terça-feira, 11 de janeiro de 2011

Nothing better than the desert!

The best feeling in the world for me is to be able to rollercoast on the high dunes of the Namib desert.
And I have been fortunate enough to do it several times!
I've been fascinated by the vastness of the desert since my first trip to the Sahara, back in 1990. It was a 4x4 expedition that i helped organize for a sponsor. The trip would take us from Lisbon, Portugal, to Bissau, across the Sahara in Algeria, the sahel of Mali and finally, Guinea-Bissau. At the time, there were no GPS or  satellite phones, so the feeling in the middle of the Tanezrouft, the most desert of deserts, completelly flat for miles and miles, with no references other than our compass, was absolutelly overwhelming.  We didn't even have wakie-talkies to talk with the people in the other cars of our convoy...
The best part was everytime we stopped the cars and killed the engines.  There we were in the middle of nowhere on a baren ground, so flat that we couldn't see the end of it.  That's when you get it!  That's when you really know how small you are.
I enjoyed it so much that for the next 20 years I've tried to find ways to go back and to know other deserts.  And i've been very fortunate because my professional route as a travel organizer has allowed me to fullfil my dream several times.
And i am always ready to go again. Can't get enough of it!