Day 1 Cairo– Siwa You will be picked up from Cairo's International Airport and taken directly to Siwa. You flop into the 'Limousine' 14 seater people carrier and sleep most of the way through the desert arriving at the Siwa Villa in Siwa oasis in the early hours of the morning. Obvoilsu if you don't want to drive through the night we can pick you any time and take you straight to Siwa.

Mohammad, the housekeeper and Penny will meet you outside the villa and show you in.You can stay up to see the sun rise over the Sarah Desert with a bottle or two of duty free or get to bed the moment you arrive, it's up to you.

Day 2 Day off in Siwa A lazy morning. Food is provided for you in the Siwa Villa before you arrive, so you can make your own breakfast of cereal or omlet as and when you like. Mohammad will bring you fresh, hot bread, hanging it on the door so as to not wake you, and come back to do all the clearing up when you have finished. You're staying in a villa, but you will do no washing up, cleaning or roasting of chickens over the fire whilst you're here – that's Mohammad's job;).

Days 3 to 8 – Siwa Now you have been in Siwa Oasis for a day, we can be fairly flexible on what we do over the next six days. This is the whole point of an 'Adventure Villa Holiday', each person in your group can have their own agenda. Uncle Bert can sit and read his book on the roof terrace all day and contemplate his navel whilst the rest of the gang can go off and explore what you came to see, the Great Sand Sea in the Sahara Desert.

Over the next six days you can spend as much time as you want exploring the desert and sandboarding on some very big sand dunes on the edge of town or go off to check out the many natural springs in town that are great for swimming or... take the jeep out to our private swimming pool on the edge or the Sahara Desert.

You have access to a desert-ready jeep and, at the same time, Jack the donkey is always available so you can split up and go off in two groups. As the Siwa Villa is a five-minute walk from the souk, if Uncle Bert gets bored of his book, he can go off exploring the town of Siwa or the old Shali fortress that is right in front of the house.

Breakfast is provided every morning by Mohammad and, depending on what type of desert experience you want that day, lunch will be at the Villa or a picnic out in the desert. Dinner can be in the Villa prepared by our staff or in one of the many good restaurants in town.

Below is a list of ideas of things you can do in the six days you have in Siwa. We can do any of them as many times as you like and we can go to the desert every day except for the night out in the Great Sand Sea, due to the extra costs this trip incurs.

Lunch with the Locals Lunch at a friend's house in the Siwan suburbs, we sit and eat with Mohammad's 11 children in his house made of mud and experience the Siwan culture at first hand. As we live in Siwa, we have many friends who are not in the tourist business and so are able to share these genuine friendships with you.

Sights of Siwa A few hours before sunset we jump in the Somewhere Different jeep and are given a guided tour of the ancient monuments of Siwa by Omar who works for the Antiquities for Siwa Oasis. He is very knowledgeable and will give you a real insight into the way of life here in Siwa in the Pharonic times and when Alexandria the Great came to visit the Oracle and the Mountain of the Dead where you will see Pharonic mummies that still have their own hair on them. His views on mummification and the changes in attitude from the Pharonic period to Roman and then Islamic times are very interesting.

Sandboarding You came here for the desert and sandboarding on the big dunes on the edge of the desert is a 'must' for any one fit enough who wants to have a go. We take the jeep and park on top of a large dune and off you go. We have ten boards and bindings at the villa for your use and some candle wax for the adventurous. We have searched the desert and found some very big dunes, some 150 meters high. We can spend all day every day doing this if you want. And some people do...

Roman Springs If you get a bit deserted-out, swimming in the Roman Springs around Siwa is a great way to spend an afternoon. You can take the jeep or Jack the donkey and go to one of over 40 different springs to swim. This is very popular with kids. We can do this at any time and, if the kids get their way, you'll do it all the time, in between sand- boarding!

A night in the desert We need to plan when you want to do your 'night in the desert' when you arrive so that we can book up Omar our resident deep-desert driver. You go out into the Great Sand Sea for a full 24 hours. Big dune hopping is great for the home movie collection. There are several different types of place you can visit out in the desert and, depending on what you are interested in, we can go sandboarding on some very high dunes or take off to explore an uninhabited oasis 30 km's into the Sahara Desert.

Take it all in whilst dinner is prepared and the camp is set up for the night

Dinner will be barbequed chicken and vegetables or something you chose in the market the day before.

We sleep out under the stars in the dunes without a mosquito or bug in sight.

On the way back to Siwa in the morning we pass by Bira Wahed to have a soak in the hot and cold springs right out in the desert. Bira Wahed gets very busy so this is the best time to visit when no one else is around.

Six days of relaxation, mixed with as much desert adventure as you want. There are many more things you can do in Siwa but we can't list them all here so when you arrive we can find out what you interests are and give you ideas for some great days out.

If seeing the Great Sand Sea for just an hour is enough for you and all you want to do is sit by the pool, read your book, be pampered and have all your meals prepared for you, that's fine by us.

Day 9 – Travel back to Cairo The people carrier arrives at about 8.00am to take you directly to Cairo. Mohammad and Penny, who will have spent the whole week taking care of you, will make sure you do not leave anything behind and have all your bags packed into the car.

You will have time to explore the War Graves at El Alamain or go swimming in the Mediterranean before arriving in Cairo.

Your rooms in Cairo will be booked and paid for in advance. As a member of the Somewhere Different team will normally not be with you on this journey, as it is straightforward and our driver knows exactly where he is going, all dinner and bar bills will be down to you to settle before you leave.

Day 10 Departure - Cairo Depending on when your flights are, your taxi will take you directly from the Victoria Hotel in Down Town to the Cairo International Airport.

To make enquires about this tour go to the All Inclusive Holiday form and let us know you are interested in the '100% Desert & Dunes' holiday, a rough idea of dates that would suit you, the number of people in your group and any additional days you would be interested in adding to the tour. I can then look at flights and specific dates and provide you with a total cost for the tour. Click here to view our other All inclusive holidays to Egypt.