With Motorcar to the Sudan

László Almásy is best known for his fictional character in the English Patient movie, but he was a real life desert explorer, one of a handful who were searching out what is in the middle of the last remaining blank spot of the map of the world, the central Libyan Desert. Almásy was particularly interested in the myth of the lost Zerzura Oasis, he organised a number of expeditions to the central Libyan Desert, pioneering the use of aeroplane in desert exploration. He claimed to have identified a valley with vegetation in the Gilf Kebir with the mythical Zerzura, however more importantly he discovered a number of spectacular prehistoric paintings, including the famed Cave of Swimmers. He wrote three books on his travels in Hungarian, all of which appeared in the Library of the Hungarian Geographical Society series. This first book, With Motorcar to the Sudan (1929) describes a 1926 motorcar journey through Egypt and Sudan, his first encounter with Africa. Unlike his later two books, this one contains no dramatic accounts of exploration or discoveries, however it is a well written and amusing travelogue describing his first experiences (and blunders) while driving in the sand with a Steyr VII from Alexandria to Khartoum (the first such accomplishment by an ordinary automobile), then further south to the Dinder for a three week hunting trip. The crossing of the Nubian Desert in Sudan was a prelude to many of his greater desert voyages, and the narrative provides interesting glimpses into Almásy's character and thinking.