Two Day Fewbie Plus Overlanding Expedition - Tracing The Tropic Of Cancer - Abu Dhabi - 18 to 19 Feb 2023

[Srikumar]

Thank you Fredy for an absolute Epic Drive. This drive was long awaited, but it was absolutely worth the wait. 

This drive was not your regular offroad drive, but rather a proper overlanding where the objective was to reach a destination. It was a test of your endurance and ability to keep focus through long durations. By the time the drive had ended, we had offroaded for 24 hours spread over 2 days in unchartered territory. 

For me, the first stretch on Day 1 and the last stretch on Day 2 were the real highlights of the entire drive. The powder soft sand on Day 1 tested all of us and made us remember the basics of how one should stop the car when the convoy is not moving and how to choose your lines. The last stretch on Day 2, was a brilliant fast paced driving through some tight rolling dunes. Fredy was clearly a man on a mission, as he was setting a blistering pace with all of us playing catchup.

These kind of overlanding trips, gives us all the chance to appreciate Nature at its very best and also to spend some time chatting with your passengers as well as other drive participants. I could spend so much time talking with my copilot, Kabir and the so many stories that he had to share. Those were the priceless moments that I will always remember from this drive. 

To all the drive participants, you guys were superheroes and the reason we could achieve an astounding 500+ km of offroad driving. 

So inspiring was the drive, that Kabir brought out his photography skills to click a beautiful picture at the camp site of Day 1. I have attached a few more pics in the gallery. 

 

 

 

[Foxtrot Oscar]

A journey of truly epic proportions.

Over-landing is such a hot hobby right now but there’s  not many people I’d follow 500km across the desert , so when @Frederic posted this drive I jumped on it! 

You just knew that Fred would have planned it with the precision of a neurosurgeon, every path, every track and every flipping fence would have been meticulously examined. 

It was exhilarating, exhausting, exciting and exceptional all at once. The Baja run near the 3/4 mark not only brushed off all my off-roading cobwebs but sharpened my skills.  It felt so good to finally be ‘back’! 

Thanks to everyone in the convoy for the camaraderie and the excellent driving prowess.

Many many  many thanks to @Frederic @Gaurav @Srikumar and @JeromeFJfor getting us through it all. 

 

The Freddy Express ! Yalla 

 

 

[Naveen Raj]

@FredericFirst of all thanks for organizing this epic expedition drive, you  deserve a big round of applause for executing this challenging journey seamlessly with a convoy of 13 vehicles and everyone exiting safely.

The drive reminded me of all the basics that you taught me in the absolute newbie drive, it was very challenging, stimulating  and stressful to stay focused and alert at all times throughout the drive and it really tested my endurance levels as it pushed to my  extreme and at some point thought of giving up. I am truly amazed by your off-roading skills , you are an off-roading LEGEND.

  A big round of applause to all the  superb drivers and the support team members with each one contributing to the success of this drive. I believe this will pave way for more overlanding trips.

It was my first camping experience, really enjoyed the camp fire, dinner and the discussions. 

 

[Gaurav]

My limited overlanding experience from the past has always been bad to super bad as driving with friends and colleagues will tear apart the plan in a few hours when one wanna go left and another wanna go right. That's where the importance comes to overland with like-minded people with a single leader so you can accomplish something at the end as one team.

Simply put in my 16+ years of off-roading, I have never experienced such an amazing drive with such amazing off-roaders led by an amazing lead to march toward a single goal - to drive on the Tropic of cancer - and nothing else. And this beautiful combination was priceless and a secret recipe to the whole success. Big congratulations to everyone.

These are the list of few things that this EPIC expedition offered:

1. Mind game - Most important
   • Perseverance with a strong determination to keep pushing beyond your physical limits and boundaries, even when you are tired, hungry, or sleepy.
   • Razor sharp focus at all times as anything less will gonna cost you more time, delay and fuel.
   • Positive attitude to keep thinking of one thing at all times in spite of all failed or half-working strategies.
   • Great teamwork displayed at every stuck, refusal, and pop-out to get going in a jiffy to save time.
   • Punctual and precise with every break time, camping, packing up cars etc, to save much time for real action with a very healthy and required balance of breaks in between.
   • Responsibly driving without breaking your car and keeping a close eye on each other to help the whole convoy stay on course, safely, at all times.
   • Sweaty palms, nerve-wracking moments, pounding heart with a racing heartbeat, sore back, legs and arms with under-rest body and mind but still able to push it through to get going with a big smile.
      
2. Off-road driving
   • Ultra soft sand to let you go back to basics of developing a perfect throttle (real art of off-roading) to not let you sink or fly through the dune. Plan your stops or else sharpen your self-recovery - blip blip skills. Test your car power and weight at the same time with any/all gizmos you may have. Stay afloat to keep breathing.
   • Precise control over tall dunes, to follow the curviest path of least resistance where we burn less fuel yet cross those humongous dunes and slip face without getting stuck or refusals.
   • Rev to 6k, not much, but we have been given many chances to stretch the rev-band on enormous bowls which lies on the line of TOC.
   • Boring gatch track that lets you sleep at 60 km speed and then wakes you up with a big bang of axle bending ditch of twisted technical mini dune with bumper hitting sharp drops.
   • Beautiful scenic view with literally hand-painted picture-perfect dunes on both sides, that can mesmerize you all the way - my best moment.
   • Crossing endless crest - big fear for any offroader as you need to be in full sync with your car power and angle of inclination. This drive tested from tall dunes to slip-face crest - all the way and everyone delivered remarkably well, without getting stuck or breaking the bumper.
   • Musical sand - as many know - descending from super tall dune offers you musical sand that pushes your car sideways with tons (literally) of sand behind your rear end and leaves you to constantly correct your fishtail on these massive slopes.
   • Hard to read sand as in some places what we know is constantly challenged. The ripple side is super soft and the slip face side was hard. Simply because of a recent change in wind patterns, everything we know was constantly challenged. Adding more spices to the mix.
   • Dakar speed fun, at very safe and open dunes, the whole convoy zipped at IM level pace and precision with zero refusal or stuck.

 

Such a hard-core expedition of pushing 550 Km off-road in two days is best suited with 3-4 cars (initially intended), but how we all managed with such a long convoy of 13 amazing drivers is itself a remarkable achievement. I'm very proud to be a part of it.

Thanks to all the great drivers and super thankful to all gods, for letting us complete this amazing achievement without any incident and drive back home safely.

I admit this was the first expedition drive that I have completed (as planned) and the first one to drive 550+ km in two days. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Such an overland expedition sets a new definition of off-roading by offering all sorts of off-road adventures packed in one hell of a Mega Drive (until @munkybizness comes up with a more apt name).

 

MANY THANKS, @Frederic for putting your heart and soul behind the scene to plan and improvise all nitty-gritty to perfectly execute such a beast of a drive/exploration/expedition with a cool head and big smile - all the way. You are truly a remarkable and gifted leader who knows how to deliver without pushing and yet balancing the whole team at peak performance. I felt so honored to be your second lead, but honestly, I hardly corrected anything and rather thoroughly enjoyed driving behind you - reminded me of our old days together.

I totally agree that everyone drove fantastically but key credit goes to your exemplary leadership skills to see through the whole convoy strength and accordingly chart the track. And you've delivered your A-game through this EPIC expedition buddy. Constantly facing one challenge after the other with soft sand, sand storm, block exits, detours, running out of fuel and covering fewer km than expected, you never let your doubts or skepticism pass it to the team and always lifted their spirits. Really amazing feat Fredy, and my heartiest congratulations for setting the bar so high at the first attempt.

 

I eagerly look fwd to reading more trip reports or experiences from all other drivers to see such mega drive experience through their lens.

[Frederic]

6 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

My limited overlanding experience from the past has always been bad to super bad as driving with friends and colleagues will tear apart the plan in a few hours when one wanna go left and another wanna go right. That's where the importance comes to overland with like-minded people with a single leader so you can accomplish something at the end as one team.

Simply put in my 16+ years of off-roading, I have never experienced such an amazing drive with such amazing off-roaders led by an amazing lead to march toward a single goal - to drive on the Tropic of cancer - and nothing else. And this beautiful combination was priceless and a secret recipe to the whole success. Big congratulations to everyone.

These are the list of few things that this EPIC expedition offered:

1. Mind game - Most important
   • Perseverance with a strong determination to keep pushing beyond your physical limits and boundaries, even when you are tired, hungry, or sleepy.
   • Razor sharp focus at all times as anything less will gonna cost you more time, delay and fuel.
   • Positive attitude to keep thinking of one thing at all times in spite of all failed or half-working strategies.
   • Great teamwork displayed at every stuck, refusal, and pop-out to get going in a jiffy to save time.
   • Punctual and precise with every break time, camping, packing up cars etc, to save much time for real action with a very healthy and required balance of breaks in between.
   • Responsibly driving without breaking your car and keeping a close eye on each other to help the whole convoy stay on course, safely, at all times.
   • Sweaty palms, nerve-wracking moments, pounding heart with a racing heartbeat, sore back, legs and arms with under-rest body and mind but still able to push it through to get going with a big smile.
      
2. Off-road driving
   • Ultra soft sand to let you go back to basics of developing a perfect throttle (real art of off-roading) to not let you sink or fly through the dune. Plan your stops or else sharpen your self-recovery - blip blip skills. Test your car power and weight at the same time with any/all gizmos you may have. Stay afloat to keep breathing.
   • Precise control over tall dunes, to follow the curviest path of least resistance where we burn less fuel yet cross those humongous dunes and slip face without getting stuck or refusals.
   • Rev to 6k, not much, but we have been given many chances to stretch the rev-band on enormous bowls which lies on the line of TOC.
   • Boring gatch track that lets you sleep at 60 km speed and then wakes you up with a big bang of axle bending ditch of twisted technical mini dune with bumper hitting sharp drops.
   • Beautiful scenic view with literally hand-painted picture-perfect dunes on both sides, that can mesmerize you all the way - my best moment.
   • Crossing endless crest - big fear for any offroader as you need to be in full sync with your car power and angle of inclination. This drive tested from tall dunes to slip-face crest - all the way and everyone delivered remarkably well, without getting stuck or breaking the bumper.
   • Musical sand - as many know - descending from super tall dune offers you musical sand that pushes your car sideways with tons (literally) of sand behind your rear end and leaves you to constantly correct your fishtail on these massive slopes.
   • Hard to read sand as in some places what we know is constantly challenged. The ripple side is super soft and the slip face side was hard. Simply because of a recent change in wind patterns, everything we know was constantly challenged. Adding more spices to the mix.
   • Dakar speed fun, at very safe and open dunes, the whole convoy zipped at IM level pace and precision with zero refusal or stuck.

 

Such a hard-core expedition of pushing 550 Km off-road in two days is best suited with 3-4 cars (initially intended), but how we all managed with such a long convoy of 13 amazing drivers is itself a remarkable achievement. I'm very proud to be a part of it.

Thanks to all the great drivers and super thankful to all gods, for letting us complete this amazing achievement without any incident and drive back home safely.

I admit this was the first expedition drive that I have completed (as planned) and the first one to drive 550+ km in two days. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Such an overland expedition sets a new definition of off-roading by offering all sorts of off-road adventures packed in one hell of a Mega Drive (until @munkybizness comes up with a more apt name).

 

MANY THANKS, @Frederic for putting your heart and soul behind the scene to plan and improvise all nitty-gritty to perfectly execute such a beast of a drive/exploration/expedition with a cool head and big smile - all the way. You are truly a remarkable and gifted leader who knows how to deliver without pushing and yet balancing the whole team at peak performance. I felt so honored to be your second lead, but honestly, I hardly corrected anything and rather thoroughly enjoyed driving behind you - reminded me of our old days together.

I totally agree that everyone drove fantastically but key credit goes to your exemplary leadership skills to see through the whole convoy strength and accordingly chart the track. And you've delivered your A-game through this EPIC expedition buddy. Constantly facing one challenge after the other with soft sand, sand storm, block exits, detours, running out of fuel and covering fewer km than expected, you never let your doubts or skepticism pass it to the team and always lifted their spirits. Really amazing feat Fredy, and my heartiest congratulations for setting the bar so high at the first attempt.

 

I eagerly look fwd to reading more trip reports or experiences from all other drivers to see such mega drive experience through their lens.

Thank you so much @Gauravthere is no way i would have been able to pull this off without the whole Carnity family behind me. I say family because we lift each other and become a better version of ourselves when spending time with likeminded people in the sand.

[M.Seidam]

19 hours ago, Srikumar said:

These kind of overlanding trips, gives us all the chance to appreciate Nature at its very best and also to spend some time chatting with your passengers as well as other drive participants. I could spend so much time talking with my copilot, Kabir and the so many stories that he had to share. Those were the priceless moments that I will always remember from this drive. 

Totally agree 

[JeromeFJ]

These two days were one of these experiences that will be remembered for ever, and will be a reservoir for campfire stories for a long time. I think I'm still high after 2 days !

First, a big thank you and congratulations to @Frederic. We can barely imagine the amount of work for the planning and preparation. It was so complete and meticulous that you could then be ready for anything, and adjust to the circumstances. During the drive itself, your beautiful energy and determination were bringing us together to the same goal. and your driving and navigation skills never failed to select the right way. Keeping this concentration for the duration of the drive is a real performance.

@Gaurav, your role was key in securing the route for the whole convoy. Watching you as the perfect wingman was a lesson for us, with this sort or instinct that you have, holding before crossing a sharp edge, making sure Fred was ok, and adjusting carefully the best path for the convoy. You two were perfect in synch and comms.

@Srikumar, anchoring the convoy from the middle, always there to support a recovery was the third pillar of this adventure. Being in a drive with the three Legends together is a real priviledge, and immense source of learning. 

A few highlights of my personal experience

• The days before the drive, when I start preparing myself, it is like the drive fills yourself, progressively narrowing your mind to that objective. I'm still doing my work, I'm still there with my family, but the drive is in my mind, and all my actions and my thoughts take it in consideration. 
• The moment where you leave home, you start driving in the night, this impatience of starting, and still the mental checks, do I have every thing, am I sufficiently prepared...
• The briefing at the meeting point, when the group gets together, meeting friends and known faces
• The first portion, the sand so white and so soft, and the total emptiness, not a single track, no camel farm, no pylons, no sign human presence 
• The end of day one, the fast run in the open portion, and then these high technical dunes, with the beautiful light of the declining sun
• The campfire of course, sharing memories and stories, food and drinks (thanks @KAMALIO for great food)
• The night under the stars, waking up because of the cold wind, but watching the stars progressively shifting to the West, and slowly disappearing as the sunlight comes in
• The few nice bowls in the morning of day 2, driving in straight line is an elevated objective, but nothing like a shoot of adrenaline from time to time
• The "industrial desert" crossing these pipes, cables, rigs and pumping stations is (obviously) not so common
• The endless contouring of the fence where I could feel the fatigue in my body, trying to find different positions on the seat of the car, fighting to keep the concentration
• The amazing run, at the end of day 2, once we passed the E65, where the convoy merged as a single entity, flowing through the technical dunes at an impressive pace, each driver like in a daze,  perfectly synch with the car before and the one after, trusting each other
• The night when our perception changes, the environment reduced to fractions of lighted areas, and still we have stay focused, continue to reach the goal
• The emotion and release, when @Ashutosh Garg crossed the ridge, and landed miraculously unharmed
• This feeling of achievement, when inflating, cheering and congratulating each others

@KAMALIO and friend, @Ashutosh Garg, @AlexM and your wife, @Naveen Raj, @Amr Aydin and Sophie, @Foxtrot Oscar Angela, @Ranjan Das, @munkybizness Mayank, thank you for sharing this beautiful adventure !

 

[KAMALIO]

Great shout out to the support team @Gaurav @JeromeFJ @SrikumarSri and immense gratitude to @Frederic!

Still finding it hard to focus at work with 2 days of pumping adrenaline refusing to ease out.

Great bonding with many new friends made.  I only can wish that I am in town to sign up for the next over landing trips and even more importantly I can make it in time to sign up once its open 😃

@JeromeFJ

• The endless contouring of the fence where I could feel the fatigue in my body, trying to find different positions on the seat of the car, fighting to keep the concentration

This was exactly my state as well!!!

[Ranjan Das]

What an adventure!

Can't thank you enough Fredie @Frederic for coneptualizing and executing and everything in between. You take the cake!

My very first true overlanding experience and couldn't have asked for more as this one had it all from a mundane following the fence to scary moments to regular burst of adranaline traversing the bowls and dunes. thanks also to  @Gaurav, @Srikumar, @JeromeFJ and @munkybizness for the constant support and sharing doses of 'spirit' (of adventure of course) to get us, the herd, across.

@Foxtrot Oscar - it was very nice following your lines once again. By the way, if you haven't noticed, your right rear break l lights are not working 😉

@Mus_hus78, @salah2u, @KAMALIO, @Ashutosh Garg, @AlexM, @Amr Aydin, @Naveen Rajthank you for your company which made the adventure even more enjoyable. 

Already looking forward to the second episode of this drive to 1. go the whole hog and 2. seal it with a pic! 

[KAMALIO]