January 2010

The late Wilfred Thesiger's travels in the Arabian 'Empty Quarter' are well known, but the Sahara too has its barren regions. In the east is the Libyan Desert, while the less well known Majabat al Koubra ("the Great Crossing") spreads across the Mauritania-Mali borders. These hyper-arid, million-square kilometre expanses within the greater Sahara are barely touched by human presence; they represent the essence of the place known to the Arabs as al sahra: the desert.

In November 2006 our 2000-km crossing from Atar in northern Mauritania, across the Ouarane Sand Sea and the banditlands of northern Mali to Bordj Moktar in southern Algeria (click map top left) - was a highly ambitious project which cost us one vehicle. In the end, by taking several liberties with border regulations and with a good measure of luck, we got within a day's walk of the Libyan frontier, having crossed over half the width of the Sahara.

During our crossing we collected dust samples and imagery for Oxford University's Climate Research Lab (OUCE). Thought to have an important effect on global climate, dust from the Empty Quarter (red areas, right) has never been obtained or analysed before.

As a consequence of the SEQ Expeditiion, I've been asked to assist in the deployment of automated weather stations (AWS) across the region for the OUCE Fennec Project.

• Movie clips from the Empty Quarter.

NEW • A two-part account of the SEQ Expedition appeared in the Summer and Fall 2008 issues of Overland Journal and is now online.

• An expedition report (hardcopy) is available to read at the Royal Geographical Society, London.

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