NEW DESERT EXPEDITION - GILF KEBIR

Searching for new prehistoric sites, rock art, artefacts and fossils.
Dates: Mon 27 Dec '10 to Sat 15 Jan '11
(Expedition starts and finishes in Cairo). 

See the New Expeditions item on the main menu bar.
25th June, 2010.

UPDATE 30 August 2010

We regret to say that because of new regulations recently announced by the Egyptian government we shall be unable to run our expedition this year. For us to go to our exploration area (below latitude N23) we would have to take eight armed policemen as well as the usual military officer which apart from being prohibitively expensive would also change the nature of the expedition along with uncertainty about control of what we could or could not do on the ground each day. The introduction of this new regulation does not seem to be due to any new security assessment.

However we are looking to make suggestions for people who would like to visit the Gilf Kebir area above latitude N23 and will post details shortly.

Richard.

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DESERT EXPEDITION FROM DAKHLA TO SIWA OASIS.

First people to walk the Great Sand Sea

At the Roman temple Deir al-Hagar where Rohlfs and his team inscribed their names at the top of a pillar

It is with great pleasure that we announce the successful completion of the 2009-2010 expedition which followed in the camel tracks and footsteps of the 1874 Rohlfs' expedition.

Over a year in preparation and 27 days in the desert we managed the same route that Rohlfs followed but did not lose any camels (he lost ten) though we came close on one occasion.

In the great sand sea following a dune corridorThe route took us through 700km of the most turbulently dune filled areas in the world. We found hidden valleys never before visited (there were no tracks in some places for days), stone tools, flint knapping stations, a cache of pots in good condition and some of the most spectacular desert scenery we have ever seen.

The final team were: Richard Mohun, Robert Twigger, Claudia Grimm, Piers Dunn, Patrick McHugh, Dr John Crockett, Ali Zeydan, Hassan Massut, Salah and Abdullah Hamed.

Unlike Rohlfs, who rode a horse and camel some of the way, Twigger, Mohun and Crockett eschewed camel travel to walk the entire distance by foot, thus becoming the first people ever to traverse the Great Sand Sea this way.

4th February, 2010