Egypt, with a history of thousands of years, is located in northern Africa with the Sahara Desert as its boundary, and belongs to North Africa on the African continent.
Geopolitically, it is also the easternmost link of the "Middle East". Among the seven continents in the world, Africa is the second largest continent in the world after Asia in terms of area and population.
Such a large piece of land has become a forgotten place in international geopolitics.
Whenever people talk about the international situation, they focus on Europe, the United States, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and other places.
When mentioning Africa, the first thing that comes to mind is poverty, war, hunger, AIDS, Ebola...
In history, most African countries have become colonies of European and American powers. After becoming independent in the 20th century, African countries fell into an environment of endless poverty and war.
To this day, Africa is still the continent with the most backward economy and the most frequent wars among the seven continents in the world.
One of the reasons why Bi Fang never goes close to human cities is to avoid these disputes as much as possible. Once he gets involved, no matter how powerful he is, it will be of no use.
No matter how inconspicuous it is, Egypt is the earliest in human society to enter the advanced social organization form of the state.
The emergence of the Egyptian civilized state was earlier than anywhere else in the world.
In 4000 BC, two independent kingdoms, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, were formed here, and the legendary Yellow Emperor would not appear until 1000 years later.
In the desert, Bi Fang, riding a camel, walked on the ancient trade road.
This is a peculiar desert. Although it is part of the Sahara, it is completely different.
The desert here is black in one place and white in another. Black and white are distinct. The black desert is like the surface of Mars, and the white desert is as white as snow.
It looks strange and unusual.
[What’s going on? Why is the desert here this color?]
[It’s black and white. Is the white one snow? 】
【What kind of dividing line is this!】
The audience in the live broadcast room looked at the landscape like an alien planet and were stunned.
"It's amazing. This is the black and white desert of Egypt, which is different from the yellow desert anywhere in the world."
Bi Fang jumped off the camel's back, squatted on the ground, reached out and grabbed a handful of black and white sand mixed together.
His location is at the junction of black sand and white sand. The two are blended together, but the grains are distinct.
"The black desert on the left is located in an ancient submarine volcanic zone, so it is covered with a layer of black volcanic material, presenting a black and yellow scene."
"The black material erupted by the volcano is as thick as stone and as fine as sand, thus forming the current black desert."
"As for the White Desert, do you see the boulders over there?"
Bi Fang pointed to the white rock not far away.
The large and small white rocks scattered throughout the desert have very strange shapes. They can remind people of the images of many animals, as if they have arrived at a giant sculpture exhibition.
"Here, you can see strange-shaped chalk rocks formed by millions of years of wind erosion. Some are shaped like camels, and some are shaped like lions."
"This is the source of the White Desert, a metamorphic rock."
"Over thousands of years, as manic Saharan desert storms swept through, the sand on the nearby dunes gnawed away at these "lime-grey" rocks, leaving only piles of white rocks and black rocks.
Stone."
"The "white stones" that are everywhere are not real rocks, but a metamorphic rock formed by the accumulation of remains of marine life tens of thousands of years ago."
"This vast, lifeless desert beneath our feet was actually an ocean in prehistoric times, and has since been covered by forests."
"Until 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, this vast lowland west of the Nile River became a large grassland, and the ancients at that time could still move freely here."
"Today, this is one of the driest places on earth."
The fine white sand stretches to the horizon as far as the eye can see.
"No matter what era, the desert is a hostile existence for the Egyptians."
"In the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, there have always been various evil spirits deep in the Sahara. They make trouble in the desert and do all kinds of evil."
"The situation is similar today. Without a huge offer of money, Egyptian guides and tour guides will never take the initiative to take tourists on an adventure trip to the great desert in the west."
"Although the Bedouin people, who have mainly nomadic traditions, are usually tough and fearless, once they enter the desert, they are still cautious. They feel like novice drivers who have just gotten their driver's license and hit the road."
"The locals actually have an inexplicable fear of leaving the road and entering the wilderness."
【I'm afraid even if I come】
[In such a huge desert, not a single person can be seen, and anyone who comes would be in panic]
[I feel the same way, even if I know the direction is absolutely correct, I still feel guilty and scared when walking in a place like this]
【Hasn’t Fang Shen ever been afraid? 】
"I've been afraid before."
Bi Fang admitted this without hesitation.
The implication is that I am not afraid now.
"Human being a group animal, naturally has a certain degree of fear of straying away from the group. However, the more you do many things, the less afraid you will be. And the more skills you have, the more confident you will be."
"As someone just said, in the vast desert, even if you are an expert in identifying directions and are 100% sure that you are going in the right direction, you can still walk for an hour, two hours, or even a day or two.
The surrounding environment has not changed at all, and no matter how determined you are, you will slowly start to doubt yourself."
"But if you are not only an expert in identifying directions, but also an expert in finding water sources, an expert in hunting, and an expert in survival, then the panic will be greatly reduced."
"Once you have enough ability and rich experience, you will gradually stop feeling panicked."
[I understand, you will become a god, right?]
[Is Lao Fang bragging?]
【I am becoming more and more shameless, I like it】
"That's the truth, okay."
Bi Fang scratched his hair. He hadn't had a proper haircut in more than two months, and now his hair was a little long.
"There are five oasis areas in the desert area bordering Egypt, Chad and Libya that can support human survival, namely the Bahariya Oasis, the Felafila Oasis, the Dakara Oasis, the Caraga Oasis and the Siura Oasis."
"Our route this time is to pass by the westernmost Siura Oasis, and then pass through the other four oasis areas from north to south to ensure sufficient supplies."
The mission was only to cross the Sahara, and no specific route was given, so of course Bifang had to choose the safest way.
At the same time, oasis is also a treasure in the desert. I always want to visit it.
"Whether ancient or modern, this area connected intermittently by oases has always been a key life link for human survival in desert areas."
"Nowadays, the entire territory of Egypt flows from south to north, and the Nile River flows through the entire desert area into the Mediterranean Sea. As long as people are willing, they can take a boat and follow the Nile River all the way to Cairo."
"Thousands of years ago, the Nile River was not the only way to connect Upper and Lower Egypt. There was an ancient desert road parallel to the river hundreds of kilometers west of the Nile River."
"On the ancient road, goods such as ivory, ebony, tobacco, rhinoceros horns, leopard skins, and even giraffe tails from Sudan and Chad were continuously transported to the Mediterranean coast through this ancient desert road, and then sold overseas.
European countries."
"This ancient desert trade road is the one at our feet. It is said that it takes about 40 days to hike down."
The camera moved to the bottom of Bi Fang. Unfortunately, perhaps it was too long ago and no trace of the road could be seen.
Only when the drone ascends to a high altitude, some outlines can be vaguely seen, but it is not clear.
This road has been abandoned for more than a hundred years, and some traces can still be seen.
It's a good thing.
"In the 19th century, large caravans often used this ancient road to transport goods."
"Wilkinson, an Egyptologist from China, once encountered a caravan here transporting 600 African slaves in January 1825. It is said that this caravan could cover 900 kilometers in 35 days.
The ancient desert trade routes left and right."
"It sounds very slow, only thirty kilometers a day, but that's a caravan, not a lone ranger like me, so the speed must be slower."
"French naturalist Frédéric Keriod also mentioned in his writings that in 1817, a caravan of 16,000 people appeared on this desert trade road, more than 6,000 of whom were
slave."
"This size is not a caravan at all, it is simply a veritable army."
"If people at that time had to risk taking this trade route to cross the desert, they would usually make a will before leaving and entrust their souls to Allah."
[I don’t know any ***, but I know pearls]
[Pony Pearl, right?]
【Bold! This is something you can say!?】
[Allah, the highest single reality in the universe in the classic "Quran", the name of the Lord who should be worshipped. 】
【It’s the whole world】
There are two main ways to obtain food in the wild. One is to hunt wild animals, and the other is to collect wild plants.
To hunt wild animals, you must first know the animal's habitat and master the animal's life patterns, and then use methods such as trapping, snaring, trapping, and shooting to hunt.
This requires a long period of training and practice under the guidance of experts to truly master it.
In comparison, collecting plants is much simpler.
Although collection is simple, how to collect it correctly becomes much more difficult. This also requires a certain period of training under the guidance of experts to master this knowledge.
"I introduce the simplest method to identify whether wild plants are poisonous or not, for use in emergencies."
"Usually, you cut a small opening in the collected plants, put in a pinch of salt, and then carefully observe whether the original color changes. Generally, plants that change color cannot be eaten."
Bi Fang cut off a piece of cactus meat and sprinkled a thin layer of salt on it.
Salt is actually easy to obtain in the Sahara. Most of the oases are saltwater lakes. In addition, there are many ores that will precipitate crystallized salt. They cannot be eaten directly, but can be processed a little.
"Of course, this is the most urgent moment. If you don't eat, you will die. Then you can use the method I just mentioned to identify it. If not, then follow my step-by-step test."
There are six steps in the test: one is looking, two is smelling, three is touching, four is applying, five is chewing, and six is tasting.
"It tarnishes, has an aged texture, and is brightly colored. If you have these qualities, look elsewhere for your dinner."
"Smell means you can smell something rotten? Does it smell like almonds or pears? This is nature's warning sign because it indicates the presence of hydrocyanic acid. Avoid anything that smells like this, unless of course it's almonds or pears."
"The cactus in front of us looks like a normal cactus, and it passed the first two tests."
"The next step is to do a skin contact test. Break up the part of the plant you want to eat and rub the plant juice into sensitive parts of your skin, such as your palms, wrists, or the crooks of your arms or underarms."
"Leave it on for a few hours and see if your body reacts."
Bi Fang cut off a piece of cactus, smeared the cut area on his arm and waited for a reaction.
"If your skin becomes red and swollen, think about what the plants might be doing to your insides."
"The test is a long time, but we have enough time. Alpha has lost a lot of weight during this time. I will stay here for a day and wait until tomorrow to set off again."
In the evening, I started applying Bi Fang on my lips without any strange symptoms, and there was also no tingling or swelling.
"If there is any emergency, rinse your mouth with water first."
Then Bi Fang cut off a small piece as big as his thumb, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and then spit it out.
No adverse reactions.
Finally, have a snack.
"Wait four to six hours and see what happens."
"Do not drink any water during this period as this may dilute the toxic effects of the plant and cause you a false negative reaction."
"Of course, don't eat any other food during this period."
"If it's a team, let one person do it while the others wait and see to ensure safety."
"The whole process takes more than half a day, which is why the method of spreading salt just now is necessary."
"It is impossible for a person to spend hours ensuring safety when he is extremely hungry."
It wasn't until the moon rose that Bi Fang was sure that the cactus in front of him was edible.
I cut off most of the piece for today's dinner, and at the same time no longer prevented Alpha from approaching the cactus. This chapter has been completed!