IN THIS FEATURE Keeping a seven-year promise Scavenging for lightning Tackling the dunes Navigating the desert Babbling brooks All for four perfect minutes

So far we are bearing up well to al fresco ablutions, the lack of showering and the early starts. We've only had one puncture and a few instances of beaching requiring sand ladders as a last resort. When the Toyota Turbo's fanbelt makes the familiar slipping sound one morning, a cool Abdul pours water over it until it stops. A sheared wheel bearing on Jimmy's old steed is fixed by torchlight while we eat and a fuel filter changed before we've had time to say 'There's smoke coming out of the Nissan's exhaust.'

As well as getting to know each other, we start to see each driver's personality. At big dunes they all stop to see each other over. Mohammed, the experienced point man, experiments to find the best way; Abdul glides over self-assuredly without batting an eyelid; first-timer Muktar takes the loose cannon route, often getting stuck, more often reversing the whole ascent; while Jimmy makes the entire assault painfully in low ratio, never changing out of first gear, but laughing manically the whole way.

Etiquette involves keeping the vehicle behind in sight

Desert driving protocol requires cars in a convoy to keep the vehicle behind in its sights. Stops are frequent to let the cars regroup. Jimmy's old Toyota is the slowest of the four but, he chuckles: 'No one will leave me behind, I'm the mechanic.' Nevertheless there are times when we are quite stretched out and the wait is long.

Chris described how easily it can all go wrong in the desert. 'All it takes is one mistake and a bit of bad luck and you're dead out here. Driving too fast, you get a puncture, you fall behind, a sand storm blows up. The others can't find you. Dead.' He describes a few true stories before we decide it's time to stop this train of thought.