Egypt
- Updated Publication: Rock Art Of The Libyan Desert (dvd)
FJ Expeditions The Second Expanded Edition of the DVD "Rock Art of the Libyan Desert" is now available. The new edition contains over nearly 300 new rock art sites, all new discoveries in the 2005-2009 period, with approximately 12000 photos (about 4000...
- Photo For Today: Reconstruction Work. Boys Will Be Boys!
2007 One of the abandoned Long Range Desert Group vehicles (a Chevrolet) from WW2, near the Libyan border with the Gilf Kebir plateau in the background to the east. Fabulous! It is snowing today in London. It couldn't be more different than the desert,...
- Gilf Kebir - Join The Club
Gulf Life (Richard Hoath) The Gilf Kebir, on the south-western corner of Egypt’s Western Desert – remote, uninhabited, virtually rainless – holds a particular place in desert lore. Named and mapped only as recently as 1926 by Prince Kamal Al-Din,...
- Natural History: Desolate Desert
Egypt Today (Richard Hoath) I'm always a happy woman when there's an article about Gilf Kebir/Gebel Uweinat, and here's a lovely piece on the Egypt Today website about the area's natural history. A good kick-start to a grey day in London...
- Daily Photo - Abandoned Wwii Truck, Near Gilf Kebir
Here are my own photographs of the abandoned car at the Gilf Kebir, about which I was whittering yesterday. It is located opposite the mouth of Wadi Bakht, near the eastern edge of the Gilf. According to Andras Zboray's excellent website, the vehicle...
Egypt
Daily Photo - 8 Bells
The word "Eight Bells" and an arrow pointing north are spelled out in empty cans of aviation fuel at the south of the Gilf Kebir. The cans mark an aircraft landing site, which was used during the Second World War by the RAF in Egypt. The need for a landing area in this remote part of the world was due to the importance of the Libyan oasis of Kufra. It had been agreed that intermediate landing grounds would be required which would store petrol, and two of these were established by the Long Range Desert Group. The other was at Bir Terfawi, 200km to the east. Eight Bells is named for a topographical feature in the desert - outliers of the Gilf Kebir plateau itself, isolated from the main plateau by the actions of ancient drainage systems. Today nearly all of the cans, which themselves represent wartime archaeology, have been pierced with dots that spell out messages and signatures from visitors who want to be part of the story.
One of the best books that explains the modern history of the Gilf Kebir and Gebel Uweinat areas is Saul Kelly's excellent The Lost Oasis: The Desert War and the Hunt for Zerzura. If you want to see some classic photographs from this era taken in the area you need look no further than Andras Zboray's pages on the FJ Expeditions website (under the side heading Libyan Desert in the left hand menu bar, go to the subheading History and Explanation, and then use the expanded set of titles in the menu bar to visit different sections showing lots of different photographs).
- Updated Publication: Rock Art Of The Libyan Desert (dvd)
FJ Expeditions The Second Expanded Edition of the DVD "Rock Art of the Libyan Desert" is now available. The new edition contains over nearly 300 new rock art sites, all new discoveries in the 2005-2009 period, with approximately 12000 photos (about 4000...
- Photo For Today: Reconstruction Work. Boys Will Be Boys!
2007 One of the abandoned Long Range Desert Group vehicles (a Chevrolet) from WW2, near the Libyan border with the Gilf Kebir plateau in the background to the east. Fabulous! It is snowing today in London. It couldn't be more different than the desert,...
- Gilf Kebir - Join The Club
Gulf Life (Richard Hoath) The Gilf Kebir, on the south-western corner of Egypt’s Western Desert – remote, uninhabited, virtually rainless – holds a particular place in desert lore. Named and mapped only as recently as 1926 by Prince Kamal Al-Din,...
- Natural History: Desolate Desert
Egypt Today (Richard Hoath) I'm always a happy woman when there's an article about Gilf Kebir/Gebel Uweinat, and here's a lovely piece on the Egypt Today website about the area's natural history. A good kick-start to a grey day in London...
- Daily Photo - Abandoned Wwii Truck, Near Gilf Kebir
Here are my own photographs of the abandoned car at the Gilf Kebir, about which I was whittering yesterday. It is located opposite the mouth of Wadi Bakht, near the eastern edge of the Gilf. According to Andras Zboray's excellent website, the vehicle...