Would you drink urine and bat blood if you had to?

In 1994, Maura Prosperi took part in the famously gruelling Marathon Des Sables, a 6 day 155 mile race across the Sahara desert. Following a sandstorm, Maura (one of just 80 participants) became lost for 10 days. 


So how does one go about surviving in burning day time heat with no food and no water? Well these are the tips that Maura used - and they obviously it worked!

Drink urine - on day 1 of being lost, Maura urinated in to his water bottle. He continued to drink his own urine for the 10 days. 

Walk only in the early morning and evenings. During the day Maura either found shade or covered himself as best he could and rested to avoid the heat.

Drink bat blood. Maura came across a group of bats nestling in an abandoned Bedouin shrine. He grabbed them while they were asleep and killed 20 using his knife and ate their insides.

Finally, Maura continued to walk and was lucky enough to find a bedouin camp where they nursed him to health and alerted local police. Maura had started his desert marathon in Morocco but when he was found, he was in Algeria. For details of his full survival story, click the link below. This links nicely to Grade 12's unit on extreme environments.

Maura's full story