The book was rubbish. I placed it upturned on the table that was conveniently placed alongside my lounger chair that had been sited to avoid the early morning sun that was anyway still finding its way through the palm leaves gently swaying in the breeze. The pool was inviting, but I was not tempted.

This was not where I wanted to be, I wanted to be out there in the wilderness riding a motorcycle in the Sahara. You see, I was in Tunisia on a Saga holiday!

I made my excuses to Sheila, who was engrossed in her own book, saying, `I’m just going for a walk around`. I made my way directly to the Hotel reception.

A quick phone call produced a reply that they did not have any motorcycles, but they did have a 450cc 5 speed Yamaha quad and it would cost me £16 per hour and that would include a guide! 

Within 5 minutes a car had arrived at the Hotel to collect me. I rushed out, after having made my excuses to Sheila, shoe laces still undone and shirt flapping in the wind as I piled into the back of the Toyota Pick Up. A short drive saw us at the hire office and my eyes fell upon a dark green Yamaha standing there at the kerbside awaiting me, my pulse fastened a little.

My signature on a slip of paper was all that was asked for. I said that I rode motor bikes and they seemed satisfied. Gloves, white skull cap and an old helmet were provided and Mohamed led the way through the outskirts of Tozeur in Southern Tunisia towards the Sahara.

I had ridden a 70cc quad many years ago on a circuit, but this one was so very different.   Squirt the throttle and the steering would try to leap out of your hands and the rear would slide sideways, this was fun. And I was still in the suburbs with children staring at the pair of us as we made our way through the side roads amid the scruffy single story dwellings with rubble and sand laying everywhere.

We soon reached the outskirts of the town and turned onto a rough sandy track reminiscent of my Trail Riding days in England. Beautiful palms trees laden with dates appeared on either side, their palms hanging gracefully in rows as far as I could see. I began to settle into the ride, enjoying the passing scenery as much as the rumbling sound of the engine as I changed gear with the semi automatic gearbox urging my guide to go just a little bit faster.

Soon the palms thinned and the desert sand was beneath my wheels, not soft but quite firm. I scanned ahead to the horizon and could see that the skylines was uneven, that must be the Sahara I thought. My guide turned sharply left and led the way to his little moto cross circuit where I played happily for 15 minutes. A bottle of water was gratefully accepted and I gulped at it washing the sand from my mouth that was hot and dry. I noticed my guide checking his watch and though that it must be time to be heading back as my time will soon be up. But I didn’t want to head back yet, I was enjoying myself far too much for that. That book could stay on the table for ever as far as I was concerned. A quick phone call confirmed that I could extend my ride for as long as I wished, so off we set for those hills on the horizon. Mohamed gradually getting the message that I wanted to have fun.

As we reached the really soft sand I must admit that I was glad that I was on a quad and not a bike, for I have no doubt that the wheels of a bike would have sunk in as soon as you let the speed drop below 40mph. I even got stuck once whilst riding up a steep dune and my guide had to lift the rear out of the hole that I had dug in the soft sand. Even he got stuck twice, but when this happened it warned me to keep going even faster. Of course it was not long before I began to tire and knowing that we had a long ride back to Tozeur I reluctantly signalled to Mohamed that I had had enough.

The ride back was so enjoyable as we began to race one another across the flat sand doing our best the miss the clumps of grass and mounds of hard sand. The return ride through the date palms was punctuated a by a couple of stops to taste the fruit and how tasty they were direct from the branch.

Some 2 1/2 hours after leaving the Hotel I was back, but this time that pool did look inviting I can tell you, and my bed was so very welcome that night too.