Afternoon Fewbie Desert Drive - Lisaili to Qudra Secret Dunes - Dubai - 05 Dec 2025

[Suneedh Wrangler]

---

@EmanuelAnother great drive! It was quite technical for me at the start, but I picked up a few new things today. Thanks for your guidance and teachings — always appreciated. Looking forward to another drive next week!

Some of the recoveries were really interesting to watch, and seeing the gazelles was definitely an added bonus.

@J-P L Was great chatting with you! Awesome driving in the Jimny as always 😄

 

[Emanuel]

We started our adventure in Lisali, heading southwest across fast tracks and gentle dunes that grew more technical as we progressed. Sharper slip faces and tighter formations led us through ridgelines, cross-dune sections, sand tracks, and pylon tracks before reaching the Qudra Secret Dunes, known for their golden sand and scenic beauty. We ended the drive reinflating and sharing our experiences.

Most participants arrived on time and ready, except for one late arrival. Please remember: punctuality ensures we don’t delay others. After the briefing, we followed the planned route with only a few assisted self-recoveries.

Radio discipline was excellent—drivers who lost track stopped and called in, and those unable to maintain a line exited safely and reported their position. Special thanks to Andrei and JP for calm, clear recovery support. When receiving advice, stay calm and follow instructions for smooth recoveries.

Driving performance was solid, with good momentum and power when needed. A few cases of heavy throttle, but no wheels off the ground—great control overall.

Thank you all for your teamwork. Have an amazing weekend ahead.

[Emanuel]

Here is a screenshot of our track.

No stats yet for this drive because Gaia stopped recording our track for some reason during the break and I started a new track at the right spot. It's easy to combine tracks to have total stats, however, this time Gaia saved my first track as a route and I haven't yet figured out how to change it to a track. When I do, I'll post our stats here later and my workflow to change it back.

 

Here is the Relive video of our drive yesterday.
 

 

[Thomas54675]

@Emanuel thank you organizing the drive. It was awesome. It felt like everything was headed in the right direction: leveling up as a driver, getting to know my rig’s sandy mood swings a bit more 😀 A true fewbie adventure, helping us graduate to the next stage without (too many) dramatic moments. Again, thx! For me it was a perfect morning — and, no surprise at all, an excellent lead and top-notch support.

[Emanuel]

The process to convert a Gaia Route to a Track is only a bit complicated as I couldn't find a way in Gaia to convert it back nor GPX Studio worked for me. I decided to look into the html tags within the first segment and replaced all the Route related tags with the Track tags found in segment two. Then I added the track points from the second file to the first file and imported that back into Gaia. Now I have a single GPX file with combined stats. See below.

We covered nearly 58 kms in 3 1/2 hours with not to many dramatic hill climbs or descents. Though our drive through Qudra Secret Dunes was a faster pace and fun.