I actually did two tours with Big Red. One on the late morning of the 14th Feb and another about three days later on a night tour! On both I drove a Polaris 1 seater and it is a pretty powerful machine.
I'll start with the day tour, after being picked up and taken to the main office, I signed the safety documents and we suited up for the tour. My tour guide was Jamie who's a friendly and knowledgeable person and showed me how to operate the dune buggy and how to navigate the dunes in the desert.
We drove straight into the desert with so many dips, twists and turns and we had a couple of stops for photos. I tried to do a little sandboarding down a dune (which ended with me falling on my backside!). We then drove some more before stopping at a camel farm to pet some camels. They seemed quite calm and friendly and I took some photos of them before heading back to base.
I definitely enjoyed driving through the sandy desert and seeing all the amazing views. After the tour, I wondered what it would be like in the dark so I booked a night tour a few hours after I arrived back at my hotel.
On the evening of the 17th Feb, I was picked up very promptly like last time and taken to the main office to get ready for my next tour. I met my tour guide Aiden (I hope I spelled his name correctly) and we set off in the pitch black desert. Like Jamie, Aiden was friendly and knowledgeable about the dune buggies as well as the dunes themselves.
Like the day tour there were many twists and turns, although we couldn't go too fast in the dark for safety reasons, but it was still very exciting! We stopped off near a mountain, where we had a campfire and some snacks while taking photos of the views around us. Then we drove through some more dunes before ending the tour back at the office.
Overall, both tours were very enjoyable experiences. Which one would I recommend? That's a tough one. If you love sightseeing and want to take in the views of the vast desert, I recommend the day tour. If you're like me and want to challenge yourself by driving a 1000cc dune buggy up and down the dunes through the pitch darkness, then I recommend the night tour.
The tour guides definitely make sure their customers have a good time and they take plenty pictures of you during the tour so they can send them to you via WhatsApp. They also give you free T-shirts with your picture on them to show your friends and family too which is awesome!
