Wadi Degla Protectorate

Wadi Degla Protectorate  (“wadi” means valley in Arabic) lies in the northern part of the Eastern Desert and runs east to west for 30km to drain into the Nile Valley at Maadi, south of of Cairo, Helwan Governorate. The area, which encompasses 60 km², was declared by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) as Natural Protectorate in 1999.

Most of the Cairines do not know that only 10 minutes driving from Maadi lies a nature lover’s excellent getaway from the noise, pollution and congestion of Cairo.

Once you get in the protectorate, you are literally walking on the bed of an ancient sea that existed around 50 million years ago, formed by flood waters mixing with natural salts in the earth. It is located on the western edge of Egypt’s Eastern Desert and runs around  30 km from east to west, with an overall area of 60 km².

Wadi Degla is really home to big number of desert animal and plant species. Fennec foxes, red foxes, dorcas gazelles, Nubian ibexes, wild hares, wheatears, rock doves and ravens are some examples of mammals and birds found in the valley.

The high cliffs forming the main valley have beautiful rock formations, shaped the movements of water millions of years ago. Just walking in the middle of them feels as if you are truly out of this world!

For decades, Wadi Degla protectorate has been a familiar place to the people of Maadi, especially to Maadi’s sizable expatriate community. Hikers, Cyclers, joggers and campers. Also some people enjoy going there and have a picnic on a Friday afternoon. Schools also sometimes organize trips to the valley to introduce their kids to the fascinating  Eastern Desert. Sadly, most of the valley’s regular visitors are non-Egyptians.

we have created this  blog  in order to share all the information we have about this interesting place.

Please share with us all what you know about the site.