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"Water" and "desert" are not two words that seem likely companions, but
when one encounters one or the other, realization strikes that the two
are defining characteristics of each other. Nowhere is this more
evident than in the Western Desert of Egypt.
Locals
refer to the mighty Sahara
Desert as the 'Western
Desert' as it lies to the west of all major cities in Egypt. Forty -
fifty million years ago, the area surrounding Fayoum (roughly 100 kilometers
or 60 miles southwest of Cairo) was submerged in the waters of the Tethys
Sea
south of where the Mediterranean shores end today. Since then the shores
have retreated north leaving behind thick sandstone and limestone
formations. They have also left behind what modern-day archeologists call
one of the best-preserved paleontological sites in the world. |
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On October 28, 2007, the third edition of the Sahara Race
( Egypt) will take 100 competitors through the Western Desert, but this
time through what will effectively be a run through one of the world's
greatest open air museums. Starting southwest of Fayoum, through parts
of Wadi Rayyan and west into extremely remote parts of the desert, they
will travel through an area that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site
and carefully protected geography monitored by the Egyptian
Environmental Affairs Authority. Some of the earliest known fossil
deposits in the world have been discovered here, including shells,
sharks, whales, giant turtles, crocodilians and mammals. These
treasures are highly evident today. The RacingThePlanet team,
during a reconnaissance mission exploring the area stumbled upon shark
teeth and partially exposed whale skeletons. Yet again, organizers of
the 4 Deserts series, have sought special permission for competitors to
experience this great landscape, paying careful attention to ensure that
there is no environmental impact.
The Sahara Race 2007 course will traverse stunning and diverse landscape
similar in appearance to the White desert of previous years but also
marked by deep blue lakes, rugged escarpments and sand dunes that
attempt to knife through mountains. One of these mountains is Gebel
Guhannam, otherwise appealingly known as 'Hell Mountain'. There are two
north-south deep blue lakes in Wadi Rayyan that lie on the edge of the
depression that divides Fayoum from the more remote Wadi Hitan, or
Valley of the Whales. It is here in the Valley of the Whales, that
numerous excavation sites are uncovering rare finds. In April of 2005,
an 18-meter long well-preserved skeleton (50 foot), the largest of its
kind, was discovered by a University of Michigan team sponsored by the
National Geographic Society. This fossil belongs to a Basilosaurus
whale, a prominent species found in the area. What makes it even more
distinctive, is that this species had the remnants of rear limbs for
moving on land and is evidence of animals in the last stage of evolution
from a land-based existence to purely water-based. Nobody is quite
sure why so many of these are being uncovered in the area.
Today this area is still rich in agriculture. The
wildlife that roams the scrubs and rich caramel-colored land are white
deer, Egyptian deer, red fox and the fennec fox. The lakes and
vegetation also support an incredible variety of birdlife.
Once the playground of pharaohs dating back to 1600 BC,
the Beduoins believe that a king was buried here with all his riches and
therefore scores of treasure hunters have traveled through here for
centuries. Competitors in the Sahara Race 2007 will be attempting
their own challenges as they race across 250 kilometers of this
landscape, from the Valley of the Whales to the Pyramids of Giza. But
they will also have a rare opportunity to glimpse history along the way
and to stop and ponder the true meaning of water to deserts and deserts
to water.
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