[Sahara Overland] gets right to the heart of desert travel Michael Palin Sahara CHRIS SCOTT books • films • tours   The first thing we did was buy the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook Ewan McGregor The Long Way Round The publication of the hardback edition of Sahara Overland as well as the fifth edition of the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook ('AMH') has confirmed travel writer Chris Scott as an expert in his fields. Indeed, in 1997 he originated the term 'adventure motorcycling' to describe overland travel by motorcycle - these days motorcycling's fastest growing arm.Over the last 26 years he's undertaken over thirty expeditions through the Sahara by motorcycle, 4WD, saloon car, bush taxi and lately, camel. This has given him an unparalleled knowledge of the practicalities of desert travel across the entire Sahara, both as a tourist, a driver/rider and as a tour leader. In 2000 and 2001 he led the first UK escorted tours to return to Algeria and Libya, and in 2006 he lead an exclusive tour to view the Saharan Eclipse in Niger. He continues to offer tours to little-known parts of the Sahara.   Books Since 1984 Chris Scott's travel articles have featured regularly in major 4WD, motorcycle and travel publications in the UK, Australia, Poland and America. To date he's authored five books including Rough Guide Australia (8th edition October 2007), his 'Saharan memoirs' Desert Travels, the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook (also in Russian with other translations due) and his acclaimed 700-page 'desert bible', Sahara Overland, (also in German with other translations due). He also contributes regularly to the Wexas Travellers Handbook (10th edition) and Overland Journal. He also contributed to 4- and wrote one of theRough Guide 25s 'Ultimate Experiences' booklets (right) released in 2007 to mark their 25th anniversary. All his contributions were featured in the compendium title released later in 2007: 1000 Ultimate Travel Experiences; Make the Most of Your Time on Earth (left). His features included cameling, rock art, motorcycling and driving in the Sahara, as well as sea kayaking, rafting, sailing and several other adventurous activities in Australia. In the spring of 2008 the second edition of Trailblazer's Pennine Way guidebook (right), updated by Chris Scott, was published; the first to feature downloadable GPS waypoints for Britain's longest Long Distance Footpath.   Talks, articles and consulting He has supplied expedition reports as well aschaired and co-presented seminars at the Royal Geographical Society and has been both featured in, and written for Geographical magazine, the Independent and National Geographic Adventure magazine. In January 1998 he established both sahara-overland.com, the only English-language website of its kind, as well as adventure-motorcycling.com. He regularly presents talks at London's Adventure Travel Show where he was recently interviewed for BBC Radio. In 2007 he contributed to the new US-based Overland Journal magazine and gave a talk on a Shark Bay sea kayaking trip in Australia at the Scottish Canoe Show.Over the years he's regularly provided advice to many individuals' hare-brained projects (most recently a solo unsupported run across the Sahara), as well as adventure tour operators like Explore, the Scientific Exploration Society and TV production companies such as Michael Palin's Sahara, and various departments at the BBC, including the 'blue-chip' Planet Earth series broadcast in the UK in 2006. He's even been approached by authors of romantic fiction and scriptwriters to clarify details in their Sahara-based projects.   Films and TV With his books now well established, since 2000 he's been producing dvds to accompany them. The first of these, Algeria2000 (pictured right and re-released on dvd in2006) was featured on Sky TV's Destination Adventure series, followed by Call of the Wild (Yukon, 2001) and Desert Riders (Sahara, 2003) - both subsequently broadcast on National Geographic Channel as well as Moto TV in 2008. Gorge Riders, a motorcycling and canyoneering dvd set northwest Australia was released in July 2005 and in early 2006 he also released an updated version of his instructional Desert Driving dvd (above left) to accompany his Sahara Overland book.   Recent and future projects In 2006 he took a one-week sea kayaking recce in Shark Bay on the Australian west coast in preparation for a longer trip around the Ningaloo Reef. Later that year crossed the banditlands of the Saharan Empty Quarter. The year 2007 began with a motorcycle tour through Algeria using a MAN support truck as well as launching of a series of Sahara tours for 2008/9. In November 2007 he joined a two-week camel trek recce with London-based Simoon Travel through Algeria's little-known Immidir region to the Amguid Crater site prior to offering tours there in early 2009 and led another motorcycle tour to the Algerian Sahara. In between he is working on a new title for Trailblazer: The Overlanders' Handbook as well as another overland title for 2009. Contact updated April 2008