The Black Desert is a region of volcano-shaped and widely spaced mounds, distributed along about 30 km (19 mi) in western Egypt between the White Desert in the south and the Bahariya Oasis in the north. Most of its mounds are capped by basalt sills, giving them the characteristic black color.

Agabat, known as the ‘Beautiful Valley’, is located in the Western Desert region of Egypt and generally is the stop off point for tourists on their way to Bahariya and the White/ Black Deserts. About a 4 hour 40 minute drive from Cairo and over 6 hours from Alexandria, the route will take you from the busy Cities into the peaceful and sparse lands into the desert regions with stunning views en route. There are no settlements at all in Agabat as the land is barren and extreme temperatures in the summer months would make living extremely harsh. Whilst Agabat is smaller and considered a small valley in comparison to the Bahariya area, it is nonetheless stunning in it’s own unique way. With beautiful mountain formations and many white cliff faces similar to the White Desert, it also immerses into the sand dunes linked alongside the Sahara Desert and unusual yellow limestone rocks. The sides of the mountains here are higher and steeper than the route leading to Bahariya and Farafra.

The white desert is the most popular and interesting area in the Western Desert. The white desert became a protected area since 2002. It occupies a surface area of around three thousand kilometers.On the road that goes between Farafra and Baharya, one can see the first bizarre rock formation in the white desert. Some rocks look like animals, mushrooms, and some rocks have totally strange shapes, The famous and dramatic gleaming chalk landscape of the Farafra Depression is one of the most astounding natural wonders of Egypt. The strange rock formations that rise above the white surface of the desert are known as inselbergs (from the German for ‘island mountain, The rock layers were deposited when the desert was underwater and marine fauna which died settled at the bottom of the ocean forming sedimentary rocks. Viewing the sparkling white landscape covered with almost supernatural shapes spectacularly lit at dawn, midday and especially sunset there.