Travel for the Over 30s

I was asked recently about the preparations before traveling over a desert. We tend to think of desert crossings as huge expeditions carefully planned, but in some countries its quite easy to get yourself into a remote desert environment. I once went for a walk out of the small tourist town of San Pedro de Atacama, in northern Chile which I almost didn’t come back from. As it was at altitude it wasn’t particularly hot and I mis-calculated how far the valley was, I thought it would take 2-3 hours walking I got a lift by a passing tour bus after 5 hours and I would has still at least 3 hours from my hotel. It wasn’t hot but it was very, very dry, I was out of water by the time the lift came along. They didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Hebrew - but I got the impression I had been pretty silly: something I had already figured out. Mirages are fairly rare in deserts, but mis-calculating distance is very common because of the super-clear air in the high deserts such as the Atacama, or because of the lack of perspective to triangulate distance from.

In Australia I have heard frightening stories too. The most common mistake people make is to leave a disabled vehicle. The car breaks down, runs out of fuel and one member of the party decided to walk for help - little of Australia’s outback has cellphone coverage and satlellite phones are expensive. The usual end to the story is that those who stay with the vehicle are rescued and the walker is not usually found in time. In 40C plus temperature someone walking in the sun needs about a 1 litre of water every 20 minutes - you really can’t carry enough water to stay hydrated. Stay with the vehicle and if you do walk- walk at night and seek shelter during the day.

Oh and when a map in Australia says “lake” or “river” its often a hope rather than a permanent condition, Lake Eyre is South Australia only has water in it every ten years or so and even then it may not make it through the salt pan to the surface.

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