It’s driving me nuts, not yet having a vehicle here in the UAE. The sale of Stella the 110 in Cairo has gone through, an act of necessity rather than desire, and the cash has cleared (after a very laborious process and I have to say the buyer seemed pretty objectionable), so I’m now hunting a decent wagon out here. Most 4x4s in the area seem to be intended to have road presence and ‘bling’ rather than offroad ability and intent. The few Defenders for sale are madly expensive, so in the quest for reliability and ability at a reasonable price I’m looking at Discovery 1s.

But no luck yet. I’m very conscious of the expanse of Emirati desert and mountains just on my doorstep, and am dying to get out there. It’s odd not having the close company of like-minded desert types as well – having lived amongst close friends of long-standing in Cairo – Darrell, Gregg, Mike and Sami, all desert-hounds and Land Rover lovers, it’s strange not being in their close company for a beer or a blast out towards the skyline at the weekend.

However – a decent truck will appear here in the next few weeks, and then it all changes. In the mean time I’m preparing for July and August’s twin expeditions – crossing the USA in a 110 and driving to Albania and back from the UK – I was going to take Elsa the 110, but given the limited time I have, the Disco 2 would be faster……