Wild Cairo: Desert Valleys, Fossil Whales and the Gardens of the Nile

The natural side of Cairo, from Wadi Al-Hitan, the Valley of the Whales, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Faiyum desert, to the protected valley of Wadi Degla and the gardens of Al-Azhar, Orman and Zamalek, with a directory of the parks in our guide.

Cairo is a city of the Nile and the desert, and both have a natural story to tell. On the eastern edge of the city, a protected valley cuts through limestone full of fossils; south-west, beyond the Faiyum oasis, a desert valley holds the skeletons of whales that swam here when this land was sea.

This is a short, honest guide to Cairo's natural side: the desert valleys and the green gardens that the city has made beside the river. Go early, carry plenty of water and sun protection, and avoid the midday heat.

South-west of Cairo, the skeletons of ancient whales lie in the desert sand.

Wadi Degla

Wadi Degla is a protected desert valley on the eastern edge of Maadi, with limestone cliffs, fossils and trails for walking and cycling, a wild place a short drive from the centre. Go early, carry water and avoid the midday heat.

The gardens of the city

Al-Azhar Park, created by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture on land that had been a rubbish mound for centuries and opened in 2005, has gardens, lakes and terraces looking across Historic Cairo to the Citadel; come for sunset. On the west bank, the Orman Garden is the city's historic botanical garden, with old trees, palms and a spring flower show, and in Zamalek the little Fish Garden of the 19th century has grottoes and banyan trees.

Feature: the Valley of the Whales

In the Western Desert of the Faiyum, inside the Wadi El-Rayan protected area, Wadi Al-Hitan, the Valley of the Whales, holds fossil skeletons of the Archaeoceti, the earliest whales, now long extinct. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage site in 2005 for what it shows of how whales evolved from land animals into creatures of the sea. Walking among the bones in the sand, under wind-carved rocks, is one of the strangest experiences in Egypt.

Did you know? Wadi Al-Hitan, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005, holds fossils of the earliest whales in the middle of the Egyptian desert.

Our advice

Our advice: make Wadi Al-Hitan a full day from Cairo with a licensed guide and a four-wheel-drive, starting early, and never touch or move the fossils; walk Wadi Degla in the cool of the morning. Carry far more water than you think you need, and end the day at Al-Azhar Park for the sunset over the city.