Ale Vallecchi

“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams...”

" What makes the desert beautiful," said the Little Prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well.".... (or a Pond)

We request that every member joining this drive go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and above Meeting time: 03:00 PM Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/d8BH6rsYq2vFCgqbA Action Plan: Fifth and last installment of the Desert Books Series, the drive is dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Exupery's masterpiece "The Little Prince". Here the desert symbolizes the narrator's mind. Made barren by grown-up ideas, the narrator's mind slowly expands under the guidance of the little prince in the same way that the deadly desert slowly transforms itself into a place of learning and, once the well appears, refreshment. As one of the book's protagonists, besides the desert, is The Fox, the track chosen for this drive will take us all the way from Sweihan's entry, through its Pond, to the "Fox's Den, two-thirds of the way to Faya's exit point. The drive will be a bit long, but not too tricky, so feel free to bring guests, with whom to share the pleasure of the desert, and the sun setting on the last ridge of dunes. As usual in this series, in trying to distil the best of the book and to build up to the day of the drive, I'll post a book's quote each day. Let's try to find inspiration in this Desert Books' Series to truly appreciate our interaction with our favorite element of nature. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face masks, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 7:30 PM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. RECOMMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge Compressor (MANDATORY) Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY) Off-road flag (MANDATORY) Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

Dear @vinayak n@Jason M @Mei ling @Paul Eldho and @Shary. Thanks a lot for your wishes. I will be consulting with the orthopedic this afternoon and should be able to get on with fixing what is likely a strained knee. I thought it best to cancel the drive, as if we need to be physically involved in any kind of action, perhaps I would not be able to be 100% operational. Sorry for wrecking your weekend plans. We'll recover the drive as soon as possible. In the meantime, I wish you a great weekend, and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Dear @vinayak n@Jason M @Mei ling @Paul Eldho and @Shary, just to inform you that yesterday evening I hurt my knee, and I am still trying to assess the situation with its conditions. There is a possibility I may have to cancel the drive. I will be able to make a decision in the next couple of hours. In the meantime, please stay tuned. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Dear Desertnauts preparing for tomorrow's PM drive, we'll start the weekend with what I hope turns out to be a nice mix of climbs, and technical areas. From Pink Rock to Big Red, on to Iftar and Super Bowl, we'll try to reach the furthest star dune in the area, next to Bezhad Ranch (Ericcson Tower), in Al Madam. Get ready for the heat and the sun: "That was what he wanted, to be baked dry and hard, to feel the vaporous worries evaporating one by one, to know finally that all the damp little doubts and hesitations that covered the floor of his being were curling up and expiring in the great furnace-blast of the sun." The convoy will line up as follows: @vinayak n in Second Lead @Jason M at #3 @Mei ling at Center @Paul Eldho at #5 @Shary at #6 and @Aser in Sweep. The meeting and deflation point, at 2 December Cafeteria, is available on the drive's main post. The sooner we arrive close to the planned departure time of 3:30 PM the better. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

" A tourist is someone who thinks about going home the moment they arrive, whereas a traveler might not come back at all. "

" The desert landscape is always at its best in the half-light of dawn or dusk. The sense of distance lacks: a ridge nearby can be a far-off mountain range, each small detail can take on the importance of a major variant on the countryside's repetitious theme. "

" The sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation when I look at it that it's a solid thing up there, protecting us from what's behind . . . "

We request that every member joining this drive go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities Drive Details Level: Fewbie and above Meeting time: CANCELLED Meeting Point: Action Plan: Third installment of the desert books' series, dedicated to a book turned into Golden Globe and BAFTA's winning movie, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. In the Sheltering Sky, bohemian American couple Port and Kit Moresby, in the hopes of rekindling their marriage, set off for North Africa in 1947, intending to travel through Algeria in search of renewal and personal inspiration. They are instead tested to their limits by the emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert. The chosen track, although far from the north-western Sahara's movie locations, will take us through some rocky outcrops that symbolize the great Plateaus of Niger, as well tall star dunes, reminiscent of the vast expanses of the Malian and Nigerian deserts. Still trying to distil the best of the book, and to build up to the day of the drive, I'll post a book's quote each day. Let's try to find inspiration in this Desert Books' Series to truly appreciate our interaction with our favorite element of nature. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face masks, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 7:30 PM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. RECOMMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge Compressor (MANDATORY) Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY) Off-road flag (MANDATORY) Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

Dear Desertnauts Last instructions for tomorrow's drive. As planned, we'll cross the sands between Sweihan and Tilal Resort, hoping to cross, at some point, the path taken by the author of "Arabian Sands" on his way from Yemen to Abu Dhabi. Long range cordons, skirting farms, in the hope of encountering the camels so beloved by the Bedu tribe described in the book. “Many Englishmen have written about camels. When I open a book and see the familiar disparagement, the well-worn humour, I realize that the author's knowledge of them is slight, that he has never lived among the Bedu, who know the camel's worth: 'Ata Allah', or 'God's gift', they call her, and it is her patience that wins the Arab's heart. I have never seen a Bedu strike or ill-treat a camel. Always the camel's needs come first. It is not only that the Bedu's existence depends upon the welfare of his animals, but that he has a real affection for them.” The exit will be in the proximity of a camel track, and close to Tilal Resort, where it will be possible to stop for lunch, for those who choose to do so. The convoy order is the following: @Sam Selim in Second Lead @Wayne Momsen at #3 @fred_ at #4 @Chrismayer at #5 @Diego at #6 @Aser at Center @Myrko at #8 @Steve Farmer at #9 @Humi at #10 @Kirill K at #11 @vinayak n at #12 @Krinesh at #13 and @Giacomo in Sweep Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a nice Saturday evening.

Hi @fred_, hello @Humi. You are both welcome to join. Please confirm that I may add you to the convoy. Thanks

Dear @Sam Selim and @Andrei S if you wish and confirm I can extend the convoy by 2 cars, to include both of you. Please let me know if I should add you. Thanks

" As I listened I thought once again how precarious was the existence of the Bedu. Their way of life naturally made them fatalists; so much was beyond their control. It was impossible for them to provide for a morrow when everything depended on a chance fall of rain or when raiders, sickness, or any one of a hundred chance happenings might at any time leave them destitute, or end their lives. They did what they could, and no people were more self-reliant, but if things went wrong they accepted their fate without bitterness, and with dignity as the will of God. "

" No man can live this life and emerge unchanged. He will carry, however faint, the imprint of the desert, the brand which marks the nomad; and he will have within him the yearning to return, weak or insistent according to his nature. For this cruel land can cast a spell which no temperate clime can match. "

" I tasted freedom and a way of life from which there could be no recall. "

" In the desert I had found a freedom unattainable in civilization; a life unhampered by possessions, since everything that was not a necessity was an encumbrance. "

We request that every member joining this drive go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquettes Emergency details for all off roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities Drive Details Level: Fewbie and above Meeting time: 08:00 am (departure time) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BJodYk1wCDX5PUWd9 Action Plan: Second installment of the desert books' series, with the choice of a text dedicated to crossings the sands of the Arabian desert, hence very close to home. Authored by explorer and travel writer Wilfred Thesiger, "Arabian Sands" details his two crossings of the Empty Quarter: Thesiger’s first crossing, from Mughshin (Oman) to Liwa, was followed by a crossing of the western sands from Manwakh (Yemen) to Abu Dhabi. The book attempts to capture the lives of the Bedu people and other inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. I have chosen a track well within the Abu Dhabi area, where the author's second trek took him, wandering if Thesiger actually crossed these sands. We'll skirt some farms, as well as dwell among the more secluded cordons, to conclude the drive at Tilal Resort (anybody who wishes to have lunch there can arrange to stay). Still trying to distil the best of the book, and to build up to the day of the drive, I'll post a book's quote each day. Let's try to find inspiration in this Desert Books' Series to truly appreciate our interaction with our favorite element of nature. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face masks, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 12:30 PM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. RECOMMENDED OFF-ROAD GEAR: Tire deflator & Tire pressure gauge Compressor (MANDATORY) Walkie-talkie radio (MANDATORY) Off-road flag (MANDATORY) Shovel, Tow Rope & 2 Shackles First-aid kit Fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned - Without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

Dear Desrtnauts following a week of teasers for tomorrow's drive, and according to the drive's theme dedicated to a book about the relationship between desert and mankind, the track has been laid out to start from a heavily anthropized part of Sweihan's desert, to cross pristine areas, yet still adjacent to farms and tracks, and end at the crossroad between wilderness and township, at the beautiful Nahil Lake, and Nahil town. The convoy order will be the following: @Giacomo in Second Lead @Carl Stanley at #3 @Myrko at #4 @Zsolt at #5 @Shary at #6 @Hani crest king at Center @Diego at #8 @vinayak at #9 @Abhishek Chikara at #10 @topgear at #11 and @Aser in Sweep. The starting time should be my usual 8:00AM, which I have found is not that much hooter then leaving at 6:00AM, and most of all, as the day progresses and warms up, will make us truly feel the strength, power and unforgiveness of our beloved desert. Enjoy your Saturday evening.

Good morning @Paul Eldho and @Yurybel. If you wish to join tomorrow's AM drive I can add you to the convoy. Please confirm if OK. Thanks

“Belief? What do I believe in? I believe in sun. In rock. In the dogma of the sun and the doctrine of the rock. I believe in blood, fire, woman, rivers, eagles, storm, drums, flutes, banjos, and broom-tailed horses…”

"I find that in contemplating the natural world my pleasure is greater if there are not too many others contemplating it with me, at the same time."