English
the White Desert in the Bahariya Oasis, Egypt
-
Location and Access:
- The White Desert is located just north of the Farafra Oasis town in the Western Desert region of Egypt.
- It serves as a popular attraction for adventure tourism due to its unusual and diverse rock formations set against the bright white surroundings.
-
Distinctive Features:
- The main characteristic of the White Desert is the presence of limestone that covers and mingles with the fine sand.
- The wind has sculpted this limestone into various shapes, with the most famous formations being the “mushrooms.”
- Imagine chalk mounds dotted like pavlova cakes, ice-cream cones, and pools of icing.
- The fantastic shapes are the result of millions of years of erosion by wind and sand blown in from the Great Sand Sea.
- Encounter the Khoman chalk ridges, created from sediment deposited by marine creatures in an ancient sea.
- The chalky limestone, similar to ice-white bricks used in the Western Desert’s structures, adds to the surreal landscape.
- A layer of harder limestone forms a pink crust over the surface of the chalk.
- At sunset and dawn, the White Desert reveals a dramatic theater left by an antique ocean, making it one of the most spectacular deserts to behold.
