About 150 km southwest of Cairo in the Faiyum Governorate, lies Wadi Al-Hitan, Whale Valley. It’s not easy to get to, and you have to know where you are going because there are no helpful signs or convenient roads to help you get there. Oh, and you’re going to need a 4×4. You can actually find some tours leaving out of Cairo that will take you there, even prepare you a lunch. Or you can pick a tour that will also have you spending the night out under the stars once there. Any way you go about it, expect a drive out that will likely leave you grabbing for a door handle, or the person next to you, a time or two. But, there’s nothing to worry about, it’s all part of the fun.

Image Courtesy // Instagram

Getting There

Image Courtesy // Instagram

The drive out is breath-taking. The vast desert and mammoth rock formations stretch out before you, bold and quiet and timeless. Dunes ranging from gentle slopes to near 90-degree behemoths await out your windows. And it’s quiet. Oh so quiet, that you might hear your own slightly rapid breathing or the rhythmic drumbeat of your pulse in your ears driven by the adrenaline of barreling through the sands. It’s a drive and a landscape that makes you both feel so small and yet so incredibly infinite.

Once On Sight

Image Courtesy // Instagram

Once you arrive at this UNESCO World Heritage Site,  you will be greeted by a few small buildings and a small museum. It is hot. Really hot. Duh, desert, right? But still, make sure you bring water because this bit of desert would win awards for heat. The museum has some good information, and it’s definitely worth looking and reading things over. But outside is where you really get to see the goods. There’s around 8km in total area to be hiked in the portion of the site that is open to the public. But, there is a main loop available. Standing there, in the middle of the desert, under the hot indifferent sun, it is very hard to believe that in one point in time, there was water here. Enough water for whales and turtles and sea cows. Enough water for sawfish and sharks and sea grasses. But, as you make your way around Wadi Al Hitan, there’s the proof right there before your eyes. It’s the bones.

Why You’ll Love It

What makes the site so important is that the bones on display actually show part of the link in the evolution of whales from a land based mammal, to an ocean dwelling one. There are vestiges of back limbs on the 40 million year old skeletons out there, baking in the desert sun. Nowhere else in the world are the number and quality of these fossils greater than in this valley. So well preserved are the fossils that the contents of stomachs can even be seen in some cases. It’s an awe-inspiring experience to be sure, and amazing to witness these whales which now seem so glaringly out of place and so ancient in a land already well known for its rich antiquity.

Image Courtesy // Instagram

Cherry On Top Of The Cake

After you’ve had your fill of the fossils. You might want to consider seeing The Magic Lake as well. It is so called because depending on the time of year, and how much sun it is receiving, it changes color several times a day. Sunsets here are especially beautiful, but why not go a little bit before and see if you can notice a change in hues as the sun dips down to kiss the horizon. It’s located right within Wadi El Hitan and it’s sure to make your breath catch, if not take it away entirely.

Image Courtesy // Instagram

If you get the opportunity to camp overnight here, do it. What better way to cap off an incredible day in the timeless desert than under a blanket of ageless stars?

Image Courtesy // Instagram

Image Courtesy // Instagram