This week I was invited by the Galadari Motoring Driving Centre to take part in a desert off-roading and survival course. It will come as no surprise that when I was offered this opportunity I leaped at it right away. I have had many amazing experiences here in Dubai, however, driving in the desert and camping is one I have not yet had the privilege to have take part in.

In fairness even though when I think of myself in a third person I consider myself to be a real life ninja/crocodile hunter with a mixture of Arnold in the Predator movie, but even I know my limits and know that going into the desert without any experience or knowledge is a death wish in the making. I arrived thinking I knew quite a bit and feeling a little smug with the skills I already posses, thinking instructors are going to be so impressed with the way I conquer sand dunes.

I turned up in my sunglasses, vest, jean shorts and converse shoes. First mistake, first lesson learnt – respect the elements. If you are going into the desert make sure you wear appropriate attire, especially the right shoes/boots. I was greeted by Talal who was my instructor and my guide a day, a young man, who I realised later, is the Batman of the desert. We start off by checking the car from head to toe, top to bottom from the windows to the tires, even under the car, so I’m guessing at this point I would have failed already, as I would have just jumped in and headed straight for that red sand.

We then learned about mapping surroundings and I was asked to scribble our route that I would need to get us back to the starting point. It was only around a minute into the drive when I realised that my map looked like it had been drawn by a sleepy 3-year-old child. At this point I was slowly starting to realise that the desert driving was no joke. This has triggered my super samurai focus mode, creating a virtual map in my mind palace, placing every stone, fence and even 3 sheep into place.

Now the fun began, how to get your vehicle out when it is stuck? Talal purposely drove into the soft sand and began teaching me everything I needed to know about… well literally everything. The one thing that really caught my attention during this course was that Talal wasn’t just a guy doing his job; this was a guy was in love with the desert, and every last grain of sand in it. I was truly amazed by the passion he showed in every little detail he could give me: from his knowledge of the vehicle itself to the very last thing. I even learnt what I could and I couldn’t eat in case of food shortage, to all different survival techniques I would need to survive.

I left that course with three things on my mind. One: how little I really knew; two, how much I know now, and three, that I am officially now a super desert Bedouin-Ninja-safari-guide. In all seriousness I would highly recommend to take this course if the desert driving is something you would like to do or even if you already think you are quite good at it. It could literally be a matter of life and death! Thanks Talal!