During the heat of the summer driving at dawn seemed a sensible way to get a fix of desert driving at the weekends without suffering dehydration and or heat exhaustion. Then we realised a drive could be fitted in before work if you are prepared to pack the car the night before and leave the apartment around 04:30. A bit like having to catch the tide out of Southsea if you want a Bank Holiday weekend in France, a little sacrifice has big rewards.

Dawn in the desert is magical. The light on the sand is amazing, the colours all sorts of hues from the violets and blues of the sky to the orangey red of the sand in the new day’s sun. The low angle shows up the wind swept tops in sharp relief and even the pylons rising out of the misty distance appear beautified. Here are a few pictures from this weeks drive in which I have attempted to capture some of the magic (click on the pictures for a larger view):

05:45 – Just getting light as we deflate

Between Madam and Schweib the dunes are high

The light seems to hang over the dunes

A sea of sand

Virtually no grass or shrubs – rare in the sands here

A big bowl scoured clean to bare rock

The sand is red in the morning light