Seven thousand square kilometres of mountain, desert, mangrove and reef, with Roman emerald mines in it.
Wadi El Gemal — the Valley of the Camels — runs from the mountains of the Eastern Desert down to the sea south of Marsa Alam, and covers both. It is one of the largest protected areas in Egypt and receives a tiny fraction of the visitors the northern reefs do.
Inland it is a system of dry valleys with acacia, doum palm and, after rare rain, sudden grass. Dorcas gazelle, Nubian ibex and Egyptian vulture live here, and the Ababda communities still graze camels through it. Guides from those communities lead most trips, which is the arrangement the park was designed around.
On the coast there are mangroves — genuinely unusual this far north — and Wadi El Gemal island, a protected seabird breeding site. The offshore reefs are excellent and largely undived.
The historical layer is the surprise: Mons Smaragdus, the Roman emerald mines, lie inside the park, and the ruins of the mining settlement at Sikait still stand with rock-cut temples.
The historical layer is the surprise: Mons Smaragdus, the Roman emerald mines, lie inside the park, and the ruins of the mining settlement at Sikait still stand with rock-cut temples. Rome got essentially all its emeralds from here, and you can walk through what is left of the operation.
