Travel safe in the desert

Desert adventures are always exciting. In every season, except for some particular periods of the year when monsoons and floods also reach the deserts, a safari holiday in these places guarantees unique emotions. Why not try? But before facing a hostile and dangerous environment like the desert, you need to know “how” to do it. And here are some useful tips that can be precious to those approaching the desert for the first time.

Desert: you should know the environment very well

Before facing any adventure in the desert you need to be sure you know the environment. If you have not yet experienced a holiday like this, study well and also find out about the differences between the various deserts and the characteristics of each one, in the world. If you are already experts in this type of safari, you will still know that every desert is different from the other and therefore it is always right and convenient to get informed beforehand.

Sandy deserts have different elements from rocky deserts, grassy deserts such as tundras or steppes are different from volcanic deserts. This is why exploring themed sites, following expert explorers on social media or even government agencies that protect certain natural reserves and tell about their characteristics is essential. After that, you can physically organize the vacation.

Sandy desert: what to bring in your backpack

In the sandy desert (Sahara, the most famous; but also the Gobi in Asia or the Great Sandy Desert in Australia) the heat is always very intense and is combined with the aridity given by the sand that makes the air dry. To face this type of desert, in your backpack, you need to pack: comfortable and long pants, hats (plus veils or scarves so to protect you from insects and dust), closed trekking shoes, sunglasses, sunscreen.

To this should be added: the sleeping bag and a jacket to face the evening (or the night) which in the desert is always very cold; compasses, GPS devices for the cell phone, wireless chargers, first aid kits against insect and snake bites. And obviously several water bottles and dry protein foods that will not be ruined by the heat.

Rocky and Volcanic Deserts: what equipment

If you are going through a rocky desert, such as the Grand Canyon in America, the Petra area in Syria, the Nullarbor in Australia, the equipment will be almost the same as in a sandy desert.

What you will definitely need in addition will be spare shoes (with rocks the soles wear out faster), first aid items to treat cuts and abrasions, a few extra heavy sweaters because rocky deserts, at night, give off much colder air. Walking sticks will also be useful, to help you on the impervious terrain. If you are going through a volcanic desert (for example, some areas of Etna in Sicily) you must make sure you have a GPS with you rather than a compass. In fact, some types of lava rock interfere with the magnets of compasses, making them useless.

Other types of deserts …

When you cross a grassy desert, the equipment will be similar to that of rocky deserts but with the addition of more heating elements (jackets, vests, wool blankets, equipment for lighting fires) because the humidity and cold here can always play bad tricks.
The situation is different for a frozen desert. In those cases the equipment will be totally different and certainly more specific (for example, mountaineering boots, thermic bottles, anti-freeze protective masks for the eyes, gloves, many more heating elements – such as special sleeping bags, and also portable shovels, ski poles, spare snowshoes).

Always valid advice

When you face a desert, the advice that is always valid, for any type of environment, is the same: always let someone (friends, hotel, embassy) know where you are going, what the itinerary should approximately be, what the expected destination is.

Always carry an alternative device (for example another cell phone, a tablet) to always be traceable, even if the first device is lost or broken.

Always carry extra drinks and food, in case an unexpected event leaves you without supplies in remote places.

Reference airports for desert holidays

The closest airports to the main deserts famous in the world are certainly those of Morocco (Casablanca, Marrakech, Rabat-Sale) for the Sahara … Genghis Khan of Ulaan Batar for the Gobi … Las Vegas for the Grand Canyon.