Full Day Intermediate Desert Drive - Liwa Mzeer'ah to Moreeb Hills - Abu Dhabi - 23 Feb 2025

[_luke_]

 

[Marek]

@Asif Hussain, thank you for the day full of challenges. WHAT A DRIVE. And the views...

@Luke K P, you know what I am waiting for now?

@Jessica Lambert setting the desert on fire!

@AlexM little something for you:

I took close to 500 photos today... and drove over 750km. Need some time to recover and get thru all that content...

 

[_luke_]

Thanks @Asif Hussain.

Amazing to get one last liwa drive in before the season is over. Was a truely awesome day!!

Thankyou everyone for the perfect Sunday🙏

@Marek will extract 2mrw for you 😎 

[ChrisW]

What a brilliant - and long! - day out. @Asif Hussain you led an excellent drive today, thank you…wonderfully paced, safe at all times and really fun. 
 

Quick one from the camera…

 

 

[_luke_]

Ah, Feeling nice and refreshed after a good sleep

Thanks again @Asif Hussain, wonderful Liwa experience.

We started around 7:30amm, near the black camel farm deflating and saying our hellos, before Asif gave the briefing and convoy order to the backdrop of what sounded like 1000 sheep/goats waking up and getting angry at the farm across the road.

08:00 we were all moving heading down the dusty track towards some verrry big dunes in the background. 
Less than 5 minutes in we needed to do a couple of refusal loops before we got a few more stops due to soft sand and high pressure. Once we got everyone deflated nice and loooow we started flowing in a smooth fashion pushing further and further to the south. 

The terrain here was pretty tight and had a number of small pockets to watch out for, which everyone expertly navigated. Lots of gradual climbs here, building up elevation from dune to dune... @Marek the official photographer got down to the sabkha and managed to take some snaps of the rest of the convoy coming down the giant slip face in formation! cannot wait to see this pic.

Unfortunately at the first break we had to lose @nithish468 as some issues back in dubai needed his attention. Hopefully you made it home quickly and got it all sorted. see you again soon.

We moved back into the sabkhas and kept pushing south towards moreeb... Not sure which part of Liwa Festival village was more exciting... climbing the massive 300m 50 degree angle dune run after run... or driving straight across the round-a-bouts in the village 😅

After we wrapped up playing here we aimed south yet again towards the buggy dune... where we encountered a very unlucky porsche that had been left behind for recovery,. we skipped riding the buggy dune as chris showed us there was more than a few large bumps on that face. Next stop was a quick journey across the flats where we stopped in a large bowl to do some sidies and have coffee.

pretty close to the saudi border at this point (2.8km from my measurements) so we had really come a long way. We started the return journey pretty rejuvenated and made our way through a number of high and S O F T dunes where we encountered a popout in a very tight little gulley. Thanks to everyone pitching in (and chris on the winch duties) we had that tyre back on the rim and ready to go...

Asif started looping some very nice clean sabkhas together with a couple of small dune traversals in-between, which meant we got into a smooth and fast rhythm for the drive back. I was starting to get low on petrol but we managed to ride it back into liwa village to avoid stopping the flow. 

Fun Fact, my fuel light had come on and the computer was estimating 7km remaining as we rolled into festival village 😅

I was just looking at all the convoy members this morning. Nearly all of us was our First, or Second intermediate level drive... so wow, we all did a great job pushing through that terrain with a minimum of fuss! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

nearly 100km of fun covered in 8 hours!

Looking forward to doing it again next year!

Edited February 24, 2025 by Luke K P

[Marek]

I only realized we were so close to the border when I received 3 text messages from Du asking me about my roaming experience (and another 20 from stc informing me about offers they have).

@ChrisW and his winch saved the day, indeed!

[Asif Hussain]

Left behind at Buggy Dune for recovery. There was note on driver side window that they are coming back for recovery soon

[Marek]

@Asif Hussain, software you used to cut out the number plate made this car look like a rear of land rover defender I was staring at it and could not shake off the feeling there is something wrong, until I noticed... 

@nithish468, caught a few of your FJ too:

@Alphin Aloor and his mighty Safari:

 

[Asif Hussain]

Trip Report

Exploring Liwa always leaves a lasting impact on me, it takes about a week to fully recover! Even now, when I close my eyes, I can still see those enormous dunes and massive sand pockets. This journey wouldn’t have been possible without my amazing team, and I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you. You drove exceptionally well in every situation!

Our convoy positions were decided at the meeting spot upon arrival, and here’s how it went:

@Marek my second lead, making precise corrections whenever needed, even before I picked up my radio to instruct. Truly commendable!

@Jessica Lambert your driving style is highly impressive, and you tackled every obstacle flawlessly, staying right behind  marek throughout the journey.

@nithish468 sorry you had to leave in the first hour due to an emergency back in Dubai. Hope everything got sorted out. We missed you on the drive!

@Alphin Aloor this was our second time driving together in Liwa, and once again, you were absolutely flawless.

@AlexM you managed the dunes and obstacles smoothly and silently hope your passenger enjoyed the ride.

@ChrisW the moment I saw your Jeep at the meeting point, I couldn’t help but smile you know why? The Winch! I always hope for at least one participant with a winch in our Liwa drive, and this time, my dream came true. We even put it to good use, recovering me from a tight spot after a pop-out.

@Luke K P you took on sweep duty at the end, making sure no one was left behind. This drive was truly dedicated to you, as I once promised to take you to Liwa this season and I’m so glad we made it happen!

Once again, thank you all for being part of this incredible experience and making it with one crust recovery and one pop out. Looking forward to seeing you all next winter for another unforgettable Liwa adventure.

[nithish468]

@Asif Hussain and team, Thanks a lot 🤝for supporting me  to take the quick exit. Everything is ok back home.

@Marek thanks for such a wonderful photos...🤗 🤝