HE northern peninsula of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is bounded to the west by the Persian Gulf and to the east by the Indian Ocean. The peninsula itself is little-developed, with no large cities like nearby Dubai. Instead, it has swathes of sand dunes forming sand seas pressing up against the Hajar mountains, forming a spine to the peninsula. I’ve lived on the peninsula for seven years, exploring the deserts and mountains of the UAE and Oman in my 1996 Camel Trophy Edition Discovery, and my friend Pieter and I recently crossed the peninsula off-road from west to east with his 1985 110 ‘Jangwa’ (Swahili for desert) and my Disco ‘Bumblebee’.
