Although I must not waste the precious liquid, it is also mouth-watering to try to imagine some of the ‘unknown unknowns’. I will be keeping the senses fully alert and hoping to catch the smell of oases on the wind, but perhaps there will be some surprises too. R. A. Bagnold, a desert expert and scientific pioneer, once found a water hole by following the smell of a single camel he picked up from eight miles away. My method of travel makes it very unlikely that I will be able to use this method. I suspect that shortly after setting off I will begin the process of smelling more like a camel than a human being myself.