Canal sights in Africa

1. Wadi Gimal

   • Eastern Desert, Egypt
   • Sights › Canal

   Starkly beautiful Wadi Gimal, which extends inland for about 85km from its coastal opening south of Marsa Alam, is home to a rich variety of birdlife, gazelles and stands of mangrove. In ancient times, the surrounding area was the source of emerald, gold and other minerals used in Pharaonic and Roman civilisations.

   Together with tiny Wadi Gimal Island, just offshore from the wadi's delta area, Wadi Gimal has been given protected status and targeted for development as an ecotourism destination. Because of its long history and abundance of historical monuments, the area has also been proposed as a Unesco World Heritage site.

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2. Wadi Hammamat

   • Eastern Desert, Egypt
   • Sights › Canal

   The high, smooth walls of Wadi Hammamat, about halfway along the road connecting Al-Quseir to the town of Qift, display a remarkable collection of graffiti dating from Pharaonic times down to Egypt's 20th-century King Farouk. The road through the wadi runs along an ancient trade route, and remains of old wells as well as other evidence of the area's long history can be seen along the way.

   In Graeco-Roman times, watchtowers were built along the trail at short enough intervals for signals to be visible, and many of them are still intact on the barren hilltops on either side of the road.

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3. Wadi Miya

   • Eastern Desert, Egypt
   • Sights › Canal

   In the remote Wadi Miya, in what was likely an ancient mine works, are the remains of a temple said to be built by Seti I.

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