06-Nov-2004 -- The weather at this time of the year in Egypt is lovely for getting out into the desert. Khalīl has just got a new Jeep to try out, there was a sandboard itching to get used again, a birthday party on Friday, and Ifṭār (breaking of the fast during the Holy Month of Ramaḍān) on Saturday. So the obvious answer was a day trip to the dunes near 30N 30E on Saturday!
So we were on the bridge over the Nile at 7 am, and then off down the Baḥariyya road. We cut into the desert at the first finger of sand dunes and trundled up the western side looking for the right dune for sand boarding. Khalīl did the honours and introduced his new undercarriage to the warm embrace of Egyptian sand right at the perfect spot. The kids, small and big, sated their appetite for stylish runs and claiming black and blue souvenirs for an hour or so, and then it was off to the Confluence.
From all the fresh tyre tracks we were obviously not the only party enjoying this renowned playground this weekend. After an easy run up a couple of sand fingers and across the gravel plains that are dotted with numerous petrified trees, we were on the point. Nothing has changed from the first reported visit but habits die hard, I had to get the zeros and get them photographed. We had time for a spot of lunch and a brew-up before moving over to the nearest dunes for another go on the sandboard.
We decided to head northeast from the waypoint and visit Black Mountain (a waypoint on someone's map that none of us had visited) on the way to the Alexandria Desert road, and then loop back to Cairo from there. It was an easy drive across the gravel plains before encountering the ever-expanding agriculture development spreading southwest from Wādiy al-Naṭrūn. Then it was home after a very pleasant daytrip.