It is very hot in the desert, and there is usually no water. This means that plants and animals have a very hard time living in the desert. Sometimes, though, there are parts of the desert where water comes up from under the ground. When there is enough water coming out of the ground, plants and animals can live near there. A spot like this in the desert is called an oasis.
Stanley went to visit a very big oasis called Siwa. This oasis is so big that a whole town can live there:
The trees you see are all one kind- palm trees that grow dates.
The yellow things on the tree are dates that aren't ripe yet. When they are ripe they turn brown and very sweet.
All of the buildings in Siwa are built out of palm tree wood and mud. This is a picture of the hotel that Stanley stayed in:
If it rains a lot the mud used to build the houses will melt away. Since it hardly ever rains in Siwa this is not usually a problem. These buildings on the hill were built more than 1,500 years ago:
In all that time there has only been enough rain to break down the mud walls a little bit!
The people in Siwa lived there a long time without any visitors. They didn't have any roads so they didn't need cars. Even though they have a road now, most people still use donkeys to get around. Stanley got a ride with this donkey, can you see him?
Siwa has a big lake which gives the people all the water they need. There are some spots in the town where even more water comes up from the ground. There are swimming pools built over these spots so people can go swimming. Here is Stanley cooling off in one pool called Cleopatra's Bath.
While Stanley was in Siwa he went out into the desert to see some more things. He stopped at one place that looked like white salt was sprinkled all over the desert:
We Stanley got closer, though, he saw that all the white spots were actually sea shells.
The shells are from a very long time ago when the desert was covered with an ocean.
Next, Stanley visited a tiny oasis that looked like a little lake. The water was very nice and the desert was very hot, so everyone got to go swimming again.
Last, Stanley visited another tiny oasis that had hot water coming out of the ground. There was a little pool to swim in the hot water, but Stanley did not want to swim in hot water in the middle of the summer!
The desert was a very interesting place to visit and Stanley hopes to go back sometime soon!
