Darb el-Farāfra - Darb el-Farāfra

The Darb el-Farafra (Arabic:درب الفرافرة‎, Darb al-Farāfra, „Al-Farāfra slope“) Is an ancient caravan route in Egyptwho have favourited the sink el-Farafra in the Western desert with the sink ed-Dāchla connects. The route is 200 kilometers long and can be done with camels in around four days.

background

Caravans and expeditions use the Darb el-Farāfra until modern times, as it is over a hundred kilometers shorter than the journey via Abū Minqār. So also the expedition of the German Africa explorer Gerhard Rohlfs (1831–1896) in 1874. In his work Three months in the Libyan desert he describes the journey that lasted from January 3rd to 7th, 1874.

The participants of the expedition found the trip to be particularly frustrating Biʾr Dikkār felt through the sand dune fields. Rohlfs complained:

“Can you think of something more desolate, something more boring, than the area we had to go through now? Right and left 80–100 meter high sand dunes, about ½ hour apart. And our caravan moves in this valley channel formed by the two sand chains. There is no rock, no gor, no mountain to add variety to the scene. The way the area looks here, it still looks after a 4, 8, 10 hour march. The floor of the avenue we were on consisted of gray chalk marl in the north, but the sand of the dunes was quartz. The ground was strewn with sulfur pebbles, which were mostly turned into brown iron stone and streaked with quartz. "^[1]

Not until the arrival on Naqb el-Qaṣr on January 7, 1874 with its most extraordinary nature scenes could compensate for the effort.

preparation

The route is not easy. Larger sections have to be covered over sandy ground. It makes sense to carry sand sheets with you and to cover the route in a group of several vehicles.

mobility

The journey along this route can only be done by camels or all-terrain four-wheel drive vehicles. The crossing of the Naqb el-Qaṣr, the el-Qaṣr pass, is difficult. It is advisable to undertake the journey in the direction from el-Farāfra to ed-Dāchla. Camels should be preferred to all-terrain four-wheel drive vehicles. In the case of vehicles, you need experienced drivers with route knowledge.

route

The route begins in el-Farāfra and leads to Biʾr Dikkārwhich is located about 45 kilometers southeast of the city of el-Farāfra. This "fountain of the [male] palm" is the only source of water on the whole route.

A little later you come to a sand dune field. Several almost parallel dunes protrude here up to a height of one hundred meters. The corridors are about one and a half kilometers wide. One of these corridors is called Black Valley and extends over about 50 kilometers. It got its name from the countless small black pyrite stones that lie on the almost white sand. Pyrite is also known as pebbles and consists of iron (II) disulfide.

After about 150 kilometers the so-called. Marble maze, an area that is still sandy and criss-crossed by limestone cliffs.

After another 25 kilometers you reach the pass road to ed-Dāchla, den Naqb el-Qaṣr or Naqb ed-Dāchla. This approximately one and a half kilometer stretch is probably the most beautiful section of the caravan route. The pass road is bordered on both sides by a rock gate. This is the Bab el-Jasmund in the north and the Bab el-Cailliaud in the south.

From this pass it is about twelve kilometers to to Qaṣr ed-Dāchla.

security

To get there, you need several all-terrain vehicles (4 × 4), sufficient water and provisions and a satellite phone.

literature

• Rohlfs, Gerhard: Three months in the Libyan desert. Cassel: Fisherman, 1875, Pp. 99-107. Reprint Cologne: Heinrich Barth Institute, 1996, ISBN 978-3-927688-10-0 .
• Vivian, Cassandra: The Western Desert of Egypt: an explorer’s handbook. Cairo: The American University at Cairo Press, 2008, ISBN 978-977-416-090-5 , P. 114 (in English).

Individual evidence