Awake to a magical day in the stunning isolation of the Western Desert, dotted with oases such as the Siwa, renowned not just historically for Alexander the Great's oracle-seeking expedition, but also for its olives and dates which decorate the Siwa Oasis in a stunning picture of green against the arid landscape. We enjoy an insight into the culture and heritage of the oasis, located on the old date caravan route where the community has largely occupied by the Berbers for more than 1,300 years. Today, we will also explore the Tombs of Gebel al Mawta "Mountain of the Dead" that dates back to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Later during WWII, these cave tombs were used as shelters from Italian bombardments. Witness a number of beautifully-preserved murals painted into the plaster that surround the sarcophagus. Worth seeing as well is the Tomb of the Crocodile believed to have been built during the Ptolemaic Period where we admire the murals. Later, we will visit the Temple of the Oracle in the abandoned village of Aghurmi, built in the 6th Century BC on the site of an earlier temple dedicated to Amun where Alexander was thought to have been revealed by the oracle he was the rightful heir of Zeus and advised how the great commander could placate the local population on the Nile River and what he could expect if he left the Mediterranean Sea and pursued the Persians to Babylon. Thereafter, the highlight of the day culminates in the visit to the ruins of the 13th Century Shali Fortress, built entirely from "kershef" salt rocks from local salt lakes and mud atop a limestone hill, the fortress was quite solid and commanded views of the open desert as well as the thousands of palm and olive trees Learn about how Siwans built it for protection from the hostile Bedouin tribes who periodically raided the oasis.