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TRIP REPORT CONVOY 2 Almost everyone made it on time today which was a blessing, and by 06:45 most people were already busy deflating and getting to know one another. After the briefing we made up two convoys, of which the first consisted of @Rahimdad with @tjsingh as his trusty helper to get all his convoy members nicely ligned up. They headed out and soon our convoy followed. With @Mels Wolf as my second lead, who did excellent in keeping a close watch on the convoy behind him, and appropriate distance from me, the convoy was moving swiftly and our friend @Pickey Singh drove through the dunes like he never did anything else. @Muffy Acidwala his Kia took a bit of time to wake up on this early morning, but soon he found the way to tame it and managed well throughout the drive. The Wrangler boys, @Nacho @J J @siddharth maheshwari all drove very well too. I love Wranglers on my convoy list, they are hard to get in trouble with @Tero Vallas joined us with his wife for the first time too, and i noticed him smiling throughout the drive. I am sure Mika Hakkinen was a better F1 pilot, but Tero was today the proper offroad version of him. @Hariharan, @Zaheer Mohamudbucus did great with the LWB Pajeros ! @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ your Ford Explorer managed very well. good job done. @Salarios your beast mode could not get unleashed yet, but we wanted you to get the basics right, i see you're eager to reach higher levels and thats a good thing. Keep coming back and you'll be on those higher levels faster than you might have imagined. @Nizam Deen Instagram man, who decided to wing it and drove to the meeting point, swiftly registered and signed up. Well done buddy, keep coming back. @Mathavan Muthukrishnan your Prado and you did great ! @Jun Zamora drove into the meeting point with a very nice SWB Wrangler, quite the upgrade coming from the Murano. It shows your enthusiasm and you did great as our sweep, keeping an eye out to keep the convoy moving, and communication well with me and @Gaurav We headed back to the Last Exit for a snack and a chat, and our senior chiefs quickly inflated and went to the afternoon drive in Maliha. Please send us your feedback, suggestions, and kindly upload your pics and snaps in the gallery. I had a blast and hope you did too ! Let me know if i forgot a name too, as my convoy list had to be updated on the fly with some last minute signups.

Hi guys. Has everybody exited safe and sound? Sorry for not saying bye to the whole group. It was a fun drive (at least for me 🤓), and full of learning, for sure. Great surroundings as well. Thanks Gaurav for the lead, thanks Rahim for guiding us out from "the other side", and for watching over the group from high above. To all the drivers and passengers, have a great coming week. PS. Looking forward to Richard's reporting on the drive (after recovering from the very long day).

@Frederic, @Gaurav & @Rahimdad Thank you for providing us with such an opportunity. It was an wonderful experience with such an amazing community. Your coaching and advice encouraged me to drive my Ford Explorer into the desert. It was a day full of learning and thrill. Good job, looking forward to join you for another drive. 👍

Hey Man Frederic, Dude, the team is as good ... as the leader !!! I'm just a minuscule part of a sizzling team. Great job man ... though it was short & totally chilled out. Perhaps, you might think of toning up the intensity in the next one. Cheers guys 🖐️

Hey Federic really it was an amazing day for me and my wife, as i wanted to test my Kia. Now i am sure i can take kia along with me for the next drives. All the people there, you guys are really cool and adventurous. Looking forward To meet you all for next weekend drive. Cheers 🤟🏻

Thanks @Frederic and @Gaurav for taking us to highest peak for our picture taking break . Very nice view from there. And also for allowing us to experience a few leap of faith moments to prepare our confidence for the even more challenging adventures in the future. Very nice ride today guys. Good job to all !!

It was a fantastic experience and loved it... Cant wait for the trip.. please let me know when we are going next! Amazing crew.. Many thanks guys.

@Frederic @Gaurav and @Rahimdad thank you for your guidance and patience. The off roading experience is already amazing, but you guys made it even more enjoyable. I'm already looking forward to the next Drive. Thank you! Cheers, Salar.

H Zaheer, Info is posted on the first post of this thread: Meeting Point : Al Qudra https://goo.gl/maps/FbLs4vy99taAEzbTA

Mitsubishi Pajero LWB 3.8 I have some experience 1993 to 2003 but not driven since. Friend joining me zero experience.

We had a great day; well organised and a fun morning thanks for everything guys. Hope to see you again soon. Mark and Ilya

Thanks all. Had a great time in Convoy 1 today. Had a lot of fun meeting some awesome people. See you all again soon. Greg

Glad to have been in this and meet like-minded and passionate folks . Great job !

2007 Toyota 4runner V8. Hooks F & R, Yes

Hello. I am a newbie. I drive a 2 door pajero and towpoints are all good. Can you share the meeting point for tomorrow drive please.

It is a maybe, having a duty that morning. If I finish on time, i’ll join. Already apologize for not bringing treats and sweets with me.

Congrats Jamie. Nice drive. Good choice.

Trip report. I loved to read and live the experience through the eyes of the many who were in attendance. Not too much to add from my side but here is what I can share from my point of view. Waking up on working days can be a real drag for me, but my wife is puzzled as to how I wake up before the alarm even goes off on a Friday morning. The truth is the excitement to meet up with the many friends and make some new ones on the way. After having been through most of what UAE has to offer in terms of off-road adventures over the past decade, it's the people which gets me excited. It was a pleasure to see so many smiles as I arrived, all itching to taste the sands, some for the first time while others who want more. So without delay we headed out to the grounds where we could have our brief, deflate and final preparation before heading out to the wilderness. After the brief we deflated and in my excitement I forgot to fix my flag. It didn't take me long to realize though and we were off. @Rizwanm2 sorry you had to leave, hope your wife is feeling better now. Since @Rizwanm2 had to leave my second lead was now @Febin Frederic who did very well on the 2 occasions I found myself in trouble to lead the convoy through a safe route. Following him was our return champion @Jamy B. who has just found her ride in the form of an Xterra. I could see her not getting carried away and applying everything from the brief during the drive. She was more keen into learning her way with her new ride which is a brilliant thing to do. @Kalahari was next and with his Prado looked to me like a Silver Surfer just gliding through the sands. I'm very impressed with the way you handle your ride, doesn't seem like your first or second time out. Following him was @Najeeb Mohammed who drove his FJ, couldn't really see much of you deriving, however was impressed with the fact that you made it to the Pink Rocks without switching off traction control. Hope you found it easier with the traction control off. @Emmanuel was my centre forward to help out the convoy and keep the convoy in motion. Next came @Nizam Mohammed with his white FJ. Hope you have your tire sorted out after your encounter with The Rock. No I don't meant Dwayne Johnson, it one the one which met his tire on the way up to Pink Rocks. @Chaitanya D was next and managed well with his tank he calls the Nissan Patrol Y62. @Jorge Stepniak Felippe was to follow, sorry if we got the pronunciation of your name incorrect, we will definitely try our best to get it right the next time. @Jihad Hachem was more than sporting, sorry for being tough, but have seen so much over the years that safety is paramount. Glad you understand. In the sweep duties was @Mahmoud Hamzawy with his son. While he was keeping the convoy safe and moving with regular updates, his son was keeping us entertained. As is my habit for Newbie drives, I start with easy tracks for all to get used to their vehicles over some small dunes and work up the difficulty level for all to enjoy and learn from their experience. Climbing the Pink Rocks and descending from the other side is the toughest part on the menu, but almost everyone did it without any issues. As we rectified the issue of a burst tire by replacing it, we descended the Pink Rocks to head to the cafeteria nearby. Here we inflated and had the shade in which we could sit, relax, share some snacks and discuss our days activities. Fortunately we were first to the finishing line soon joined by the convoys of @Srikumar and @Frederic. With the Friday prayers time we parted our ways, but still with a promise to meet again as we continue to learn and support each other. See you all soon.