Along the northeastern corner of Egypt there is a beautiful desert that inhabits just a number of plants and animals. The Sinai Desert features marvelous white chalk sand that creates the illusion of snow-covered sand dunes. In the summer of 1984, a flash flood delivered a large amount of water into the desert killing most of the plant and animal life that lived in the Sinai Desert. Researchers estimated that nearly 87 percent of the deserts plant and animal life had been wiped out and would no longer reproduce.
In 2013, Adalric Nilico, a geologist from Germany went into the Sinai Desert in search of minerals. Nilico was astounded by the large white sand dunes and decided to stay in the desert for five months with a group of researchers in search of useful minerals that might have been washed in by the flash flood.
One early morning as the researchers were walking through the dunes they came into contact with a sand dune that was much larger than any other sand dune they had seen in the Sinai Desert. As they walked around this large sand dune they realized there was an opening on the other side. The researchers walked into the large opening and discovered a lush green forest filled with plant and animal life. The researchers continued into the lush forest and discovered a large waterfall with clear blue water. It was as if they had stepped into another world. This lush forest is known as the Belverian Sand Forest.
Researchers have concluded that the Belverian Sand Forest was created during the flash flood of 1984. Nilico claims that the large sand dune suctioned all the water into the dune creating the lush forest. The Belverian Sand Forest is visited by thousands of visitors each year.
Alejandra Venegas-Chaves