Inexperienced Tour Guide's Mistakes Lead to Death in the Sahara

in 1955 an arrogant and overconfident Alan Cooper persuaded three strangers to join him on a daring drive from Africa to England his lack of preparation and outright refusal to listen to others advice while traveling to the Sahara ended up almost killing everyone his passengers weren't aware that Allen was known for his spontaneity casual approach to life and a notorious disregard for the finer details of things through his charm and enthusiasm he presented himself is a quintessential desert Explorer fully prepared and very experienced but this dangerous blend of Charisma and carelessness it turned what promised to be the Journey of a lifetime into a harrowing fight for survival this is a story of the 1955 Sahara [Music] crossing the Sahara s desert spans almost 1/3 of the entire continent of Africa with an area of over 9 million square km or 3.6 million miles it's as big as China or the United States spreading across 11 North African nations the Sahara is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and it has several types of landscape it's not just all sand and dunes everywhere you look there's actually hard Rocky plateaus rough mountains extensive Plains there's Salt Flats dry valleys seasonally filled basins dry lakes and of course the high sand dunes that it's famous for the dunes can reach Heights of 183 M or 600 ft but they only cover about 15% of the entire desert and they shift every year so the landscape is constantly changing during the hottest months temperatures range between 38 to 40 C about 100 to 104 fit but what's really shocking to some people is that the temperatures at night drastically drop to freezing in fact in some areas frosts occur in Mountain plateaus and temperatures can drop as low Asus 18 CS or around 0° F yet despite this harsh Climate about 2 million people live in the Sahara mainly nomadic people who travel with camels so now let's meet the folks involved in this adventure there isn't a ton of information on this whole event but there's one great book about it by Paul Stewart called the Tre and this where I got a lot of the information from so first off we have Barbara dothy Barbara was 40 and worked as a zoologist for the Kenyan government she was an expert in flatworms she was an artist and an illustrator she was a traveler an adventure Seeker Barbara really did a lot she was also a conservationist and an author and she actually wrote a book on seaweed she became a respected pilot as well and used her own plane for veterinary work and next up is Freda Taylor there's not too much information out there about Freda but but she was a teacher in England and she was granted a leave of absence so she could visit relatives in Nairobi Peter Barnes was a 17-year-old who wasn't really sure what the heck he wanted to do with his life he was a bit of a rebel a little bit Restless didn't get along very well with his parents which is not a shocker for a 17-year-old and he was kind of looking for some Independence and lastly there was Alan Cooper who was 47 years old and the leader of the group Allan was born in England and at 21 years old he moved to Kenya and started Ed coffee farming it wasn't very lucrative so it was a difficult time for him he tried breeding cattle and pigs mostly for meat and he opened his own Butchery he also experimented with other crops but like many New farmers to the area they just had no idea how to work the soil so things kind of crashed and burned and Friends described Allen is a really fun man but not a great worker he would throw all of his energy into these new Ventures and with each one he was just attacking it with gusto and then his imagination would go wild and and he'd start on something new he was kind of all over the place and he was just wildly spontaneous and then he even ran a hotel for a bit but the Daily Grind of working the farm and doing all these other Ventures it wasn't really his cup of tea he really enjoyed his leisure time and preferred to do that the farming and hotels and all the other stuff just took too much time away from the things he really liked to do like playing tennis with friends it became a vicious cycle where he did the minimum amount of work so his farm never really got to its full potential and as a result he never really made enough money to free himself from it the author of the book calls him a 47-year-old who was still trying to decide what he wanted to be when he grew up he was a jack of several trades but not a master of his own restlessness and in 1933 Allan wanted to go back to England for a visit and the only way to return at the time it was pretty timec consuming and complicated he had to take a ferry a train and a bus and it took forever to get there and this when he came up with the plan of driving to England not only would this 13,000 km about 8,000 mile journey be more exciting to him it would also be cheaper so Allen convinced a friend to join him in an eight horsepower two-seater side valve Morris Miner now if you know nothing about cars like me the Morris Miner is was one of Britain's Best Loved cars it was an economy car produced by the Morris Motor Company between 1948 and 1971 so they took that Morris Miner on that long journey and 7 weeks after they set out they made it to England several newspapers reported their arrival because it was quite a big deal it was the first time that a car of such small horsepower had made the crossing of the dreaded [Music] Sahara so cut to 1955 when Allan was ready to go back to England for another visit and because Allen still didn't have his together he couldn't afford the trip again so he thought why not drive again that worked out pretty good and this time he had a bit of a plan see he wanted to get some passengers so they could pay for the trip he would charge them they would pay him and he wouldn't have to spend a dime on the trip it was genius Ellen placed an ad in the local paper on Saturday January 15th 1955 Freda Taylor was the first to apply for the ad she was excited about the possibility of going through the Sahara on her way back to England Peter's mother saw the ad and suggested her deadbeat son go on the trip and he wasn't really into it at first but and they argued for a little bit about it but then he finally relented and thought that that might be just what he needed at that moment Barbara was immediately intrigued because she was always an adventure Seeker so it sounded like an awesome trip to her so she contacted Alan right away and now alen had his three passengers Alan was going to take the Morris traveler a version of the Morris that arrived in 1953 it was like a station wagon it had those big back doors that opened up and it had some sweet wood trim on the side they all met up for the first time and they talked about the trip and alen shared with the group that he had hoped to come back to Africa after the trip and start a tea growing farm he wanted to stop doing the coffee farming because that just wasn't working out for him and it was way too difficult he thought this plan was pretty genius because he could keep doing these trips charge people go back and forth to England and that would leave him more time to have fun and act as a guide on these regular trips across the Sahara and that's what he really wanted to do and this is when Barbara started asking questions about the trip she really wanted to know how everything was planned she questioned Alan about the equipment the tools spares how they were going to take extra water and fuel and all that stuff they needed across the long Desert stretch and Allan was a bit impatient with all her darn questions and he assured her that he had done all that was necessary for the trip he had painted the roof white to minimize the heat of the sun he had these special brackets that were fitted to the rear bumper so they could take the extra fuel containers and he had roof racks installed he also had extra tires extra fuel pumps fan belts inner tubes a whole bunch of stuff and then they had their first disagreement it was about taking a stove Ellen insisted that they didn't need one but Barbara said of course we do we can't go hacking down trees every time we wanted to make a cup of tea and you didn't want to separate Barbara from her Cups of Tea and then she asked what about the desert where there's no trees to cut down finally Allan relented and said that he would get a stove now Peter he kept a prolific diary and that's where we get a lot of the information from so Peter and Barbara hopped in the car with Allen the first time for just a test drive and he just raved about how amazing this car was he told them all the details about it and the motor and the engine and all that stuff and then he hit the gas really hard and they just went speeding off it was a miserable night out there was a torrential rain thick fog and reduced visibility but did that stop Allen from testing the limits of his car for his new passengers heck no Peter said Allen drove f iously along the slippery Road and we went around a Bend at 40 mph and then we went sideways into the bank everyone was thrown onto a heap at the side fortunately the car did not turn over so what an introduction to Alan Cooper they had a going away party the night before they left and a lot of people came over and were questioning Allan Non-Stop about the trip and how he was prepared for it and he found himself just reassuring everybody all night that everything was totally under control but Barbara was walking watchingg Allan and listening to him and she was starting to notice a pattern he seemed to lack attention to detail and he got really irritated when people pressed him for specific information that night one of the guests stressed the value of sand mats in the desert and sand mats are just used under the vehicles to get traction when the vehicle's stuck in the sand Allan replied of course he knew how important they are doesn't everybody all the questions were really starting to annoy him but Allan had this Boundless Energy and enthusiasm and he was really convincing to other others by the end of the night everybody was all enthusiastic just like Allan his enthusiasm spilled over onto everyone else and he had them all convinced that he was totally ready and everything would be fine on April 15th they loaded up all their gear and baggage and wave goodbye to friends and took off down the road everyone is happy and grinning they were all so excited to be starting this epic adventure together and Allan well Allan got this trip off to a fantastic start right off the the bat he lost control of the car around this tight Corner Allan and Corners did not get it along very well Barbara and Peter kind of had Deja Vu from that first time they drove with him and as they went skining into the corner again the brakes locked and they flew into the bank nobody fell out this time so hey things were looking up this group though they were such a rag tag group they were all so different from each other the author of the book described them perfectly he said Allen was a 47-year-old who was still trying to figure out what he wanted to be when he grew up Freda was a 38-year-old feminine primary school teacher Barbara was an outspoken 40-year-old flying worm expert and Peter was 17 years old and traveling with three people who were as old as his parents and Peter had done a lot of reading about this trip and how to prepare for it he read up on desert travel and the one thing that was stressed over and over was a danger of overloading a vehicle 9 in of clearance under the vehicle was the minimum needed for driving in the Sahara and Peter estimated that the Morris had maybe 5 in of clearance but he also doubted himself because he was only 17 and what does he know Alan had done the trip before so obviously he knew what he was doing as he drove off in those first few days the three passengers realized what a grueling schedule Allan wanted to keep them on he wanted to drive 200 mil a day which meant driving for a long 14 hours every day if they took any longer Allen would start to lose money on their first stop Allan told the others to get water while he collected firewood Barbara asked why aren't we using the stove that you brought Allan you know the one we talked about earlier it had been raining that day so the wood was going to be all wet and it was going to take a while to get a fire going and good old Allen said that he didn't feel the need for a stove after all see they had a plan actually Allen had this plan to stop at these rest houses along the way there were many littered along the way and that's where they would get food water and anything else they needed and that's where they would sleep but they weren't going to be at a rest house every night so when Barbara needed her tea it may not be there without a stove and she was Furious mostly because Allan lied to her and she wondered if he's lied about that what else has he been lying about well quite a lot actually Barbara oh and did he lie Barbara had a right to be worried because this is when they found out all the things that Allen failed to bring he didn't bring Tire levers air pumps sand mats spare parts like a fan belt fuel pump or spark plugs French authorities insisted that every car cross crossing the Sahara carried two spare tires and six inner tubes guess how many Allen brought one spare tire and one inner tube instead of the minimum of 40 gallons of extra fuel he only brought 10 that night they stopped at a rest house in Uganda and a local game warden stopped by to chat he was looking at the car and pointed out the insufficient clearance on the car and asked Alan about it again Allan was not happy to have to discuss this topic with him and just kind of brushed them off next they passed into the Congo and after a week on the road their daily routine was really becoming exhausting they had to get up at 5:00 a.m. every day pack in the dark and drive an average of 14 hours to the next stop if they stopped at a rest house they just had to stop and unpack but if they were in between rest hous they'd have to set up their own Camp while everybody but Allan he had this uncanny ability to avoid work while others were doing the everyday tasks things like unpacking the car cooking setting up camp Allen always found other things to do and the driving was now getting more difficult it was slow going with really rough roads and giant ruts and then they got their first puncture the breakdown was really eye-opening for everybody but Allan the tools that he brought were inadequate for the simple job of changing a tire later they passed an approaching Bus full of people who had just crossed the Sahara on the same route that Allen was planning to take the driver told alen that they had a pretty good trip it went well but also that their bus was really suited to those tough conditions and then he took one look at the Morris traveler and said that that thing is not suited to Desert conditions but Allan you know Allan knew better so they kept on going they next crossed the border into Cameroon and it was here that Peter wrote in his diary that disaster struck the roads were even worse here they drive across these dry wide riverbeds which went okay until they found themselves in these wet areas and the car just sank in one rare moment along this section they were actually able to pick up speed and alen was ecstatic cuz he was just flying along he was making up time and making money he just saw those dollar bills kinging in his eyes then all of a sudden they heard this terrible terrible sound it was a grinding Crunch and a squeal of stone on metal the three passengers looked at each other in horror but Allan just being Allan he just kept on driving like nothing happened Barbara spoke up and said that they should stop and have a look because that's kind of the obvious thing to do but Allan just refused and kept on driving driving on was the worst decision in that moment signified the beginning of all their troubles Allan finally did have to stop a little while later and they got out looked under the car to see a big hole and all the oil had drained out barbar was just seething at Alan's stupidity him refusing to stop to check for damage was just unforgivable to her but Allan was unfaced he pulled out a tube of adhesive and tried to plug the hole but they had no extra oil because Allan didn't bring any Peter was about to go walk to get help but just then a truck drove up and that driver just happened to have a gallon of oil that he gave them Alan put it in the car and they drove off but then the engine started knocking they passed the border into Nigeria and the engine was knocking continuously now Allan was getting anxious because a Sahara desert road would be closed to vehicles from May 15th on because of the Intolerable heat and it was now the beginning of May so they were cutting it a little bit close and they still had 700 mil to go to get to the desert they were able to get the car fixed though and then they set off on their way but about halfway to the desert once again the engine started knocking and then it started to smoke if they went back to get it fixed Again by the time they got back to the desert the road might be closed so Allan got under the car and the Heat of the sun was just starting to blast down on them now they were just sweating and exhausted and he got to work it didn't take long for Peter to realize as he was getting tools for Allen that Allan didn't have the proper tools for this job he only had three wrenches none of which fit the only choice they had was to keep keep going and get to agadez ner which was about 120 km or 80 M away at this point agadez is known as the gateway to the desert and it sits on the southern edge of the Saharan Desert they finally got to agadez and he took the car to a mechanic Allan was told that police have to check the car over before they leave because it had to meet these certain requirements and be authorized to travel to Sahara the vehicle also needed to be in perfect mechanical order and suitable for Desert travel meanwhile Peter Barbara and Freeda they were all sitting at the hotel kind of hanging out enjoying the rest time that they finally had when all of a sudden Allan came rushing in he was all hot and agitated and he said they've been cleared by the police and they had to go now because the road was about to be closed it was Sunday May 8th when people start out to cross of Sahara it's advised that they get the local people to help them get onto the correct road because there's just a maze of tracks all over the place and it makes it really hard to find the correct route but Allan he wasn't worried so they set off on their own that first night they camped out side and they were freezing temperatures had plummeted a mild Sandstorm had obliterated the tracks which they were following but luckily there were markers that they could follow there were 44 gallon drums strung across the length of the central desert they were cut in half filled with sand and gravel and painted black so they could be easily seen they were placed at 1 km or half mile intervals mile after mile they drove on looking for the oil drums and looking at the sand for holes or soft spots that they might get stuck in and they couldn't avoid it because they soon got stuck for the first time in the [Music] desert everyone got out and pushed and pushed while Allen sat at the wheel hitting the gas the heat was suffocating by now but they did manage to get the car out this time pretty quickly that was their introduction to getting stuck in the desert they got to the next town and there was this fresh water supply so they filled up all their containers and they met some of the local Nomads and talked to them about the desert for a bit the nomads told them what San they should have avoid and where should they should drive but Allan didn't follow that advice whenever the car got bogged down it's because Allen ignored the advice from them and strayed from following previous tracks he also wanted to drive near the oil drum so he didn't lose sight of them but that was a problem too because the sand would drift towards the oil drums and that's where people would get stuck and then the next day they got stuck again this situation required a lot more than pushing they had to empty the whole car of everything that was in it and try and dig it out but Allan didn't even bring a shovel all they had was like a machete type Implement and their hands to scoop out the sand so this work was just exhausting under the heat of the Sun and they said that it was so hot that breathing in the air burnt their nostrils Ellen's plan was to put a tarp under the wheels because that's all he had but they soon found out that the tarp did not work it just got wrapped up in the axle and made things worse after 2 hours of dripping with sweat and exhausted they tried pushing again but instead of the car moving it just began to sink Allan yelled at them to lift and push because of course they had energy to lift a vehicle and push it in these treacherously hot conditions in case you're like me and you're wondering how much a Morris traveler weighs I looked it up it's 600 kg or about 1,800 lb Peter Barbara and Freda were just exhausted by now their energy was sa by the Heat and the car just felt so heavy but they kept trying and trying and miraculously they found some superhuman strength because they got it out Barbara later said that this was really the beginning of the end after this they kept getting stuck pretty regularly and it was mostly due to Allen's inexperience of driving in the desert and following those oil drums too closely despite everybody telling him not to they were getting stuck every few miles which was just an agonizing Pace it was so slow and then they finally decided to stop and Camp after getting stuck one more time the temperature dropped it was barely above freezing with this wind that intensified the cold at this point they were 60 mi from the next town and the next source of water it was starting to get a little bit scary they were exhausted from digging out the car all day and they only had a little bit of water left they had to get the car out now so they could get to the next town before they ran out of water but they tried as hard as they could and they just couldn't get the car out and they finally noticed at this point that Alan was actually starting to get a bit frightened Peter told everybody that he wanted to go for help he thought was the only option and he thought that he could follow the oil drums to town and travel through the night when it's cooler and get there probably the next day and bring help back Allan said no way that he was going to let him do it and that he should be the one to go so he and Peter argued for a little while about it until Barbara stepped in and sided with Alan saying Allan was more experienced and it was his responsibility as leader but Barbara also thought it was really crazy for anybody to attempt to walk 60 mi in the Des desert she suggested that they just wait for the French authorities to show up after all that's why they registered with the authorities she said the whole point of registering was for emergencies like this so the authorities are bound to show up soon but Allan just dismissed her and said you couldn't trust the French so Alan loaded up on water and took off to walk the 60 miles as the sun was setting group left behind was now exhausted and really close to Running Out of Water they were all suffering from heat stroke and Freda started to kind of lose it the next day they awoke and they were even more tired and exhausted and they even started seeing hallucinations Peter started seeing these monsters and then he saw an approaching truck Barbara actually saw it too so she reached for the binoculars and just started sobbing because it really was a truck coming towards them and then two trucks stopped and Out jumped a middle-aged man with dark hair and then out the other door came Allan Freda was shocked Allan was skeletal almost unable to support his own weight his eyes were sunken and his skin was just loose and leathery and he was really pale he looked like death it turns out that the truck came across Allen who was unconscious and laying spread eagle on the sand he was really lucky they showed up when they did Peter reassured Alan that he'd be fine and they were going to go get him to a hospital to be looked at but Alan just lost it and said we're not going back we're going on it didn't occur to anyone that alen would want to continue on this crazy trip that almost killed they were lost stranded and nearly dead and now they were safe but Alan was adamant he was not going to take no for an answer then Barbara stepped in and firmly told him that they're not going on with him Alan and Barbara argued and argued and then she finally said that if you want to go on your own go ahead but Allen didn't want to go alone and he looked at the others for support and they just shook their heads and said they were not interested in going off with him but Ellen had a little bit of a plan again he wanted to go to town fill up their canisters with water stay overnight and then continue on on their way through the desert he was so confident he had the others wondering if they should continue Peter got into the car with Barbara and Freda and was given explicit instructions to follow the truck and drive on the tracks where the sound was harder and they had to stay together separating was not an option the truck driver told him that the desert constantly changes and no two Crossings are ever the same because when the sand shifts there's landmarks there one day and then they're gone the next everyone but Allan was really relieved to be heading back in a convoy Allan was actually even more annoyed that they were heading in the wrong direction cuz that's not where he wanted to be at all a few hours later they saw a truck coming their way it held three Europeans who were heading for the Mediterranean Allan immediately saw them as an opportunity to return to his original plan and asked if he could drive along with them but they took one look at him who looked like death and the car which is a bit of a disaster by now and they were just like no way you're way too much of a liability so they refused to have anything to do with Ellen and the car and Ellen of course turned Furious and belligerent and yelled at them from inside the truck as they drove away and Allan you know he was not acting rashly now he had way too much sun he had full on heat stroke so he had these mood swings and irrational behavior and it was obvious to the truck drivers but not really to the other three that he was traveling with because they were affected by the heat too none of them really knew how ill they all were had they understood the psychological effects Alan was experiencing the catastrophic events that followed may have never Tak Place Alan was in the truck and just kept collapsing with exhaustion he would sleep on the floor he'd like lay across the truck driver he'd interfere with him when he was driving and so much that it became a liability just having Allen in the truck with him the truck driver really had to concentrate on driving and where he was going to avoid getting stuck because he didn't want to get those big trucks stuck and Allan was making it impossible so they moved him into the car and Barbara switched places with him and got into the truck then for some reason it wasn't really explained why but the the car ended up in front of the truck but the truck driver seemed okay with that and just told Peter to make sure that he could see the truck at all times and if he couldn't he had to stop and wait the worst thing to happen the truck driver said again would be to get separated so they plugged along moving through the sand and after driving for a little while Peter looked back and noticed he couldn't see the trucks behind him his initial reaction was just to do what the truck driver said stop and wait but he had Allen in his ear and Allen told him not to stop and convinced him to keep driving he said it would just be stupid to sit there and wait so Peter did what alen said and they just kept on going Barbara actually sitting in the truck saw the car keep going as the truck stopped and both trucks started sounding their horns and honking like crazy Barbara yelled out the window and waved but they just kept going she couldn't believe it the car grew smaller as it completely disappeared ahead of [Music] them meanwhile Peter drove the Morris up a hill and got to this crest of the the hill and they got stuck really badly and by this time they were totally out of water they waited and waited and waited and at midday when the trucks didn't show up they thought that they might be resting during the heat of the day but when 6:00 p.m. came Peter started to panic Alan was begging for water Peter found a tin of pears and punctured it so he could give Ellen the liquid Freda found some mushrooms and brine to drink and Peter was left with tomato sauce and baked beans neither of which was refreshing and both with way too much salt for an already dehydrated body and then Alan started talking about the walk he was on and how tedious it became he said he came across a rock ha that the French Legion sometimes used and stored supplies in so he dug around it trying to find something maybe there would be food or water in there but he didn't find anything and as he was doing that he leaned over and smashed his water container and all the water drained out so he had no water after that the trucks were now spreading out to look for the car Barbara couldn't help but think that they actually saw the truck stop but Alan brow beat Peter into continuing and she was so right that's exactly what happened they came to a fork in the road and the trucker said that the right was the correct route to take but he could see how the car might have gone the other way because it looked like a well established route but it wasn't they spent three more hours looking for them until dark and found no trace of them and then the next day they had to go to town because they were running out of fuel Peter was flashing the headlamps of the car during the night in case anyone was near bye and then they awoke the next day and it was Friday May 13th Peter wrote in his diary that it may be their last day if they're not found soon by this time Allan was despite the heat shaking involuntarily Freda asked Alan how he was doing and he smiled and just nodded Peter was watching the gradual rise and fall of alen's chest and then finally saw it stop Alan had died another day went by and they sat in the car Peter just drifted In and Out Of Consciousness both him and frea just lay there motionless Peter looked over and asked Freda if you could have anything in the world what would you most like to drink she smiled and said I'd be perfectly content with a glass of water and shortly after Freda died Peter was left to face his own agonizing death completely alone and then as he was losing Consciousness something woke him up he thought he heard a rumbling but he was so close to death he thought it was a hallucination but it wasn't it was the French authorities who had finally found them they drove up and ran over to Peter and they were in tears at the sight of Peter the French had spent all day searching and it was getting dark when they came across a nomad camp the nomads told him that they had seen a curious flashing light in the sky about 20 kilometers to the northwest and that's how they found them it was exactly where Peter was flashing the lights on May 16th Peter arrived at a military hospital he was weak and semi delirious but he was safe and Alive Barbara came to visit him every day after that and this is when they found out why it took the search party so long to come looking for them it's because Allan never registered them when he visited the French authorities that day they told him to come back after his car was fixed and report to them and then they would do the necessary checks to give him the okay to go and he never came back and that's when he were rushing into the hotel and got everybody to leave the authorities had no idea the group had left across the desert suddenly alen's bizarre behavior began to make sense his insistence that they leave so soon because the road was about to be closed and why Allan wanted to be the one to go for help they figured that he was feeling guilt over failing to register and Peter felt overwhelmed by the sense of betrayal if it hadn't been for that truck driver they all would be dead and no one would have ever known what happened to [Music] them so this story it serves as a stark reminder that the allert of Adventure can sometimes lead us into Peril so let me know what you think of that story I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments down below would you have followed Allan into this crazy desert trip would you cross the Sahara these days or is it just terrifying and what terrifies you more getting stranded in the Sahara or getting stranded at [Music] sea

Channel: Adventures Gone Wrong

Views: 174,699

Keywords: adventures gone wrong, adventure stories, mountain climbing, mount everest, storytelling, hiking, Amazon Rainforest, animal attacks, narrator, documentary, sahara, sahara desert, tragedy, survival, Alan Cooper, 1955, morris minor

Id: bJJ03LZU8Vo

Length: 31min 49sec (1909 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 16 2024