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It's been a while since I had led a drive so I was kinda anxious as well as excited about the drive. We all met at the deflation point and after a check up of one of the cars we entered into the desert. @Gaurav was my second lead and wherever I made an error he was there correcting the route for the rest of the convoy. We had @EmVarlet who was joining us on his first fewbie drive after driving quite a few newbie drives and boy did he do well!! He was matching everything that was being done from side sloping, ridge cutting, riding the ridge and that to at quite a brisk pace. Was very happy to see how much his driving skills had improved. While the first part of the drive was relatively easy with some medium range dunes, the second part of the drive was a patch of small technical dunes that we had to cross to reach the long range dunes. This area tested everyone with a few refusals and stucks. Rahim Bhai saw the opportunity for some spare time and started teaching Emmanuel the finer art of desert driving. I am sure it was a very valuable session for him. By the time we exited out of this area we all were looking forward to the long range dunes for which Faqa is famous. And once we reached there we could not control our temptations. The dunes were so awesome, that some of us started attacking one range after the other causing a break in convoy. The wise voice of Rahim Bhai brought us back to our senses. By then it was getting dark so we stopped for our evening snack and then we had an exciting good paced exit out of the desert in night conditions fantastically led by Gaurav. Thoroughly enjoyed the pace and smoothness of this part of the drive. Once again an excellent convoy comprising of @shadow79 @sertac with the full support of @Gaurav and @Rahimdad ensured that it was a fun filled drive. Thanks!!

Remember you might scrap few projects before reaching the perfect one. I scrapped 5 to be precise and learned from failure at every level. Always remember to not to overspend on any project until you are fully convinced.

I agree with what you said but only to a very limited extent. Buying brand new car is good for people who absolutely have no knowledge of cars, no time to spare and last but not least zero risk taker. However, I believe in buying 4-5-year-old luxury marque at the price of brand new Camry or Accord and drive for 2 years with minimum maintenance cost and limited depreciation - unlike when brand new. All car in my signature is a testament to this theory and I never lost more than 20% in depreciation for 2 years of ownership. Secondly, when buying slightly used car, you are more free to try new stuff or experiments than fitting the K&N will void the warranty. I even remember buying a non-working Jeep Grand Cherokee on recovery truck for 5K because it has V8 magnum grunt for off-road and then sold off for 6K after spending 3K to make it in running condition. The project car is always a gamble and more you learn the better you get in taking shots as per your need and expectations. And sometimes you simply get lucky by chance, in my case I bought 3.0 Pajero for wifey while I was having a 4.5 liter Nissan patrol. Once I sold that Patrol, I thought of testing that 3.0 Pajero in sand and to my surprise I was chasing a modified Jeep Wrangler of a seasoned off-roader in sweihan and that 4x4 never died. After fully testing I started searching for 3.5 liter (my present Pajero) as in that year 3.5 + SWB was extremely rare. For an offroad project car remember that Power - Weight ratio is king, I even remember maintaining an excel sheet from wikipedia stats of knowing which car has better hp/ton. That's why you see old Nissan Patrol sticking LS1 engines than any other car as it is the lightest shell with reasonable safety aspects to bump up the power to get the best power-weight ratio.

Both take place end of December, start of January during the cold season. Would love to be there myself too

Carnity desert cleanup drive has collected 1200 Kg of trash in one hour This definitely calls for a warning for any desert goer to not to litter in the desert. Please share this message with everyone you know to create more awareness and save precious wildlife that dies after eating these metal cans, plastic bags, foils and all kind of trash. Authorities have made stringent laws but we all have to take charge as well to monitor and advice people around us. Many thanks to all the supporters and volunteers to take part in this great social cause and understand it's real meaning: Dubai Municipality Ghost Tints Paint Solutions Al Ain Water Knight Rider - off-road club 4x4 Nation UAE - off-road club And all individual volunteers Photo Gallery (118 Images): https://carnity.com/gallery/category/68-desert-cleanup-drive-16-march-2018/