Valley of the Whales, Wadi Hitan, Travel, Tours, Safari, Holidays

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Wadi Al-Hitan (Valley of Whales) Fayoum Oasis 1 night / 2 days

Select Egypt offer Wadi Al-Hitan Tours from Fayoum.

Tour Departs:	Daily
Pick up Time:	7 AM from guest's address in Cairo
Transport:	Transfer Cairo-Fayoum-Cairo by 4X4 jeep Toyota land cruiser
Accommodation:	1 Night desert camp
Meals:	1 breakfast, 1 lunch and 1 dinner.
Beverages :	3 bottles of Mineral water and 2 soft drinks per guest
Guides:	Local English guide.
Tours:	as mentioned in the program
Entrance Fees:	included

Day 1

Cairo - Fayoum Whale Valley

From Cairo we drive by jeep south towards Fayoum, the largest oasis in the Western Desert. We stop at Lake Qaroun for a tour by felucca (half an hour) and then head to Wadi Rayan where we visit the spring and waterfall. After having lunch, we continue into the desert. We reach Wadi Al Hitan (otherwise known as the Valley of Whales), a surreal region where huge boulders seem to be capped with an imaginary icing of thick caramelized syrup, which appears to ooze down their sides. Within this extraordinary landscape the fossil remains of Zeuglodon have been found – whales that existed in the Fayoum over 40 million years ago. We spend the night camping out under a canopy of stars. Overnight Camping.

Day 2

Whale Valley - Cairo

Breakfast and departure to Cairo. End of our services.

includes:

1 night Camping Accommodation in the Whale Valley on a full board treatment
BBQ dinner in the desert
One hour tour by felucca in lake Qaroun.
3 bottles Mineral water, 1.5 liters + 2 soft drinks per person
Services of an English speaking local guide.
Safari in the Whale Valley by 4x4 private jeep (not sharing with other guests)
American tents, sleeping bags, safari equipment
Entrance fees

Excludes

Tips

Notes

you can spend the night in hotel instead of camping with extra :
35 $ per person per night in DBL room with half board treatment.
50 $ per person per night in SGL room with half board treatment.
34 $ per person per night in TRP room with half board treatment.

Price

Accommodation	Number of guests	1st May - 30th Sep	1st Oct - 30th April	22nd Dec - 1st Jan 1st April - 7th April
3 Star	2 guests	00 Euro per person	00 Euro per person	00 Euro per person
4 Star	2 guests	00 Euro per person	00 Euro per person	00 Euro per person
5 Star	2 guests	00 Euro per person	00 Euro per person	00 Euro per person

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Its name in Arabic is Wadi Hitan but it is known as the Valley of the Whales. For years archaeologists have been unearthing a remarkable collection of whale fossils, all the more surprising because the area is now inland desert in upper Egypt. It is believed that about 40 million years ago the area was submerged in water, part of the Tethys Sea. As the sea retreated north to the Mediterranean it left a series of unique rock formations and also a cornucopia of fossils. One of the most exceptional finds was a 37 million-year-old whale from the species Basilosaurus Isis, unearthed by a team led by Prof Philip Gingerich of the University of Michigan in the United States. Prof Gingerich explained that this was the only complete specimen from this species of whale. It provides evidence of how whales evolved from being land-based creatures to go back into the sea - a reverse of the usual evolutionary process. Basilosaurus Isis retained tiny feet, a useless reminder of its evolution from land animal to sea-dweller. The limbs are human sized, even though the creature is 15m-16m long. For the past two years Prof Gingerich and his team have been painstakingly reassembling the skeleton back in Michigan. It is now being returned to Egypt for a new museum, planned for the Valley of the Whales. But according to the Egyptian media the whale skeleton is stuck at Cairo airport. Customs agents are demanding a $40,000 fee. It is not clear how they came to that figure as prehistoric fossils have no agreed market value. In any case the Egyptian authorities who are importing the fossil are refusing to pay. A senior official from the ministry of tourism has warned that the issue needs to be resolved speedily, otherwise it could cause a "big scandal" for Egypt, he said. Prof Gingerich joked that it had taken two and a half years to be allowed to export the fossil to the United States, and it could take another two and a half years to get it back.