Back in August I thought that it was exciting when A Photo An Hour fell on my 40th birthday, but when I saw the date for October, I was super excited. The 17th was the day I would wake up in the Sahara Desert.

07:15
After going to bed during a sand storm (yep, a bona fide skin stinging sand storm!!), we woke to a slightly calmer, but still breezy day.

08:03
Breakfast served on a sand dune. This is an omelette with vegetables and cheese - it was by far the tastiest omelette I've ever consumed. Given that all food was prepared in tents (or on the floor by the side of a road), on small gas rings the standard of the food was amazing!

09:23
We went for a wander while the drivers packed up the 4x4's. To say that the Sahara is breath taking is a serious understatement.

10:50 We set off in convoy for a two hour journey, firstly to ride some camels, and then to go deeper in to the desert.

11:10
Of course I made friends with every little feline I came across. This little chap just rolled onto his belly and demanded fuss. If I hadn't met him you'd have got a photo of a grumpy faced camel.

12:28
I'm sitting on a camel here. I attempted a selfie with my camel, I named her Treacle, but she was having none of it and tried to eat my scarf. Moody old sandbag.

13:24
Lunch! This amazing salad was accompanied by fish - tuna and mackrel - veg and rice. And mint tea, lots of mint tea. It's safe to say that I ate healthier on this trip than I do at home.

14:58
A bit of off road driving en route to our camp for the night, which of course involved a little racing between the drivers.

15:45
Ships of the desert.

16:10
A short pit stop to stretch our legs. It was starting to feel really remote. The wind was still blowing - you can see the sand being blown off the dunes. The terrain was varied, sometimes covered in pebbles or rocks, sometimes nothing but sand, with sparse vegetation in places - always changing but always looking unmistakably like the desert.

17:22
We arrive at our camp for the night. We immediately jump out and run up the dunes like over excited children. The view is amazing, it was exactly how you would imagine it to be - orange dunes for as far as the eye could see with a bright, clear blue sky.

18:38
With our tents put up and supper being prepared, I sat here for ages just breathing and watching. This is the view I've been day dreaming about for years.

19:10
I was worried about traveling with a group of people I'd never met before but the guys on this tour where lovely. Each and every one of them. They each helped to make the experience truly memorable, I feel like I've made a whole group of new friends.

20:03
Waiting for supper in a candlelit tent, sipping mint tea and sharing stories. I haven't laughed as much as I did in a long time.

21:37
The moon came out, the bonfire was lit. Shortly after I tucked myself up in my sleeping bag and slept under the stars. The night sky was beautiful. It's the one thing that I couldn't photograph successfully. It was covered with billions of stars, I saw shooting stars for the first time my life and had to fight my need for sleep to just gaze at the sky. Sure enough sleep took over, but I was awake at 05:45 the next morning and the stars were still shining. As everyone else slept, I dragged my sleeping bag up onto a sand dune and watched the sky some more, over the next few hours the sky got lighter, the stars disappeared, and the sun appeared over the horizon. I was one happy camper.

Thanks to Jane and Louisa for organising Photo An Hour again this month.