Siwa Oasis

If a holiday to you is escaping the modern day world; getting away from the internet, the telephone, the TV and constantly being accessible to other people, then visit Adrere Amellal, the Kasbah style lodge in Siwa.

There are few destinations left like this is an otherwise spoilt world, but this hotel offers gentle Berber living, with no electricity. Set beside an expansive saltwater lake, you can float, or swim for the day and stay calm and serene. The rooms are lit in the evenings by natural beeswax candles, and there are storm lanterns scattered around the rooms and staircases. There is no restaurant as such, but you are guided to a room to eat, depending on what space is spare of an evening.

The bedroom walls are made from cakes of salt, embedded in mud, and give a rustic and welcoming feel. The bar is basic yet sumptuous, and as there is no electricity in the resort, ice for your drinks is imported on a daily basis from the nearest village. All the furniture and crafts are locally produced, giving the hotel a tribal feel.

The swimming pool is entirely chemical free, fed by a reservoir under the ground, linked to the lake. The water that spills over the pool is used to irrigate the kitchen garden, where vegetables are grown for the evening meals.

The main activity in modern Siwa is the production of olives and dates. Temperatures get up to 50 degrees at the hottest part of the year, and, in 2007, archaeologists discovered what is said to be the oldest footprint in the world, dating back three million years

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