A Baluchi woman comes running and shouting at Swedish explorer Mikael Strandberg while he photographs a camel in the Wahiba sands desert.

“He’s stupid, you don’t take photos of a pregnant camel, it can harm the baby,” she exasperates.

The guide calms the lady explains that he does not know about these things.

“But he’s English,” she says. “He knows everything.”

Not quite.

Strandberg thought nothing could surmount his experience with the Kolyma River exploration in Siberia.

“What kind of new expedition can you go do when you feel like you’ve done the best expedition in the world?” he said.

Then he visited the Sultanate of Oman, and learned a lesson about prenatal camel care.

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“What amazes me most is the people, their dignity and generosity, feel just like paradise,” Strandberg said.

Strandberg says his life changes every time he travels and meets people. After all, they make the place that they live in.

After looking at the size of Arabia on the map, Strandberg feels like it’s time to “build a bridge between the East and West to change the way people look at each other.”

Strandberg is inspired by his trip, to come back to travel through Arabia and over to West Africa, discovering and learning along the way.

And where better to start than Oman, “the jewel of Arabia,” he says.

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Strandberg knows he’s getting older, and doesn’t learn language as quick as he used you when he started his quest as an explorer.

“I need someone to help me with the language,” he said. “There are things you need to do not to offend people.”

He proposes to take along a few Omanis on his expedition, which he hopes to begin sometime next year.

Strandberg will use only manual techniques and compasses to travel through Arabia.

“Technology can die on you and then you will be lost without backtracking skills.

While former explorers have taken the coastal path, Strandberg is determined cheat his journey and carry through only on foot and camel.

“If you come in a vehicle you build a border between you and the local desert people.”

And this is all about “bridging the gap between cultures,” he reiterates.
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