Cairo to Fayoum: 4x4 Desert Safari, Camel Ride & BBQ Lunch

4.92

(410 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We were barely out of Cairo when I noticed the city haze giving way to this wide, sandy openness. Our driver, Mahmoud, had that easy confidence behind the wheel — he joked about “Cairo traffic being its own kind of desert.” After a quick stop at Qarun Lake (the air there is sharp and salty, you can almost taste it), we rolled on toward Fayoum. The drive’s just long enough for your brain to catch up: you’re really leaving the city behind.

I’ll admit, I was nervous about the dune bashing part. Turns out it’s less like a rollercoaster and more like… gliding? We bounced over these soft yellow dunes in the 4x4 — my stomach did one flip but mostly it was just laughter and sand everywhere. Our guide pointed out shapes in the rock that looked like animals (I saw a turtle, he insisted it was a camel). Sandboarding after that felt clumsy at first — I wiped out twice and got sand in places I didn’t know existed — but honestly, it was fun not taking myself too seriously for once.

The quiet around Wadi El Rayan waterfalls surprised me. You’d think water in the desert would be noisy or dramatic, but it’s more gentle than that — just this steady sound under the sun. We met some locals fishing nearby; one handed me a tiny cup of tea so sweet it made my teeth ache (but I drank it anyway). The camel ride along the lake was slow and swaying. My camel was called Sabah and she kept turning her head like she wanted to check if I was still there.

Magic Lake lived up to its name — not in some big way, but because the colors actually shifted as clouds moved overhead. It’s hard to describe unless you see it yourself; blue turns greenish then gold at the edges. Lunch at the Bedouin camp tasted smoky and real — grilled chicken, flatbread warm from the fire, tomatoes so bright they almost glowed. There’s something about eating with your hands after hours in the desert that makes everything taste better. On the way back I dozed off with sand still stuck behind my ear, which somehow felt right.