Sunsets at the “Sunset oasis”

CAIRO – 12 September 2017: The landscapes of Egypt offer stunning panoramas to enjoy a wide spectrum of sunsets. Each element of nature provides for a different sunset experience. Depending on where you travel, the Nile River, the sea, the palm trees, the mountains or the dunes become a background and a participant to the sunset spectacle. Water especially provides beautiful reflections and scenic pictures.


Pic 1 – Sunset reflection at the Fathnas Island, Siwa Oasis - Monika Sleszynska

One of the unique places to enjoy beautiful sunsets is Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert, as Bahaa Taher’s 19th-century novel describes. The magical sunsets of the Oasis gained the book its title, “Sunset Oasis”, and the novel was awarded the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.


Pic 2 – Sunset pier and mountain reflection in the salt lake from Fathnas Island, Siwa Oasis - Monika Sleszynska


Those who have visited the oasis know the enchanting beauty of the sunset. The sun is the maestro of the desert’s climate. Although watching the sunset in a desert is a popular safari attraction and a special experience, you will find far more than just the sun dunes in the oasis. Siwa is abundant in fresh springs and salt lakes.


Pic 3 –Sky reflection in the salt lake in Maraqi, Siwa Oasis - Monika Sleszynska

The salty Siwa Lake shapes the oasis’s landscape and dictates agriculture as seldom plants and trees can accept to grow on salty water. The water spreads to the outskirts of the oasis, creating picturesque bays and forming extraordinary landscapes.


Pic 4 –Sunset in Maraqi, Siwa Oasis - Monika Sleszynska – Monika Sleszynka

The widely spread waters are a stunning backdrop for the sunsets, especially when the lake water stays still and acts like a mirror reflection. Sunset in the oasis is a time when activities change as the day switches into the night.


Pic 5 – Mountain reflection in a shallow salty lake in Maraqi, Siwa Oasis – Monika Sleszynska

Set below sea level, Siwa is a unique environment and landscape permeated with salt where the alchemy of nature is reflected in a visual manner that could never be duplicated.


Pic 6 – Sun, palm trees, and mountains mirror reflection in Maraqi area, Siwa Oasis – Monika Sleszynska

Each spot around the salt lake provides special scenery, where no two details are the same. It is a feast for the senses and a visual celebration of the beauty of nature. The peaceful wide-spreading land offers an opportunity to observe the miracle of nature filled with calmness and stillnesss, where the only sounds come from the occasionally passing birds and distant sounds of the donkeys, or sporadic vehicles.


Pic 7 – Sunset reflecting in the waters of salt lake in Maraqi area, Siwa oasis – Monika Sleszynska