Templates of Desert Tours 1 3 - Day Tour Rock Art in the Western Desert

Important Note: These tours are examples and for information purposes only.


Broadly similar tours are available but individual operators will amend and tailor them to suit conditions and demand.



Visit the largest single site of rock art in Africa- the Mestikawy Cave, the intriguing rock carvings of Karkur Talh as well as the Swimmer’s Cave, made famous by the movie
‘‘The English Patient‘‘. From your start at the remote oasis of Dakhla, the oldest continually inhabited place
in Africa, you travel through remote desert to Bir Terfawi, your entry point to the vast sand sheets that lead to the Gilf Kebir. It is here you will view the astounding rock paintings and engravings of the Shaw cave, located in recent times by explorer
W.B. Kennedy Shaw, the Mestikawy cave, which was found in 2003 by explorer Ahmed Mestikawy and the Cave of the Swimmers which was named by Laszlo Almasy, the Hungarian real life model on whom ‘‘The English Patient‘‘ is based.


Further south near the massif of Uweinat you may visit Karkur Talh, an area full of rock art and offering the chance of glimpsing the rare and reclusive wild sheep known as the weddan.


From the Gilf you may return via Abu Ballas, an eerie hill where thousands of broken pots have been found. It is now believed this was part of a water storage trail leading to Uweinat in Pharaonic times. 


Back in Dakhla you should visit the restored fortress town of Qasr- a labyrinth of twisting passages no wider than two people- a truly amazing place.