Michael Palin - Sahara

One of Mr. Plains excellent Travel Videos. I especially like both his dialogue and his coverage of Gibraltar, Morocco & Ceuta. I also enjoyed his telling of his Crucifixion in Tunisia. Which sounds both weird and kind of sick but it was funny when one hears about it from the Author.

I had the great priviledge to see Michael Palin's Sahara on the (real)BBC in Oxford (England) in 2002 with an Algerian friend. Unfortunately the BBC showed the production in the wee small hours ---but staying up all night was well worth loosding a little sleep. (Now, having recently purchased the DVD, I've had another grand experience with Michael as my guide.)We were greatly pleased to see that Palin chose to go into Algeria, despite the dire warnings about the dangerous conditions (due to the great unrest and genocide occuring at that particular time) because it is truly a beautiful country-land of contrasts! We enjoyed taking a trek through the Ahaggar region (Palin refers to it in English as the Hoggar), hearing that, despite what is said in the press, the Sahroui refugees were not kept in Tindouf against their will and were treated well by the Algerian government, and the mini-stroll through the Casbah in center Alger (Algiers in English) was a delight-if too brief. Oran (pronounced 'Waahran'-say it slowly and do pronunce the 'h'!) has an enviable spot on the beautiful hilly coastline above the even more beautiful Mediterranean. We were delighted to hear the journalist who accompanied Palin in the Casbah say-typically Algerian-'inch'Allah'with reference to a possible future event. We were sorry that Michael did not venture a little south of Alger to visit Algeria's vast array of Roman ruins, and isntead chose Libya for this. Bravo to Michael for showing the rest of the world at least a glimpse of our beloved Algeria. Be cooled by the oasis outside Hassi Messaoud -a breath of fresh air!The funniest statement of the film was when Palin alluded to the "longest bus ride" he'd ever taken when going accross the falt and palid Libyan desert.The journey Palin took with the touaregs is spectacular. Myriads of camels, a ton of dunes and sand, and the comraderie of the berbers of the desert. Be sure to look for the baby dorcas gazelle!From England to Gibralter (where the Barbary baboons hobnob with the gentry) thorugh the vast and breathtaking Sahara (of which Alogeria calims mmore than a lions-or is that camel's?-share, with glimpses of all the countries which share this most wonderful of all deserts. Meet the inahabitants along the way. You will have a wonderful surprise, and perhaps learn that people are people no matter where they call home.As Palin says, "See what is similar, not what is different" of these people.Enjoy your journey in this enchanted place!

Very entertaining and informative

great delivery and love Mr. Palins travels !

Does not play on the DVD player.

It was an excellent dvd series set, great shape, and very fast shipping! Thanks!!!

Prompt delivery of this fine product.

This video is an old friend revisited. The DVD it self is in good condition, however, the case is a little worn.

I thought "Sahara" was a watchable series but I didn't find it as interesting compared to his earlier work, such as "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Pole to Pole". The reason why I thought this was because there wasn't any thrilling time limits and the countries didn't really appeal to me. But Palin is a delight to watch as always and four episodes seemed to be enough in my opinion. Overall the series is worth watching, but I would consider this to be his second weakest series, which the weakest I thought was Palin's previous series "Hemingway Adventure". But if you are fan of Palin like me, the dvd is well worth buying and the special features are also worth watching.

I should have checked 'product details' because, being a person who needs the subtitles on on every film or TV prog that I watch, when I did put them on they were in Dutch, so was all the blurb on the back cover. I could only watch about ten mins and had to keep flicking back (someitimes several times on the same bit) for the words, phrases etc that I didn't catch so I gave up after ten minsI don't like Palin's constant sarcasm, lack of appreciation of other cultures and food and all the really stupid (non-funny) comments he makes so I didn't religiously watch all of his series'. The actual idea really appeals to me as someone who likes to travel so I couldn't resist seeing what I missed first time around. At the very start he was practising on a camel on a beach in Morrocco (I think) and he said something on the lines of "and no pretty girls in the SaharaI don't suppose". then when playing football on the beach with some Afro-Arabs he said Gibraltar is only 16miles(!) over there but this place feels distinctly African......erm that's because it is Michael. Despite all that I'll order another copy with English subs this time and grin and bear the daft commentary to enjoy the beautiful vistas and beautiful, colourful people he sees/meets while wishing that they had given the job to anybody but a comedian. I might even get the rest of the series' to see me through the next cold Winter

Shorter than the normal Palin epics, but perfectly formed none the less. Given that his previous journeys have covered vast tracts of geographically and politically inhospitable territory it's somewhat of a suprise that travelling round a barren sandpit in North Africa presents so many problems, there are an inordinate number of missing "hops" as he travels round. None the less, Palin exhibits his usual unique brand of wide eyed Englishness and his team displays it's almost mythical ability to get him into places even Lonely Planet doesn't know exist. Of all his journeys this is the one I'd least like to emulate,not enough beer drinkers in that part of the world. This is however a fascinating insight into this little known corner of the world, somehow Palin still manages to make such a journey appear little more trouble than two weeks in Marbellla!

My favourite of the Michael Palin travel series. The only downside is it is only four episodes long. Sad to think that what he did in in 2002 is too dangerous to do now. Fascinating to get to see countries such as Mauritania and Mali. His trip up the Niger to Timbuktu and crossing the desert with Tuareg were the highlights for me.

Received promptly and as yet not watched that is why only 4 stars but feel sure it will be really interesting.