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Day 1 – London/Luxor
Fly London to Luxor with EgyptAir and transfer to the friendly medium-class Mercure Egotel for one night prior to our expedition. Full information on the safari is sent out prior to departure. (B)
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Day 2 – Wadi Hammamat
We board our Landcruisers and depart Luxor taking the road to Qena towards Quseir. This has been one of the roads to the Red Sea since time immemorial. We make our way to Wadi Hammamat the Pharaonic quarry where we will study the fascinating hieroglyphic inscriptions that cover the dark rock. We then leave the tarmac for the fi rst of our fi ve night’s camping choosing a sheltered spot on the edge of the great wide Wadi Qash. We set camp and await our fi rst desert sunset (BLD)
Day 3 – Site 18 to Site 26
We rise with the sun and after breakfast we begin a memorable day exploring some of the most important rock art sites of the Eastern Desert. These will include the grail of all rock art sites, Site 18, the overlapping layers of rock art at Site 24B with predynastic, Nabataean and Roman engravings all over the shaded rock face and the contentious Site 26 with mysterious plumed chieftain fi gures. We set camp again. (BLD)
Day 4 – Wadi Umm Salam
Today we follow the winding wadis south and enter the canyon of the boats with innumerable carvings for us to consider. We continue to further very sizeable sites in Wadi Barramiyah before setting camp again in the desert. (BLD)
Day 5 – Wadi Shalul
We head north through the pass at Wadi Shalul where the hieroglyphic inscriptions again point to intense Pharaonic activity in the desert and continue on to camp near an old Roman fort. (BLD)
Day 6 – Mons Claudianus
Today we cross the Red Sea road and proceed on through the desert making our way to the great quarry at Mons Claudianus where there is a large Roman ruin. Our fi nal night’s camp and a last meal cooked out under the desert skies. (BLD)
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Day 7 – Red Sea
We depart the desert, and if we have not already done so during our adventure we will seek out some of the Bedouin who have lived here for centuries. Then we head to the tourist resort of Hurghada and a fi rst-class hotel for our fi nal night. (BL)
Day 8 – Hurghada/London
Fly with EgyptAir to London via Cairo returning late afternoon the same day. (B)
Expert: Colin Reader is a geologist with a passion for Egyptology and a particular interest in the predynastic period making him ideal for this expedition. |