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Searching for Water - Drive Report "We can't help being thirsty, walking toward the voice of water" - Rumi Water must be in high demand during this hot and dry summer, as what was expected to be a 12 car convoy, driving around Qudra "Searching for Water", eventually became a 26 car affair. First and foremost, thank you very much @Gaurav, for taking the lead of the second half of the convoy, which made it possible to open the drive to all the many and enthusiastic waitlisted members. It was a pleasure to see @kiranshinde, @Joji varghese, @Savio Fernandes, @Adam James, @Damien Ranjit, @Gilbert Khalil, @Naim Aoun, @munkybizness, @Hilal Sharafudeen, @Richard Franks, @topgear and @varunmehndiratta, and I hope you enjoyed the drive as much as I did. As planned, we launched the drive along the bike track, cutting across central Qudra, exploring first the long range white dunes between the bike track and the pylons, where a great deal of slip faces end on flat surfaces, studded with mud rock formations, remnants of old sedimentary deposits of silt and clay, and testimony of a relatively recent past when surface water was available in this area. Water can still be found at 3 different locations, just north of the bike track: one is a natural set of fresh water pools, fed by a spring just above, the other is a small stream originating from the sand just below a tall dune, and the third is a the "famous" man made crescent shape lake that has recently seen headlines in the local press. North-west of here, just beyond a set of tall dunes and deep sand bowls, and past an area of technical dunes, the presence of water can first be guessed by the presence of numerous trees, feeding themselves with subterranean humidity, and then it becomes manifest with the appearance of a large lake, surrounded by a palm tree plantation. From here on, the terrain is made of the well known and navigated northern Qudra long range dunes, where the 2 more small bodies of water that we found, also in their still natural state, are the preview of the much bigger and landscaped Qudra Lakes. In all we managed to find and drive by 7 lakes or springs, and at the same time managed to quench our thirst for desert driving and exploration. A very well executed drive by all members. @Zixuan Huang - Charlie at SL, @Islam Soliman at CF and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ executed with precision and care their respective roles, providing an extra feeling of safety and control to a relatively inexperienced convoy. @Mahesh Khatry, @Alexanderrr, @Nibu Venu, @Ferl Brown, @Tom V, @Pieter Potgieter, @Ajit John, @Ramandbx and @Rsjiv Samuel, all drove very well and smoothly, certainly exceeding my expectations, responding with ease to the increased level of difficulty that the drive presented, especially toward the end. The couple of stucks and refusals that occurred in the final part of the itinerary, were likely the product of fatigue and loss of concentration, which is understandable considering the length of the drive. We ended up covering 63.3 Km, in 3:59 hours (including two long stops for briefing and relaxation), at the fast average moving speed of 28 Km/h (16 Km/h total). Thank you all again, from both convoys, for joining our search for water in Qudra's desert. See you all soon out there.

Managed only to take a few shots. I was being lazy and tired last night and the camping chair and good company was waiting for me Taken with Canon 5Dmk2, Samyang 14mm. ISO 2000-3200 and shutter speed between 8-15 seconds. Next to the white Pajero you will find @samamara working on her timelapse and bitten by millons of mosquitoes !

I'm in the wide open area near the trees, having fun playing with the iso settings, caught a straight trail of light... could be a plane, but cos i traveled all the way frm abu dhabi, i'll just call this a "meteor trail" for now 😂

My kid took this from her phone ..! And these from the canon … thanks again @samamara..

Well that was an interesting experience ! Most of us arrived a bit before midnight, and @samamara had already setup up and found the premium spot, in front of the lake. As we had kids with us we stayed a bit further away from the lake. Unfortunately it was extremely busy as it seemed everyone came out to spot the meteors that night. That also made it quite difficult to see who made it to the meeting point or not. My apologies if we were not able to meet or see everyone. I do suspect there were 4-5 people that did not come, and with so many other cars and people around this was quite difficult. Some were using the radio as we requested and we were able to meet up. In the future my opinion is we should keep it at maximum 10 members and ensure we can meetup somewhere and do a proper introduction. That way, if any member has technical questions about the setup he can ask any of the seniors. Like on the previous sessions, meeting up and deflating together, followed by going with a convoy gives a better “team” feeling. A big thanks to @munkybizness for coming up with the idea, and @samamara for finding this gem of an area. We will definitely be back and surely it will be less busy then. On the parking lot we met an Astronomer who brought his massive telescope and he was so friendly to give us some nice views of Saturn and Jupiter. It’s amazing to see someone’s passion and skill and it gave us a nice glimpse into the miracle we call universe. Now with the weather cooling down, we will be able to do another session very soon. Hope to see you all back !

Thank you @Brette for this morning drive, it was my first newbie drive after several fewbie ones, and still I learned several tricks from you specially as it was my first time as 2nd lead. @Tbone thank you for the support during this trip. Some photos are added to the gallery in addition to these videos captured from the top of Pink Rock. @Daniel Yang @Gilbert Khalil @Jason Grima @Joji varghese @Michael Glavanis @Nafiz @Peter Hager @Ramandbx @Rsjiv Samuel

Dear Desertnauts, I'll fill you in on tomorrow's PM drive in the same way I'd like to manage our long trek: fast !! Meeting point - see below, as well as in the drive's post: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JmktsxXrpfie3SgLA WARNING: the meeting point is a bit tricky to find, when following Google Maps. I'll try to explain better. From Qudra's Last Exit, please take the road to Bab al Shams Resort (first right at the Qudra roundabout, coming from Dubai). Upon reaching the first roundabout, take the second exit, to reach this point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oeXzNh6zySDJZ7Hf9 Once passed the bike track, please reach the meeting point by taking a right dirt track through the sabkha, until you reach a construction camp, where I will be parked. In case of need, please text me on +971.522163122. Planned itinerary - entering from northern Qudra and exiting at Murqab (Inshallah) Meeting time - 3:00PM (not later, please, as we are hoping to cover as much ground as possible, racing against the sunset) Convoy Order - as below: @Lakshmi Narasimhan will be in SL @Nihal17 at #3 @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil #4 @Sunil Mathew at #5 @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ will be Center Forward @Chinthaka Ruwan will follow at #7 @Ashok chaturvedi at #8 @Humayun Ghias will be #9 @Russ #10 @Darren Brooke at #11 @Christian Andras will Sweep the convoy. See you tomorrow, at 3:00 PM. Have a great Friday.

@Naveen Raj @S Jacob @Charbel @Anoop Nair @Probir Mukherjee @Wrangeld @Aisha S @Abdul Rafay-S @Senthil Kumar @topgear @TT_Dubai Good morning everybody, I hope you are doing well and enjoying the long week end. Please find the convoy list below and we will be using Radio Channel 3 (446056). Looking forward to see you all in few hours.

Thanks a ton as always ..@Frederic @Gaurav @samamara… My daughter really loved the experience and so did I … @samamara really awesome for you to give her all the expert tips ! Thanks again folks ..

Thank you @Kailas for wonderful drive. It was great feeling as I rejoined te convoy after 2months. Getting the grip back, good thing happened that car need shovel and even a tug, which had never happened so far. Every driver should get in such situations and understand the sand and conditions better to be more confident and contained. Thanks to @Nivin and @Russ for excellent support. A big thank you to @JeromeFJ for extending your helping hand by extending your pressure tubing of compressor, as mine betrayed at the end. Nice to meet you Jerome.

Even with the crowds and that light pollution it was still a great night ❤️ and it was super nice to meet everyone. I hope we have another event soon! Thanks @Frederic and everyone! @BipinM not at all - she's really lovely and I was glad to help. She can ask me anytime Great shots @Frederic! We may have had lots of light pollution and not many meteors but we were certainly graced with lots of dramatic clouds which really added a lot to our shots ❤️ . And yes...millions of mosquitos and whatever else...my car was filled with them when I left this morning! Looking forward to lots more adventures with all of you!

Thank you Kailas it was a very challenging and exciting drive this morning. The sand and the dunes in this area were just beautiful. Fast pace, nice climbing and serious criss-crossing and ridge riding. I did get a few refusals and stucks but hey... That's how we learn right ? thank you everyone for the support and patience.

Post Drive Report What a pleasurable drive today. I am sorry to have to break it to you guys, but it's not every drive that has very limited stucks, long periods of radio silence and such amazing, pristine, vigrin sand. Helped by having a shorter convoy than usual, we covered some great ground, nice challenges and even saw a little wildlife I hope that you will all be back in the sand soon. @Mohamad Anwer @salah2u @Usman Basit @Mahesh Khatry @Bernard Kalaani Massive thanks to @Hisham Masaad - impeccable support.

What an absolute pleasure Gentlemen, loved every minute of it, not one shovel or tug and climb after climb after climb, the route was perfect, lots of play time and some good challenges, and what a masterclass in slip face self recovery, that was epic. Thanks for a wonderful morning guys, used more fuel today than on any other drive, see you all soon.

Pre-drive details below: 1- It is already hot and we want to have an early start hoping to cover majority of the track by 9:00am before heading to the exit to inflate by 9:30am before we get roasted. 2- This requires prompt presence at the meeting point by 5:00am and be ready to move max by 5:30am (deflated, flag erected, 4H on, radio on and set, airbags/traction/abs all set....) 3- Please ensure your radio is on, fully charged, and set to the right frequency: channel 1 (446,006.25) upon arrival to do a quick radio check 4- briefing will be done on on the sand before we start moving 5- once you arrive please try to take your correct spot behind the right car as per the convoy order below (if possible) 6- please ensure you come with a full tank (as much as possible) in addition to all necessary gear for this drive level Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/CPj41d5XmbNBhnZh6 See you all on the sand 😎 Convoy order:

Thanks @Kailas for the excellent drive today…it was a crisis crossing feast!!! lost control on couple of crossings with some refusals too. Had my share of learning experiences. there was some confusion regarding the radio frequencies as many of us were on the old channel 5 - 462.887 while some were on the new one 446.106. https://carnity.com/forums/topic/16442-updated-carnity-radio-frequencies?tab=comments#comment-89131 better we all tune into these new ones excellent support from @Nivin and @Russ, helping out with recoveries.

Thanks @Frederic for organizing and also the detailed route instructions - would never have found it otherwise! Also thanks to @munkybizness for the idea and @samamara for the location and the rest or you for the infectious enthusiasm which extended to me being able to motivate my wife and daughters to accompany me (though the elder one found the breeze pleasant enough to take a nap under the stars!). Unfortunately I forgot to get my radio and was not sure of the groupl location after I came down into the tree area - would have been a great opportunity to meet and chat with the group members, will look forward to the next opportunity for that. And there were quite a few people around other than carnity thanks to the considerable media publicity around the meteor shower. I think this place is a really good location and worth more visits on more regular nights just to see the sky and stars just on their own merit...thanks so much for that Some very nice shots @Frederic and @BipinM..(you seem to have captured some meteor trails!)..looking forward to more from the rest and of course @samamara. Will also post something if I can salvage any decent ones...i shot pointed right up into the sky to avoid the regular headlights and torch beams 🙃

@Fredericthis is absolutely one of my favourite spots - around the whole area really - and during the times with the Milky Way core is above the horizon there are great opportunities here. Can we keep it in mind as a possibility for another shot before the end of the season?

Thanks @Frederic for organizing the event. It was fun catching up with you @Gaurav @Srikumar and all. Though clouds and nature played their tricks limiting the sighting other than the dubious ones by Gaurav 😂😂, it was a fun trip with mysterious location (somehow quite a few ppl managed to decode it) and nice bunch. On the way back saw a couple more - shower was more like Dubai rain shower needed some spl eyes to witness them...😂

Thank you @Fredericfor making this happen. And doing it with such elan! Although, seeing how @Gaurav & @Srikumar "joined" us into the dam was very suspect Thanks for confirming on the radio that it was them. For a moment, my brain couldn't comprehend why this car was trailing 400m behind me - like a cop. Guess the "marshal" values never leave the system 😛 It's amazing hearing how many people interacted with the astronomer in the parking lot. He was inviting every car in the lot to come take a peek at Jupiter. A little gutted that I didn't join the wider crew but my brother and I were the sole campers on the bridge. After oversleeping and rushing to Gaurav's drive in the AM, I managed to steal a few winks under the night sky. At 2.30am, a hissing snake on our makeshift rug rudely awakened (read scared the crap out of us) and we chickened back to the car in the parking lot, and then out soon after. Will definitely look forward to the next drive and seeing you all again soon!

Video of the drive. Convoy 1 with Marshal Ale

Hi @Islam Soliman, I think u r missing out @Adhir Saxenain the convey list

Thanks for a great drive this morning @Kailas, lots of variation with tight technical areas and the more open fast paced dunes - everyone did really well. Good to see familiar faces and one or two new ones. See you all soon hopefully 🌵

What a drive...absolutely fantastic! Many firsts for me - shortest convoy i have ever driven in, making a pit stop on my way home - I consumed almost 3/4th of the tank, a proper coffee break and the wonderful climbs. Thanks @Islam Soliman and @Dodi Syahdar for fixing my bumper - its so well done that I might let it be until I figure out a proper solution. Thank you Islam for the drive, looking forward to second iteration. Thanks Dodi and Alex @Watteau for the company. See you guys soon.

My first time joining and experimenting with photography. Thank you @Fredericfor organising and @munkybiznessfor the initiative. Was great sitting next to @samamara. Thank you for all of your help with the tips and suggestions. Until next time!

As I rack up more "firsts" with Carnity, last night was a double-header with a tight-knit convoy followed by meteor showers behind misplaced clouds. Having done some parts of this track with @Frederic in the morning, seeing it at night brought a completely different view to the experience. For one, at many points in the drive, I was completely oblivious to the elevation we had climbed until we would descend down steep dune walls to realize how high we actually were. There were a few refusals and sticky sand situations but all of them provided new opportunities to learn. On Wednesday, I had boasted about how ready I was for "shoveling duty". The universe was listening, intently Thank you @Rizwanm2 for being such a tour de force as sweep. But thank you mostly for teaching me how to connect ropes and shackles to recovery points, where & how to shovel, and most importantly giving me the right guidance when I had refusals. @Lakshmi Narasimhan, you have hands-down the most kitted out Pajero I've ever seen. I think we deserve a forum post "teardown" on just everything you've built and added as you've gone along. I was taking mental notes the entire time. Your chase lights can be used to help planes (or aliens) land in the desert. You riding the ridge out of that bowl was masterclass. @Savio Fernandes - two drives in one day! There were many moments in the drive where you gave me just the right kind of braking warning with dips. It saved my nose on many occasions. The refusals and sticky situations are all part of the experience, and driving at night can be a bit nerve-wracking but you did great. Did those "teenagers" offer you to buy your car too? 😛 And finally, @Frederic thank you for a lovely leisure drive visiting forests, helping aliens find Sharjah, navigating us through exciting terrain, and planting a big fat smile of satisfaction on my face at the end. All of this while meeting two of my favorite people here. The total number cannot be counted on my two hands 🙏

Thanks @Frederic for arranging, the Astronomer encounter confirmed that we're at the right spot... it was cloudy from sunrise to 9am in DIFC area so maybe the clouds from last night are in the city now 😅 Looking forward to winter Lens Club events, i hate conversations being cut so next time definitely do a Combo with Camping so we can talk all night while watching the sky ☺️

@Islam Soliman apologies for cancelling so late- the family have extended our trip here in Abu Dhabi so will sadly miss your drive. Hopeful anyone on the waitlist has time to take the spot and have a super drive all. See you on a future drive

Thanks for a great adventurous ride. Those technical dunes were great even though at times it felt like Sheikh Zayed Road at rush hour Can't wait to join you all again.

Thx @Zixuan Huang - Charlie for pointing out.. I don’t know when @Adhir SaxenaRSVPed as until I posted I didn’t see him on the attendee list.. @Adhir Saxena you are welcome to join.. you will be between Charlie and Jerome.

@Wrangeld @Hisham Masaad thank you for an amazing well guided experience this morning. Learnt alot about my self and the car in my first drive (the multiple stucks and refusals contributed as well I guess). Appreciate the patience (of the entire convoy), support and the multiple tugs to get my car out. Thanks once again and will hopefully see you soon.

@Srikumar You know why my wheel fender fell off? The staff in the suburu show room disassembled the fender to do some repair on the left side suspension. When they assembled the fender back inplace instead of using 4 holders (which is the default way to fix it) they used only one. Of course one holder would not support all the bumps of a desert drive. I'll will file a claim on the show room

Thank you Wrangeld for a fantastic outing, and yes the wild life was fabulous. I downloaded the arabian oryx pictures taken by my mobile phone. Thank you Hisham and Abdul Ghani for your great support today. 👏 Regards, Mohamad

You will find us nearby the water. Look for a white Pajero

Here's is the convoy list for tomorrow. 1. Kailas-L 2. @Joe Biju Joseph-SL 3. @Danish Mohammad 4. @Watteau-SW We will be on channel 1. As we have a short convoy, if any change in plan is there please inform ASAP. See you all tomorrow at 6 pm . Cheers!

Hi @Islam Soliman I will attend this one as well as the afternoon one ...lets see how it goes

Hi @Islam Soliman Change of plan, I will not attend this drive finally. I opted for the afternoon drive instead.

@Sunil Mathew @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil you are confirmed for this drive. Pls let me know if there is any change in ur plan

You will be the real winner my friend, to learn off-road skills on stock LC100. First it will make you a better off-roader. You will be rich with spare money. Surely drive every week. Surely drive back in the same car. Drive with complete peace of mind.