Beat the heat

We wish we'd learned this before: 10 key tips for surviving in the desert

Image: Ryan Cheng

Some landscapes are kinder than others. While nature can be harsh no matter where you are, camping in a quiet forest near the city is a very different experience from spending several days in the mountains or the desert. With the lack of water and the abysmal temperature differences between the sweltering day and the cold night, the desert is one of the most dangerous environments for human beings, but this isn't an obstacle for explorers! If you're an adventure fan or curious about survival skills, read on! Today, we're going to share 10 key tips to survive in the unforgiving sands.

Image: N.

The first piece of advice experienced explorers give is this: someone else must know where you went. While it might seem a bit obvious, sharing your plans can be crucial when traveling through hostile or dangerous environments.

If you're interested in exploring the desert, thorough preparation is crucial. Part of that is to let your colleagues or loved ones know where you're going, how many days you think you'll be there, and some more information about the routes you plan to take. This way, in case of any unforeseen event, someone will notice that you spent more days than stipulated, and they'll start looking for you.

Image: Marvin Meyer

This is nothing new: the desert is really, really hot. Typically, what most of us tend to do in a warm environment is to take off some clothes to feel lighter. However, that's not recommended; in fact, it's quite the opposite.

While it may be counter-intuitive, it's essential to keep your body covered -from head to toe- from the hot desert sun. Not only is it important to protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays, but clothing also helps to keep your body moist and hydrated. On the other hand, layers of fabric, hats, and sunglasses also protect you from sandstorms and insects.

Image: Sergey Pesterev

Night in the desert can be scary. However, many experts recommend walking at night if you need to travel.

Nighttime temperatures in the desert are low, but exercise and layers of clothing can protect you from the cold. By avoiding the heat of the day, your body retains water and energy.

But nighttime offers even more advantages. The desert sky displays a sea of stars, and knowing the constellations -or having a constellation map- can help you find your way.

Image: Azzedine Rouichi

Desert sands are punished by the harsh sun during the long hours of the day. During all that time, the ground absorbs the intense heat, turning the surface beneath your feet into a gigantic and dangerous stove. For this reason, many recommend that you should try to stay as far off the ground as possible.

First of all, sitting or lying directly on the ground is a big no! Insulating your feet with good footwear is also essential. Many adventurers cover not only their skin but also their shoes with layers of fabric, adding an extra barrier between themselves and the hot sand.

These actions will help protect you not only from the heat radiating off the ground but also from snakes, spiders, and other creatures that may be lurking at ground level.

Image: Zach Guinta

Okay, maybe the title sounds a bit intense. But actually, it's great advice if you happen to wander in the hot desert.

Keeping your mouth closed, especially if you're walking, is an essential step. But why? Well, besides helping you breathe better, this will keep your lips and tongue from drying out, so you'll be less thirsty. Other important tips include avoiding smoking and resisting the impulse to lick your lips.

On the other hand, it's recommended to eat sparingly. Of course, your body needs food, but conserving it during the initial hours is crucial for when you really need the calories. In addition, eating too much can make you thirsty or cause your body to expend too much energy on digestion.

Image: Dulcey Lima

Although it can be difficult to find water in the desert, it's not totally impossible. If you notice your water supply is running low, these tips can help you.

First, if you come across animal tracks leading downhill, this may be a trail to a water source. Desert animals know where to find it!

On the other hand, one of the most recommended ways to find water is to dig a hole. As you dig, you'll feel the sand start to get wet; eureka! Wherever you spot vegetation with large, green leaves, that's the place to dig. Always remember to purify water before drinking!

Image: Patrick Hendry

Water is not the only thing you'll need. Knowing how to make fire is one of the main skills for survival in almost any environment, and the desert is no exception.

Desert temperatures can drop significantly at night. For that reason, fire will be vital, as it will light you up and keep you warm. Plus, it can help scare off animals and make you visible to helicopters.

While you probably won't need the light and heat of fire during the day, it's an essential tool for boiling and purifying water!

Image: Hassan OUAJBIR

Humans can typically survive up to 3 days without water. So, during your time in the desert, it's important to constantly pay attention to your body, as certain physical signs can alert you to potential dehydration.

The first and most obvious are excessive thirst and dry mouth and lips. In addition, dry or cracked skin could also indicate that you need more water.

Other signs of dehydration can be dark yellow urine, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, or tachycardia.

Image: Brianda Maldonado

No matter what the cartoons and movies have told you, never drink cactus juice.

But why? It's simply not safe for your body. We know in harsh desert conditions, any liquid will be highly tempting. However, cactus juice is highly acidic. The acidity can make you feel pretty sick, leading to headaches, stomach cramps, vomiting, and even more serious symptoms that can worsen dehydration, such as kidney issues.

In short, the water or juice of most cacti is toxic to humans, leading to consequences far worse than just thirst.

Image: Azzedine Rouichi

Accidents can happen anywhere, especially when nature surrounds us, and even the most experienced explorers may need help. In such cases, cell phones and other devices used in the city can run out of battery or fail to reach a signal. But if you're an outdoor fan, you're probably familiar with personal locator beacons.

A PLB is a specialized emergency device for those traveling in remote or dangerous areas. Equipped with GPS, a PLB sends an emergency signal with your location to rescue agencies so they can find and help you as soon as possible.

TRANSLATION BLUNDERS

7 translation mistakes that almost ruined everything

Image: Afif Ramdhasuma

Amateurish translations can be a recipe for disaster, especially when international politics or your business future are at stake! Traduttore, traditore! is an old Italian saying that roughly means "translators are traitors." However this saying has nothing to do with wartime propaganda or chauvinistic sentiments, and it’s instead a rather lighthearted take on the inherent difficulty of a translator’s line of work.

You might wonder, how bad can you make things with a bad translation? Well, there’s no need to wonder, the profession is full of hysterical stories about the craziest translation blunders that almost managed to ruin whole thriving businesses and reputations.

Image: Tim Mossholder

Around the 1960s, Pepsi decided to expand its business to China only to find a literal linguistic barrier that almost ruined the whole venture. At the time, Pepsi’s slogan in English-speaking countries was "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation." However, when directly translated into Chinese, the slogan read something like "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead," turning the favorite cola of millions into a powerful dark magic concoction that—as one could expect—wasn’t very well received by the Chinese population, who just happen to hold their deceased ancestors in great esteem.

Image: Enq 1998

When Napoleon’s brother was crowned king of Holland in 1806, he was eager to please the local populace and quickly decided to change his name to something more fitting, from Ludovic to Lodewijk. However, he was such a bad speaker of Dutch that, during the coronation ceremony, he ended up declaring himself the "Rabbit of 'Olland," instead of "King of Holland."

Image: Aaron Burden

This one is absolutely hilarious, and just like the Pepsi gaffe, it shows the dangers of localizing new products when you aren’t fully aware of the language. When Parker Pens decided to expand its business into Mexico, it mistranslated the company’s current slogan "It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you"— surprising by itself, since you would expect that to be the bare minimum in order to have a working pen— into "It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant," due to a confusion with the similarity between the false cognates "embarazar" (get pregnant) in Spanish and "embarrass" in English.

Image: Tuntematon, Valkoisen talon valokuvaajat (01/20/1977 - 01/20/1981), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1977, during a trip to Poland, U.S. President Jimmy Carter took an involuntary part in a series of incredibly funny translation fails. His amateur interpreter was terribly bad at speaking Polish—and even understanding English apparently—because when the president mentioned that he had left the U.S. that morning, the interpreter said to the Polish audience that "he had left his country, never to return." To make matters even worse, Carter’s enthusiastic appeal to the Polish people was mistranslated again and the interpreter said that the president wanted to "get to know the Poles carnally."

Image: Jen Theodore

When beer brand Coors tried to get into the Spanish market, it failed to hire a decent translator, since the company’s tagline "Turn It Loose" was translated into something akin to "Suffer From Diarrhea," something you definitely don’t want to see in a beer can from overseas.

Image: Thomas Kelley

When General Electric released a new partnership brand in France under the acronym GPT, no one realized that, in French, this acronym can be read as "J’ai pété," or "I farted." You can imagine that if they just hired a French teenager, they would have discovered their mistake soon enough, saving themselves a lot of time and money.

Image: Miika Laaksonen

A Swedish non-prescription drug used to alleviate stomach pains called Samarin wanted to market its product to Arabic countries with a text-free three-panel comic strip that showed a man with a hurting stomach in its first picture, the same man drinking Samarin in the second, and a happy and healthy man in the last one. But they forgot to take into account that in the Arab world people read both books and comic strips from the right to the left! So, not even avoiding text whatsoever saved them from screwing up their new business expansion.