Egypt Tourism: Self-Driving Across the Sahara Desert (Photos)
For the reporter’s two previous self-driving trips to Egypt, the most unforgettable was the experience of crossing the Sahara Desert. On February 28, 2014, in front of the Mena House Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, the "Car Lovers Self-Drive Egypt Across the Sahara Desert Exploration Activity" jointly organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, the Tourism Office of the Egyptian Embassy in China, the Beijing Automotive Motorcycle Sports Association, and the Aiche Vehicle Management Organization officially kicked off.
Courtyard of Mena House Hotel (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
At 6:00 a.m. Egypt time, after a night's rest, washing up, and breakfast, the car enthusiasts came from the lobby of the Mena House Hotel to the parking lot opposite and were stunned by the sight before them. In the parking lot, which had only a few cars yesterday, sixty cars of various colors and models were now lined up in rows.
Convoy waiting to start (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
Each car was affixed with a uniform decal featuring the flags of China and Egypt, beautifully designed and brightly colored, reading "1,000 Car Lovers Self-Drive Egypt Tour." All cars were equipped with two-way radios. The fleet was led by a black Kia as the command vehicle, followed by a lead vehicle and four groups: A, B, C, and D.
Ready to depart (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
It turned out that this was the result of the hard work of the deputy commander-in-chief of the event, Li Peng, along with the Aiche team staff: Wang Shuai (Commander of Team A), Yu Jia (Commander of Team B), Zhang Peng (Commander of Team C), Kang Xingyang (Commander of Team D), and Kong Yanjing (Chief of General Affairs), who had worked with Egyptian staff late into the night. Now, the fleet was ready to set off at any moment.
Streaming out toward the suburbs (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
At around 7:00 a.m. Egypt time, the event commander-in-chief, Cao Qun, issued the departure order over the radio. The Car Lovers Self-Drive Egypt Across the Sahara Desert convoy filed out of the Mena House Hotel in sequence and headed through Cairo toward the suburbs. The convoy, with its uniform decals, moved through Cairo like a beautiful scenic line, attracting the attention of many locals, who waved friendly greetings to the passing vehicles.
Photo during a break (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The reporter traveled in the command vehicle of the Car Lovers Self-Drive Egypt convoy, along with Mr. Cao Qun, the event commander-in-chief and president of the Aiche Vehicle Management Organization, and Dr. Nasser, the Assistant for Asian Affairs of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. Since the convoy needed to be directed by radio, the command vehicle had five frequencies: one for the commander-in-chief and one each for the four team commanders. To give the car enthusiasts a sense of the command system of the self-driving expedition, after leaving Cairo, Cao Qun opened the commander-in-chief frequency for a while, and the radio was soon filled with the excited laughter and chatter of many car enthusiasts.
Nasser greeting the car enthusiasts (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
During the journey, the reporter had a close interview with Cao Qun about this self-driving event. President Cao explained: This self-driving Egypt convoy was well-organized and rigorous. The Egyptian side not only arranged for more than 50 accompanying staff and drivers but also dispatched an Egyptian special police unit commanded by a general, with hundreds of police and military personnel along the route to ensure the convoy's security.
Reporter posing with special police (Photo by Cao Qun)
In addition, our 60 self-driving cars were divided into four teams: A, B, C, and D. The command system consisted of the commander-in-chief vehicle, the lead vehicle, the general work vehicle, and the general support vehicle. Two buses served as maintenance and supply vehicles. The Beijing Automotive Motorcycle Sports Association’s Car Lovers Committee and Self-Driving Committee sent elite teams, divided into six command systems, to accurately command and ensure the effective operation of the large convoy.
Arriving at a desert service area (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The convoy finally drove out of Cairo and onto the desert highway. An endless expanse of yellow sand was bisected by a black road stretching to the horizon. The moving convoy was as spectacular as a rolling dragon. At this point, the guide for Team C, Mohmaed Helal, also known as "Momomo," began to introduce the Sahara Desert. His gentle and refined narration was vivid and touching.
Group photo at the service area (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world, besides Antarctica. Located in northern Africa, it has extremely harsh climatic conditions and is one of the most unsuitable places for biological growth on Earth. However, its magical and charming scenery is incomparable. The name "Sahara" comes from Arabic, derived from the language of the local nomadic Tuareg people, meaning "great desert." This desert formed about 2.5 million years ago.
Car enthusiast photo at the service area (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The Sahara Desert is south of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, roughly north of the 14°N line (250 mm isohyet). It stretches from the Atlantic coast in the west to the Red Sea in the east, covering the northern part of the African continent. It is 5,600 kilometers long from east to west and about 1,600 kilometers wide from north to south, covering an area of about 9.6 million square kilometers, accounting for about 32% of Africa's total area.
Black Desert landscape (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The Sahara Desert divides the African continent into two parts: North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. These two regions have entirely different climates and cultures. The southern boundary of the Sahara is the semi-arid tropical savanna, called the "Sahel" in Arabic. Further south is the rain-rich, plant-rich region of Sub-Saharan Africa, called "Sudan" in Arabic, meaning "land of the blacks."
Desert date palm trees (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The Sahara Desert has various arid landform types, including rock deserts, gravel deserts, and sand deserts. Rock deserts are mostly distributed in the higher areas of central and eastern Sahara, and the Nubian Desert east of the Nile is also mainly rock desert. Larger areas are called "sand seas," composed of complex and regular dune arrangements of various sizes. The dune shapes are diverse, including tall fixed dunes, low mobile dunes, and large areas of fixed and semi-fixed dunes. Fixed dunes are mainly distributed in the southern areas close to grasslands and along the Atlantic coast. From Libya west to the western part of Algeria is the shifting sand area. Mobile dunes move continuously in the wind direction. In the Sahara Desert, mobile dunes have been observed moving 9 meters in one year.
Orderly convoy (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
Humans have lived on the edges of the Sahara Desert since about 500,000 years ago. During the last ice age, the Sahara was not a desert; its climate was similar to that of present-day East Africa. Approximately 30,000 ancient rock paintings have been discovered in the desert, about half of which are in the Ennedi Plateau in southern Algeria, depicting animals in rivers, such as crocodiles. Dinosaur fossils have also been found. However, since 3000 BC, except near the Nile Valley and scattered oases, there has been almost no large-scale vegetation in the Sahara.
Arriving at the Crystal Mountain in the desert (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The climate of the Sahara Desert is hot and dry. Yet, puzzlingly, in this extremely arid, water-scarce, cracked, and sparsely vegetated land, there was once a thriving ancient civilization. Many magnificent large murals in the desert are the crystallization of this ancient civilization.
Sahara Desert scenery (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
In 1850, German explorer Barth came to the Sahara for an expedition and discovered ostrich, buffalo, and various human figures carved on rock walls. In 1933, a French cavalry unit came to the Sahara and accidentally found a group of murals several kilometers long in the Tassili n'Ajjer plateau in the central Sahara. These murals are painted on rock shelters formed by water erosion, colorful, elegant, and harmonious, depicting scenes of ancient people’s lives.
Sahara Desert mountain scenery (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
Among the murals, there are many animal images in various postures and characteristics. The tense scenes of frightened animals galloping with all four hooves off the ground, as if flying and running wildly, are vividly portrayed with excellent artistic skill, comparable to any outstanding mural art of the same period from other countries.
Desert wonders (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
From these animal images, the natural features of the ancient Sahara can be fairly reliably inferred. For example, some murals depict people hunting hippopotamuses with canoes, indicating that the Sahara once had perennial rivers.
Sahara Desert mountain scenery (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
For modern people, not only is it difficult to determine the age of these murals, but the strange shapes in the paintings are also incomprehensible, remaining a mystery in the history of human civilization on Earth.
Advancing into the depths of the desert (Photo by Momomo)
Listening to Momomo’s explanation and looking at the real scenes of the Sahara Desert outside the window was truly an enjoyment. Dr. Nasser, the Assistant for Asian Affairs of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, warmly praised the spectacular sight of the Car Lovers crossing the Sahara while also offering some unique comments on Momomo’s narration. He was full of praise for the guide. This made the reporter, who had only heard his voice but not yet met him face to face, eager to see Momomo’s true appearance.
Special police directing operations (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The convoy took a break on the desert highway. The long line of cars on one side of the road was a magnificent sight. The car enthusiasts got out and took photos of various sights. Some car enthusiasts posed for photos with the Egyptian police escorts. These armed special police were serious in their work, rarely smiling, but when asked for a photo, they usually cooperated with a smile. Through gradual interaction, they became friends with the car enthusiasts.
Special police escorting (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The convoy started again. Some cars began playing melodious Arabic songs with strong local characteristics. Everyone looked forward to the night’s campsite deep in the desert, which was sure to bring surprising stories of exploration, waiting for each person to interpret and imagine with their hearts…
Photo with Egyptian special police (Photo by Liang Yong)
If someone asks: What is it like to cross the Egyptian Sahara Desert? Then, after personally experiencing the two-day Car Lovers self-drive Egypt desert tour, the reporter can tell you: it is full of surprises, with joy and thrills coexisting. That afternoon, at around 3:00 p.m. Egypt time, the Car Lovers self-drive Egypt convoy arrived at a small village called Bawiti (transliteration) after a 380-kilometer journey.
Egyptian driver in Bawiti village (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The 188 car enthusiasts got out of their sedans and switched to jeeps driven by local villagers to head deep into the Sahara Desert. The convoy left the desert highway and drove on real desert roads, giving people a real sense of the excitement of driving in the desert.
Campsite deep in the desert (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
The jeeps sped across the flat sand sea. Sometimes, when encountering a bend, the car would feel like skidding on ice, and the sense of weightlessness when descending from the mountain would terrify you. When arriving at the campsite deep in the sand sea, the natural wonder made people feel as if they had arrived at the filming location of the movie "Star Wars" in Cappadocia, Turkey. Clusters of mushroom-shaped rocks and bizarre white rock formations were breathtaking.
Campfire party at the campsite (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
Is this a desert? Yes, it truly is, but it is the Sahara Desert in Egypt, Africa… As night fell, looking up at the starry sky, the Milky Way stretched infinitely. Lying on the sand sea and gazing at the Milky Way was poetic and romantic. Suddenly, a melodious harmonica melody drifted over, adding color to the dark desert. At that moment, a blazing campfire reddened half the sky of the desert. The car enthusiasts joyfully sang and danced, then each retired to a small tent, spending an extremely happy night in the Sahara Desert.
Sunrise at the campsite (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
In the early morning of March 1, 2014, while the campsite deep in the Sahara Desert was still immersed in silence, some excited car enthusiasts, unable to contain their lingering excitement from the previous night, woke up. Crawling out of their "little houses," they went to various high points to await the first rays of dawn on the desert horizon.
Campsite showcasing Sino-Egyptian friendship (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy that day and did not show much of a smile. But the disappointment was soon replaced by wild revelry in the desert, as large-scale, carefree photo sessions in the sand sea began. Laughter and joy, colorful flags flying, and the bright smiling faces of the car enthusiasts were captured in front of the flags of China and Egypt…
Revelry at the campsite (Photo by Feng Ganyong)
After the fun, when the convoy returned to the desert highway, the car enthusiasts got out of the jeeps and back into their cars to continue the desert journey. Suddenly, a fierce sandstorm hit. Yellow sand swirled, blotting out the sky and sun. At that moment, the desert briefly shed its romance and showed its ferocious side. The darkness was thicker than Beijing’s smog. But this was all part of the thrill; such an experience could only be had while crossing the Sahara Desert. So the car enthusiasts’ excited reactions were understandable.
Eternal joy captured (Photo by Momomo)
That evening, due to the severe sandstorm, the Car Lovers self-drive crossing the Sahara Desert convoy traveled for nearly 11 hours and arrived at the best four-star hotel in the Kharga Province at around 11:00 p.m. Egypt time. Although it was very late, the governor of Kharga Province held a grand welcome party on the hotel lawn. The governor personally received Mr. Cao Qun, president of the Aiche Organization, and his team, took photos with them, and presented souvenirs. With this, the Car Lovers self-drive crossing the Sahara Desert exploration activity came to a successful conclusion.
Photo with the governor of Kharga Province (Photo by Li Peng)
Although the crossing of the Sahara Desert only took two days, the car enthusiasts enjoyed the different sceneries of the desert, visiting natural attractions such as the Bahariya Oasis, the Black Desert, and Crystal Mountain, leaving them with unforgettable memories. Friends, when you have the chance to try a self-driving trip in Egypt, the reporter can assure you: crossing the Egyptian Sahara Desert is absolutely a unique and unforgettable experience in a lifetime… (Text and photos by Feng Ganyong)
