Wadi Sannur Cave

Quarry workers cutting alabaster in the Eastern Desert broke into the cave in 1992 and found a chamber system running some seven hundred metres through Eocene limestone, formed by water dissolving the rock along a fault and then redepositing calcite as sheets, curtains and columns. The formations here are unusual for being largely banded alabaster rather than ordinary flowstone, translucent in lamplight with brown and honey layering, and some of the sheet formations hang several metres. The cave was declared a protected area in 1992 to stop the quarrying that had exposed it. Access requires desert driving and permission, and it is visited by very few people, mostly geologists and organised desert groups rather than independent travellers.

What you actually see

• Banded alabaster sheets - translucent honey and brown layering in lamplight.
• Hanging curtain formations - calcite sheets several metres deep.
• A seven-hundred-metre chamber system - developed along a rock fault.
• The quarry that found it - the alabaster workings at the entrance.

When to go

October to April for desert travel. Access must be arranged in advance through a tour operator or the protectorate office, and permission is not automatic. Half a day from Beni Suef, a long day from Cairo.

Honest expectations

This is not a set-up show cave: there is no lighting, no walkway and no ticket office, and you need lamps, a guide and permission. Formations are fragile and touching them damages them. The drive is rough and requires four-wheel-drive. Trips are frequently refused or cancelled.

Nearby

Beni Suef is the nearest town; the Meidum pyramid is north on the valley road.