Farafra Oasis

Farafra is a 980 square km depression roughly midway between Bahariya and Dakhla oases. It is the smallest of the Western Desert oases by population, with about 5,000 people (2002), most living in the town of Qasr al-Farafra.

Parts of the town keep their plain, mud-coloured traditional houses, and a crumbling medieval fortress stands on a ridge at its southern edge. The adobe museum of local artist Badr Abd el-Moghni displays his sculpture and other works. Warm, slightly sulphurous wells such as Bir Sitta are used for bathing.

Most visitors come for the White Desert National Park, protected since 2002, about 45 km north of town. Its chalk formations were carved by wind into mushroom and tent shapes. From Farafra the modern highway runs about 300 km south-west to Dakhla.