Wadi Hitan: The Valley of Whales

A journey into Egypt's ancient sea to witness the evolution of life among the desert sands and the wonders of the night sky.

·10 min read·
travelegyptnaturehistory

I have finally graduated college, completed my internship and kickstarted my career. I thought there was no better way to celebrate these milestones than a stargazing trip. It would be my first time. I did some research and found a two day, one-night stargazing trip to Wadi Hitan. It took place on the weekends so there were no excuses there. I told my coworkers about it and they liked the idea. I immediately bought the tickets for all of us to secure the spots even before I had the final confirmation from them. The day had come. The weather was nice and a bit warm. We departed from Cairo on a 3 hour drive to Wadi Hitan. The distance itself is not that long. It's the roads that are limiting. Because Wadi Ryan and Wadi Hitan are natural preserves, you can't build asphalt roads there. The roads are similar to gravel roads but composed of natural materials.

While the main focus of the trip was the stargazing session. There was more to the trip than just that. We arrived early at around 2pm where we spent some time in the only cafe and resting point across a vast desert. While the team was setting up the camp and the telescopes, we headed to the museum. A paleontology museum containing hundreds of ancient artifacts that remained preserved within Earth’s layers over hundreds of millions of years. I had a nice history session where I learned that this desert was a seabed back then and there were many marine creatures that used to inhabit these areas before the water receded.

A cast of fossilized hind limbs from a Basilosaurus whale, displayed in a glass case with text identifying it.
A vast, circular museum hall showcasing the complete skeleton of a large ancient whale, surrounded by other exhibits.
Three ancient leopard skulls, each resting on its own pedestal, with museum labels in English and Arabic.
A museum display featuring a leopard illustration, a photo of a cave, and two ancient leopard skulls on pedestals.
A long, complete fossilized skeleton of an animal displayed within a protective glass case in a museum.
A close-up view of an ancient leopard skull, showing intricate bone structure and teeth on a dark pedestal.
An ancient ibex skull and large curved horns displayed next to a photo of a rock shelter with cave paintings.
Various small fossil fragments, including jawbones and teeth, neatly arranged on white pedestals inside a glass case.
A well-preserved fossil skull of an Oligocene Mastodon elephant, with additional molar fossils nearby.
A large fossilized femur and other bones of an Arsinoitherium, displayed with an artistic rendering of the animal in a lush landscape.
The massive fossilized skull of an Arsinoitherium, a prehistoric rhinoceros-like creature, on a dark pedestal.
Fossilized maxilla, clavicle, and cervical vertebra displayed individually on white surfaces inside a glass case.
A large, dark fossilized tree trunk displayed horizontally on metal supports in a museum setting.
A collection of diverse fossilized whale teeth, accompanied by an informational panel explaining ancient whale dentition.
A large fossilized crocodile skull, dermal bone, tooth, and vertebrae displayed in a case with an underwater backdrop.
An informational panel showcasing an ancient Egyptian drawing of a crocodile, with text highlighting the animal's 240-million-year history.
A large, jumbled collection of fossilized bones, identified as the complete skeleton of Dorudon atrox, in a glass case.
A suspended complete skeleton of an ancient whale, presented against a mural depicting an underwater marine environment.
A museum display featuring a whale skeleton diagram, large fossilized whale bones, and a complete whale skull.
Two large, fossilized lower jaw fragments from a Protocetid whale, showing ancient teeth patterns.
A comparative display of fossilized sternum bones from Dorudon atrox and Basilosaurus isis, showing size differences.
A detailed exhibit on whale vertebrae evolution, featuring various fossilized vertebrae and an evolutionary timeline.
A close-up view of a large, fossilized Basilosaurus skull cast, with sharp, pointed teeth clearly visible.
A diverse display of marine fossils including shells, a crab, fish, corals, and a fossilized log, with a mangrove scene backdrop.
A large, spherical, rough-textured rock, labeled as a 'Geological Watermelon,' displayed on a brown pedestal.

You might wonder why they set up the telescopes that early and that's because there is one really cool thing you might watch during the day. It's the sun! Through special sun filters, you can point the telescope at the sun without damaging it or your eyes. Looking through it, you will experience one of the unique phenomena that's always happening and changing but we can never notice it through our naked eyes. It’s the Sunspots. These are cooler dark dots on the sun’s surface that's caused by twists in the magnetic fields. It gets even more fascinating when you realize that these Sunspots keep changing, appearing and disappearing. We challenged each other on who would be able to count the most sunspots. It was very hard for me to capture the Sun through the telescope without a phone holder. That was the best I could get.

Sunspots on the surface of the sun

Now that we were done with the sunspots and there was nothing else to point the telescopes at. We rested a bit and waited till the sun’s heat got less intense. About an hour before sunset, we embarked on a hike through the dried valleys of the desert. This wasn't a regular hike. It was a hike through history as it took place in an open air museum. Where artifacts were displayed just like how they were found.

Overhead view of a fossilized whale skeleton in a desert excavation site, surrounded by ropes and clay markers.
Close-up of a long, fossilized whale skeleton partially excavated from the sand, with three people standing nearby.
A long, winding trail of fossilized whale vertebrae on a sandy desert floor, with a sign identifying it as Basilosaurus.
Wide desert landscape with a winding trail of large fossilized bones and scattered rocks under a clear blue sky.
A desert landscape with a path of spherical stones leading towards unique sand-colored rock formations under a clear sky.
Fossilized burrows of wood-digesting Teredo (shipworms) in a sandy desert, with an informational sign.

We kept hiking and exploring these ancient remains until sunset, then we started heading back to our camp. As we were walking back, we started noticing the stars popping up one by one. Once we reached the camp, we had an okay meal. The potatoes were a bit raw and the chicken was cold and a bit burnt but it was enough to power me through the rest of the night. After I finished the meal, I exited the tent to find one of the most breathtaking spectacular scenes. It's the night sky without light pollution. A completely different sky from what I am used to. Yet, it felt familiar from within my soul. The moment I saw it, I was immediately struck by a poignant sense of loss. As much as I am attached to technology, it was very disheartening to realize that we had hid this beauty.

Initially, we split up. The organizers went to setup the cameras and the telescopes in a nearby small hill while we roamed around the camp enjoying the night sky and taking some photos. I was already aware of the astrophotography basics, things like increasing shutter speed, lowering the ISO value and turning on a flash light for a brief second. I also came prepared with a small tripod. Luckily, a trip mate had a bigger tripod which allowed us to take very cool pictures. The images that came from the latest iPhones were on a whole new level. These phones almost produced photos with a quality that's comparable to expensive DSLR cameras without the complexity.

A dark night sky filled with countless stars of varying brightness. A faint, diffuse glow of the Milky Way is visible. Taken from a Samsung S23 FE phone.
This was my first attempt at astrophotography. Taken with a Samsung S23 FE phone

After some time, the organizers had called upon us to gather. Then we went to the nearby hill to take some photos with their DSLR camera. The photos were amazing. Seeing yourself in front of the universe had a profound feeling. Reminding me of how tiny we are in this massive universe. Looking through this perspective changed the way I think about challenges and life.

A wide-angle view of a dark night sky showcasing the distinct, luminous band of the Milky Way and numerous stars. Taken on a DSLR camera.
This image was taken with a DSLR camera by the organizers

After taking the photos on that hill we gathered near the camp for the most exciting part of the program. The stargazing session. In that session, the organizer shared a lot of cool stories and legends about the stars and constellations and their meaning to ancient civilizations. Then he proceeded with some lessons on identifying the directions and the seasons using stars.

By the end of the session, we spotted some objects through the telescope, like Saturn and its rings. Then we were too tired so we went to the rest area and played some card games. Then we went back to the camp and sat by the campfire eating marshmallows. While some members chose to take a nap till the sunrise. The rest had a different plan. We asked the organizer to take us on a hike to a nearby hill so we could watch the sunrise from above. That turned out to be a bit nerve racking hike as it involved climbing very steep ground, walking sideways over narrow edges and climbing over some walls but when we reached the top, it was very rewarding. The view up there was amazing showing the whole desert.

Expansive desert with many weathered rock formations and rolling sand hills under a gradient sky at dawn.

After enjoying the sunrise and taking some photos. We descended the hill and got on the bus. En route to Cairo, I had the time to reflect on the whole trip. The experience was deeply moving: It made me realize that nature is part of us humans, and seeing the true night sky for the first time revealed a part of me that had been missing throughout my life. Standing beneath those stars made me curious, made me realize that mistakes are just experiments rather than failures, and my daily setbacks suddenly seemed insignificant.