In a few days, the Sahara Race (Egypt) will kick off in the Western desert. Competitors are now making their way from over fifteen countries to Cairo, Egypt to the meeting point. The course team has just returned from the final scouting trip having plotted last minute GPS waypoints, envisioning campsite layouts and testing water crossings (yes, water crossings!). Here is a glimpse of what the course has in store.
The start of the Sahara Race 2006, Stage 1, begins in the shadow of two large rock formations called the Twin Peaks. From this first campsite competitors make their way through the White Desert, past the ever looming icebergs carved out by millennia of wind erosion. Competitors will then slowly make their way toward Camp Icebergs, situated in a plateau scattered by icebergs of stone.
Stage 2 will take competitors through landscape more fitting to Antarctica than the Sahara with its pristine white lunar landscape. No sooner than you are wondering whether you have signed up for the wrong race, competitors will enter the outskirts of the Black Desert, turning the surreal white landscape into a gentle blend of black and white. Stage 2 ends in this mottle coloured environment at Camp Salt and Pepper.
Leaving Camp Salt and Pepper for the third stage takes competitors into an environment more suited to a desert – sand, sand and more sand – coupled with a feeling of being just one small human being in a vast world. The mentally tough sand eventually leads to Camp Rolling Sands nestled in dunes themselves.
Leaving Camp Rolling Sands doesn’t bring to an end the monotonous sand, but rather unleashes even more sand with the small but vast Qarawin Dunes. Eventually the dunes start to dissipate as the stage pushes into new terrain and competitors are treated to an oasis in the middle of nowhere where ancient ruins are scattered throughout the terrain. Competitors will reach Camp White Tower tired but feeling elated to have made it through the two toughest stages of the event. The penultimate stage from Camp White Tower is the long run/hike to El Ris Village. This colossal stage takes competitors through the Naqb El Sellim Plateau which although void of dunes, it resembles a nothingness feeling of Mars with endless brown terrain on a plateau. Stage 5 will be run throughout the night making it challenging navigating through the unforgiving carved landscape. Towards the end of the stage the night passage will be made further demanding by a potential water crossing. The water crossing, through a small lake from a near by oasis, will test the competitors desire to finish with only a kilometre to go. The final campsite will be Camp El Ris Village. This wonderful little village in the Sahara will be welcoming competitors allowing a sneak peak into the diverse and immense culture of the people of the Sahara.
Stage 6 will shuttle competitors back towards the outskirts of Cairo into Giza, home of the Pyramids, a Wonder of the World, and of The Sphinx. From here, the mere 15 kilometers through the valley in the shadows of the great Pyramids to the Sphinx is a sprint compared to the 80-kilometer stage the night before. As competitors round the final bend in front of the Pyramids, the home stretch is all down hill to The Sphinx . Pizza and beer will await as well as the coveted Sahara Race medal.
Click here to view a few pictures from this final course trip. |
