Now, a lone Western woman in a male-dominated land, Paula is left to deal with her shattered emotional state and dwindling cash reserves. Six weeks into the trek, Paula's husband, Gary, leaves and returns home, their marriage over. The endless expanse of the desert environment is relentless and proves an emotional pressure cooker. Paula is currently planning another walk, and lives in rural Victoria Her second, Sahara, was released in October 2009.

Her first book, Slow Journey South, was released by Random House in 2008. From 2005-2007, Paula walked over 7000km through the Sahara, until she was halted by civil war in Niger. Since then, she has walked over 12000km through eight countries: England, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Niger. Paula Constant began walking from Trafalgar Square in 2004. But, above all, it's a celebration of the human spirit in all its guises. SAHARA is a thrilling adventure and a story of joy, heartache, inspiration and despair. Illness, landmines and political red tape stand between Paula and the realisation of a life's dream. SAHARA is the story of Paula's struggle to covercome her innermost demons and take control of her journey, her camels and the men she hires to guide her through one of planet's most extreme regions. The wheels have fallen off her marriage and her funds are quickly drying up, but she is determined to complete the second stage: walking through the romantic Big Empty of Northern Africa to Cairo. Having walked more than 5000 kilometres from Trafalgar Square to Morocco, Paula Constant finds herself at the westernmost edge of the Sahara Desert - and the brink of sanity.

The Saharan Queen by Paula Constant