SIWA OASIS (65 images)

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The Siwa Oasis, a tiny jewel of green engulfed by the vast sands of the Sahara desert, lies approximately 800km west of Cairo, Egypt, on the edge of the Great Sand Sea near the Libyan border.

Egypt's most remote oasis is also considered to be the most alluring, with bubbling natural freshwater springs, lush gardens of date palms and olive groves, traditional mud-brick buildings, and ancient historical sites that include tombs surrounded by human remains, and the Oracle of Amun; the temple where Alexander the Great was declared a god, the son of Zeus in 331 BC.

With the exception of a few motorcycles and the odd 4X4 vehicle, Siwa hasn't changed much in the past few centuries. Donkey carts are the predominant form of transportation, and the community, with a population of 23,000, has managed to keep its distinctive Berber culture and language, unique to northern Africa, and distinct from its Egyptian neighbours.

The Siwa Oasis, inhabited for over 10,000 years, only recently emerged from centuries of isolation when the Egyptian government in 1980 built a paved road, connecting the oasis to the Mediterranean coast, to encourage commerce and trade. Since the road was built, the Egyptian government has been pushing the oasis as the next big tourist destination for Egypt.

First came the road. Now there's talk of constructing a commercial airport in the oasis. Instead of a few dozen tourists making the 10-hour drive, or longer bus ride, from Cairo to Siwa each week, an airport would bring in a weekly influx of hundreds of people.

Many Siwans enjoy the income that tourism brings, and say that an airport is the key to Siwa's future. Others, however, say that an airport would be the death of their oasis. Their culture and survival would be at risk. An airport might benefit business, but at the expense of their most valuable natural resource - water.

All photographs copyright DEDDEDA. No reproduction of any kind without permission from the photographer, Deddeda White.
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