During my trip to Egypt in February and March 2025, I spent three nights at the Zad El Mosafer guesthouse in Tunis in the Fayoum and Lake Qarun region. I used Tunis as a base to visit Wadi Al-Hitan, Gebel Qatrani, and Soknopaiou Nesos. I organized all these activities through my guesthouse. What's more, they also arranged transport to Alexandria, with stops at the monasteries of Saint Pishoy and Saint Macarius the Great and Abu Mena.

My first day in Tunis was spent visiting Wadi Al-Hitan. The excursion organized by my guesthouse involved a driver taking me through the dunes to the site, followed by a visit to Wadi El Rayan. I started at the excellent little museum on the site. The museum tour begins with a video. You can then wander around the single circular room encircling two extremely well-preserved fossils of the two main whale species found at the site, the large Basilosaurus isis and the smaller Dorudon atrox. The museum clearly and effectively explains the geological and biological history of this part of the desert, and makes pertinent links with current climate disturbances. In my opinion, this is the best-designed museum I have visited in Egypt.

I continued with the trails into the valley. This part of the tour was very well described by Els and Nan. The scenery in the park is splendid. However, I was a little disappointed by the fossils. Wadi Al-Hitan is not Dinosaur Provincial Park or Joggins. You won't stumble across fossils here. In fact, even if you looked, I don't think you'd find anything other than the ones placed in the sand for the tour. There are dozens of interpretation panels along the trail, but most of them are now illegible. For me, the most interesting fossils outside were the remains of mangroves (picture), illustrating the climate and ecosystem of this desert a few million years ago.

After the tour, my driver took me to viewpoints overlooking the lakes of Wadi El Rayan, as well as to the waterfall. Although not breathtaking, Wadi Al-Hitan is extremely important for the evolution of whales and the visit is very pleasant. A visit to this site is well worth the detour to this oasis set back from the verdant Nile valley.

A final note on the logistics of getting to Tunis. I took the train from Luxor to Beni Suef. From there, I planned to take a mini-bus to Faiyum and then a cab. However, a cab at Beni Suef station offered me a good price, so I followed him. He didn't really know where he was going, though, and the journey took almost three hours through villages, even though the distance was only 90 km.