Explorers & Record Breakers
Famous desert expeditions
For centuries, deserts have drawn the boldest explorers on Earth. From the first crossings of Arabia's Empty Quarter to solo treks across Antarctica, these are the journeys that made history.
First crossing of the Empty Quarter
Bertram Thomas
The first documented crossing of the Rub’ al Khali, by camel from the coast of Oman to Qatar — a desert long believed impassable.
See the desertArabian Sands journeys
Wilfred Thesiger
The explorer crossed the Empty Quarter twice, living with Bedu companions and writing one of the greatest of all travel books, Arabian Sands.
See the desertFirst to the South Pole
Roald Amundsen
Amundsen’s team reached the South Pole on 14 December 1911, racing across the vast polar desert of the Antarctic ice sheet.
See the desertFirst solo crossing of Antarctica
Børge Ousland
Ousland became the first person to cross Antarctica solo and unsupported, hauling his sledge across nearly 3,000 km of frozen desert.
See the desertMarathon des Sables
Ultra-runners
A roughly 250 km, six-day foot race across the Moroccan Sahara, widely called one of the toughest footraces on Earth.
See the desertLost for nine days
Mauro Prosperi
During the Marathon des Sables a sandstorm swept this runner off course; he survived around nine days lost in the Sahara before being found alive.
See the desertThe Forty Days Road
Saharan caravans
The Darb el-Arba’in, a 1,700 km caravan route across the eastern Sahara, carried salt, gold and goods for well over a thousand years.
See the desertBuried cities of the Silk Road
Sven Hedin & Aurel Stein
Explorers crossed the deadly Taklamakan and uncovered ancient cities swallowed by its shifting dunes along the old Silk Road.
See the desert