Egypt is a country rich in history and natural beauty. Among the world’s natural wonders, Egypt has two large Sahara Desert, the western and eastern, and some smaller deserts, such as the Sinai, where there are also many oases.
For millions of years, the Egyptian desert has been considered a place full of mystery, fear, suspense, and adventure. Read on and find out more about the world’s largest hot desert:
Western Sahara Desert
More than two-thirds of Egypt’s territory is covered by the Western Desert. The desert area begins on the west bank of the Nile and extends to the west (Libya) and south (Sudan), thus forming part of the famous Sahara Desert (the largest desert in the world) which spreads across northern Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to Egypt, the Sahara Desert covers part of the following countries and territories: Chad, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Mali, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia.
A curiosity about the Sahara, this desert has an area of 9,065,000 km², an area comparable to the United States, just imagine the size of this desert, it is immense! According to history and geography, the Sahara desert was formed after a rotation of the earth caused a major climate change more than 10,000 years ago.
black desert
Mountains covered in black sand form what has become known as the Black Desert, a place that also looks like it’s from another planet. The mysterious sand, which covers everything that passes by, comes from a past of volcanic activity in the region, back in the Jurassic period.
The landscape changes rapidly in the region, and a few kilometers from the black desert in a plain region huge limestone boulders appear golden from the erosion of millions of years. Another almost spatial scene shows how varied the landscape is between the Bahariya and Farafra depressions.
Crystal mountains
Huge crystal stalagmites in the region look like they’re made of quartz, but they’re calcite crystals. The landscape is impressive, with mountains of crystals that are colorless but uniquely beautiful.
White Desert
126 km from the Black Desert is the exact opposite: the White Desert, possibly the strangest scenery in the region. It’s like big waves, but instead of the sea, the landscape is made up of limestone rocks, first formed 30 million years ago and sculpted by nature ever since.
Sinai Desert
The Sinai Desert is diverse and has wide plains, large dunes, hills and sandstone rocks, mountain ranges, and plateaus sculpted by nature. The Sinai landscape is full of breathtaking spectacular views, mountains, winding valleys, oases, and hidden canyons. As well as being a beautiful natural site, Sinai also has important archaeological sites dating back to ancient times, such as the Pharaonic, Byzantine, and Nabataean eras.
Beaches
Just like the beaches of the eastern desert, the beaches of the Sinai peninsula are impeccably beautiful and also very popular with travelers: Dahab, Sharm el Sheikh, Ras Sudr, Taba and Nuweiba.
Blue Desert
The Blue Desert is not a natural creation like the Black Desert or the White Desert. This desert is a mark of peace in the history between Egypt and Israel. The Blue Desert was a work of art by the Belgian artist Jean Verame, who obtained permission from the Egyptian president of the time, Mohamed Anwar Al Sadat, to paint the rocks in the Sinai desert blue. a sign of peace between the two countries.
Monastery of St. Catherine
Founded around 330 AD, it was then just a small chapel built on what is believed to have been the site of the burning bush (when God spoke to Moses). Today the Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and receives thousands of visitors every year.
Desert Safari
One of the ways to get to know Egypt’s deserts is on safari. A desert safari takes you to an infinite variety of natural landscapes, combined with lush sunsets and a night sky painted with stars.
Walk past Bedouin houses, ancient ruins, and oases, buy local handicrafts, and immerse yourself in the cultural experience of Bedouin life. In addition, the desert holds natural blessings present in treatments such as hot sand baths in Siwa, hot springs in Ain Sokhna, salt therapy in the Siwa Salt Lake, and so on. For the more adventurous, camping in the desert and sandboarding can be a surreal experience
It’s important to mention that the desert hasn’t always had the arid characteristics for which it is so well known. Around 8,000 years ago, North Africa received a dense rainy season, causing its population to spread over almost the entire desert. Its current arid form became entrenched around 13,000 years ago.
The desert is known for enduring one of the most arid climates on the planet, as well as the famous sandstorms caused by the northeast wind. Rare precipitation is recorded in the southern and northern coastal areas, which means that the desert receives around 25 mm of rain a year.
A striking feature of the Sahara Desert is its high temperature range, which is responsible for the drastic variations in temperature throughout the day. While thermometers hit 50°C during the day, at night they can record negative averages as low as -10°C. Despite the high temperatures, some parts of Algeria experience snow.
Snow in the Sahara Desert
Snowfalls have hit the country’s Saharan territories at different times in history. The first occurred in February 1979 in southern Algeria. Another snowfall was recorded in 2016, this time in the Ain Sefra region. The explanation may lie in the low temperatures and humidity that reached the desert from Europe.
Today, the Sahara Desert is home to around 4 million people. However, just like the climate and the geographical limitations themselves, the population characteristics of the Sahara have varied over the centuries. Historical records show that Phoenicians, Greeks, Europeans and Egyptians are among the civilizations that have inhabited the Sahara Desert.
During the rainy season eight thousand years ago, people lived in camps or villages near the rivers and lakes. There, they fished and hunted larger animals such as antelopes, crocodiles, hippos, elephants and giraffes. However, climate change has forced these people to migrate to the banks of rivers and oases.
Economy of Sahara Desert
The economy of the Sahara varies according to climatic conditions and the region. The Bedouins are engaged in trade and herding. Those who have settled on the banks of the rivers have built small towns or villages where they mine iron (Mauritania and Algeria) and copper (Mauritania), as well as other industries.
Sahara Desert Animals
The inhospitable environment of the Sahara requires animals to have survival skills. Dromedaries and goats are the symbols of Saharan fauna, with the former used as the nomads’ main means of transportation. Also noteworthy is the Leiurus quinquestriatus, a highly toxic scorpion that grows up to 10 cm.
Also to be found are lizards such as the varano, snakes (such as the cerastes, predominantly nocturnal), cheetahs (especially in Mali, Niger and Chad), adax (a type of white antelope, now threatened with extinction), dassie (a type of mammal characteristic of the region) and the feneco, a species of omnivore.
Vegetation has been one of the most changed areas in the Sahara over the millennia. The landscape during the rainy season was made up of savannas, woodlands and grasslands, especially in the northern part, also known as the green Sahara. However, the region was plagued by a long period of drought that lasted about a thousand years.
The phenomenon changed the Saharan flora and today it is made up of dunes, sparse vegetation, oases scattered throughout the desert, as well as tamarisks, date palms, and acacias in the riverbeds. In some regions, we can find xerophytic plants, lichens, herbaceous plants, cacti and specimens with longer roots.
On the border between the desert and Sudan, there is a semi-arid strip of savannah called the Sahel, 500 to 700 km wide and 5,400 km long.
Oases are isolated areas of vegetation found in desert regions. They are usually surrounded by a freshwater spring. This type of formation is found in the interior regions of the Sahara due to the underground aquifers from which they are irrigated. Among them are the oases of Gardaia, Baria, Cufra, Timimoun and Siuá.
