Two oases in Egypt's Western Desert offer excellent locations to observe the solar eclipse on August 2nd, 2027. The central line of the totality zone runs approx. 50 kilometers north of Siwa Oasis and approx. 15 kilometers southwest of Bahareya Oasis. At Siwa Oasis, the length of totality is 6 minutes & 20 seconds, while the totality at Bahareya Oasis is even visible for two seconds longer. Both values are only a tick shorter than the maximum of the eclipse in the desert near the town of Luxor (6 minutes & 23 seconds).
By far the largest part of Egyptian territory consists of desert (approx. 95%). The Libyan Desert (in Egypt also known as the "Western Desert"), which stretches from the west bank of the Nile to the Libyan border, is the most interesting in terms of cultural history. It is one of the driest deserts in the world and is home to a number of oases where the first people settled 10,000 years ago. For centuries, these remote, water-rich places served as trading centers for caravans carrying cattle, spices, and dates. Even today, traditions are still upheld and life in the oases seems to have come to a standstill.
From Cairo, after a 360-kilometre drive through the desert in a south-westerly direction, a valley-like depression opens up in which the Bahariya oasis lies. Several small villages can be seen between palm groves, fruit plantations and vegetable fields. Bahariya is about 160 km² in size and around 30,000 people live in two dozen settlements. The largest village is Bawiti. From the picturesque hilltop quarter of the village, you can see palm gardens that are irrigated by a spring from which hot water gushes. From the top of Gebel el-Mi'ysrah, there is a great view of villages, fields and the massive sand dunes that threaten to engulf some of the older settlements. Bahariya oasis achieved worldwide fame in 1999 thanks to a precious find. A security guard accidentally discovered a tomb from the Greco-Roman period. This tomb contained numerous gilded mummies and further excavations led to the discovery of a vast ancient cemetery. Also worth visiting are two magnificently painted tombs from the late Pharaonic period and the Temple of Alexander the Great.
Just under 350 kilometers from Luxor lies Kharga, the oasis with the longest verifiable past. The well-preserved Temple of Ibis, built by Persian King Darius I, and the early Christian necropolis of El Bagawat with its 263 domed tombs are clear evidence of this past. Kharga was once the penultimate stop on the "Road of Forty Days", the notorious trade and slave trade route between the tropical south and North Africa. In Roman times, an extensive fortress system including settlements was built in the valley, some of which are still preserved. With a population of 60,000, Kharga is the capital of the approximately 150-kilometer-long oasis. South of Kharga we find the villages of Bulaq and Nasser, where thermal springs bubble with up to 43 degrees hot water.
Around 200 kilometers further west of the Kharga oasis lies the Dakhla oasis. In ancient Egyptian times, Dakhla was considered to be the most beautiful of all oases, not least because of the shimmering pink rocky outcrop on the northern horizon of the oasis, which is still fascinating today. 14 villages belong to the area of the oasis with a total of around 70,000 inhabitants. The capital is Mut, named after the Egyptian mother goddess. Hot thermal springs invite you to bathe in 40 degree warm, iron-rich, rust-red water. El Qasr is located around 35 kilometers from Mut and impresses with its old town, which consists of a labyrinth of narrow alleyways and is a protected monument. Other places of interest are the Roman tombs in Bashandi and Deir El-Hagar, a temple originally dedicated to the Triad of Thebes (Amun, Mut and Khons) and later rebuilt by the Romans.
Just under 300 kilometers north of Kharga lies the oasis of Farafra, the most remote of all oases. It is from here (or from Bahariya oasis) that the four-wheel drive excursions start into the area of the world-famous "White Desert", an incomparable natural work of art created by thousands of years of erosion and the desert wind. White pillars and gigantic mushrooms appear and you might think that you are looking at snowfields. Bizarre natural sculptures sculpted by the wind from the white limestone rise five to ten meters into the air. A natural spectacle that is unparalleled anywhere in the world. Farafra itself consists of a single small village and lies in a depression surrounded on three sides by a steep drop of up to 240 meters. An old fortress can be seen, a reminder that one of the most important caravan routes of antiquity passed through here.
Siwa oasis is located not far from the border with Libya and around 560 kilometers to the west of Cairo. It stretches over a length of 80 kilometers and a width of 2–20 kilometers and lies as a depression on average 18 meters below sea level. Around 25,000 people live in the oasis, the majority of whom are Berbers who speak the Berber dialect Siwi. In addition to the main town of Siwa, there are several smaller villages scattered around the oasis. Characteristic are the huge palm groves, which make Siwa an important date producer and, together with the olive harvest, the most important source of income. Of archaeological interest and worth seeing are the Temple of Amun with the oracle that was consulted by Alexander the Great, the remains of the former city fortress of Shali Ghadi and Gebel el Mawta (the "Mountain of the Dead") with its 2,000-year-old Roman necropolis.
