Wadi El Gemal National Park is a protected area in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. It is one of the most important national parks in the country and is home to a variety of wildlife, including the endangered Nubian ibex and the endangered Egyptian vulture.

Understand

Mountains in Wādī el-Gimāl

Wadi-el-Gemal National Park (Arabic :محمية وادي الجمال - حماطة , Maḥmīyat Wādī al-Ǧimāl - Ḥamāṭa) is a marine and desert landscape reserve in the Red Sea Governorate and covers an area of over 7450 km².

The national park is also part of the habitat of the ʿAbabda Bedouins, who make their living as herders, herders of camels and, not least, as guides for travelers. Their lifestyle is still partly nomadic today.

Landscape

Acacia in Wādī el-Gimāl

On the land area of ​​the national park, sandy and rocky deserts prevail. The landscape is dominated by the Red Sea Mountains, which consist of rugged basalt and granite formations and sandstone outcrops. Important elevations in the national park include the Gebel Ḥangalīya in the north (1240 meters), the Gebel Ḥafāfīt, the Gebel Zabāra, the Gebel Nugruṣ, the Gebel Sikait, the Gebel Sarṭūṭ and the Gebel Ḥamāṭa in the south.

There are mangrove areas in several places along the coast.

The Red Sea coast consists of sandy and stone beaches that gently slope into the sea. Coral reefs are not found on the shore, but in the form of islands some distance away in the sea.

Flora and fauna

It is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, such as the Nubian ibex, the Egyptian vulture, the Arabian sand cat, and the endangered Egyptian tortoise.

Get in

The arrival is mostly from Marsā ʿAlam. The distance to the main entrance of the national park is about 80 km, from Hurghada 400 km.

A trip to the national park is an arduous desert expedition. It is usually undertaken with experienced local drivers and guides from the national park administration. This requires several four-wheel drive off-road vehicles, sufficient fuel, water and provisions and a satellite telephone.

Sufficient spare parts and spare tires must be carried. It should be possible to repair the vehicles without the use of special tools and electronic test equipment.

Fees and permits

A permit from the national park administration is required for camping, overnight stays and night visits.

Park entrance at the National Park Administration and the visitor center in the north-east of the national park at the east end of Wādī el-Gimāl. The national park administration can be reached on ☏ +20 65 344 5981 or ☏ +20 65 372 0227.

• Park entrance Umm el-ʿAbbas on the Red Sea coast south of Raʾs Ḥunkurāb.
• Park entrance W Kashir at Ḥamāṭa in the southeast of the park.
• Park entrance Hafafit in the northwest of the national park.

Get around

The use of motorcycles and quads is not permitted in the national park.

See

Valleys and springs

Tomb in Wādī el-Gimāl

• 1 Wādī el-Gimāl (وادي الجمال). The 65-km-long valley is the main valley and gives the national park its name.  
• 2 Wādī Abu Ghuṣūn (أبو غصون وادي).  
• 3 Biʾr Wādī Laḥmī (بئر وادي لحمي). Spring. 
• 4 Biʾr Sarṭūṭ (بئر سرطوط). spring and waterfall. 

Ancient settlements and well stations

Ancient Ptolemaic and Roman settlements along the ancient Berenike Road Berenikes Hodos (Βερενίκης Ὁδός/Βερνικησία Ὁδός) between Berenike and Koptos, modern -day Qifṭ , [1] or Apollonopolis Magna, modern-day Edfu .

• 5 Kaʿb Marfuʿ (كعب مرفوع). archaeological site  
• 6 Hydreuma Apollonus. Small Roman fort, praesidium , south of the settlement of Kaʿb Marfūʿ  
• 7 Vetus Hedreuma (Hydreuma troglodyticum). Military fort and settlement further west. 

Mines

• 8 Mons Emerald (سماراجدوس مونس). Group of emerald mines, mainly in Wādī Sikait.  

‏** 9 Sikait (سكيت).  

• • 10 Umm Kabu (أم كابو).  
  • 11 Wādī Nugruṣ (وادي نجرص).  
  • 12 Gebel Zabara (جبل زبارة).  
• 13 Ḥangalīya gold mine (منجم حنجلية). Abandoned gold mine north of the Gebel Ḥafāfīt mountain range.  
• 14 Mangam el-ʿAṭshan (منجم العطشان). Abandoned talc mine.  )

Red Sea Coast

• 15 Dilta Wādī el-Gimāl (دلتا وادي الجمال). 
• 16 Ra's Baghdādī (رأس بغدادي). Cape.  
• 17 Wādī el Gimāl Island (جزيرة وادي الجمال, Ǧazīrat Wādī al-Ǧimāl). 
• 18 Sharm el-Lūlī (شرم اللولي). Bay 56 kilometers south-southeast of Marsā ʿAlam. Suitable for swimming, bathing and diving.  
• 19 Raʾs Ḥankūrāb (رأس حنكوراب).  
• 20 Abu Ghuṣūn (أبو غصون). Village with a phosphate loading terminal on the bay of the same name. 
• 21 Hamada. Shipwreck on fringing reef south of Abu Ghuṣūn.  
• 22 Gulf of Qulan (خليج قلعان, Qulʿān Lagoon). mangroves. 
• 23 Gaza'ir Qul'an (جزائر قلعان). The archipelago north of Ḥamāṭa , 93 kilometers south-east of Marsā ʿAlam, consists i.a. consists of the islands Ǧazirat Shawārīṭ, Ǧazirat Suyūl and Ǧazirat Maḥābīs and is named after Wādī Qulʿān.  
• 24 Ḥamāṭa (حماطة). village and tourist settlement.  
• 25 Lahmi Bay (لحمي باي, Laḥami Bay). mangroves. 
• 26 Marsā Saṭāyaḥ. 
• 27 Kuraʿ/Qurat el-Hartiwai. narrow bay. 

Other destinations

• 28 Esh-Sheikh Esh-Shadhili (الشيخ الشاذلي). Pilgrimage site in the southwest, just outside the national park.  
• 29 Shipwreck of the stern of the crude oil tanker Turbo. about 1.8 km from the coast at a depth of 11 to 30 meters. 
• 30 Fury Shoal. Reef group in the Red Sea with about 20 reefs north of the cape  
• 31 Ra's Banas (‏رأس بناس).  

Do

The park offers a variety of activities, such as hiking, camping, and bird watching.

Sleep

Hotels

In the coastal area there are few accommodations to choose from at the beginning or end of the trip.

• 1 Fustat Wadi El Gemal, ☏ +20 122 100 1109. eco lodge 
• 2 Shams Alam Resort. Hotel immediately north of the national park administration.  

Camping

There are no campsites. You can sleep in a tent or on a mat in the open air.

It's always windy in the desert. That's why setting up a tent is not that trivial. Of course, the tent entrance must face the leeward side. However, the wind load can sometimes be so great that the tent is carried away. The pegs used must be suitable for use on sandy ground. It also makes sense to weigh down the tent with pieces of luggage, water bags or similar. The tents should be impermeable to sand and the zips should be suitable for sand. When choosing tents, you can fall back on standard outdoor tents.

The vehicles are placed next to each other at a distance of about three meters. A windbreak is then stretched between the vehicles on at least one side.