Three Hills, near Abu Ballas, Western Desert, Sahara, Egypt

Three Hills, near Abu Ballas

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The Libyan Desert


The Egyptian-Libyan Sahara - also known as the Libyan Desert - is one of the driest, emptiest and most forbidding places on Earth. Stretching a thousand miles west of the Nile, and south for the same distance from the Mediterranean, this vast wasteland of surreal moonscapes, towering dune fields, and plateaus of rock seldom features on tourist itineraries in the area.


Treacherous, haunting and in a few places still unexplored, the Libyan Desert is graced with an illustrious past. Before civilization took hold in the Nile Valley, the area was part of a huge North African savannah and wetland inhabited by wildlife and semi-nomadic peoples. The area today remains littered with relics from that prehistoric wet period—from pottery to stone implements to cave paintings. One of the world’s largest sand dune fields, "The Great Sand Sea", now covers much of that area, concealing even further evidence of the life which once teemed there.


Adventurers of all colours have attempted to navigate The Libyan Desert. The ancient Greek writer Herodotus reports that the Persian army of Cambyses was swallowed by a sandstorm as it tried to punch through the Great Sand Sea in an attempt to reach and conquer Siwa Oasis. Much later, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Egyptian and European explorers breached that forbidden void to map what had until then only been known to speculation. Epic and flamboyant journeys on camel-back, in biplanes and Model-T Fords gave way to the subsequent spy missions of the Allied and Axis powers, who intrigued against each other in the Libyan Desert during World War Two. The nostalgia and romanticism of those latter episodes provided the material for Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient.


These photos document a 2-week journey made by jeep to the Gilf Kebir and Uweinat regions in the southwest corner of Egypt near the Libyan and Sudanese borders. The Great Sand Sea and the oasis regions of Dakhla and Farafra were also visited on the excursion.

A prehistoric arrowhead in the Western Desert, Sahara, Egypt

Prehistoric arrowhead

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Ahmed el-Mestekawi of Zarzora Expeditions, in the Western Desert, Sahara, Egypt

Ahmed el-Mestekawi, desert guide

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A volcanic cone rises from the dunes in the Western Desert, Sahara, Egypt

Conical hill, east of the Gilf Kebir plateau

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An abandoned World War Two military vehicle belonging to the Long Range Desert Group, in the Western Desert, Sahara, Egypt

WWII military vehicle, Long Range Desert Group

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Wadi Wasa'a, in the Gilf Kebir region of the Western Desert, Sahara, Egypt

Wadi Wasa'a, Gilf Kebir

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Petroglyphs in Wadi Hamra in the Western Desert, Sahara, Egypt

Wadi Hamra, Gilf Kebir

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The edge of the Gilf Kebir plateau, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Southwestern edge of the Gilf Kebir, as seen from the Libyan border

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An approaching sandstorm, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Approaching sandstorm

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Cave paintings at Mestekawi Cave, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Mestekawi Cave

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The Uweinat Desert, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Uweinat Desert

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The Marai-Borda cave, Uweinat Desert, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Marai-Borda Cave, Uweinat Desert

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A huge dune in the Great Sand Sea, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Great Sand Sea

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A prehistoric stone tool, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Prehistoric stone tool

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Strange sand formations, near Ain Dalla, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Near Ain Dalla

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Footsteps on a sand dune, Great Sand Sea, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Great Sand Sea

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The village of al-Qasr, Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Al-Qasr, Dakhla Oasis

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Mister Socks, Farafra Oasis, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

"Mister Socks", Farafra Oasis

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Palm Forest, Farafra Oasis, Western Desert Sahara, Egypt

Palm Forest, Farafra Oasis

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