The Libyan Desert Home Page

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This website is dedicated to the Libyan Desert (or Eastern Sahara), one
of the least explored and most strikingly beautiful places on this planet.
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Last updated: 17^th April, 2013. What's New?

The site contains three sections:

The Libyan Desert

Contains general background information on the Libyan Desert, including geography, a detailed account of and various original documents relating to its history and exploration, descriptions and photo galleries of the main rock art and archaeological sites (Wadi Sora, the real "Cave of Swimmers", Karkur Talh rock art sites, Ain Doua, Abu Ballas and others) and information on the desert's fauna and flora.

Expeditions

Provides news updates and itineraries for expeditions planned by Fliegel Jezerniczky Expeditions, as well as reports and many photos from past expeditions. Section also provides practical information for expedition participants.

Resources

Provides a selection of high resolution Landsat images of the Libyan Desert, as well as links to the few websites, and a comprehensive bibliography of various books books and articles related to exploration, history and rock art of the Libyan Desert, including a full listing of the various editions of Almásy's writings. There are some hard to find old books and maps available.

RECENT ADDITIONS

See also the NEWS section !

			2013 March - Jebel Uweinat, Sudan With access from Egypt and Libya impossible, this expedition was organised from Sudan, approaching Uweinat from the South East accross the South Libyan Desert. All things went smoothly and hassle free, overall a very pleasant experience with several new discoveries in the region.
			Rudolph Kuper Wadi Sura - The Cave of Beasts A rock art site in the Gilf Kebir (SW Egypt) AFRICA PRAEHISTORICA 26, Köln 2013 513 pp, 445 full colour pages, numerous coloured figures, tables and maps The long awaited publication on the magnificent Cave of Beasts at Wadi Sora, to be published in July 2013, with a number of articles describing the context and archaeological setting of the site, followed by a complete photographic documentation of the shelter in a 1:2 ratio, in the quality to be expected from the publications of the HBI.The book is now available for PRE-ORDER with a substantial discount compared to post-publication prices.
			Operation Salam - László Almásy's most daring Mission in the Desert War Kuno Gross, Michael Rolke & András Zboray This book is the result of a multi-year collaborative research effort by the authors, following the trail of László Almásy, partially in the musty gloom of remote document archives, but also in a very real sense, in the scorching sands of the Libyan Desert. Our objective was to give a complete and balanced account of the activities of Almásy in North Africa during the Second World War, culminating in the daring Operation Salam which succeeded in delivering two German spies to Egypt across the vast Libyan Desert, practically under the nose of the enemy. NOW SHIPPING!
			2012 October - Tassili N'Ajjer, Algeria In october we returned to the Tassili N'Ajjer. While not all things went according to plan, in the end we had a splendid one week trek on the Tadjelahin Plateau of the central Tassili, visiting the amazingly beautiful sites of Iheren, Tahlahi and many others in the area.
			2013 Planned Expeditions updated Our 2013 plans have been updated, confirming the March trip to Uweinat from Sudan, announcing a new Tassili N'Ajjer trip in October and postponing the planned Chad trip to November. The planned helicopter supported and trekking exeditions to the Upper Brandberg in Namibia will proceed as planned in June.
			2012 June - Upper Brandberg, Namibia Immediately after the helicopter supported trip of early June, we returned to the Brandberg for a nine day trekking expedition, continuing to visit areas not seen on previous treks to the mountain. We managed to see a number of principal and lesser sites of the southern part of the Upper Brandberg which were bypassed on previous trips.
			2012 May/June - Upper Brandberg, Namibia A fully helicopter-supported six day expedition to the most important rock art areas on the Upper Brandberg mountain. Avoiding the need for the difficult treks, this trip format will be repeated next year too.
			2011 October - Tassili N'Ajjer, Algeria We have re-visited the Tassili 20 years after our first journey, it still is "the most beautiful desert of all". During an eight day trek on the plateau we visited (and photographed) all of the principal sites of the Tamrit-Sefar-Jabbaren areas.
			Paul Borchardt, the Abwehr and the Harding King letters My copy of Harding King's "Mysteries of the Libyan Desert" revealed a very different mystery, followed up in the National Archives. A fascinating story of intrigue and espionage set against the backdrop of the Libyan Desert, with a cast of the great early explorers.
			2011 June - Upper Brandberg, Namibia We have returned to the Brandberg to continue where we left off last year, learning from our experiences. With more effective helicopter support, we managed to see most of the principal sites of the Western part of the Upper Brandberg.
			2010 November - Western Uweinat from Libya We returned to Libya after a long absence to explore the remaining "white spots" at western Jebel Uweinat. We had an unexpectedly hassle free and absolutely superb trip, making long treks on the granite part of the mountain resulting in a number of important new rock art finds.
			2010 October trip account Something quite different for a change, this expedition focused on the WWII history of the Libyan Desert, retracing the Egyptian part of Almásy's Operation Salam route and visiting the numerous SDF and LRDG wrecks still littering the desert.
			2010 June - Upper Brandberg, Namibia The account of our first expedition to the rock art sites of the Upper Brandberg mountain, Namibia. We had a very tough, but amazingly beautiful ten days on the top of the Brandberg, seeing many of the principal sites, a trip we plan to repeat on a regular basis.
			2010 March trip account We had a very pleasant and fruitful trip to Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir except for the weather. The week long windless heatwave at Uweinat, coupled with freezing mornings and a sandstorm later in the trip will be long remembered...
			Rock Art of the Libyan Desert Second Expanded Edition now available! The Second Edition of the illustrated catalogue of all known rock art sites in the Libyan Desert had been published in October 2009, now available for purchase. Nearly 300 new sites and over 4000 new photographs were added. Note: a special discount applies to those who purchased the First Edition.
			2009 November trip account We returned to Uweinat after a year and a half's absence. Our objectives were to ascend the summit, and explore some remaining blank spots in the upper areas of the mountain, all of which were met with spectacular results.
			8^th August, 2009 - 10^th Anniversary of the website launch It was ten years ago that the precursor to this website made its modest debut. Since then we have come a long way, the event is celebrated with several updates, a little facelift, and the announcement of new expeditions.
			I have finally managed to complete the project of translating all of Almásy's writings relevant to the Libyan Desert into English, including a corrected and annoted transcript of the Operation Salaam diary. PDF or CD versions may be ordered on-line.
			2009 February trip account The account of our trip organised together with BC Archaeology travel to The Gilf Kebir, with a fine new find in the middle section of Wadi Abd el Melik, and an astonishingly green Wadi Hamra.
			A pharaonic inscription at Uweinat! In late 2008 Mark Borda and Mahmoud Marei have discovered a pharaonic inscription at Jebel Uweinat, a most amazing find that will require a complete re-thinking of our understanding of the deep desert travel capabilities of the Ancient Egyptians.
			2008 March trip account Traces of an astonishing amount of recent rainfall were observed all accross the Gilf Kebir, an area where except for a few isolated patches no fresh vegatation was oserved over the past ten years.
			The lost bag of signalman Alec Ross In August 2007, a bag of a WWII british soldier was found near Wadi Sora, with all personal belongings. Here is the fascinating story, with photos of the finds.
			2007 October trip account An account of our October expedition, organised primarily to explore unsurveyed parts of Jebel Uweinat. We did make some splendid rock art finds, however the highlight was to observe the aftermath of yet another summer rain, which left pools large enough to swim in all over the mountain.
			2007 March trip account with video footage An account of our March expedition to visit the rock art sites of Jebel Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir, illustrated for the first time with digital video footage.
			It rained at Uweinat !!! The miracle we've been waiting for seven years repeated itself! On our last visit in October, Karkur Talh and other valleys were filled with lush green vegetation, and millions of yellow flowers. The flora and fauna pages have been extensively updated with the noted new species.
			New rock art finds in the Wadi Wahesh Instead of the cancelled Sudan trip, we decided to make a two week expedition, principally to Jebel Uweinat, to continue exploration of the unknown parts. In the upper reaches of the Wadi Wahesh (south Uweinat) we found a very rich group of paintings, some of them in a hitherto unknown style.
			2004 October trip account Added the account of our October trip to Jebel Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir. The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly the show put on by a horned viper, who proceeded to have it's dinner right in front of our cameras.
			Unpublished historic photographs by F.G.B. Arkwright Bimbashi (capt.) Arkwright was Commanding Officer of the No.1. Motor Machine Gun Battery of the SDF, occupying Bir Murr at Uweinat in 1934. His sons, Anthony and Philip discovered these photos in a family album, and have very kindly permitted them to be shared with all of us. Some photos show Almásy, as well as the ascent of Uweinat.
			Exploration of Arkenu & Western Uweinat Account of our 2003 October trip to Libya. Exploration and new rock art discoveries at Arkenu, Karkur Idriss and Karkur Ibrahim. Visit to Jebel Sherif and South Uweinat thwarted by Libyan officialdom.
			Mystery of the "White Blob" solved Traverse of the Great Sand Sea, exploration and new rock art discoveries near Wadi Sora and Karkur Talh. All in the latest trip account.
			Spectacular rock art sites discovered A number of truly spectacular paintings and dozens of other new sites were found during our expedition to Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir in October, 2002.
			The SDF Kufra Convoys The little known history of the Sudan Defence Force truck convoys supplying Kufra from Wadi Halfa in 1941-42. Contains an account intended for Bagnold's never published LRDG history.
			Sister site on the Tassili N'Ajjer Have created a sister site with many photos and description of rock art sites in the Tassili N'Ajjer, southern Algeria, based on our 1991 and 1993 trips
			Unpublished Bagnold Photographs Stephen Bagnold, son of Ralph Alger Bagnold, has most graciously provided scans of unpublished photos of the early expeditions.

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