Explorer, author and motivational speaker Mark Evans recently made headlines for his 60-day trek across the Empty Quarter – one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. In an exclusive interview with Janice Rodrigues, he shares his experience – from sleeping on sand to dealing with dunes
Do nothing, go nowhere. It is a saying that British explorer Mark Evans mentions often, and the words seem to stick. Perhaps thanks to the conviction with which he says it, or because his track record exemplifies it. But one thing is certain – Mark has spent his life pushing boundaries, doing something, and going somewhere.
The 54-year-old recently stunned the world with his successful 60-day trek, which ended January 27. The reason for the interest being that, his journey – made with two Omani companions, Mohammed Zadjali and Amer Al-Wahaibi – took him across the Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world, widely considered one of the harshest spots known to man. His trek also had historical roots, as he retraced the 1,300km journey taken by British civil servant Bertram Thomas in 1930.
However, this is not Mark’s first tryst with adventure. In the past, he has crossed the Greenland Ice cap and led ?a 12-month expedition in the Arctic (where temperatures dropped to minus 37°C), besides several other voyages. In fact, it was at the age of 17 that Mark ?first got his taste for adventure: he was selected to take part in a six-week ?scientific research and mountaineering expedition in Arctic Norway, organised by The British Exploring Society.
“I’ve always been adventurous, as far back as I can remember,” Mark says. “I think it had something to do with growing up in the wild countryside in Britain. I was used to creating my own entertainment. When I was in school, I got an ?opportunity to go to the Arctic. You grow up quickly and find out a lot about yourself and other people when you’re in ?that kind of environment. We spent six weeks there and the sun never set. It was fantastic.” From then on, it was pretty clear to him that there was no turning back from adventure.
Since then, he has led a number of expeditions in the ice deserts of the ?Arctic and the sandy ones of Arabia. Mark has worked as a geography teacher in places like the UK, Kenya, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia over the course of 21 years, has written three books, and in 2003, was recognised at the ‘Pioneers to the life of the nation’ reception held at Buckingham Palace.
After such action-packed years, it seemed almost baffling that he chose to settle down in Oman, a country better known for its laid-back way of life. However Mark is adamant that it’s ‘exactly what explorers are looking for’.
“I came here in the early 90s and like so many others, just fell in love with ?the place,” he says. “So when I got the opportunity to work here, I grabbed it.
“I think it is the combination of history and the potential for exploration that attracts me to Oman. The culture here is so rich. And then, you’re basically on the edge of the biggest desert. When I go camping, it is so empty and I feel like I can camp anywhere I want. Oman’s combination of solitude and civilisation brings me peace.”
Mark currently works as the general manager of the outdoor education organisation Outward Bound Oman, and specified that his recent expedition would have been impossible without the help of the Omani government, which facilitated his journey. “Our starting point was in Oman, and there was a crowd gathered that day, bidding us farewell,” Mark says. “The hospitality was amazing. In fact, some of the older people actually remembered the 1930 journey by Thomas!”
So how exactly did the journey go? The trio followed a fixed path that had them stopping at several watering holes along the way – many of which were the same ones visited by Thomas in 1930. The beginning was not too bad, says Mark, with the team walking it out for the first ten days. However, there were problems later, like when the camels’ hooves kept sinking into the sand dunes. But the worse part of the journey was the searing heat; the temperatures across the Empty Quarter are infamous for ?averaging at 47°C, and can go up to 51°C during the day in summers, and below 0°C at night.
“This one time, soon after we crossed the border, it got so hot that even the camels refused to move,” recalls Mark. “I can definitely see why this is one of the most inhospitable environments on earth, because you can protect yourself against the cold, but you can’t do much to escape the heat. You have to make sure to get your preparations and equipment exactly right.”
The group got around this problem by travelling at the break of dawn until it got too hot, and then resting under the shade of the camels until the temperature dropped. Rather than using tents, Mark and his team also chose to spend their nights sleeping directly on the sand, in sleeping bags.
Wasn’t it too cold? Weren’t they ?worried about scorpions? “When you’re that tired, you will sleep anywhere,” Mark says. “It did drop down to 0°C, but we were prepared for that. In fact, sleeping under the stars was the best part ?of the journey. We often debated about what we loved more – the sunrise or the sunset. But I loved the sunset, because it meant the hard work was over, the temperature was going to drop and the stars were going to come up.”
His journey was covered by a number of international news organisations ?including the BBC, The Guardian and Al Jazeera. But he wasn’t too surprised by the attention. In fact, it was one of his motives behind his journey – to bring the Arab and Western worlds closer.
“This particular journey was all about people working together irrespective of their culture. You see a lot of headlines in the media, and one of the first things some publications told me is that it was refreshing to hear about such unity and hospitality in the Middle East. Something as simple as this reminds people not to judge others based on negative stories they might hear.”
Mark also firmly believes that it is ?important for people to be adventurous and active – even more so in today’s modern, digital world. Journeys like this help people reflect on the things that are really important, he notes. But mainly, his endeavour was all about conveying a lesson – a rather important one.
“I hope our journey communicates that we were faced with a challenge, but overcame it by working as a team and not giving up when it got difficult. If you want to achieve something, you have to work hard. There are opportunities all around us – some people see them and some don’t. We want others to know that if you want to achieve something, it’s going to be a lot of work. But anything is possible.”