Kalahari

Great video @Ilya Golubinsky - you did well in a high-paced first Intermediary drive. See you soon again!

Well done @Chaitanya D!!!

Congrats @Pancho!

Trip report I arrived at the deflation point at 05:30, on a misty morning, with lots of anticipation. This was my first trip that I had to plan and will lead from start to (semi) finish, and I was quite tentative on what Faqa would dish up today. Thankfully I had the extremely capable @Emmanuel to mentor me on this trip, and a short convoy of very capable Intermediates. We deflated as night turned into day and headed off just after 06:00. Pretty soon we were in moderately technical dunes and we were challenged to use finesse rather than power to make headways. @Mehmet Volga had his first taste of rope recovery, when I (deliberately of course :-)) crested - and he did extremely well, with a very controlled soft tuck to get things going again. We progressed through a very diverse mix of terrains, including semi-highways in dune streets, sharp-crested moderate dunes, long-ranged dunes, and areas of beautiful trees and vegetation. Given the mad congestion at some of the usual off-road hotspots in Dubai, it is always a pleasure to drive in these quite areas where the only other living things seems to be gazelle. We tried to include a few ridges and criss-crossings, and everybody did extremely well. Apart from a few minor refusals, we covered about 47 km to the track to Solar Park, where @Emmanuel took the lead to give us a short taste of Little Sweihan. Unfortunately, by this time the sun was quite bright and the extra-soft sands of LS dished up some unpalatable dessert, mixed with quite a dose of desert sand, with a LOT of shoveling and pushing! At least this provided all of us with invaluable recovery learning, as @Emmanuel showed us multiple ways to attempt self-recovery. Ultimately the use of 2 x kinetic ropes solved a tricky problem - as the convoy of @Ale Vallecchi and @Tbone passed us quietly without even a wave :-(. We exited after a very enjoyable drive (for me at least). All in all 64 km, with the desert mainly to ourselves - what a way to spend a Friday morning! Thanks to @Anish S (on only his second Intermediary drive - you did well!); @Nivin (growing exponentially in confidence in his X!); @Pancho (your dedication to this sport is unparalleled, and you showed some finesse today with your Jeep); and @Mehmet Volga (great job as sweep and supporting the recoveries) - well done do all of you! And thanks @Emmanuel for your advise and support - the worst thing about this sport, is that the more experience you get, the more you realise how little you know! Great to have your experience on hand. Hope to see all of you in the sand soon!

Well done @Najeeb Mohammed!

Well done @sertac!

Well done @Brette!

Congrats @Francois Germishuys!

Congrats @Mehmet Volga - enjoy the new rank.

Well done @Wrangeld Richard!!! Looking forward to many more drives with you - well-deserved.

Respect for @Srikumar for his lead in challenging area, @Chaitanya D for taking the lead with zero hesitation, and @Asif Hussain for showing the difference between Expert and Advance!!! Awesome.

Getting stuck is not a badge of shame. Too short distance from car in front is a key contributor - while this should be avoided, sometimes a sudden slowdown from the car in front (while you are concentrating on immediate terrain) is unavoidable. And getting stuck rather than try to pass on challenging terrain is the safe call.

Very good accelerator control to get out of that pocket @Mohamed Seidam - remember that the person standing outside have a better view of recovery options, but you did well with your Star X. Thanks for the clip!

I use the SEHA app - only govt centres (e.g. Deira harbour centre is a drive-thru!). And you get the results on the spot on your phone.

@Srikumar you can actually do DPI in multiple centres in Dubai (Aed50) - I do it frequentky for traveling to AD office. For next week I have just booked border as well

There are more places in Dubai to do the test - preferably the day before. This will also make it possible to enter closer to our drive?

We have started to use 2 safety ropes recently - lead by @Gaurav - when recovery points are in doubt. This can be used on both cars and give you some extra protection if any point fails. I have ordered mine already...

No need to apologize @jodha singh shekhawat - pop-outs are part of this hobby. You did well on your first Fewbie drive - hopefully many more for you to come.

Great drive prospect! Unfortunately I have a work engagement in the morning, else I would have certainly joined this marathon. Enjoy!