Frederic

DRIVE REPORT There is no denying that LIWA lies very close to our hearts. It's one of the very few places where you genuinely feel like you are finding yourself on a different planet. The scale and vastness of this terrain is humbling, and the plan we had in mind to cross it from West to East entirely was no small feat. For the last weeks, with the help of @Asif Hussain, we were zooming in and out on our satellite maps, and trying to plan ahead, knowing well that you can and should plan well in advance, but a LOT of improvising would be needed to make our way through. We were quite strict on the rules prior to launching these drives, I think for the ones that joined us over the last two days will no doubt understand now what we meant. This is the kind of terrain that tests everyones physical and mental abilities. I knew that teamwork was going to be needed and it was one heck of a team that I was lucky to drive with. @Ahmad Shakeryou probably look like the most relaxed and chilled out driver in Carnity, but being in second lead you did a marvelous job and I needed a coolheaded guy on my back. The extra hard work you and @Trekado did with mounting go-pros and taking tons of photos really show your passion and friendship. It was great to see two friends having a blast together. @Trekado I am a fan of your Pajero and you driving it with the wide smile and dune buggy goggles. It was clear you had a great time and kept our spirits high ! @Salim Akhtaralways humble, quiet, but pushing the Pajero so well. It was a pleasure to have you joining us and I have seen you growing well over the past few weeks. Keep it up ! @Simon Dawood you carry so much energy, and if it wasnt for reaching Waypoint 25 and exiting out, you probably would kept driving towards Oman ! Super drive skills and super Team player. @AlexM you did not skip one single beat on this drive. You possess fantastic drive skills and keeps a cool head at all times. Really really impressive ! @Karthik Raptor could finally unleash all the horses in the Raptor, and he did that with a big smile on his face. Navigating this big truck through the difficult portions was extra difficult but you managed it brilliantly ! The Patrol boys @KKIRAN, and @salah2u (who flew in from Londen especially for this drive) taking the mighty Patrol in its natural habitat is what its all about. Excellent driving guys ! The Red army was on our backs, with @Senthil Kumar and @Richard Franks, who we now refer too as "Gentleman Richard" after seeing his amazing mini BBQ. You guys rocked ! This was the kind of drive where a good support was essential. Not often do I find someone in this role who is completely in tune with my thoughts and actions, and his support and hard work throughout this drive was exemplary. @JeromeFJ with you in my convoy I am ready to drive from Liwa to Medina. Boys and Girls, soon we will see him leading drives, and I know now already they will be very sought after and EPIC as well. With regards to the drive, as we created 25 waypoints, those were used as milestones for all three convoys, and I was super delighted to be able to camp with all three convoys together and see the smiles of everyone after a successful first day. We shared some good stories and had good entertainment from some of our guys (you know who you are) The first couple of waypoints I intentionally kept it easy and just drove straight towards them without venturing off too far. The reason was so that way we could scope the terrain and fine-tune our pace. After a couple of hours we really were all-in and had to navigate through numerous technical areas with razor sharp edges and mighty deep pockets. There was little to no error for margin but all of you navigated so well and worked together as a team. Every once in a while we came across @Gaurav his convoy, and we could smile and wave from a few dunes away and have a little chat over the radio. The struggles he had were also some of the struggles we had, and we all overcame them and kept going and going ! We finally exited the second day at waypoint 25 around 1PM, and I was extremely delighted to see that last sabkha appearing in front of us. The long winding exit track served as a little contemplation time for me to grasp what we had just done. We took 3 Carnity convoys through this stretch of remote desert and all came out unscathed, without breakdowns or issues. A big applause to @Srikumar who had the challenge of balancing a high level drive in this kind of terrain where all of us feel small and insignificant standing in front of those enormous monster dunes. @Gaurav taking his FB Plus team and not being afraid of venturing and exploring the terrains in his own unique way. Hats off to both of you ! Eventually we covered almost 135kms, and yes we had some refusals and stucks, but far less than I expected and the teamwork and camaraderie made it fun anyways. I genuinely thank all of you for joining in and hope we can share more adventures like this in the future ! Check out Liwa Crossing 2022 FNU-FB on Relive! https://www.relive.cc/view/vdvmdGRRxxq