Ahab Shamaa

¡Tienes toda la razón @Alexander Alcala! La actitud en este país es un desastre cuando se trata de gastar dinero 🤪 I fully agree Alexander! While off-roading, we should be listening to radio instructions, the humming of our cars and the tranquility of nature. Now this is an economical solution that I like 😀 I will start reading more of your threads from now on 🤪

Whoa! @Niki Patel, @Heisem, @Gaurav and @Frederic! How the hell do you guys know all this stuff? I had no idea about any of it 😀 Oxygen free cabling? I thought you were gonna say make sure the cables are asbestos free; that’s how ancient my car audio knowledge is 🤣 I felt like I was reading a technical article on Wikipedia. In any event, my humble conclusion from this thread (and a couple of others), is that I need to omit @Niki Patel’s posts from my reading list as they’re not conducive to my good health; financial health that is. After reading Niki’s posts, I somehow always end up spending or think of spending more money 😂 12.1 inch screen, new tires, kill switches, and now to top it all up, a new sound system with oxygen free cables, a subwoofer and insulated doors!!! You guys are killing me! I don’t need any help spending money; I already have a lovely wife who is very effective and efficient at doing that 😅

Can I just say holy moly guacamole! What an adventure Liwa was! Thinking about the whole trip now, I’m really thankful that we all made it back home in one piece 😀 As @Rahimdad said in his post, a few of us spent the week prepping and buying stuff for the trip (I still managed to buy the wrong shovel🤣), and just threw ourselves into this immense, commanding desert. As I left DXB very early, I was at the meeting point at around 6 a.m. When the sun started revealing the dunes surrounding us, my level of nervousness started to rise. Luckily, I quickly took care of my anxiety with an egg paratha sandwich and a nice warm tea😀. Then as I got uneasy again, @Asif Hussain and @Rahimdadshowed up and lightened up the mood. From the first few minutes on the sand I realized that this was not going to be “a walk in the park”. Within the first 15 minutes on the sand, we had already had a few stucks and a couple of re-routes. All in all, I thought the drive was fantastic. What really blew me away though, was the team spirit and camaraderie that everyone in the group exhibited. People were eager to shovel, tug, encourage, advise and counsel. It was great to hear consultative communications over which path to take, which re-routes make more sense, and what recovery method is most appropriate. @Asif Hussain thank you so much for your leadership and your immense patience. You empowered us, let us discover our driving styles, and allowed us to make the types of mistakes that help us grow and build confidence. And how awesome was the first “sand song” that Asif orchestrated? The music was just exhilarating and everyone played so well! @Rahimdad you truly are superman with mad driving skills! I truly regret not taking a video of you doing circles at the bottom of that nasty bowl to gain momentum/speed and come out triumphant. It was jaw-dropping awesomeness💪🏻 The fact that you got me out if a stuck solely in reverse gear, was amazing! I truly believed you could have driven us back to Dubai in reverse 😂 @Brette, you are a kind and gentle soul. I loved your enthusiasm and your eagerness to help everyone on every occasion! This is not to mention the high level of sportsmanship you showed while taking orders from @Rahimdad to shovel harder😂 Truly thanks for all your help and advice! The rest of my fellow drivers, you guys were just great. You showed a positive and helpful attitude that went a long way in lifting the moral of our convoy. Everyone drove fantastically well, everyone was helpful and most importantly everyone wore their patience hat while we tried to figure out how to get out of some infamous stucks 😂 This trip was truly taxing on my body. I drove 712 km back and forth from Dubai to Liwa, plus whatever else we drove in the desert. My shoulders are still aching from shoveling and it took my knees a few hours to stop shaking from the excitement of driving the big bad majestic dunes. If we get to go again next year, I’m driving up there the night before 😀 I’m sure I’ve forgotten lots of details to report from our trip, but my post is already the size of a local newspaper 🤣 It was great seeing you @Gaurav, @Foxtrot Oscar, @Wrangeld, @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @Vanessa8580, and finally meeting you @Frederic and @Srikumar (sorry if I missed anyone else). I look forward to many returns with ya’ll on the sand 🙏🏻

Thanks @Srikumar and @GauravSoni for the information! All I can say is ouch! I should have planned on staying in AD tonight 😂 See you all tomorrow 💪🏻

Hey @Gaurav, for the people who have already done the PCR test in Dubai, what time do you suggest they leave Dubai to reach the convoy on time? Also, for fellow drivers, any plans for the Dubai residents to meet up somewhere convenient on SZR and drive up to Ghantout then Liwa together?

Merci bien @Frederic! God help us on this drive! My medical records and insurance have been updated 😂

Hey @Frederic and @Srikumar, I think I’m being a bit thick by asking this question, but better safe than sorry 😀 For our upcoming Liwa drive on Dec 2nd, if I go and get a PCR test tomorrow, here at Parkview hospital, will I be able to use that test done in Dubai to enter AD and subsequently join the Liwa drive? I show the test at the border (is Ghantout the border where they give and check tests?) and I won’t need to do another test in AD?

A huge thanks to you too @Foxtrot Oscar! You’re a natural leader and your relaxed demeanor always seems to rub off on your herd 😀 Today’s drive was a lot of fun and @Brette and all my fellow drivers were so helpful, it made the drive even more pleasurable. I also enjoyed our collective shoveling exercise, and it made me realize how out of shape I am 😂 The fact that Angela and @Veedooshee were first and second lead, made a hugely positive impression on my 10 year old daughter (on me too😀) 💪🏻 Great driving with you guys, and see you soon on the sand 😀

Hey @DANIEL NOGUEIRA, I’m sorry you had the car issue; and today of all days ☹️ I hope it’s nothing serious, and that you get to fix your truck real soon. See you on the next one buddy!

Oops 😀 sorry my friend! You know what @Rahimdad, at these prices though, it looks like all I’ll be doing is watching 😂

Words of wisdom from our one and only @Rahimdad 😀 God willing, I’m taking everyone’s advice and resting the night before and I’m showing up with my game face on. And just in case, I’m scheduling massages before and after the drive. I’ve also asked my lovely wife to prepare a hot bath and to check on our supply of Tylenol 😂 In all seriousness though, I’m looking forward to exploring Liwa and to driving its lovely sands with me fellow “Carnityans”😀💪🏻 @Wrangeld, I’ll bring some Panadol for us, just in case 😂

Holy crap! You guys are making me nervous now 😧 If I don't make it out of Liwa, I'd like to announce on record that I'm leaving my FJ to @Rahimdad 😉

@Atif, @Frederic, @topgear, @sertac. have you guys seen the new Rivian yet? It looks pretty cool... https://rivian.com/

Hey @Niki Patel, you’re such a gentleman being concerned for the wellbeing of others. I applaud that trait, but as Jedi Master @Gaurav said, you should be fine; just take it easy and enjoy yourself. Lots of fellow drivers have H rated tires... My absolute newbie drive was led by @Gaurav. I got stuck so badly within two minutes of starting the drive, that Gaurav had to drive my car to get it out of the sand. Then I got stuck again after a few minutes. In my case, it wasn’t so much the tires, as it was my idiocy 😂 I thought I was in 4 Hi while in reality I was 2 wheel drive mode. Then when I got it to 4 Hi, I didn’t know how to turn off the traction controls (I thought I did). It wasn’t until my third drive, that a fellow driver showed me how. The moral of the story is for you to go into these drives whole heartedly, and face whatever happens as a group/team. Finally, you drive a 2020 “queen of the desert” for crying out loud, it can’t get much better than that😀 Enjoy your drive and see you soon!

Hey @Ale Vallecchi, great info as usual, thank you! Question: what does your kill switch do?

Yes sir @Mohamed Seidam, the first time I clicked to register, the system must have glitched because it told me the limit has been reached 🤪 As soon as I finished typing my message to be added to the WL, I received a notification saying that I was going to the drive; go figure! In any event, the main thing is that I get to go; so no complaints here 😀

Please add me to waitlist

Hey @Niki Patel, I see you hit the ground running; or popping-out I should say (I just finished reading your absolute newbie post) 😂 Welcome to the club! Regarding the tires, I took @Gaurav’s advice and switched from BF Goodrich AT to the Yokohamas. I couldn’t be happier. They’re much quieter on the highway and they handle very well on the sand. You’ll feel the difference when you make the switch yourself. When it comes to the pressure sensors on the tires, they’re a true pain. My wife has them on her 2020 LR Discovery and they’re always indicating something😅Really annoying. If you can disable yours with a fuse removal, so be it. If not, look for a more permanent solution when you change your tires. Finally, my ABS doesn’t disable when I switch off traction control. Are you sure yours does? I don’t think it hurts the car and mine comes on every once in a while. I’m used to it now, and it doesn’t startle me anymore. I wish we had a kill switch for the airbags though. That’s something that worries me... @Ale Vallecchi and @Najeeb Mohammed are fellow FJ drivers, and are my source of information on the FJ for the most part. You might want to hit them up for questions/advice (you might as well up your whisky ante, as you’ll owe to more than just @Gaurav in this case) 🤣 In any event, good luck with it all, and hope to see you on a future drive soon 😀

What an exciting drive this was! Once more, Murquab lives up to its reputation by throwing some major wrenches at us 😀 Within the first few minutes of the drive, we had a pop-out, which @Lorenzo Candelpergher handled to perfection with his skills, able hands, and the small Speedex shop he keeps in the back of his car 😂 As the maestro that he is, @Wrangeld used the pop-out as an opportunity to demonstrate to us how to fix it. Thanks to the collective efforts of all, we managed to fix the pop-out and were on our way. Along the way, we had some refusals, some stucks, but most of all, some pure, adrenaline generating fun, gliding over the cool sands of Murquab. The pace was pretty decent for a newbie drive, and I firmly believe we all left the drive having learned many new things about off-roading and about each other. In solidarity with the group, our fearless leaders Richard and Lorenzo, also managed to get themselves stuck 😂 Lorenzo’s was a cresting that resulted in Richard giving him a tug. Literally, a minute later, as Richard came back to lead the pack after recovering Lorenzo, he got stuck himself. And wouldn’t you know it, Richard’s stuck resulted in Lorenzo returning the favor and tugging Richard out 🤪 The desert can be quite bumpy and can result in the loss of front bumpers; @Explored Dubai, I’m really sorry for your loss☹️. When your red flag also flew off, my daughter said: “papa, after the pop-out and the bumper, we have to help him; let’s go get the flag and give it back to him” and so we did. You kept in high spirits though and that’s very important. Last but not least, it was great seeing @Ale Vallecchi, @Gaurav and a few other familiar Carnity faces at the end of our drive. Meeting @Rahimdad in person takes the cake though; a true superman! Thanks to all my fellow drivers for your respectfulness and your never-ending willingness to help. It was great driving with you all. A special thanks goes out to @Lorenzo Candelpergher and his young handsome co-pilot for taking the time to film the convoy using a drone. I can’t wait to see the end result! Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone, and see you on the sand really soon!

@Foxtrot Oscar, I wanted to reconquer Murquab with Richard. I will also have a passenger who would appreciate a calmer newbie drive...

Looks like I’ll be seeing you @Malachy McGrogan and @Foxtrot Oscar in Liwa 😀

Congratulations @Malachy McGrogan! Well deserved 👏🏻

Oh wow! That’s gonna to be so cool 😀 Thanks @Wrangeld and @Lorenzo Candelpergher! You guys make a great team 😍

@Luca Bregni, I’m sorry to hear that ☹️ Asking someone to work on Friday morning is a very mean thing to do. The good news though is that there’ll be more drives to Murquab... See you on the next one! BTW, @Wrangeld, what was @Ale Vallecchi talking about when he said ask Richard about Murquab? Did you experience something there? If it’s a long story and you don’t feel like typing, you can tell it on Friday 😀

This is exciting 😀👍🏻