Hayes expedition to follow in footsteps of 'Mubarak bin London'

Explorer Adrian Hayes is to follow in the footsteps of the legendary traveller Wilfred Thesiger and re-enact a 40-day trek between Salalah and Abu Dhabi to celebrate the UAE's 40th birthday.

Sir Wilfred Thesiger during the second crossing of the Empty Quarter in 1948. Explorer Adrian Hayes is to follow in the footsteps of the legendary traveller and re-enact a 40-day trek between Salalah Show more

The UAE-based explorer Adrian Hayes will make a trek across the Arabian desert to coincide with the country's 40th national day celebrations.

Following in the footsteps of the legendary traveller and author Wilfred Thesiger, Mr Hayes will be joined by Saeed Rashed Al Mesafry and Ghafan Mohammed Al Jabry of the UAE armed forces. The trio will make the 40-day trek with camels, beginning in Salalah then going to Liwa before passing through Al Ain and finishing in Abu Dhabi.

For the 1,500 kilometre journey, the team will rely on basic provisions, nature and Bedouin hospitality to survive, just as Thesiger did.

Mr Hayes, a former British Army Gurkha Officer and father of two, said he had thought of repeating Thesiger's expedition for years.

"I have been planning this since my Greenland expedition two years ago. The journey will take place against some of the most beautiful yet harshest desert environments on the planet," he said.

"Honouring the culture and heritage of the Bedouin, UAE and Oman, together with the extraordinary travels of Thesiger and his companions, we aim to travel and survive by means as close to the methods used by the 1940s expedition team."

Abu Dhabi Media, which publishes and owns The National, will document the expedition for broadcast next year. It will feature the changes in the desert landscape that have come about since Thesiger's expeditions between 1945 and 1950.