Desert falls
Water over yellow rock.
Rowaydaabdelgwad — CC BY-SA 4.0 · youssef_alam — CC BY 3.0 · Sarialejandria — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Aya Mahmoud Naguib Ibrahim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · youssef_alam — CC BY 3.0 · Mohamed Ouda — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ibrahim El-Mezayen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · لا روسا — CC BY 3.0
A vast nature reserve in the Fayoum desert covering about seventeen hundred square kilometres, at whose heart are two large lakes formed from farm drainage water in a desert depression, linked by the Wadi El Rayan waterfalls, the largest in Egypt. The falls are not high, but the sight of white water tumbling between yellow rocks in the middle of the desert is unique in Egypt; visitors paddle in the shallow pools below, lined with simple cafés and shades. The reserve also holds Gabal al-Madwara with its tall dunes, where visitors go sandboarding, sulphur springs, caves and the desert monastery of Wadi El Rayan. Gazelles, foxes and many migrating birds live here, the birds settling on the lakes in winter. Foreign visitors pay about five US dollars at the gate according to recent guides. It is usually visited on a day trip from Cairo together with Wadi Al-Hitan, or with a night at a camp for stargazing.
Water over yellow rock.
Sandboarding the dunes.
Winter migrant birds.
Fayoum Governorate, about an hour's drive south-west of Fayoum city
Yes, in the shallow pools below them, minding the slippery rocks; weekdays are best to avoid holiday crowds.