Siwa: Finding Seashells in the Desert

This past weekend was absolutely fabulous as we got to spend it in the desert oasis of Siwa, a little over an hour from the Libyan border. Wednesday afternoon, we all piled into a big bus and headed out on our 10 hour journey west. We were greeted into the hotel we stayed in by mosquito-netted hard beds and kerosene lamps to find our way around – it felt so familiar.

View of the hotel:


View from my window:



Thursday we went into the town of Siwa and rented bikes to use to explore the rest of the day. We got to here from a young Siwan man named Ismail about the culture there and how it differs from places like Cairo. A few interesting things we learned is that there are 23,000 people in the town that are made up of 11 families. When there is a big wedding, most of the town may be invited. They are famous for their dates and olives and we got to try some in the forms of date tea and date paste (which is kind of the consistency of peanut butter). The women in the group then had the privilege of spending some time with Ismail’s mother, sisters, and other female relatives. We had the chance to ask them questions about their lives, and although they had little context of how their lifestyle seems so foreign to us, we felt very welcomed into their home. They served us hibiscus juice and then proceeded to do henna on our hands. Most of the women in Siwa are completely covered, not even their eyes can be seen; they are not allowed to go outside without the permission of their husbands. It was wonderful being able to see some of those same women who are faceless on the street, pull back their coverings and see them interact.

Bike riding:


Henna:




Friday we went back into town, climbed a large hill in the center of the oasis from which we could see the edge of where the palm trees ended and the rest of the vast Sahara opened up. After Friday prayers, we got to head out for our desert safari. We piled into landrovers and took off into the dunes of the Sahara. I can’t describe how incredibly beautiful it was, the endless sand forming rolling hills. Our driver’s were very good, but sometimes going down those steep hills of sand led to much screaming on the part of us females – way better than a roller coaster! We stopped for while to go sandboarding, which was so much fun! Walking in that sand was absolutely incredible, someone described it as silk, which it really was just so smooth. We thoroughly enjoyed that experience and then went to an icy cold lake and then a hot spring. We also walked around a dried up salt lake where we looked around for seashells. It was a very strange experience being in the middle of the desert, finding signs of a time when there was a whole lake there.

In the Sahara:





In the evening, we went to our desert campsite. I wish I had pictures of the tent we all stayed in (think desert style), but the sand broke my camera. We were served an amazing meal by candlelight, as we all sat on the ground at low tables. I wore every warm thing I brought to Egypt and was still a bit cold as I tried to sleep that night (it turns out that sand isn’t as comfortable as one might think). In addition, there was a dog outside our tent barking and the Egyptians in the campsite with us played Celine Dion on repeat all night. Needless to say, most people took naps on our way back.

Siwa:


We are now in our homestay week, which I’ll write about after the week is over to give a better assessment.