We spent two days with Alaa and Ambre in the deserts. They are incredible people who taught us a lot about the deserts and the region. We were treated like kings throughout the stay! We also had a great time sharing around the fire in the evening. Thank you very much for this unforgettable experience!

Voici la traduction en anglais : "We chose the 3 days and 2 nights option. We were a group of four, including two children (ages 9 and 12). We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and the spectacular surroundings. The ever-changing landscape was truly impressive, with numerous stops and wonders to discover, far beyond the highlights listed in the brochure. Our guides, Mohamed and Bakr, were fantastic and took great care of us. They genuinely wanted to make our stay enjoyable and magical, and they were very attentive. The vehicle was spacious and comfortable, and Bakr is an experienced driver. I had imagined that the trips through the desert would be exhausting; there were one or two challenging sections, but they were quite short. To be fair, Bakr drove very carefully and slowed down significantly in those areas. For the rest, it was comfortable, with a great driver and excellent suspension. It’s magical to drive through such vast landscapes. As for the meals, Mohamed delighted us. The quality and presentation of the dishes were impressive, especially considering the limited facilities he had to cook. Be warned, the portions are huge for light eaters; we felt bad about leaving so much food, worrying he might think we didn’t like it, but honestly, it was delicious. For the nights, we slept in tents (2 people per tent). The sleeping bags were clean and warm. I had brought our ski thermal layers, but we only used the base layers. We didn’t feel cold. Our schedule was disrupted by a change in legislation, so we couldn’t sleep in the White Desert or see the sunrise there. We were informed of this issue two days before the trip, and the program order was adjusted accordingly. We didn’t see the cold springs in Bahariya, so I can’t say if a swimsuit would be useful there, but for the other oases, the “refreshing dip” wasn’t really for swimming. We carried swimsuits around for nothing. Our main luggage stayed at the oasis, so it's best to bring the smallest bag possible for the 3-day trip, as the vehicle was already quite loaded with camping gear. We had a 45x36x20 cm carry-on bag and two small backpacks for the kids. Essentials, in my opinion: warm clothes for the evening and night, sunscreen, cap, sunglasses, an external battery to charge phones (for photos), and a basic first-aid kit: bandages, motion sickness medicine, Imodium, and a toothbrush. My shower gel was useless, but I wish I had thought to bring baby wipes and an anti-UV lip balm, like for skiing. Long, lightweight clothing would probably be more suitable, as the sand stings a bit with the wind gusts. The transfers also went smoothly. We were picked up in Cairo at the scheduled time, and they organized the transfer to Luxor for us, which saved us from extra travel. Comfortable vehicle, discreet driver. Do I recommend this activity? Absolutely YES, a completely different way to experience Egypt, far from the usual tourist spots. A true escape!"

I organized the tour with Ala Sada after being recommended by a friend. He was very responsive during the planning phase via WhatsApp, which helped a lot. Everything was on time; lunches and dinner were good and he took us everywhere a family with small children could go. The Black and White deserts are stunning and well worth the long trip from Cairo. We were able to coordinate our stay in a nearby hotel with Ala, so everything went super smooth. Ala made sure the kids had fun in the sand dunes, either by driving over them or allowing us to sandboard on it. 5 stars!

Thank you Alaa and his team, my friends and me had an amazing 5D4N trip to Black&White Deserts and Siwa Oasis. He took a very good care of us! The foods that he cooked in the deserts were delicious, it’s out of our expectation. And the sand board session was great, it’s very excited. We love the trip so much!

We took a 4 day 3 night trip to Siwa Oasis. Alaa was a good and thoughtful guide. We gave him our dates and wishes and he put together an itinerary. He will advise if he thinks there are better options, and took our needs into consideration. He worked with a local guide and desert driver within Siwa who were both very good. Our driver Waleed was also careful and we felt safe in the car with him (which is a feat in Egypt!)

We had a beautiful experience, everything is planned for you from pick up to drop off and you can just admire the beautiful desert for 48 hours. The guides were caring, affectionate, nice and funny which makes you experience this adventure to the fullest! The food was home made and delicious. All the views were breath taking and this tour was definitely one of the highlight of our trip!

We had the best time and it is definitely the best experience we had in Egypt so far. 10000000% recommend. A must do if you come to Egypt. The deserts were so beautiful and so worth seeing. The food was perfect, fresh, generous, we loved everything we ate in the Oasis and the desert. The car, tent and all equipments were very comfortable. The organisation was perfect. All people involved in the experience were so nice to us (thank you so much Alaa, Walid, Amr,..). We learned a lot about the desert and bedouin lifestyle. We will cherish this memory forever and hope we can come back one day !

Wow! What an unforgettable experience in the Black and White Deserts. The natural beauty of the area, and warm hospitality of Alaa, Mahmoud and Bakr were far and away the best parts of our trip to Egypt; better than the pyramids. We were picked up in Cairo and had a pleasant drive to the Baharya Oasis. Then toured a few spots, each more amazing and beautiful than the previous one. We camped in the White Desert. The night was cold but we had a delicious and warm meal, and saw more stars than we ever have in our lives. The sleeping bags and blankets they provided kept us all warm and cosy. After a great breakfast and more touring, we had lunch back in Bahariya and traveled back to Cairo with full hearts and lots of great pictures to remember our trip. Highly recommended. If you go in the winter, bring lots of layers to wear, as the days are comfortable but the nights are quite cold. Even though they had everything we needed (tissues, trash bags, snacks, lots of water and drinks), we were glad we brought our own toilet tissue too. (Maybe because we traveled with two teen girls.) For the toilet, you just find a private corner in the desert behind a rock. We don't camp often and weren't sure what to expect, but we all really enjoyed the time. Next time maybe we'll do an extended walking tour where you go to similar parts of the desert but have more time to walk from place to place and really soak it all in. Thank you Egypt Desert Star!

While the desert is always evolving, sensitive and fragile, the life that comes and goes inevitably leaves a trace. As I will explain, the jeep you’re in will double as a spaceship and a boat. Explore an ancient ocean floor covered with ancient shells in the ancient mud. Then find much more recent footsteps of beetles, desert foxes and camels. At first your city eyes will look for shapes it recognizes. This leaves you to find people and cities far away, only to realize these are rocks or shadows. The solitude we found on our first of two nights was as lonely as it was serene. It makes you remember you really do live on a planet in space. Our guides, Mahmoud and Bakr, had contagious affection for their region. They were hospitable, knowledgable, patient, great cooks and honestly, I would trust them with my life. Everything is very well organized, you get picked up and dropped off wherever you like. You will get so much nice food to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner that you will never begin to find yourself even a little bit hungry or thirsty. Thanks again for the good care you all took!

Amazing experience and very friendly. We book black and white desert tour 3days2nights They took amazing care of us. Alaa makes you feel comfortable from the very beginning, then everything was perfectly organized. and he knows the desert like the palm of his hand. it was a wonderful experience, better than we expected ! Thanks! Alaa, Bakr and Mustafa.

It’s the BEST memory in Egypt trip. We are very appreciate Egypt Desert Star. Alaa is the best desert tour guide.

When we arrived at the oasis we had a tasty lunch outside in a beautiful setting before going to our stops in the desert. Alaa and team were very kind and knowledgeable, they pointed out the best locations! The desert locations were amazing and I felt we saw a big variety of what the desert had Highly recommend this experience. For those camping I would suggest brining a hoodie as there were a few flies at night but they were not bad with the tent zipped up. The tent was very spacious and comfortable

Incredible trip! Loved the white and black desert and Alaa cooked us the best meal we had in Egypt! We did see other tour groups at each stop so it wasn’t as remote as expected but still good.

As far as we are concerned, there are two treasures in Egypt. One was found in 1922 in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The second one is Alaa – the owner and main person you will work with on your trip to desert – if you go through his company (Egypt Desert Star). It is debatable which one is more valuable . We highly recommend him as your desert guide. He is knowledgeable, pleasant and takes his job seriously. The guy has what I would call “people skills” – that you either have or not – and you can’t learn in school. He is highly sensitive to what you: say, do, want, not pushy at all, anticipates your needs etc. We chose to get from Cairo to Luxor through the desert (5 day trip). I read reviews of other travellers regarding safety in this area of the Egypt – as all of the Government Websites of US, Canada, and Britain were warning against travel to this area. After deciding that it is worth the risk, we booked this trip. In our opinion it was perfectly safe. All of it was interesting, but “White desert” was a revelation. Comparable with all the temples in Egypt combined, but unexpected. We spent over a month in Egypt, and saw a few temples – to say the least, but we wouldn’t want to leave Egypt without seeing the White Desert. The last 2 days of the trip we had Police escort when we were travelling from White desert to Farafra oasis and later to Kharga Oasis and finally to Luxor. I must say – it was impressive to see Police vehicle travel with us - with 3 policemen. It looks like the Egyptian Authorities take safety of tourists very seriously. Or maybe, they thought we were dangerous, who knows. Our desert police escort kept us without a hint of “bakhshesh”, only putting their hand on the heart – as a sign of respect - when we were parting our ways, on the outskirts of Luxor. Needless to say – after driving just a few hundred meters in Luxor proper, our driver was pulled over by the local corrupted cop – who demanded money – just because he saw tourists inside - none were given. The three days we spent in the desert with Alaa were out of this word interesting. Probably the most interesting was White Desert, the third treasure of Egypt in our opinion. Not only Alaa showed us all little (and big) quirks of the desert, the guy also has GPS build into his brain. One day we had strong wind and sandstorm in the desert, very interesting and is exciting to see on the pictures right now, but not that pleasant when we were in the middle of it. Needless to say, we never got lost. Whenever he prepared food, such as the desert camp dinners, it was fresh, plentiful and tasty. 2 nights that we slept in the desert – they grilled meat over the fire – also tasty. Our trip included hotel stays, and he booked the best available hotels in the desert. Last thing we wanted to say is – that whole trip was booked – purely based on trust – using WhatsApp to communicate with Alaa. We made our payment in full, on the 2nd day of our trip. If you are going to organize your trip to desert with Alaa like we did, please do not abuse his trust, it is in short supply in Egypt – most people who deal with tourists, are out to get you. Nothing like that when it comes to Alaa. The guy is rock solid – but I guess – you got that from this review so far…..

We are a family, with two kids who are 8 and 11. We had two very different and equally fantastic trips with Alaa. First a 3 nights White Desert safari, which was quite possibly the best family adventure we ever had. Alaa's vehicle and equipment were perfect, we had a fabulous time driving over dunes, sand boarding, but the highlight was the camping and meals part. Alaa managed to put together incredible 3 course dinners and lunches, cooking in the desert the best meat we had in Egypt. A desert fox visited us one night, and we spent the evenings around the fire. We had such a positive experience with Alaa, that we asked him to organize a 7 days trip for us, over Christmas, to Siwa. Alaa took care of everything, from our pick up in Maadi, to staying over in Marsa Matruh (including excellent sea food dinners!) and a fabulous 4 days itinerary in Siwa, accompanied by a really knowledgeable and professional Siwan guide, Omar. It was another very successful family adventure. Alaa goes out of his away to accommodate any specific needs and requirements, takes into account kids presence, his vehicles are in excellent state and we always felt totally safe. We will definitely be asking him to organize other adventures for us and our friends!