I was surprised to learn there was a nature reserve a 25-minute drive way from our home. The Wadi Degla Reserve protects a long, dry limestone valley that narrows into canyon-like stretches with walls up to 50 meters high. I think the most amazing aspect of the reserve is that is adjacent to a metropolitan area of over 20 million people. Wadi is the Arabic word for a valley, specifically a dry riverbed or canyon in a desert that carries water only during occasional heavy rains. Flash floods can rush through them with little warning during the few times it rains here. The canyon is carved out of 500 million year old limestone. It used to be the Tethys Sea when the continents were splitting. Visitors can find fossil shells, urchins and coin-shaped single-cell organisms called nummulites.
Nadia and I drove over to do a reconnaissance of the reserve for a race and cleanup that is taking place later this month. We found groups of visitors have picnics/BBQ and a few hikers. You can probably drive all the way through the valley that is between 12 and 30 kilometers (online research). We drove about 10 minutes and Obi and I walked up a side canyon to get a better view of the park. It would be beautiful around sunset. The term Degla may means Tigris in Arabic and the nearby neighborhood has the same name. It is odd that the valley is named after a river in Iraq.
Two aspects of the park I didn’t like were the garbage/litter that collects in rocky areas and the pack of dogs near the entrance. I am looking forward to exploring more of the canyons.
