Golden Desert Sands of the Sahara in Egypt

by Mark Tisdale

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Golden Desert Sands of the Sahara in Egypt

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Mark Tisdale

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Photograph - Photo

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The sight of the golden sands of the Sahara rising above the river Nile is one of those things that I will never forget about my travels in Egypt. I had certainly seen more than a little of the desert between my time in Cairo and my arrival in Aswan, but it was always an urban landscape. It was never a wide open landscape such as the one seen here.

So, this was an amazing moment, seeing for the first time the true Sahara, massive dunes of ocher sands rising above the famous Nile. I'm quite sure my jaw dropped at the sight. Even now when I look at this image, I'm floored. It's hard to believe that I was ever there.

But my favorite part of this image is a small part of this gorgeous landscape, it's the small collection of sailboats in the right hand side. Those are feluccas, an ancient type of boat that has long sailed the Nile. Today, they are part of the world of tourists visiting Egypt, but they were once the workhorses of transportation in the lands of Egypt.

And for those who love trivia, here's some. The name Sahara is actually a western corruption of the Arabic word for desert. So when we refer to the Sahara Desert, we are really calling it Desert Desert. Maybe it's said for emphasis because this is certainly the mother of all deserts...

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September 26th, 2012

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