Photos: Day 4

We woke a few hours before dawn, after completing our compulsory rest at CP5. We headed directly for CP6, skipping CP5+ and chosing instead to get CP6+ as our second and last optional checkpoint before the finish.

Pastel hues before sunrise

Pre-sunrise team photo. Yes, it does indeed look like Francois has grown horns overnight... ;)

Alex navigated a superb route rom CP6 to CP6+.

We crossed the pan and went up and over the dunes on the far side.

The desert is not completely barren. There are some plants and shrubs around; mostly around the edges of the pans. These pretty flowers were at the top of a dune. There are also animals, aside from camels - some antelope and possibly rabbit-type critters. The water table is only 2-3m below the pans, but the water is very brackish.

Alex takes a power rest

A camel camp a few kilometres before the finish.

Mission accomplished and desert trek completed in 31 hours

Alex grows another baby toe...

Desert camp, on a pan. Hard ground for sleeping. Shower trucks were most welcome.

Once clean and with tents setup, we spent the afternoon chilling, chatting, socialising and eating in one of the two bedouin tents. Yes, carpets and cushions provided too. Lovely.

One of our tents (we had two 2-person tents) acting as a washing line.

We got boxes of Al Ain water at the checkpoints and camps. 1.5l per bottle. We often got additional bottles too.