When many people hear ‘Sahara’, they think of sand, lots of sand, and nothing else. While we certainly won’t deny that there’s a lot of sand in the desert, Egypt’s Sahara has much more to offer than that. The Sahara is the largest desert in the world, covering about 9,400,000 square kilometers. The endless sandy plains stretch across all of North Africa, and the area in Egypt is particularly special because in this relatively small part of the Sahara, you can find so many different landscapes. One moment you can be traveling through the large black mountains of the Black Desert, and a few hours later you can find yourself in an absurdly white landscape with the most incredible white rock formations of the White Desert.

Of course, there are also the shifting sand dunes shaped by the wind. And beautiful crystals that emerge from the ground in places where the underlying earth’s crust overlaps. And then suddenly, a group of palm trees and a delightful, refreshing water source after hours of vast plains. With its emptiness and silence, the Sahara has a magical effect on those who visit it.