Sand Dance: By Camel Across Arabia's Great Southern Desert [Paperback]

This book is a really interesting account of the three Canadians' journey across the Empty Quarter on the Arabian Peninsula. I followed the news reports of their journey back when it was under way, so it was really interesting to read this personal account and get more of a close-up view. I felt like the book basically had three focusses: the desert environment, the camels, and the Bait Kathir Bedouin. The book describes all three in personal detail, and you get a sense for how these three elements all interact. I found the observations of the Bedouin culture very interesting. I also liked having the bits of Arabic dialogue because I study Arabic but I was unfamiliar with this dialect. All around it's a very interesting book.

I was fascinated by the experiences of the three adventurers. I particularly enjoyed the photographs included in the book. I returned to them quite often to get more of a feel of what they were experiencing. I regret that, as a woman in these countries, I would be unable to come close to anything like this. The camels were delightful and I take back all those horrible things people say about them.

Canadian adventure traveler Bruce Kirkby, known for his thrilling escapades that include Alaskan mountaineering, Himalayan treks in Tibet, White Water Kayaking, Bungee jumping, hikes through Pakistan, the Rockies and the Bavarian Alps, hitches up his wilderness gear and takes a complete turnaround into a different perilous direction, the desert.

Together with two other Canadian buddies, they plot a course through the treacherous Empty Quarter of Southern Arabia. Known as the Ocean of Sands, The Empty Quarter is the world's largest sand desert. It is a parched wasteland, an unforgiving and foreboding stretch of shifting sands that encompass over 386,000 miles of desert. This desert holds more sand than any other place on this planet. It is a vast empty world of death, known to the ancient Arabic people as Al Khali.

Kirkby's vision was to follow the route of early British explorer Wilfred Thesiger who was one of the first pioneers to successfully cross the Empty Quarter by camel, accompanied by men of the proud nomadic native Bedu Tribe in 1946.

After a year of planning and working out the difficult logistics of the trip, the three men finally set out for the adventure of their lives. This fantastic journey will take them into a magical yet death defying land, and over towering mountains of sand that have been "sculpted by ancient winds, and lie in snake-like chains that run from horizon to horizon without end". They will endure roasting temperatures that can vary from 120 to 170 degrees, and can scorch anything alive in mere seconds. They will push their unruly camels along a route of hard rock and desolation where no vegetation or water hole can be found. Prior to their embarking, they had insisted that they travel unaided by modern conveniences or conveyances, and wished to be spirited through the desert by the stars and thrill of exploration alone while rocking atop ornery camels that do nothing but spit and kick. Locals pleaded with them to have Land Rovers follow behind them for safety and for backup supplies, yet these three Canadians refused. They were warned of the threat of death due to thirst, acres of non visible quicksand that could drag them down to world of Djinns, they screamed in frustration that it was insanity to follow this quest. Bruce and his friends wanted nothing but to embrace the land, bond with the people and culture of Arabia, to marvel at the waves of dunes, and to sleep and cook by campfire staring up at the stars.

Bruce's narrative of this harrowing yet often hilarious expedition into the unknown, was well written and accompanied by wonderful color photos giving the reader an up front and personal view of nomadic desert life. He compassionately unfolds the future of the Arabian people as they leave their heritage and old ways behind to keep up with the modern technology and the demands of current society. Today the people of South Arabia travel not by camel, but by jeeps and trucks, they carry barrels of water, use GPS to navigate the sands, and bring cases of Fanta Soda Pop to quench their thirst. Sand Dance is a memoir of Bruce's adventure back in time, fulfilling his dream to re-enact the traveling life of the ancient Spice Route traders or Victorian explorers, whose methods of trail blazing did not include cell phones, satellite communication, astronaut dehydrated food packs, or Land Rovers babysitting behind.

This was a fun and insightful book in which I learned a lot about the desert world of South Arabia, it's Bedu people, and of both the wonders and hazards a trip like this can ensue. Lovers of adventure travel memoirs will highly enjoy this book and I give it two thumbs up.

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