Paula Constant who before the walk began in 2004, had no expedition or adventure experience, and was working in London, where she lived with her husband Gary for several years. The walk took over three years to plan and save for.
They left London in August 2004 and walked through France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. In Spain, they walked the length of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Paula completed her first book, “Slow Journey South” during the first leg of the walk.
The first leg of the walk ended exactly one year after the couple set off, in MHamid el Ghizlaine. Once there, Paula and Gary engaged Habib Naamani of the Hotel Sahara to help them plan the next phase of their walk, a trans-Sahara crossing, from West to East.
It was this part of the journey that had always particularly fascinated Paula and her particular area of interest was the Bedouin tribes of Northern Africa. Her ambition was to live amongst the tribes as had done explorers such as Thesiger, before her – adhering to same customs and moral code as the nomads themselves.
Paula and Gary set out with the camels and local guides in September 2005. After six weeks, the couple decided to separate and Gary left the walk. Paula carried on walking over 2,500km through the Sahara, to the border of Mauritania and the Western Sahara.
In April of 2006 year Paula returned to the UK and then Australia, after her mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and Meniere’s disease. She decided to dedicate the next stage of her walk to raising money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and during the first half of 2006, Paula worked to find funding for the rest of the desert crossing.
In September, she got confirmation from both Dove Cosmetics Australia and Birkenstock shoes that they were coming on-board to fund the next stage. Paula begin her walk in mid October 2006 and plans to pass through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Libya and Egypt.
www.constanttrek.com
