Six-lane highways raced from Abu Dhabi across the sabkha, featureless salt flats merging into the mangroves of the Persian Gulf. There were few effective speed limits on these open highways but when dusk set in, the danger of grazing camels loping onto the roadway imposed its own limits.

Nothing met the eye but gently undulating bleached sand, dotted, sparingly with tufts of salt-resistant herbage, peppered generously with the carcasses of wrecked vehicles. Turning inland, the sands steadily darkened to a rich, reddish orange and shaped themselves into sensuous waves. On the horizon the purple crags of the Hajjar appeared, separating blazing blue sky from burning dunes. All too rarely would we might encounter a Bedouin camel train.