Press Release

Explorer Alice Morrison to Make History with world first North-to-South Expedition Across Saudi Arabia

On January 1, 2025, Alice Morrison, British explorer, BBC TV presenter and writer will embark on a historic expedition to become the first recorded person to cross the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from north to south on foot. Accompanied by camels and local guides, the five-month journey will span an epic 2,500km, taking her through the Kingdom’s vast deserts, oases, and mountains.

Saudi Arabia has only recently opened its gates to tourism. As a solo female explorer, crossing the Kingdom where women only won the right to drive seven years ago, is an extraordinary endeavour. Women are at the heart of this adventure. During her journey, Alice will meet a wide range of women to hear and reflect the diversity of their stories.

Saudi women who have expressed an interest in walking part of the way with her include explorer Princess Abeer Al Saud, racing driver Mashael Obadain and the first female travel business owner and guide Sara Omar.

She will also spend a week walking with Saudi’s first ever female wildlife rangers, learning how they are bringing back extinct plants and animals in the desert areas.

Alice’s expedition is driven by three main objectives: making new discoveries, amplifying the voices of Saudi women and shedding light on the Kingdom’s climate, landscapes, and conservation efforts. By retracing the ancient caravan routes, she aims to unearth hidden stories from the land’s rich history while offering fresh insights into the rapidly evolving Saudi Arabia of today.

One of the highlights of the first stage of the expedition will be AlUla, with its rich heritage of ancient civilisations and trade. Alice is no stranger to AlUla, which was featured in her most recent BBC show, Arabian Adventures: The Secrets of the Nabateans.

Alice says, “I have been studying Arabic and the Middle East for 45 years but Saudi has always been closed to me. Now, I get to explore the heart of Arabia. I want to get past the politics and meet the people.

I’ve got an explorer superpower: being a woman. The view of Saudi women in the West is very one dimensional. As a female explorer, I’m uniquely able to spend time with Saudi women and tell their stories.

The route I am taking is stuffed with history so I’ll be searching for new sites. I’m also walking through climate change and will be recording my findings.

The desert is a harsh mistress and I am sure she will be teaching me many lessons along the route.

I am a mid-life woman (61) and I hope my adventure inspires others to get out and follow their dreams. I couldn’t have attempted this at 25, I needed the life experience to get me here.

Alice Morrison is an accomplished adventurer who speaks fluent Arabic. She was the first woman to walk the length of the Draa River as part of crossing Morocco and the Sahara on foot with camels. She has recently filmed a two-part series for the BBC in Petra, Jordan and AlUla, Saudi Arabia. Already a best-selling author of 4 travel books, she will be writing another book about this expedition as well as making a film.

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Notes to Editors:

Expedition Route

The route begins at the Jordan border near Halat Anmar, the crossing point of the historic Jejaz Railway. It continues through the mountains, hitting points of interest such as Darb al Haj, notably the traditional Attabukiya Hajj Pilgrimage Route, Prince Mohamed Bin Salman Royal Reserve, the volcanic regions of Harrat Ar Raha and Harrat Uwayrid, and ancient regional centres of Tabuk and AlUla. From Madinah, the route will cross towards the coast and down to Jeddah, turning eastwards for the approach to Makkah and Taif. Heading south, Alice will pass through Rijal Almaa and the Uruq Bani Ma’arid wildlife sanctuary. The expedition will end near Najran at the border with Yemen.

As the route is too long to accomplish in one season due to hot weather and the month of Ramadan, Alice will do it in two halves over two winter seasons. The first stage will take 7 weeks over January and February 2025 and will take her from the border with Jordan to the gates of Madinah. Alice has been working with Alan Morrissey and Khalid al Rabiah on route and logistics.

Highlights from First Stage

Highlights from the first stage of the expedition include:

• Treading the pilgrims’ route – Darb Al Hajj

• Abbasid waystations and forts

• The x-Arabia Railway , trains in the desert and bullet holes from the Arab Revolt in WW1

• Ottoman fortifications

• Bedouin waterways and secret tribal markings

• The PMBS Royal Reserve and the newly-reintroduced species of which only 600 remain worldwide in 3 places

• Walking with Saudi Female Rangers

• Stone Age traces

• Moses Mountain – where he brought down the tablets

• Processing camels through the old trading route of AlUla

• Arriving at the gates of the holy city of Madinah on the eve of Ramadan

Interviews

Alice is available for phone and email interviews as well as live and pre-recorded down the line interviews for broadcast opportunities before she sets off on expedition.

Suggested questions:

What is it about Saudi Arabia that inspired you to do this expedition?

Why explore Saudi Arabia now?

How have you prepared for the expedition?

What are your main objectives for the expedition?

What are some of the biggest challenges you are expecting?

What are you most looking forward to?

Tell us a bit more about you and what inspired you to become an explorer/ adventurer?

What is it about Saudi/ Muslim heritage which interests you?

What is your advice for other mid-life women who want to do something adventurous and exciting in 2025?

How can people find out more and follow your journey on this expedition?

About Alice Morrison

Alice Morrison speaks fluent Arabic and has long experience in the Middle East and North Africa. She is a seasoned explorer, best-selling author, travel journalist and TV presenter. Her latest series for the BBC, Arabian Adventures: Secrets of the Nabateans, came out in June 2024. She has walked 4000km with 6 camels and 3 Amazigh guides across Morocco and the Sahara.

That journey took 7 ½ months and during it she found a lost city, documented the effect of climate change on the nomadic peoples of the Sahara and witnessed the reach of Corona into very remote communities. Her book about it is Walking with Nomads.

She has also cycled across Africa from Cairo to Cape Town, run around Everest and walked the length of Jordan. Full bio here.

Media Presence

Alice has her own very active and dedicated social media following of over 350k followers (links below) across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.

It is strongly travel/adventure-focussed and UK/international/Arab.

Her podcast reached Apple’s top 50 and her blog was voted Best Blog in Africa. Her book, Adventures in Morocco, is an Amazon Travel bestseller. She achieved 100 pieces of international press for her Morocco expedition. She is a TikTok star in Arabic – achieving 2 million views for posts.

Links

Presenter: Arabian Adventures: Secrets of the Nabateans, available on iPlayer

Runner up: Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year 2023: Walking with Nomads

Bestseller on Amazon Travel! Adventures in Morocco

Morocco to Timbuktu: An Arabian Adventure

Dodging Elephants

Web: www.alicemorrison.co.uk

Podcast: Alice in Wanderland

X: aliceoutthere1

Instagram: aliceoutthere1

TikTok: aliceoutthere1

Fbook: Alice Hunter Morrison Adventures