20th December 5.31pm GMT Katharine and Pierre left home just a few hours ago. Packing for the trip was “a bit of a nightmare” according to Katharine. They had to resist temptation to take too much with them in the car because, since it will be auctioned for charity at their destination, they need to be able to carry on their backs everything they want to bring back to Geneva with them.   This is quite a tall order, considering that between them they need to be fully self-sufficient in the desert – they need a tent, jerry cans for fuel and water, sleeping bags and cooking equipment, as well as clothes suitable for the extremes of desert temperatures and the snowy European winter.   The car has been getting a lot of double-takes as the pair of them drive along. In fact, the police even decided to investigate, and were treated to a full explanation of what ATLAS is from Katharine!     23rd December 8:17pm GMT The ATLAS car has travelled 2000 kilometres in the last few days – one third of the total distance it will cover – and is now in Morocco. According to Katharine, the roads are still OK for driving on, but the smaller dirt tracks are a little frightening. The driving is much harder going now though: “There are people walking down the middle of busy roads, stepping out in front of the car at any opportunity, overtaking on both sides of the car, and lots of horn-honking,” Katharine reports. “All in all a very nerve-wracking experience!”     26th December 5:26pm GMT Happily, we can report that Katharine and Pierre are getting into the swing of the African style of driving now: “We’re driving more aggressively and using the horn a lot more!” Katharine laughs. They spent yesterday arranging visas, and used the break time to refuel and retune their vehicle.   They spent Christmas night in Marrakech, and were treated to sheep’s head for Christmas dinner. “Some parts of it were very nice, but all the little bits of cartilage, goo, fat, tongue and brain were rather revolting,” says Katharine hesitantly.   Their surroundings are now much more arid, making them feel as though they’re really in the desert. Tomorrow will see them make an early start as they need to cover 600 kilometres to get to the next large town. Here they’ll meet the other teams, to drive in convoy. “This is where things start to get difficult,” Katharine explains, “the roads are tricky and you can only drive in daylight hours as the locals drive without lights and there are often people and animals in the roads.”   Coincidentally, the local long-distance taxis also go by the name of ATLAS, so our team have had a fair few people trying to flag them down for a ride!     30th December 6:50pm GMT Since the last message, the ATLAS car has covered a lot of ground. Our team are now in the Sahara proper, surrounded by sand dunes. Today they crossed the border into Mauritania, which was a very long, slow and painful process where they were expected to give bribes to the border guard officials. The whole thing took over five hours, and included a six kilometre drive through a minefield, but, reports Katharine, “I’m pleased to say the guards appreciated the CERN playing cards we handed out!”   Tomorrow she and Pierre will begin driving off-road through the desert, through a national park full of sand dunes, and on to where the beach meets the desert.     January 1st 8:38pm GMT The latest message from our team in the desert was rather more sombre than the ones that have gone before. They’ve had to deal with a number of problems with the car, while at the same time making their way through military-controlled Mauritania. Here, they have been expected to give bribes at each of the multitude of police checkpoints long their way. “This has ranged from smiling at you and asking if you have a present for The Chief, to yanking at the shirt on your back and telling you ‘I want this’,” says a tired sounding Katharine.   She and Pierre spent a very low-key New Year’s Eve in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere; since Mauritania is a dry country and there are no tourists, there was nothing going on, so instead our pair decided to go to bed at 10:00pm and recharge their batteries after the exhaustingly long drive they’ve completed in the last few days.     Jan 4th 9:20pm GMT The ATLAS car crossed the border into Mali on January 2nd, in the afternoon. Immediately, Katharine felt a change in the atmosphere. “It has been lovely. Everyone has been really friendly, and wants to say hello and shake our hands,” she says. She and Pierre spent their first night camped in the bush in the middle of nowhere, before driving on to the capital of Mali, Bamako, the following day. There they took the opportunity to stay in a nice hotel – luxury compared to what they’ve been used to on the road – before today continuing their drive up the River Niger.     January 5th 6:54pm GMT “We’ve made it, we’ve arrived in Timbuktu this afternoon!” says a jubilant sounding Katharine. It was a near thing, apparently – the exhaust fell of the car, right in the middle of the road, earlier on today, requiring Pierre to leap out and run back to retrieve it. Thankfully, they got it fixed by the side of the road for the equivalent cost of just four Euros.   The final 200 kilometres of dirt track were very hard-going. “There were times when it felt like the car was about to fall apart!” says Katharine of their bumpy ride. She and Pierre have arrived at their destination with sand absolutely everywhere – in every corner of the car, their bags, even in their hair. But nothing can dampen their spirits it seems. As Katharine left the last message, they were just off out to a restaurant for a celebratory (and well-deserved) beer!