Al Ahram Weekly Snapshot: White Desert

Al Ahram Weekly

It’s not the work of some talented artist; it's purely natural. Mohamed El-Hebeishy sets out to discover the artistic beauty of the White Desert.

A mushroom, a chicken or perhaps a rabbit are all examples of the various shapes that have been naturally formed. As the name White Desert may indicate, the whole area is made up of snow-white chalk shaped and outlined as a result of being exposed to what geologists call "differential erosion". The soft particles have been eroded, leaving us with the core hard rock of the chalk fantastically moulded into thousands of different shapes, an endless array of mind boggling formations that the most creative of artists could not repeat.

The White Desert was declared a natural protectorate back in 2002 due to its unique landscape and desert formations which are simply unparalleled. Located as part of the much greater Western Desert, the White Desert lies in near proximity to the tranquil Farafra Oasis.