Less than a week to go until British Adventurer Adrian Hayes heads off from Salalah, Oman to cross the Empty Quarter of the Great Arabian Desert in his Footsteps of Thesiger Expedition
The expedition is a reenactment of the journeys of late British Explorer Wilfred Thesiger, otherwise known as Mubarak Bin London, who crossed the Arabian Desert (Empty Quarter or Rub Al Khali) twice between 1945 and 1950 with his two Bedu companions, Salim bin Kabina and Salim bin Ghubaisha of the Rawashid tribe. Hayes says 'Our expedition will also comprise of one Brit and 2 x bedu - myself together with Saeed Al Mesafry and Ghafan Al Jabri, who were selected from a trawl of nominations. We aim to closely follow the route of Thesiger's first crossing of the Empty Quarter, travelling by foot and camels from Salalah in Oman to Abu Dhabi in the UAE, via the Empty Quarter of Oman, Liwa and Al Ain - a distance of over 1500 kms, commencing 30th Oct 2011 and finishing approx 45 days later'.
For the 1,500 kilometre journey, the team will rely on basic provisions, nature and Bedouin hospitality to survive, just as Thesiger did. Mr Hayes, a former British Army Gurkha Officer and father of two, said he had thought of repeating Thesiger's expedition for years. ?I have been planning this since my Greenland expedition two years ago. The journey will take place against some of the most beautiful yet harshest desert environments on the planet,"" he said. ?Honouring the culture and heritage of the Bedouin, UAE and Oman, together with the extraordinary travels of Thesiger and his companions, we aim to travel and survive by means as close to the methods used by the 1940s expedition team.
http://www.adrianhayes.com/blog.php http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/hayes-expedition-to-follow-in-footsteps-of-mubarak-bin-london"