

The first night we found a lovely sandy area off the road where we could basically hide among rocks. The second night we were essentially in a quarry after the local police began following us and wouldn’t leave us alone. We still aren’t sure whether they genuinely wanted to ‘protect’ us, as they claimed, or if they wanted us to stay in a hotel to bring money to the town. Throughout most of the desert we had some kind of police escort, despite our drivers efforts to shake them off (somewhat hard when you’re driving a semitrailer). Needing the bathroom in the middle of the night when you’re in a quarry isn’t what you’d call fun, though thankfully the moon has been near full so we could at least see.

Waiting for dinner to be prepared in the quarry

Zoe, my tent buddy, in the sand dunes

The third night we found a lovely sand dune area behind someone’s farm. A Bedouin bloke appeared from nowhere not long after we arrived and claimed it was his land, so we paid him a bit of money and everyone was happy. Our police escort insisted on spending the night with us but stayed in their car rather than joining us and the bedouin bloke for dinner.

In between campsites we spent about 5 hours driving each day, and stopped in to small towns along the way to buy water or see any interesting sites.

I was warned before leaving Sydney that sand gets into everything, and this is no lie. When we arrived in Luxor yesterday afternoon I’d never been so happy to have a shower. We have three days in Luxor to explore the old tombs and temples before heading to Aswan where we get the ferry across to Sudan.