The Hot and Cold Wilderness Experience
Grey? - middle-aged, middle-income, middle-class - middle of the road - yes, possibly. But this trip is about breaking out - taking life to the extremes: leaving behind the grey comfort, the middle-ground ease, the lukewarm status quo, and heading for hot and cold wildernesses.

The cold wilderness: Sarek, in Sweden's tundra, is one of Europe's last remaining true wildernesses. This arctic wilderness is a place of large empty spaces. It is approached after navigating the magnificent fjords. The plan is to hike across down the huge Rapadalen valley which is the artery of Sarek valley and contains the Rapaätno river with its enormous flow which carries green glacial water from about 30 glaciers, negotiate narrow mountain passes, cross rivers where few bridges are available and the rapids are wild, search out the rich wildlife: bear, wolverine, lynx or one of the unusually large elks; and meet the Sámi, circumpolar people, 'reindeer people' who still practise herding and hunting skills. This is not a course for beginners, and help of an experienced guide will be needed. There is no tourist accommodation, and the challenge will be to manage this.

Then down to the hot wildernesses, starting with the Namib Desert of Namibia, the world's driest desert, even though it extends from the Atlantic Ocean and is subject to blanketing by sudden fogs. The plan here is to engage a local guide and blaze across the desert's vast windswept dunes and Skeleton Coast and on up to Windhoek. Then to Botswana to be immersed in the superficial nothingness and deep richness of the Kalahari desert and the vast eeriness of the saltpans, canoe up the Okavango swamps in traditional moroko, meet (not too closely) the huge variety of game from elephant to namaqua rock mouse, and live with the San people - the chance to participate directly in the life of the hunter-gatherer: stalking game with the men, digging roots and tubers with the women, climbing trees for wild fruit and participating in moon dances to cure swollen stomachs.

This is where the 4x4 belongs - not on the Finchley Road. Accommodation will vary from local farmhouses, small hotels to canvas or the open sky. It is a trip of extremes, contrasts and intensities - life at the edge as antidote and balance to Western civilisation. Grey readers (of all ages) and armchair travellers are welcome along, to share it all vicariously, to interact virtually with all the experiences, make suggestions or posit queries for the locals and watch in safety pictures of the odd snake which might cuddle up next to the sleeping bag for overnight warmth.