Leaderboard

Thank you all for joining the drive this morning. It was a real pleasure to be in the sand this morning. The temperature was still very nice, and the sand was still compact from the rains of last week. With the better grip and stability of the dunes it gave us the possibility to take a more challenging itinerary, and you did extremely well. After the briefing, and the entry track, we started with an easy warm-up in the rice rolling dunes. Well spaced, not too high, nice environment to practice dunes crossing, a bit of ridge riding, some side climbs, with very nice views of the desert around. We took a first break before starting the serious things. After a few higher climbs, crossing a ridge, we went down inside the Ghafeteen Bowl. From the flat bottom, one by one we could climb to the top, make a long loop on the high ridge, and go down a steep descent in soft sand. Nice terrain to experiment the power needed for higher climbs, and the challenges to control the car in steep descents. Out of the bowl, the most challenging part of the drive was still to come. A long portion of technical dunes, associated with a long climb. Full concentration and accurate driving was required to avoid the traps (steep pockets) on each side of the track. Step by step the convoy reached the top with a few minor refusals only, and we continued that technical portion until reaching the flat sabkha. From there a relaxing track took us back to the starting point. We had a complete variety of terrain, and as @RiadJL told me after the drive, I think you all got the difference between speed and momentum. It is a key understanding for your future drives, well done everyone. @Nathan, thank you for a great SL, and congratulations for manoeuvring the long F150 in the narrow technical dunes. @RiadJL very well done for your first drive with us. You had a little glimpse of the great capabilities of your jeep, and also a first understanding the driving skill required. @rroker great drive with the Pajero, a bit out of control at one point, just to understand that even a Pajero can have too much power in some situations. @Wilfredo Perez you have become more confident since the last drive, keep practising @EbrahimZAF too much energy on one of the first climbs, but after that, you took the measure of the amount of power required to cross the obstacle, very well done. @Rob S a big thank you for supporting the convoy from the middle. Your guidance to a car in difficulty is always clear and accurate. @Vipin M and @ozgu very nice control of the Safari both of you. It is a pleasure to see these cars well handled in their environment. @Abhilash Kottakkal thank you for seeping the convoy today. You went through the obstacles with great control, even on the churned track, well done. Thanks again for joining today with an open mind and willingness to learn, enjoy the rest of the weekend and see you soon!

My 1st fewbie drive and ridge was fun. Got slight shivers though 😅

@DP1011 thanks for leading us on a fantastic drive. Especially with all the ridge riding lessons! I really leaned a lot and conquered some fears. Ramadan Kareem

Dear Desert Wanderers, @Pajy McPajface - luke, @Nizar Shawwa, @Julien Recan, @Mark B, @Aser, @Arravind, and @Gary F firstly thank you all for showing up on time, this meant we were able to get away and finish the drive on time. not sure what i can add to the wonderful drive report that @Pajy McPajface - luke has shared with us. Except to say that you all drove exceptionally well. The sand was still fairly hard and the top of the dunes had been flattened off and compacted by the rains of last week, but this should take nothing away from how you all drove, especially given that this was a first night drive for some of you. We only had two refusals and one stuck. the one stuck i think will be debated by @Mark B and @Gary F as to whether or not this was an intentional cresting. given that @Gary F did promise to make @Mark B work for his supper in the previous break . Either way it was handled superbly well by @Mark B @Pajy McPajface - luke you were brilliant as always in the S/L position correcting and smoothing my lines and stopping when instructed. always a pleasure to have you in the convoy watching my back. @Gary F great job as sweep mate gives me piece of mind to know i have someone of your experience and knowledge at the back keeping us all safe. @Mark B fantastic job in your first role as CF, you did not have a lot to do but what you did do was handled professionally and with applied knowledge and skill. well don on your first drive as a support team member. Thanks again one and all and i hope to see you all in Fayah next week for another one :) Have a great rest of your weekend

It was my first night drive of 2024, and we got lucky with the super nice.wrather.after all the weather alerts we've been having lately. Started from lisali just past the canlmel farms, and warmed up by zigzagging to the south west through many small dunes. Managed to scare my passenger a few times with some nice sharp drops and some fun sidies in this section before passing by the half buried car for a close look. Hopefully everyone marks it in their maps so that we can check it out again in daylight sometime. From here we got the technical dunes and headed towards qudra. Lots of tight manoeuvering on hard packed sand, spotting quite a few young gazelles. We had a quick break and noticed those steps were giving quite a work out to a couple of the jeeps number plates. Hopefully those get straightened out easily. Just before the exit the convoy got waved down to perform a rescue on a Lexus sedan that had decided it was ready for a real adventure in the desert. Keep an eye on Instagram the driver took a pic of our cars and said he would try and tag carnity. 5 minutes later we were back in our way to exit. Thanks @Davie Chase for the great drive, @Mark B excellent work on the first support drive... And glad that @Gary F made sure no one was left behind. Nice driving from everyone! Was an easy 52km and perfect start to the weekend. Enjoy the rest of it👋👋 Ps I was totally wrong about moonset time and didn't g get a single good photo of the moon 😅😅😅

@JeromeFJ Thanks for an amazing drive and mixing things up a bit. You were an amazing drive lead. I definitely learnt what is too much energy 😂 colleagues and support team were all amazing special Thanks to @Rob S and @Abhilash Kottakkal for the support @Nathan certainly deserves a medal maneuvering that monster in the sand ! 🥇 until the next one 👍🏻

Thanks @JeromeFJ, @Rob S, @Nathan and @Abhilash Kottakkal for a fun and informative drive! Learned a lot and looking forward to many more

@Marek_was003 nice shot buddy, thanks for it, and it is nice to have you on my back i knew i was kind of cruising and always had you in mind that i needed to keep the pace to not break your momentum but then i got into trouble with the lead... @Ale Vallecchi the drive was awesome, my apologies for being too close at some points. I agree with @Marek_was003 and thanks to @Ale Vallecchithere are so many tall dunes, it was the wonderful side of Badayer. Great drive, great fun, thanks to all

Nice shots and report @Marek_was003, thanks for that. I think we all did great, no major issues, a part from hiding from each other sometimes behind the dunes 😄 Thanks as always to the leading team and see you all soon.

thanks @DP1011 for the short & sweet drive.. it was good learning & fun drive too.. special regards to @Rajiv Sam@Sunil Mathew for the support & help🫡

@Premjit VappalaYou were just cruising through 😄😄

nice short smooth drive @DP1011... the 2 hours duration was the USP of the drive for me ....you succeeded in making the most of those 2 hours , taking us through lot of fewbie level challenges in terms of climbs, drops and ridge rides.... good to meet @Rohit Deginal @JohanE and @JERINE_B for the first time and drive again with @Faraz94 @Andrew John Melvill @Premjit Vappala @Mohammad Sayawoush Azad - thanks for the insta tips, and @Rk ram... Looking at comments above, i believe everyone got a real feel of how your cars behave on top of churned ridges and in the process learned to keep right momentum and not zipping through ,giving correct steering inputs according to the ridge lines, adjusting your car "sway", holding your car steady and square on the broad ridges...etc...keep practising and as you progress, the dunes get taller, ridges get sharper and are very rarely flat - you either go up or come down ...so tune your minds !!! Everyone drove really well leaving myself and @Rajiv Sam very little to deal with , 👌👌👍👍👏 see you all , probably on the next Ramadan series from @DP1011 🙃

Thank you @JeromeFJ and @Rob S for the beautiful drive and close gudience at each stage.See you again.

Enjoyed every bit of the drive today. Started easy and ended with some difficult dunes. @JeromeFJ appreciate you guiding us all the way. Wonderful support by @Rob S and @Abhilash Kottakkal.

Thanks for another great drive @Looper short convoy so the pace was nice and fast and great group to drive with 👍 bonus nice fresh sand all to our selves 👌 will have to look into my overheating on the big dune, the joys of learning about a new car

@Gurcharan Mehta, I think it's time to change your avatar Following the 500hp monster up the hill isn't easy in an under-powered and beat-up pajero, but I believe I did achieve something last night and managed to keep up just right (often had to give @Gurcharan Mehta a lot of space before speeding up as his great car does not need any runway, unlike mine - that's why @Cristian asked me why I'm not moving - I just needed much more space to speed up before the climb). And I believe we did that 2000 m, didn't we @Ale Vallecchi ? Some of the ridges were bumpy but fun nonetheless. @Sunil Mathew on that photo looks almost as if trying to take off: After visiting badayer and lisali desert so many times, I am pleased to see there are so many tall dunes here, and you don't really need to drive all the way to Abu Dhabi to have a decent view: I hope you guys enjoyed the ride as much as I did! Thank you all and see you next time!

Dear all, @Faraz94 @Andrei S @Shiju Raju @Shaun J @Andrew John Melvill @JERINE_B @Mahmut @Rohit Deginal @Premjit Vappala @Rahul6157 @DanielN @Jad Moussalli @Deepak Eswar @Mohammad Sayawoush Azad @Rk ram @JohanE @Frans M @Joji varghese @Rajiv Sam @Sunil Mathew I and @Kailas would see you all tomorrow 7.15am sharp please ( You can be early, and be deflated , ready for briefing) Please see the convoy order as below , with radio channel as below : Please make sure you are tuned / radio frequency programmed to Carnity channels. Convoy 1 : DP - We use radio channel 2: 446.031 Convoy 2 @Kailas - Radio channel 4 - 446.081

thanks @Marek_was003 for that shot...yes, it really looks like i'm close to lift off 🙃 thanks to @Ale Vallecchi for posting this drive...returning to badayer and the 2 popular bowls, once in a while after driving in sweihan etc will really put things into perspective ...we covered all the interesting sections in the area to end up at shuwaib 👏👍 and the afternoon was not that busy , allowing us to visit most of the dune summits thanks to jeeps in the convoy @Gurcharan Mehta and @Cristian , showing off their low end torque and executing climbs as if they were in a morning walk , forcing @Marek_was003 and @Hugo to always drive with utmost respect elongating the convoy in the process , we ended up breaking the convoy at times causing some confusion to re-group. nevertheless, i believe we got our fair share of adrenaline filled enjoyment in the dunes see you all soon !!

Dear Desert Wanders @frederic demolder, @george charbel, @Ishak, @Frans M and @Robk, please see below convoy order for tomorrows drive, we will be using Ch4 446.081 for the drive. See you all in the morning

@JeromeFJ thank you very much for the drive. It was a combination of everything. I really like the last part after sabka which was a very relaxing one after the technical part, I think you did the same kind of track last time I drive with you in sweihan. That's how I think all the drive should be concluded.. @Nathan very good job being the SL. @Rob S thank you very much for the support.. below my mishap in the last fewbie drive. See you again in sand soon....

Thanks, @JeromeFJ, for today's session! It was very instructive, with exercises and practices done one by one. One message that stuck with me: "You need to manage not only how to climb but also how to descend!" Big thanks to @JeromeFJ, @Rob S, and @Abhilash Kottakkal for taking care of us. I appreciate your guidance, comments, and recommendations! See you on the sand!

Think @JeromeFJ has covered off the drive report well. Thanks for taking us through the desert this morning. Great learning opportunities for everyone today, whether you were recovering yourself from a stuck or watching on and taking some mental notes. Not much exercise, running or shovelling for me today so I'll need to visit the gym. Thanks everyone and have a great weekend, few images of you all decending the bowl in the gallery.

Dear friends I hope you are excited and ready for tomorrow's drive. As always emphasized and required that everyone make sure that their car is in a perfect shape and have all the gear as per their rank. Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/ZPJvvCKqYmfuxvqN9 Meeting time is 8:00 AM Sharp We will use Carnity Radio Channel 7. The convoy order will be as the following : Lead @Simon D 2L @Senthil Kumar 3 @Sreenath G 4 @Julien Recan 5 @Juan R 6 @Mahesh_ S/W @Gautam Banka

No worries there will always be another time, good thing you found out that your axel needs fixing before going into the desert 😀

@Ishak no issue at all that’s why I left the RSVP open as we still have plenty of room for anyone who wants to join, I will close it later today and resend the convoy order for tomorrow looking forward to catching up mate

Hi Davie, I am still going with this plan. Thanks.

Hope you are all doing well and ready for tomorrow's adventure. Please bring a camping chair if you have one, as while taking a break, we can sit down and do the skills briefing with a demo car in a beautiful landscape. We will end the drive at a fuel station to inflate, to save time if you have an air compressor please bring it along (not mandatory). Please find your convoy numbering, we will use Radio Channel 3 (for those who have it). For the rest, we will carry spare radios with tuned frequencies. @sophiedana @Nivi @Rasna @Xandi @Srikumar @Giovana @Jaswanthi @Gráinne @Emma @Vanessa8580 @Iqra Raheel @Bindi @Juanita @Alina Malakaeva @Frederic Convoy Numbering Gaurav Silver Pajero sophiedana (Amr A) 2021 Jeep Wrangler JL - 4 door - Sage Green Nivi (Prakriti) 2014, Toyota, Prado, 4 cylinder, White Rasna (Ishak) 2021 Pajero-4door-White and Black Xandi Nissan Patrol Srikumar Green Cherokee XJ Giovana (Premindra) Nissan x terra silver 2009 Gráinne 2017 Jeep Wrangler 4 door red Emma 2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon - 4 door - White Vanessa8580 (Sohini) Nissan X-terra 2008 Blue EVGENIYA Wrangler Juanita (Nicolo) 2018 jeep wrangler unlimited Frederic 2021 Nissan Patrol Safari - Silver

DRIVE REPORT CONVOY 1 With the rising sun warming us up after a chilly night, we met up at the Khanoor entry point with two convoys eager to explore this "holy grail of terrains" for off-roaders: The Mystical Liwa ! After the briefing, where we emphasized this kind of terrain demands a humble approach and mental resilience, we set off and started making our way Eastwards. We had drafted a plan with waypoints to keep as a reference to fall back on, but the idea was to follow where the dunes were leading us, as in Liwa this is usually the only way through. After a couple of hours, i handed over the lead to @DP1011, as i wanted him to feel the joy of leading in this terrain, which he did MARVELOUSLY. Throughout the day, we had a handful of refusals, zero stucks, and no rope or recovery. In almost 7hrs of driving in this challenging terrain, where low gear was sometimes the only way up or out. This says a LOT about the convoy, that was so in tune and capable, and of course the lead, who carefully chose his lines to keep the group safe from harm. Our tactic of letting the lead climb first to the platform of the dunes, and then giving the second lead the confirmation to follow, worked like a charm, and this allowed to avoid massive bowls and pitfalls. @Rafey Hashmi you had your doubts about yourself and what the Jimny could manage in LIWA. Let it be put to rest for once and for always that it's always about the driver. The way you carefully chose your lines and built your momentum on bigger climbs was a sight to behold, and the skills that your little Jimny forced you to learn has turned you in a super capable off-roader ! @Alphin Aloor we all know what a heavy boat a stock Patrol Y61 is. Me too But look at how bloody capable they are. I slept comfortably in the Patrol the entire weekend, and the car is a blessing for this long journey. If driven the right way the Patrol is unstoppable and unstuckable. You proved it by not breaking a single sweat all weekend ! @Pascal you've done plenty of drives with us, and your skills are way up there, together with your calm approach and magnificent 4Runner. Always a pleasure to have you and your wife on any of our adventures ! @Richard Franks who is an Ex-Jeeper who moved to the Toyota world of no worries, proves once again how capable a stock FJ is, and how you navigated it seamlessly through this challenging terrain ! @AlexM and @Amr A both equipped with superb driving skills and green mean Jeeps, i love having you guys on our drives, as you both have a can-do attitude and back it up with so many drive skills. @M.Seidamand of course his dear Abdallah, was an absolute delight to have you watching our backs and supporting us at each step. We reached the camp around 4.45PM and took our time to setup. I was in touch with @GauravSoniand heard he ran into some technical troubles, but soon after we saw 6 knights in shining armor racing towards us, full of adrenaline and joy, and it looked they had a very different type of day but nevertheless turned it into a blast and A-Team Work ! Kudos to you guys for not giving up and i am looking forward to your drive report to tell us your stories ! The next morning, we cleaned up the camp, left by 9.15, and within 40mins we were on top of Moreeb, enjoying the scenery and taking photos that will help us remember this unforgettable weekend ! Most importantly we have to count our blessings for exiting two convoys, free of incidents. And that is what matters most. I am sure everyone drove home with a smile I know i did ! Thanks @GauravSoniand @Simon D for taking the second convoy and offering everyone a chance to experience this unforgettable drive. I will never forget the stories you guys shared about how the Pajero roared back to life after its surgery 😆 Below the actual track we did (black line was our draft, red is the actual track): Day one we covered around 76km in approx 8hrs total. Day two we only needed to cover 10kms in 40mins to reach Moreeb.