It was an early start today - people say that it’s cold in the desert at night, but you aren’t quite prepared for how utterly freezing it is - extra blankets were definitely the name of the game.

Waking up at 4:45am is not something I would do voluntarily under most situations, but today was something special - venturing out by camel into the Sahara to witness the sunrise.

We followed our noses in the pitch black from the room to an area at the back of the auberge, where the stench of 20 camels and their Berber owners were waiting to take tourists over the dunes to await the daylight. In the dark, we were approached by a young guy called Hasan, who offered us his camels and seeing-in-the-dark skills in taking us to our spot.

The camel ride was slow but easy going, and after about an hour of plodding along in the dark we arrived at a suitable spot for the sunrise. Our young Berber friend unfurled a carpet for us to sit on (it’s surprising how they manage to just whip these out from nowhere), and we settled down in the freezing dawn light.

By the time the daylight started to appear, I was freezing and the rug we were sitting on had become a blanket to help cheat the sudden cold wind that had appeared out of nowhere. However, the vista that was slowly revealed to us was completely worth the hardship - bearing in mind that we only arrived here at dusk and didn’t get to see much of the dunes, it was an absolute pleasure to see them all around bathed in the orange glow of the sunrise.

In the daylight we got a good first look at our steed, and it’s true what people in the know say about camels; although they are full of character, lets just say that with all their gastric tendencies you wouldn’t want them entertaining guests at your next dinner party.

It was rapidly getting warmer in the morning sun, and by the time we returned to the aurberge the sun was so bright you had to shade your eyes for fear of being blinded. We checked out soon after a quick breakfast, and drove to investigate some dunes a couple of kilometres away from all the tourist activity.

On our way back to the main road, we discovered a small caravan of eight or nine camels. Nobody was driving them, but they were all following each other in a line and they clearly knew where they were going. We watched them fade into the distance for a few minutes before starting on our way to Zagora.