Whales in the desert
Whale skeletons in the desert, forty million years old, then the waterfalls of Wadi El Rayan.
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5 stops
Egypt's longest story is written in its rock. Forty million years before the pyramids, whales with vestigial legs swam where this desert is now; their skeletons still lie where they fell, in the valley UNESCO protects for them.
Early morning
Early collection from your hotel in Cairo or Giza.
Cairo setting; pickup and return locations are confirmed separately.
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0. Resized for display.
Morning
By four-wheel drive to the fossil trail, the whale skeletons and the site museum.
Photo: Bernd Out · CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for display.
Wadi el-Hitan: A desert valley of fossil whales with legs, from a sea that covered Egypt forty million years ago.
Afternoon
The falls between the protected area's two lakes.
Photo: Ibrahim El-Mezayen · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display.
Late afternoon
Lunch above Lake Qarun before the drive back.
Photo: Hatem Moushir · CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for display.
Evening
Back to Cairo.
Photo: Advancedkid · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display.
Day and time labels describe the planned sequence, not confirmed departures. Your written quote confirms pickup, flights, sailing and return times for your date.
Why go
Wadi El Hitan, the Valley of the Whales, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the desert of Fayoum. Its fossils are the earliest whales, the Archaeoceti, from the moment they were losing their hind legs and leaving the land for the sea. UNESCO calls it the most important site in the world for this stage of evolution.
The day crosses the Wadi El Rayan protected area by four-wheel drive to the fossil trail and its museum, then returns by way of the Wadi El Rayan waterfalls and Tunis village above Lake Qarun.
A guide and a desert driver go with you throughout. Protected-area fees and lunch are confirmed in your quote.
Our tip
The fossil trail is flat but exposed. Bring a hat and water; there is little shade.
The details
Before you go
Details checked
Questions
The fossil trail is a flat, marked walk of about an hour or two at your own pace, in the open sun.
The UK government's travel advice names Faiyum as an exception to its warning about the Western Desert. We check the latest advice before every trip.
Pairs well with
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Deluxe Trips Egypt
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Bernd Out, CC BY-SA 3.0; Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0; Ibrahim El-Mezayen, CC BY-SA 4.0; Hatem Moushir, CC BY-SA 3.0; Advancedkid, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ahmed Yousry Mahfouz, CC BY-SA 4.0; Bilal Detailz, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and cropped for display.
