Actor, writer and Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin spent most of 2001 in the Sahara Desert, and last night he shared photos and anecdotes from the journey with a packed hall at OISE. The Sahara trip wasn’t Palin’s first such venture. Over the past fifteen years he’s travelled around the Pacific Rim, gone from the North Pole to the South, and followed in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, cranking out books and TV series each time. This was, however, the first time he got camel poisoning. He also visited Camus’ house in Algeria, caught a salt caravan out of Timbuktu, and took lessons in sand-skiing and board games played with camel dung. Good to know the old boy’s keeping busy.