Chase the Sunset III
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alshamsi_m
- Founder
- Posts: 839
- Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:29 am
- Location: Al Hamriyah
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Hello Everyone
I can't believe that our weekend is over ??!! We just started !!!!
My trip started early this time to capture the sunset in Liwa but on the way I discovered that my fridge is not working, having no cold drinks in the desert is not a good idea so either I try my luck in industrial area in have a quick fix or decide to go back to classic and get cooler and ice ??? I am not going to tell you my decision, but was there to enjoy the sunset in Moreeb area. grin
Once the darkness arrived, the sky opened up with shining stars and the Milky Way was so clear " Priceless " .
The company at camp was amazing and the harmony at its peek " Priceless too "
The next day drive was just as captivating as the night before. We had a great time in place where you see only endless DUNES around you.
Thank you Liwa for all what you are giving us and I wish you don't keep shrinking because you have lots of FANS.
Till next Liwa take care and get ready for more adventure.
Cheers
I can't believe that our weekend is over ??!! We just started !!!!
My trip started early this time to capture the sunset in Liwa but on the way I discovered that my fridge is not working, having no cold drinks in the desert is not a good idea so either I try my luck in industrial area in have a quick fix or decide to go back to classic and get cooler and ice ??? I am not going to tell you my decision, but was there to enjoy the sunset in Moreeb area. grin
Once the darkness arrived, the sky opened up with shining stars and the Milky Way was so clear " Priceless " .
The company at camp was amazing and the harmony at its peek " Priceless too "
The next day drive was just as captivating as the night before. We had a great time in place where you see only endless DUNES around you.
Thank you Liwa for all what you are giving us and I wish you don't keep shrinking because you have lots of FANS.
Till next Liwa take care and get ready for more adventure.
Cheers
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rapailo
- Marshal
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 1:34 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 8 times
- Been thanked: 11 times
When it comes to Liwa there are always two parts that person experience. First is long drive to Liwa and amazing night between dune is what can be called endless piece. Second part is drive itself that usually leaves equally intense memory.
This time I had a passenger [mention]Christiaan[/mention] that assisted me with all challenges that Liwa puts in front of all drivers. We arrived much quicker than what it was the case usually thanks to new speed limit of 160km/h. on fire I like it sooo much. On the last petrol station where we stopped for filling the tank we met [mention]Aligi[/mention] and [mention]osman[/mention]. From that point we proceeded as small convoy.
And guess what? As soon as we hit the dunes first think we saw was [mention]giorgio[/mention] trying to show us the way that does not go over his tent. Once we reached fire was already i place. It was well known group of people. Night continued with some chit chat, meet and unwanted visitors. I have to say that having a small baby sleeping in same room for last 4 months makes sleeping in the desert as 5 star hotel.
In the morning after a quick breakfast and coffee all of us were more than ready to hit the dunes. As usual Liwa gets best and worst out of every driver and car. We had 2 cars down both of them leading once. [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and not long after him [mention]Booy[/mention] had to leave the convoy. I believe this made us all think that same can happen to any of us at any point. After cars even drivers started failing. I made a mistake not following the track and ended up in tricky stuck with a pop out. There were few mistakes in a row that indicated that drivers are tired or not concentrated. Drive ended not faraway from our starting point.
I believe I finished this drive with some good reminders. Hopefully my drives become more intensive and often. See you on the sand again.
This time I had a passenger [mention]Christiaan[/mention] that assisted me with all challenges that Liwa puts in front of all drivers. We arrived much quicker than what it was the case usually thanks to new speed limit of 160km/h. on fire I like it sooo much. On the last petrol station where we stopped for filling the tank we met [mention]Aligi[/mention] and [mention]osman[/mention]. From that point we proceeded as small convoy.
And guess what? As soon as we hit the dunes first think we saw was [mention]giorgio[/mention] trying to show us the way that does not go over his tent. Once we reached fire was already i place. It was well known group of people. Night continued with some chit chat, meet and unwanted visitors. I have to say that having a small baby sleeping in same room for last 4 months makes sleeping in the desert as 5 star hotel.
In the morning after a quick breakfast and coffee all of us were more than ready to hit the dunes. As usual Liwa gets best and worst out of every driver and car. We had 2 cars down both of them leading once. [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and not long after him [mention]Booy[/mention] had to leave the convoy. I believe this made us all think that same can happen to any of us at any point. After cars even drivers started failing. I made a mistake not following the track and ended up in tricky stuck with a pop out. There were few mistakes in a row that indicated that drivers are tired or not concentrated. Drive ended not faraway from our starting point.
I believe I finished this drive with some good reminders. Hopefully my drives become more intensive and often. See you on the sand again.
Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want
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Daggerfall
- Marshal
- Posts: 341
- Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2014 11:23 am
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Hi Almosters,
* The first thing come to my mind is the amazing meats and rolls given to my hand just few steps after I got out of my car even before I say "hello" when I arrived to the camp grin . And I said to my self " This is going to be a nice weekend " . Thanks to all cooks of the night and morning!
* The food, stars, stories ,jokes , camp fire and the "spider slayer" [mention]Mabubaker[/mention] will be remembered XD
* Liwa is beautiful but at the same time very very dangerous. Maybe not noticed by many of you but in the very beginning of the drive I found my self in a nasty hole while floating around.....alone and away from convoy. Luckily I managed to reach [mention]Agalon[/mention] in the last seconds but he just heard me once , not aware where I was and couldn't talk to each other.....I managed to got out of that hole and told my self ...."Now you are at Liwa and Liwa does not care how experienced you are ....wake up and be respectful" brigade.baka-wolf.com
* The drive was smooth, Liwa was beautiful and watching the convoy passing through the sabkhas from the top was hypnotizing .We were watching the members doing the drops on the edge and the entire wall was shaking while the cars was going down...It was an interesting feeling
* I was amazed one more time with the FJ Cruiser....The engine was looking like about to fall down but still managed to go through all those challenging areas and out of the desert and all the way to home ....Respect!! thumbsup
* In the afternoon we attacked to the top parts of the Liwa but when the area was just getting more interesting with big bowls and beautiful scenes, we had other technical issues and everybody showed signs of fatigue......we called it a day and head back to Moreeb...
It was an amazing weekend with good memories....and stories to tell in the upcoming camps
Thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for organizing the trip and thanks to all supported and participated.
See you next time!.....And to Liwa, hope we will come back soon!
P.S. : Didn't had much chance but I took some few shots and will share soon
* The first thing come to my mind is the amazing meats and rolls given to my hand just few steps after I got out of my car even before I say "hello" when I arrived to the camp grin . And I said to my self " This is going to be a nice weekend " . Thanks to all cooks of the night and morning!
* The food, stars, stories ,jokes , camp fire and the "spider slayer" [mention]Mabubaker[/mention] will be remembered XD
* Liwa is beautiful but at the same time very very dangerous. Maybe not noticed by many of you but in the very beginning of the drive I found my self in a nasty hole while floating around.....alone and away from convoy. Luckily I managed to reach [mention]Agalon[/mention] in the last seconds but he just heard me once , not aware where I was and couldn't talk to each other.....I managed to got out of that hole and told my self ...."Now you are at Liwa and Liwa does not care how experienced you are ....wake up and be respectful" brigade.baka-wolf.com
* The drive was smooth, Liwa was beautiful and watching the convoy passing through the sabkhas from the top was hypnotizing .We were watching the members doing the drops on the edge and the entire wall was shaking while the cars was going down...It was an interesting feeling
* I was amazed one more time with the FJ Cruiser....The engine was looking like about to fall down but still managed to go through all those challenging areas and out of the desert and all the way to home ....Respect!! thumbsup
* In the afternoon we attacked to the top parts of the Liwa but when the area was just getting more interesting with big bowls and beautiful scenes, we had other technical issues and everybody showed signs of fatigue......we called it a day and head back to Moreeb...
It was an amazing weekend with good memories....and stories to tell in the upcoming camps
Thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for organizing the trip and thanks to all supported and participated.
See you next time!.....And to Liwa, hope we will come back soon!
P.S. : Didn't had much chance but I took some few shots and will share soon
" I feel the need, the need for Speed " 
Drives Black FJ " VF-1 Valkyrie " , Mob: 050 725 09 31
Drives Black FJ " VF-1 Valkyrie " , Mob: 050 725 09 31
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giorgio
- Marshal
- Posts: 451
- Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2017 4:04 pm
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Chase the sunset III
This time the playground for the drivers was set to be in LIWA.
All week the chat box was buzzing with drivers preparing their cars and camping gear to visit the mother of all deserts.
[mention]JockJKU[/mention] [mention]Rooies[/mention] and myself formed a small convoy and we left Dubai at 6:30 sharp as it was scheduled. The drive to Liwa was a pleasant drive with no traffic or delays. In our way to the camp we receive the news that we already had a victim car dropping out of the event. Outlaw was diagnosed with a transmission failure. These news although sad, it is to be expected when visiting Liwa, this place always claims a % of our cars in every trip. The question is who will be the victim and not if we will have any.
Reaching to the camp we found several drivers already been there sitting in absolute dark with no camp fire. None of them including us had manage to find a gas station that had firewood.
After the standard greetings the cooks went to town. Two grill stations were set [mention]optimus[/mention] and [mention]Phoenix[/mention] on station one with lamp chops and stakes and me on the second station with souvlaki kebabs.
As the food was been served new arrivals were joining the camp claiming their food portions and a seat around the imaginary camp fire.
Later in the evening [mention]Booy[/mention] arrived and he had a nice surprise for all of us, FIREWOOD. For once more we had the perfect set up. A family circle with a campfire, well fed members chatting about cars under the clear skies and a bright milky-way.
Since i change from the truck to the Jeep i had not have the chance to camp. Since with the jeep i have to travel light (space also is limited compare to the truck) i had a total new camping gear set up that i would have try for the first time. Lessons learned from this trip is as follows:
It makes no difference of how good your equipment is or how well organized you are if you don"t know what you are doing or if you try to cheat and you pull the lazy card. In my case, I was too tiered and lazy to look for the right camping ground so i just set my camp after passing the first dune.
Mistakes:
a) i set my camp right on the path of the incoming traffic (late arrivals) . That resulted to all night having cars arriving and me worrying if they will run me over or crash in my car.
b) i set my camp on a slope, thinking that I will be fine if i put my head up-hill. Big mistake, I was sliding down on the bottom of the tend all night.
c) learn your new equipment: As mentioned earlier I had a new set up and although i had practice on the set up of the tent ( which was easy to put up and take down) i had not review my self- inflated mattress, so I ended up sleeping on it with it not having any air inside ( i did not lock the valve).
In the middle of the night i tried to correct all the above by dragging my tend to a different location. Long story short i got to sleep only 4 hours. Lessons learned and on my next camp i wont repeat the same silly mistakes. No more cutting corners. Do it once and do it right.
The morning found us all in a great mood with cooking stations set everywhere. I am not a morning cook so do not ever ever expect to see me morning cooking BF but there were other members that this is were they are excelling. The menu had eggs with Soujouk Thank you [mention]Agalon[/mention] coffee from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] turkish delights from [mention]osman[/mention] scrambled eggs from [mention]optimus[/mention] home made brownies and pitas from [mention]panos[/mention] wife Maria and the list went on and on.
The BF time was followed by the drive briefing which was short and to the point and the convoy was set in its way for a long day full of promises for adventure.
The drive to the boarders ( first part of the drive) was relatively easy with plenty flat areas, some technical parts and couple of walls that we needed to decent. Overall no major issues and delays the convoy did well and we all were enjoying the drive.
Reaching on the boarders with KSA and as was promised from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] we got to understand the meaning of if you hear bees buzzing be aware these are not bees they are bullets. The army patrol interrupted our track and we had to divert and adapt to a different direction. Thanks to our experience organizer (in regards to knowing the area) we were brought to the Moreeb Dune were we all had the opportunity to decent it and then play around with attempts to climbing back up.
At this point we lost couple of cars with technical problems and some drivers that they decided to leave early.
After re-fulling [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] took the lead for the second part of the drive which was technical on medium size dunes with plenty patches of soft sand.
It was obvious that the majority of the drivers were tiered and the convoy was disorganized but our experienced lead stopped the convoy for a briefing. The moral of the briefing ( mild slap on the wrist) was either you respect Liwa and we all go back home safe or we get to pay the price and stay here until late night trying to solve problems that will be the results of our negligence.
I would like to say that after the warning we received we did better but we actually only improve the convoy discipline. The drivers were worn out, and not able to coop with the demanding terrain which was requiring full concentration.
[mention]Daggerfall[/mention] having in mind that there is always a long trip back home decided to bring the drive to an end two hours earlier. I believe it was a good call as no one complaint for this sad news.
As always it was one more successful drive which left all drivers drained out of energy and full of satisfaction, memories and new skills under their belts.
For the new drivers the following mistakes are to be taken upon consideration:
a) keep distance: In this terrain (free of other tracks) you need to have a big distance from the car in-front of you. As we all noticed nobody lost the track but on the contrary we had several close calls for accidents, stuck and second tries.
b) always stop your car in a way that you will be able to start again without getting caught from a surprising batch of soft sand ( something that i failed to do and I got stuck myself)
c) Do not change the track stay on the original one been drafted by the lead car. Deviating from it will result into putting all drivers behind you in a possible dangerous situation.
Closing my report, I would like to thank the organizer and support for all their efforts to deliver a wonderful experience full of unexpected events and thrills.
Credit to all drivers for their efforts to complete the drive in a safe manner.
Hope to see you soon all in Liwa for a Payback as [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] said.
See you soon until then drive safe and have fun.
P.S credit to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for giving me the stocking for my snorkel. For the first time I opened my air intake box and i had not trace of sand in the it. The best part is that in no point i felt my car loosing any power ( as some may claim that it starves the engine from air).
This time the playground for the drivers was set to be in LIWA.
All week the chat box was buzzing with drivers preparing their cars and camping gear to visit the mother of all deserts.
[mention]JockJKU[/mention] [mention]Rooies[/mention] and myself formed a small convoy and we left Dubai at 6:30 sharp as it was scheduled. The drive to Liwa was a pleasant drive with no traffic or delays. In our way to the camp we receive the news that we already had a victim car dropping out of the event. Outlaw was diagnosed with a transmission failure. These news although sad, it is to be expected when visiting Liwa, this place always claims a % of our cars in every trip. The question is who will be the victim and not if we will have any.
Reaching to the camp we found several drivers already been there sitting in absolute dark with no camp fire. None of them including us had manage to find a gas station that had firewood.
After the standard greetings the cooks went to town. Two grill stations were set [mention]optimus[/mention] and [mention]Phoenix[/mention] on station one with lamp chops and stakes and me on the second station with souvlaki kebabs.
As the food was been served new arrivals were joining the camp claiming their food portions and a seat around the imaginary camp fire.
Later in the evening [mention]Booy[/mention] arrived and he had a nice surprise for all of us, FIREWOOD. For once more we had the perfect set up. A family circle with a campfire, well fed members chatting about cars under the clear skies and a bright milky-way.
Since i change from the truck to the Jeep i had not have the chance to camp. Since with the jeep i have to travel light (space also is limited compare to the truck) i had a total new camping gear set up that i would have try for the first time. Lessons learned from this trip is as follows:
It makes no difference of how good your equipment is or how well organized you are if you don"t know what you are doing or if you try to cheat and you pull the lazy card. In my case, I was too tiered and lazy to look for the right camping ground so i just set my camp after passing the first dune.
Mistakes:
a) i set my camp right on the path of the incoming traffic (late arrivals) . That resulted to all night having cars arriving and me worrying if they will run me over or crash in my car.
b) i set my camp on a slope, thinking that I will be fine if i put my head up-hill. Big mistake, I was sliding down on the bottom of the tend all night.
c) learn your new equipment: As mentioned earlier I had a new set up and although i had practice on the set up of the tent ( which was easy to put up and take down) i had not review my self- inflated mattress, so I ended up sleeping on it with it not having any air inside ( i did not lock the valve).
In the middle of the night i tried to correct all the above by dragging my tend to a different location. Long story short i got to sleep only 4 hours. Lessons learned and on my next camp i wont repeat the same silly mistakes. No more cutting corners. Do it once and do it right.
The morning found us all in a great mood with cooking stations set everywhere. I am not a morning cook so do not ever ever expect to see me morning cooking BF but there were other members that this is were they are excelling. The menu had eggs with Soujouk Thank you [mention]Agalon[/mention] coffee from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] turkish delights from [mention]osman[/mention] scrambled eggs from [mention]optimus[/mention] home made brownies and pitas from [mention]panos[/mention] wife Maria and the list went on and on.
The BF time was followed by the drive briefing which was short and to the point and the convoy was set in its way for a long day full of promises for adventure.
The drive to the boarders ( first part of the drive) was relatively easy with plenty flat areas, some technical parts and couple of walls that we needed to decent. Overall no major issues and delays the convoy did well and we all were enjoying the drive.
Reaching on the boarders with KSA and as was promised from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] we got to understand the meaning of if you hear bees buzzing be aware these are not bees they are bullets. The army patrol interrupted our track and we had to divert and adapt to a different direction. Thanks to our experience organizer (in regards to knowing the area) we were brought to the Moreeb Dune were we all had the opportunity to decent it and then play around with attempts to climbing back up.
At this point we lost couple of cars with technical problems and some drivers that they decided to leave early.
After re-fulling [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] took the lead for the second part of the drive which was technical on medium size dunes with plenty patches of soft sand.
It was obvious that the majority of the drivers were tiered and the convoy was disorganized but our experienced lead stopped the convoy for a briefing. The moral of the briefing ( mild slap on the wrist) was either you respect Liwa and we all go back home safe or we get to pay the price and stay here until late night trying to solve problems that will be the results of our negligence.
I would like to say that after the warning we received we did better but we actually only improve the convoy discipline. The drivers were worn out, and not able to coop with the demanding terrain which was requiring full concentration.
[mention]Daggerfall[/mention] having in mind that there is always a long trip back home decided to bring the drive to an end two hours earlier. I believe it was a good call as no one complaint for this sad news.
As always it was one more successful drive which left all drivers drained out of energy and full of satisfaction, memories and new skills under their belts.
For the new drivers the following mistakes are to be taken upon consideration:
a) keep distance: In this terrain (free of other tracks) you need to have a big distance from the car in-front of you. As we all noticed nobody lost the track but on the contrary we had several close calls for accidents, stuck and second tries.
b) always stop your car in a way that you will be able to start again without getting caught from a surprising batch of soft sand ( something that i failed to do and I got stuck myself)
c) Do not change the track stay on the original one been drafted by the lead car. Deviating from it will result into putting all drivers behind you in a possible dangerous situation.
Closing my report, I would like to thank the organizer and support for all their efforts to deliver a wonderful experience full of unexpected events and thrills.
Credit to all drivers for their efforts to complete the drive in a safe manner.
Hope to see you soon all in Liwa for a Payback as [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] said.
See you soon until then drive safe and have fun.
P.S credit to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for giving me the stocking for my snorkel. For the first time I opened my air intake box and i had not trace of sand in the it. The best part is that in no point i felt my car loosing any power ( as some may claim that it starves the engine from air).
The Wolf is not concerned with the opinion of the sheep
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JockJKU
- Club Member
- Posts: 231
- Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2016 5:47 pm
Morning All!
Some really good reports so far that cover everything in detail, so i have nothing really to add other than on the lessons learned.
Till next time,
Jock
Some really good reports so far that cover everything in detail, so i have nothing really to add other than on the lessons learned.
- Distance - Leave much more distance than in a normal drive - nearly all the incidents we had in the afternoon were because distance was too small
- Radio Comms - Needs to be better and faster. And please newbies keep the channel clear when Marshals are dealing with an incident. i know you want to help and give advice, but please do not instruct another newbie what to do and please let marshals/support team arrive at the scene and let them deal with it.
- At Newbie level - Maintain convoy order, do not overtake unless instructed by a Marshal - We nearly had 2 cars crash on a crest where the first car got stuck, which is crazy
- In Liwa especially, if you hear radio for a stuck car or a second try, find someone near your current location to stop in a safe way. There were too many times people kept driving so they could see what was happening and ended up all bunched on soft sand at bad angles and getting stuck when trying to move again.
Till next time,
Jock
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optimus
- Marshal
- Posts: 128
- Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:16 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 249 times
- Been thanked: 284 times
Hello Everyone!
The excitement started much ahead of the actual trip. Myself, [mention]kareem.alameldin[/mention] , [mention]Phoenix[/mention] & [mention]thursday[/mention] opened up a separate group “liwa preparations” on telegram. We started to discuss what all things each one of us is going to get for the camp, shared responsibilities etc and also the idea came up to drive all together in a group from Jebel Ali all the way upto camp site. We decided to leave around 3 pm so we could catch the sunset at the camp but luck had something else stored for us. Unfortunately, Thursday couldn’t join us due to some other unavoidable commitments, Kareem couldn’t make it to jebel ali on time but instead [mention]Johanna[/mention] joined us. So, it was me, Phoenix & Johanna. Phoenix at front, Johanna 2nd & mine was the 3rd car. We left from jebel ali around 3:15 pm. Cruising at 140kmph all the way upto Ghuweifat highway. Once on ghuweifat highway Phoenix's 'outlaw’ went all out and I could feel the speedo going to 175 kmph. We reached the last petrol station at 5:30 pm where we refilled our cars. There is when the outlaw’s transmission decided to give up. Rest of the story I will leave Phoenix to explain. From there myself & Phoenix were together. Once we reached the camp entrance, I was trying to reach Johanna on the radio but was interrupted by Bu Salem who was watching us from the top of the dune, saying that I can see you guys. We looked up and saw that he is signaling us with a flasher. We followed the path and reached the camping site.
It was amazing to see the shinning stars, the milky way.
Bu Salem had that app installed in his phone with which we could even see the constellations. It was my first-time experience. Wonderful it was!
Then slowly the number started to grow. I was feeling very hungry & desperately waiting for kareem as he had got all the meat with him. As [mention]giorgio[/mention] mentioned we had 2 cooking stations. One was with the chops & steaks & the other one was busy with kebab’s & pita.
The meat was very tender, well marinated, full of flavor. every bite was YUM!!!. I ate a lot. The night ended with a nice chit chat, sharing funny stories, jokes etc. It couldn’t have been better than that. grin
Drive Day-
We gathered for a quick breakfast, packed up the things, quick check to the car and lined up in the convoy. Bu Salem took the lead, Booy 2nd lead, Jock was sweeping, Yorgoch & Issa were placed within the convoy whereas Solmaz,Barish,Agalon & Daggerfall were floating. The sand was very soft so it was important to keep up with the momentum & control on the speed. I did few mistakes. 1 on the 2nd drop, engaged my 2nd gear +4lo I completely released the gas pedal but as soon as I realized the car is fish tailing, drifting, I immediately adjusted the steering & a slight foot on the gas and it was back under control. 2nd is I generally need to work on controlling my speed. Few times I was too fast driving on the side wall & coming down. I am sure all this will get rectified with time & driving with the wonderful people & with their guidance & support.
We had few technical glitches, Stucks, clogged air filter, steel wires getting rolled & getting stuck on the wheels, few times liwa was turned into sheikh Zayed road but immediately the leaders stopped the convoy for a quick briefing which indirectly was a clear message.
” respect liwa & we all go home safe in 1 piece”
To be honest I could continue writing upto 5 pages but I will leave my fellow almosters also to share their experience. Hence, I conclude my first liwa report with a mighty thanks to:
[mention]alshamsi_m[/mention]
[mention]Agalon[/mention]
[mention]Barish[/mention]
[mention]Booy[/mention]
[mention]Daggerfall[/mention]
[mention]giorgio[/mention]
[mention]Issa[/mention]
[mention]JockJKU[/mention]
[mention]Solmaz[/mention]
Till Next time
The excitement started much ahead of the actual trip. Myself, [mention]kareem.alameldin[/mention] , [mention]Phoenix[/mention] & [mention]thursday[/mention] opened up a separate group “liwa preparations” on telegram. We started to discuss what all things each one of us is going to get for the camp, shared responsibilities etc and also the idea came up to drive all together in a group from Jebel Ali all the way upto camp site. We decided to leave around 3 pm so we could catch the sunset at the camp but luck had something else stored for us. Unfortunately, Thursday couldn’t join us due to some other unavoidable commitments, Kareem couldn’t make it to jebel ali on time but instead [mention]Johanna[/mention] joined us. So, it was me, Phoenix & Johanna. Phoenix at front, Johanna 2nd & mine was the 3rd car. We left from jebel ali around 3:15 pm. Cruising at 140kmph all the way upto Ghuweifat highway. Once on ghuweifat highway Phoenix's 'outlaw’ went all out and I could feel the speedo going to 175 kmph. We reached the last petrol station at 5:30 pm where we refilled our cars. There is when the outlaw’s transmission decided to give up. Rest of the story I will leave Phoenix to explain. From there myself & Phoenix were together. Once we reached the camp entrance, I was trying to reach Johanna on the radio but was interrupted by Bu Salem who was watching us from the top of the dune, saying that I can see you guys. We looked up and saw that he is signaling us with a flasher. We followed the path and reached the camping site.
It was amazing to see the shinning stars, the milky way.
Bu Salem had that app installed in his phone with which we could even see the constellations. It was my first-time experience. Wonderful it was!
Then slowly the number started to grow. I was feeling very hungry & desperately waiting for kareem as he had got all the meat with him. As [mention]giorgio[/mention] mentioned we had 2 cooking stations. One was with the chops & steaks & the other one was busy with kebab’s & pita.
The meat was very tender, well marinated, full of flavor. every bite was YUM!!!. I ate a lot. The night ended with a nice chit chat, sharing funny stories, jokes etc. It couldn’t have been better than that. grin
Drive Day-
We gathered for a quick breakfast, packed up the things, quick check to the car and lined up in the convoy. Bu Salem took the lead, Booy 2nd lead, Jock was sweeping, Yorgoch & Issa were placed within the convoy whereas Solmaz,Barish,Agalon & Daggerfall were floating. The sand was very soft so it was important to keep up with the momentum & control on the speed. I did few mistakes. 1 on the 2nd drop, engaged my 2nd gear +4lo I completely released the gas pedal but as soon as I realized the car is fish tailing, drifting, I immediately adjusted the steering & a slight foot on the gas and it was back under control. 2nd is I generally need to work on controlling my speed. Few times I was too fast driving on the side wall & coming down. I am sure all this will get rectified with time & driving with the wonderful people & with their guidance & support.
We had few technical glitches, Stucks, clogged air filter, steel wires getting rolled & getting stuck on the wheels, few times liwa was turned into sheikh Zayed road but immediately the leaders stopped the convoy for a quick briefing which indirectly was a clear message.
” respect liwa & we all go home safe in 1 piece”
To be honest I could continue writing upto 5 pages but I will leave my fellow almosters also to share their experience. Hence, I conclude my first liwa report with a mighty thanks to:
[mention]alshamsi_m[/mention]
[mention]Agalon[/mention]
[mention]Barish[/mention]
[mention]Booy[/mention]
[mention]Daggerfall[/mention]
[mention]giorgio[/mention]
[mention]Issa[/mention]
[mention]JockJKU[/mention]
[mention]Solmaz[/mention]
Till Next time
Optimus
Black FJ (The Godfather)
0509144194
Black FJ (The Godfather)
0509144194
-
Johanna
- Golden Member
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:04 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 1 time
"Everything can happen in Liwa"
And everything happend.
The Camp
I teamed up with [mention]Phoenix[/mention] and [mention]optimus[/mention] and we left Jebel Ali at 3pm. Thanks to the speed limit of 160kmph on the highway we reached the last patrol station at 5.30pm. We were just about to leave towards the camp when [mention]Phoenix[/mention] discovered, that he could not engage reverse gear. After he consulted his mechanic via phone we decided to leave outlaw behind the gas station and Optimus offered his passenger seat.
Nearly the whole staff of the patrol station tried to push the car out of the parking slot, but it was impossible as the wheels were not spinning at all. So I dragged him out with the rope and we left the car in a street behind the gas station. First car down
We arrived at the camp site around 7pm, finding [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] enjoying the beautiful night sky and the silence of Liwa.
We had a nice evening with amazing food, thanks [mention]giorgio[/mention] [mention]optimus[/mention] and [mention]kareem.alameldin[/mention], it was delicious grin
As usual at bedtime, everyone took his/her car looking for a place to sleep. As per the rule "the place you got stuck is the place you camp" two people spent the night on top of a dune. :P
This season I decided to keep my life simple and so I slept on a camping bed under the milky way, especially in Liwa with a minimum of light pollution an extra ordinary experience.
The drive -Part1
I woke up early around 6am, flashed by this stunning view of high dunes with beautiful colours. Even it is not my first Liwa trip, this view leaves me stunning everytime
We started the drive after breakfast and briefing we started the drive towards Saudi border, crossing chains of dunes and sabkhas in between. Drivers were still fresh and well-rested, so the convoy drove without serious incidents through bowls and climbs, but this should change...
On this part of the drive we had two high drops, and I have to confess that I was really nervous as I have fear of heights. But as we were well instructed on how to drive down this kind of drops (4lo 2. gear and slowly, keeping the car stable) I went down safely and I was proud that I faced and overcame my fear.
On a short break we learned that one FJ had a broken engine mount and will leave at the next possible exit route - second car down
We reached the Saudi border and things happened there which should be discussed around a camp fire...we reached Moreeb dune for playtime, lunch and fuel refill.
The drive - Part 2
We continued the drive and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] took over the lead position.
A this point drivers were already tired and so we faced all kind of incidents...stucks, crests, mechanical issues, pop out and the third car down
We received a re-briefing with the warning to closely follow the main rules and show respect to this place, as it might not forgive drivers mistakes.
We continued, and on a climb I noticed a significant loss of power and we cleaned the airfilter which was clogged. Thanks for the help here guys, highly appreciated! After the cleaning I started climbing again, not able to reach the top again, I got stuck in a strange way. My first idea: Oh no, there is another serious problem with my car as it is not able climb" I tried to move, but somehow I was stuck. Then [mention]Solmaz[/mention] warned me via radio to stop moving, as my tires caught a wire! Its Liwa, so expect the unexpected!
The wire was tangled around the tire, but we were lucky and could remove it easily without any damage.
Shortly after this incident I got stuck in a soft sand patch. This stuck is a perfect example what will happen if are not 100% focused in Liwa.
There was an easy looking small climb, so I did not pay the necessary attention to the car in front of me and which approach angle he chose. So I chose the wrong approach, and ended up just one meter next to the track in super soft sand pit. No self recovery possible, so [mention]Agalon[/mention] pulled me out.
Always stay focused, this area is unpredictable!
We finished the drive around 4.30 pm at Moreeb dune and I guess everyone was tired but happy and full of new impressions and memories. I think we had a proper Liwa adventure, and I am glad to hear that all three broken cars made it home safely.
Thank you everyone for this unforgetable Liwa weekend!
See you all in the sand
And everything happend.
The Camp
I teamed up with [mention]Phoenix[/mention] and [mention]optimus[/mention] and we left Jebel Ali at 3pm. Thanks to the speed limit of 160kmph on the highway we reached the last patrol station at 5.30pm. We were just about to leave towards the camp when [mention]Phoenix[/mention] discovered, that he could not engage reverse gear. After he consulted his mechanic via phone we decided to leave outlaw behind the gas station and Optimus offered his passenger seat.
Nearly the whole staff of the patrol station tried to push the car out of the parking slot, but it was impossible as the wheels were not spinning at all. So I dragged him out with the rope and we left the car in a street behind the gas station. First car down
We arrived at the camp site around 7pm, finding [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] enjoying the beautiful night sky and the silence of Liwa.
We had a nice evening with amazing food, thanks [mention]giorgio[/mention] [mention]optimus[/mention] and [mention]kareem.alameldin[/mention], it was delicious grin
As usual at bedtime, everyone took his/her car looking for a place to sleep. As per the rule "the place you got stuck is the place you camp" two people spent the night on top of a dune. :P
This season I decided to keep my life simple and so I slept on a camping bed under the milky way, especially in Liwa with a minimum of light pollution an extra ordinary experience.
The drive -Part1
I woke up early around 6am, flashed by this stunning view of high dunes with beautiful colours. Even it is not my first Liwa trip, this view leaves me stunning everytime
We started the drive after breakfast and briefing we started the drive towards Saudi border, crossing chains of dunes and sabkhas in between. Drivers were still fresh and well-rested, so the convoy drove without serious incidents through bowls and climbs, but this should change...
On this part of the drive we had two high drops, and I have to confess that I was really nervous as I have fear of heights. But as we were well instructed on how to drive down this kind of drops (4lo 2. gear and slowly, keeping the car stable) I went down safely and I was proud that I faced and overcame my fear.
On a short break we learned that one FJ had a broken engine mount and will leave at the next possible exit route - second car down
We reached the Saudi border and things happened there which should be discussed around a camp fire...we reached Moreeb dune for playtime, lunch and fuel refill.
The drive - Part 2
We continued the drive and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] took over the lead position.
A this point drivers were already tired and so we faced all kind of incidents...stucks, crests, mechanical issues, pop out and the third car down
We received a re-briefing with the warning to closely follow the main rules and show respect to this place, as it might not forgive drivers mistakes.
We continued, and on a climb I noticed a significant loss of power and we cleaned the airfilter which was clogged. Thanks for the help here guys, highly appreciated! After the cleaning I started climbing again, not able to reach the top again, I got stuck in a strange way. My first idea: Oh no, there is another serious problem with my car as it is not able climb" I tried to move, but somehow I was stuck. Then [mention]Solmaz[/mention] warned me via radio to stop moving, as my tires caught a wire! Its Liwa, so expect the unexpected!
The wire was tangled around the tire, but we were lucky and could remove it easily without any damage.
Shortly after this incident I got stuck in a soft sand patch. This stuck is a perfect example what will happen if are not 100% focused in Liwa.
There was an easy looking small climb, so I did not pay the necessary attention to the car in front of me and which approach angle he chose. So I chose the wrong approach, and ended up just one meter next to the track in super soft sand pit. No self recovery possible, so [mention]Agalon[/mention] pulled me out.
Always stay focused, this area is unpredictable!
We finished the drive around 4.30 pm at Moreeb dune and I guess everyone was tired but happy and full of new impressions and memories. I think we had a proper Liwa adventure, and I am glad to hear that all three broken cars made it home safely.
Thank you everyone for this unforgetable Liwa weekend!
See you all in the sand
Last edited by Johanna on Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
BR, Johanna
If it excites you and scares you at the same time, it probably means you should do it.
If it excites you and scares you at the same time, it probably means you should do it.
-
Booy
- Golden Member
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:55 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 3 times
- Been thanked: 1 time
Hello everybody,
Beautiful Liwa never fails to impress. If it was up to me, I would move my office there for the entire winter season, and play in Liwa every single weekend for 5 months. Dream on...
I initially planned to leave RAK early to catch the sunset in Liwa, but unfortunately last minute late afternoon meetings spoiled my plans. I managed to make up some time on the fantastic 160km/ph highway, which in the previous years was actually a major bottle neck with all the construction work. It was worth the wait to see this beautiful highway opening up.
Arriving at camp, I was greeted with amazing food. I did not even have time to get my chair from the car with all the food being given to me. Thanks chefs, you guys did a fantastic job.
Since only @Daggerfall and I managed to get wood, and we arrived late to a dark camp at almost the same time, we managed to get a fire going fairly quickly. Fortunately it was not cold, but we needed a camp fire to just round off the perfect atmosphere. @rapailo arrived later with half of the Pajero stuffed with wood, so we had enough to see us through the night.
At around 1am it was time for me to find a sleeping spot. The weather was beautiful, so I decided to sleep on the roof of the FJ, and not bother with the tent. It was a wise decision - falling asleep counting the stars.
Drive day - Liwa is always full of surprises, and I think this drive day can best be described around a camp fire in the desert. I cannot put a report together to do justice to this exciting day in Liwa. One thing that I always love though is hearing the dunes singing while doing those big drops. That sound always mesmerizes me. You will see me going down these huge drops at a really slow pace, only to make the signing lasts a bit longer. Wait till you see the walls where the dunes are signing while doing a side slope at 6500rpm in first gear - it's addictive.
Liwa is calling.... and we will be back...
Till next time.
Regards,
Booy
Beautiful Liwa never fails to impress. If it was up to me, I would move my office there for the entire winter season, and play in Liwa every single weekend for 5 months. Dream on...
I initially planned to leave RAK early to catch the sunset in Liwa, but unfortunately last minute late afternoon meetings spoiled my plans. I managed to make up some time on the fantastic 160km/ph highway, which in the previous years was actually a major bottle neck with all the construction work. It was worth the wait to see this beautiful highway opening up.
Arriving at camp, I was greeted with amazing food. I did not even have time to get my chair from the car with all the food being given to me. Thanks chefs, you guys did a fantastic job.
Since only @Daggerfall and I managed to get wood, and we arrived late to a dark camp at almost the same time, we managed to get a fire going fairly quickly. Fortunately it was not cold, but we needed a camp fire to just round off the perfect atmosphere. @rapailo arrived later with half of the Pajero stuffed with wood, so we had enough to see us through the night.
At around 1am it was time for me to find a sleeping spot. The weather was beautiful, so I decided to sleep on the roof of the FJ, and not bother with the tent. It was a wise decision - falling asleep counting the stars.
Drive day - Liwa is always full of surprises, and I think this drive day can best be described around a camp fire in the desert. I cannot put a report together to do justice to this exciting day in Liwa. One thing that I always love though is hearing the dunes singing while doing those big drops. That sound always mesmerizes me. You will see me going down these huge drops at a really slow pace, only to make the signing lasts a bit longer. Wait till you see the walls where the dunes are signing while doing a side slope at 6500rpm in first gear - it's addictive.
Liwa is calling.... and we will be back...
Till next time.
Regards,
Booy
@Booy
Blue FJ Cruiser, with an Atlas on the door
Blue FJ Cruiser, with an Atlas on the door
-
Aligi
- Intermediate
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:26 pm
Chase the sunset III LIWA October 2018
19 Cars in total, with 11 newbies.. and I am one of them. Lucky enough to be my third time in Liwa yet as excited a kid on Christmas morning!!
The journey was long but definitely worth, I connected with [mention]osman[/mention] and with [mention]rapailo[/mention] at the very gas station in Liwa and we drove together to the camp site where we first met [mention]giorgio[/mention] in the tent area well enough away from the fire to ensure a quiet sleep.
Priority went to set up the tent as it was past 11PM and I was really tired, so tired that I thought I was missing a piece of the inflatable mattress valve.... and gave up so later I went to sleep to flat on sand! After putting up the tent pretty easy now.... (I took the smallest of my camping arsenal) I went to great the group. As usual a great welcome from everyone, true family feel (Almosters style)!!
Up around 6:30 with [mention]giorgio[/mention] near my car (he moved during the night) already packing. I probably did the worst folding of my tent... but didn't matter as a great day was about to start.
After breakfast, of we start... the feeling is amazing, those massive dunes around you knowing you have the full day to play with them.
One intermediate every 3/4 cars, [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] leading, first timers in Liwa at the front and I was the back just ahead of [mention]osman[/mention] and [mention]JockJKU[/mention] our sweeper for the whole day!
Absolutely a great drive, some detouring to avoid being too close to the border, few really nice arches. We even end up playing on Moreeb Dune.... where high discovered that climbing high is less scary than I thought it was in my brain.
Unfortunately [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] damage some engine support before reaching there and had to leave and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] took the lead for the rest of the drive. A very enjoyable yet challenging technical style to have good fun!! After calling us out few times for lack of distance and poor communication he probably realised that the convoy was starting to make mistakes because of being tired and he called the day just before sunset.
Key lessons for the day, keep really good distance in Liwa in order to avoid packing up the recovery area, more distance will allow you to chose a safer spot without the anxiety to finish your climb. Second communicate and listen well. Lastly get to Liwa when you feel really ready for it!!
Likely this has been my last Liwa drive for a very long. Thank you all for this amazing experience, definitely something to remember for life!!!
Aligi
19 Cars in total, with 11 newbies.. and I am one of them. Lucky enough to be my third time in Liwa yet as excited a kid on Christmas morning!!
The journey was long but definitely worth, I connected with [mention]osman[/mention] and with [mention]rapailo[/mention] at the very gas station in Liwa and we drove together to the camp site where we first met [mention]giorgio[/mention] in the tent area well enough away from the fire to ensure a quiet sleep.
Priority went to set up the tent as it was past 11PM and I was really tired, so tired that I thought I was missing a piece of the inflatable mattress valve.... and gave up so later I went to sleep to flat on sand! After putting up the tent pretty easy now.... (I took the smallest of my camping arsenal) I went to great the group. As usual a great welcome from everyone, true family feel (Almosters style)!!
Up around 6:30 with [mention]giorgio[/mention] near my car (he moved during the night) already packing. I probably did the worst folding of my tent... but didn't matter as a great day was about to start.
After breakfast, of we start... the feeling is amazing, those massive dunes around you knowing you have the full day to play with them.
One intermediate every 3/4 cars, [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] leading, first timers in Liwa at the front and I was the back just ahead of [mention]osman[/mention] and [mention]JockJKU[/mention] our sweeper for the whole day!
Absolutely a great drive, some detouring to avoid being too close to the border, few really nice arches. We even end up playing on Moreeb Dune.... where high discovered that climbing high is less scary than I thought it was in my brain.
Unfortunately [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] damage some engine support before reaching there and had to leave and [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] took the lead for the rest of the drive. A very enjoyable yet challenging technical style to have good fun!! After calling us out few times for lack of distance and poor communication he probably realised that the convoy was starting to make mistakes because of being tired and he called the day just before sunset.
Key lessons for the day, keep really good distance in Liwa in order to avoid packing up the recovery area, more distance will allow you to chose a safer spot without the anxiety to finish your climb. Second communicate and listen well. Lastly get to Liwa when you feel really ready for it!!
Likely this has been my last Liwa drive for a very long. Thank you all for this amazing experience, definitely something to remember for life!!!
Aligi
-
Phoenix
- Crew
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:59 pm
- Has thanked: 50 times
- Been thanked: 9 times
- Contact:
This is was one of the most awaited trips of this season yet, just everything about Liwa is mesmerizing, from the long drive to reach Liwa, prep work, overnight camp, the drive itself, everything. @Johanna , @optimus and me started early in the day by meeting up at 3 pm and drove towards Liwa. The action and drama started early for me. As we were gunning for the camp site to catch the sunset we were going flat out with Outlaw leading our mini convoy and where the highway speed limit opened to 160kmph we absolutely floored it.
While driving on 160kmph for around 30 minutes flat Outlaw gave a hiccup and coughed for a pulse of a second and raised all kinds of alarms in my head after which I check the dashboard and the “A/T Gear Temp High” warning icon light had come on. What I didn’t realize was that the warning light had been on for quite some time, I am guessing it must have come on after pushing him to 160kmph for so long but I never noticed it because of a simple human error. I was driving with my left hand on the top of the steering wheel (Vin Diesel style), not noticing that my arm was blocking my view of the lower left corner of the dashboard where the warning light had been blinking all this time but I didn’t notice it until the damage was already done.
Lesson learned, always drive with your hands on either side of the steering wheel or on the lower part of the steering to make sure the dashboard is clearly and completely visible at all times. That hiccup was the sign that the transmission had broken but Outlaw kept driving and since the drive didn’t feel any different so I simply slowed down and continued to drive on 140kmph which lowered the gearbox temp and the warning light switched off.
Ones we reached the last petrol station before the camp site and stopped for refueling I realized something is not right with Outlaw as he would simply not engage into 1st or even 2nd gear, when put in drive he went straight to 3rd gear and used very high rpms to move. I drove him a few more meters to clear the petrol pumping machine and park at the store/shop of the petrol station and checked under bonnet for any signs of trouble but all looked normal, no overheating issues, no radiator fluids leaking, nothing. So I engage reverse gear but nothing happens and it feels like it’s still in neutral, the whole petrol station staff including Optimus and I try to push Outlaw in reverse but he won’t budge, tyres were locked. Outlaw could only drive forward but that too in 3rd gear, quick check of the transmission oil confirmed that the transmission had overheated and failed, broken 1st gear, 2nd gear, neutral and reverse but would still start in park… WTF ??? I called Shamsi and asked for help to which he right away offer to leave the camp spot and drive down to the petrol station to help us but there was no point as nothing could be done about the problem at this time. We dragged Outlaw out of the parking spot using Johanna’s help
We parked Outlaw behind a building and Optimus offered me his passenger seat, thank you sir. Later on Johanna told me that she saw black smoke come out of Outlaw’s exhaust for like a second. I am guessing it was that initial hiccup that I felt was when the black smoke came out.
We drove towards the camp site and I was trying to suppress the frustration of not being able to drive in one of the most anticipated drives of the season but thanked God that I still get to experience Liwa, her beauty, her tranquility, her surprises. This and all the moral support from @alshamsi_m and every single one on the trip kept me going through the trip and enjoy it. The camp as everyone has already mentioned was one of the unforgettable ones, for the first time in my life I saw the Milky Way Galaxy with my own eyes and not on a screen. I just simply went silent for a few minutes and gasped at the beauty of the star studded sky, they say that there are some moments in your life that you cannot easily forget and seeing the milky way galaxy in person for the first time was surely one of those moments for me. What I didn’t know was that more moments like this would follow in this trip. Just when I was gazing at the beautiful starry sky in the silent and dark night of Liwa, Shamsi whipped out his phone and we got to see the planets through some star gazing app. We saw Jupiter which was hiding behind our moon, we saw Mars and Venus. Later on more members arrived and the camp site grew bigger and before we knew it pretty much everyone was there with a lovely atmosphere full of amazing stories, laughs and grills lighted up with food on them. We had one of the best lamb chops and steaks till date and the amazing kebabs as well. Later on while finding a place to sleep I thanked to God that @Petr r brought my bed because I forgot all of my camping stuff in Outlaw while going through the trauma of not being able to drive. Optimus to the rescue again, offered me his sleeping bag and I slept under the milky way galaxy out in the open desert on the bed with a sleeping bag and my backpack rolled up as a pillow (another unforgettable moment). It was hard to fall asleep as the eyes would simply not shut, they won’t stop gazing at the stars in awe of the beauty of our world. The morning was just as beautiful, with the sun rising on the crest of the horizon filled with beautiful orange/reddish dunes in every direction. But then I put my head into the sleeping bag and went back to sleep and woke up after 7am. Quick wash-up, coffee, prep and we were ready to roll out.
In the first few minutes Optimus and I realized that this is a completely different ball game, super soft patches of sand in surprisingly unpredictable spots.
With bowls, ditches, walls, climbs and drops in every direction and everything just simply super-sized. We came to a big climb and Shamsi tried to go up but had to come down mid-way and then went back up again from a slightly different angle.
He radioed in calling @Booy y to follow his tracks and bring the rest of the convoy up, to which Booy replied “copy that” then we hear somebody else say “copy that” then somebody else say “copy that” and then somebody else say “copy that” upon hearing all these copy that’s, Optimus and I stare at the climb and then look at each other in fear and excitement and Optimus says with a straight face “copy that, copy that, copy that, all this COPY THAT is gonna get us killed” and we burst out into laughter. Our turn came to go up the climb and Optimus floored it but just as we were about to reach the sweet spot of the climb the Fj ran out of breath and we started to lose momentum, out of sheer fear and natural instincts I held on to the door handle as tight as possible and yelled at Optimus “DON’T FIGHT GRAVITY” not realizing that he had already turned down and was driving safely towards a second try while I made a fool of myself by shouting out the obvious. We reached the top laughed at each other and watched others make the climb.
After some time we reached our first wall and I experienced the magical drops of Liwa. I cannot describe it in words and neither can any amount of pictures or videos can capture the beauty or pay justice to what Liwa makes you feel like with its beauty, when you are on the edge of these drops about to go down with the cars looking like ants on the base of the drop.
While you are dangling on the top of the wall with your front tyres already on the wall.
As you descend down the wall you hear the dune singing to you and that is a sound you cannot describe in words, it simply holds you in state of trance and all you can do is hold on and wish the sound lasts as long as possible.
We kept driving for some more time and we heard about the second casualty of the drive when Shamsi’s Fj broke one of the engine mounts, after which some serious stuff happened which I don’t want to talk about but let’s just say that it involved a big drop, some fair amount of fish tailing, me going into complete Spiderman position with my hands tightly pressing on the roof holding me down and my legs locked in the foot well followed by a long technical break. Leave the details for another camp night.
At one point, in fact I will go to the extent of saying that at the MOST CRITICAL point of our drive @panos s decided to get crested with no room of rescue from the back and probably the biggest drop of the drive right in front of him, that’s when all hell broke loose with a lot of other stuff going on (which is a whole another camp night story by the way) and we heard @JockJKU on the radio going "Well I am in the back, so I will just turn around and run away"
.
With absolutely no way of rescuing his car with any other car from the back because there was simply no space there and @giorgio almost got stuck while trying to rescue Panos and the drop being right in front of him. With the rest of the convoy and other intermediates and advance drivers all stuck in the back of the convoy. That’s when we came up with the idea of literally pushing his jeep over the cliff, so me Giorgio and Optimus gave it our best and pushed him over the edge. Ran back to our cars and followed the drop.
Fast forward we reached safely back to Moreeb dune and that’s where Shamsi and I said our goodbyes to everyone and left for home but not before Shamsi gave Moreeb a try and went up a few climbs with a broken engine mount !!
We drove back to pick up Outlaw and he started in a heartbeat, he missed me. Shamsi pulled over to take a power nap but I did not have that option since I was afraid if I stopped I wouldn’t be able to move again. So I just kept gulping down Redbull after Redbull, Outlaw drove on a broken transmission in 3rd gear on the highways cruising on 120kmph and then tackled the congested traffic of Sharjah industrial area, reaching the workshop while all this time being escorted by Shamsi all the way from Liwa. We left Outlaw at the garage and then Shamsi dropped me home, I cannot thank this gentleman enough. He could have easily just left me but he drove me back home.
Just as it was mentioned later, we will have our revenge. Outlaw will be back and will take on Liwa.
Until next time, see you all in the sand.
P.S. : Outlaw is getting a new transmission and should be ready for action in a couple of days.
While driving on 160kmph for around 30 minutes flat Outlaw gave a hiccup and coughed for a pulse of a second and raised all kinds of alarms in my head after which I check the dashboard and the “A/T Gear Temp High” warning icon light had come on. What I didn’t realize was that the warning light had been on for quite some time, I am guessing it must have come on after pushing him to 160kmph for so long but I never noticed it because of a simple human error. I was driving with my left hand on the top of the steering wheel (Vin Diesel style), not noticing that my arm was blocking my view of the lower left corner of the dashboard where the warning light had been blinking all this time but I didn’t notice it until the damage was already done.
Lesson learned, always drive with your hands on either side of the steering wheel or on the lower part of the steering to make sure the dashboard is clearly and completely visible at all times. That hiccup was the sign that the transmission had broken but Outlaw kept driving and since the drive didn’t feel any different so I simply slowed down and continued to drive on 140kmph which lowered the gearbox temp and the warning light switched off.
Ones we reached the last petrol station before the camp site and stopped for refueling I realized something is not right with Outlaw as he would simply not engage into 1st or even 2nd gear, when put in drive he went straight to 3rd gear and used very high rpms to move. I drove him a few more meters to clear the petrol pumping machine and park at the store/shop of the petrol station and checked under bonnet for any signs of trouble but all looked normal, no overheating issues, no radiator fluids leaking, nothing. So I engage reverse gear but nothing happens and it feels like it’s still in neutral, the whole petrol station staff including Optimus and I try to push Outlaw in reverse but he won’t budge, tyres were locked. Outlaw could only drive forward but that too in 3rd gear, quick check of the transmission oil confirmed that the transmission had overheated and failed, broken 1st gear, 2nd gear, neutral and reverse but would still start in park… WTF ??? I called Shamsi and asked for help to which he right away offer to leave the camp spot and drive down to the petrol station to help us but there was no point as nothing could be done about the problem at this time. We dragged Outlaw out of the parking spot using Johanna’s help
We parked Outlaw behind a building and Optimus offered me his passenger seat, thank you sir. Later on Johanna told me that she saw black smoke come out of Outlaw’s exhaust for like a second. I am guessing it was that initial hiccup that I felt was when the black smoke came out.
We drove towards the camp site and I was trying to suppress the frustration of not being able to drive in one of the most anticipated drives of the season but thanked God that I still get to experience Liwa, her beauty, her tranquility, her surprises. This and all the moral support from @alshamsi_m and every single one on the trip kept me going through the trip and enjoy it. The camp as everyone has already mentioned was one of the unforgettable ones, for the first time in my life I saw the Milky Way Galaxy with my own eyes and not on a screen. I just simply went silent for a few minutes and gasped at the beauty of the star studded sky, they say that there are some moments in your life that you cannot easily forget and seeing the milky way galaxy in person for the first time was surely one of those moments for me. What I didn’t know was that more moments like this would follow in this trip. Just when I was gazing at the beautiful starry sky in the silent and dark night of Liwa, Shamsi whipped out his phone and we got to see the planets through some star gazing app. We saw Jupiter which was hiding behind our moon, we saw Mars and Venus. Later on more members arrived and the camp site grew bigger and before we knew it pretty much everyone was there with a lovely atmosphere full of amazing stories, laughs and grills lighted up with food on them. We had one of the best lamb chops and steaks till date and the amazing kebabs as well. Later on while finding a place to sleep I thanked to God that @Petr r brought my bed because I forgot all of my camping stuff in Outlaw while going through the trauma of not being able to drive. Optimus to the rescue again, offered me his sleeping bag and I slept under the milky way galaxy out in the open desert on the bed with a sleeping bag and my backpack rolled up as a pillow (another unforgettable moment). It was hard to fall asleep as the eyes would simply not shut, they won’t stop gazing at the stars in awe of the beauty of our world. The morning was just as beautiful, with the sun rising on the crest of the horizon filled with beautiful orange/reddish dunes in every direction. But then I put my head into the sleeping bag and went back to sleep and woke up after 7am. Quick wash-up, coffee, prep and we were ready to roll out.
In the first few minutes Optimus and I realized that this is a completely different ball game, super soft patches of sand in surprisingly unpredictable spots.
With bowls, ditches, walls, climbs and drops in every direction and everything just simply super-sized. We came to a big climb and Shamsi tried to go up but had to come down mid-way and then went back up again from a slightly different angle.
He radioed in calling @Booy y to follow his tracks and bring the rest of the convoy up, to which Booy replied “copy that” then we hear somebody else say “copy that” then somebody else say “copy that” and then somebody else say “copy that” upon hearing all these copy that’s, Optimus and I stare at the climb and then look at each other in fear and excitement and Optimus says with a straight face “copy that, copy that, copy that, all this COPY THAT is gonna get us killed” and we burst out into laughter. Our turn came to go up the climb and Optimus floored it but just as we were about to reach the sweet spot of the climb the Fj ran out of breath and we started to lose momentum, out of sheer fear and natural instincts I held on to the door handle as tight as possible and yelled at Optimus “DON’T FIGHT GRAVITY” not realizing that he had already turned down and was driving safely towards a second try while I made a fool of myself by shouting out the obvious. We reached the top laughed at each other and watched others make the climb.
After some time we reached our first wall and I experienced the magical drops of Liwa. I cannot describe it in words and neither can any amount of pictures or videos can capture the beauty or pay justice to what Liwa makes you feel like with its beauty, when you are on the edge of these drops about to go down with the cars looking like ants on the base of the drop.
While you are dangling on the top of the wall with your front tyres already on the wall.
As you descend down the wall you hear the dune singing to you and that is a sound you cannot describe in words, it simply holds you in state of trance and all you can do is hold on and wish the sound lasts as long as possible.
We kept driving for some more time and we heard about the second casualty of the drive when Shamsi’s Fj broke one of the engine mounts, after which some serious stuff happened which I don’t want to talk about but let’s just say that it involved a big drop, some fair amount of fish tailing, me going into complete Spiderman position with my hands tightly pressing on the roof holding me down and my legs locked in the foot well followed by a long technical break. Leave the details for another camp night.
At one point, in fact I will go to the extent of saying that at the MOST CRITICAL point of our drive @panos s decided to get crested with no room of rescue from the back and probably the biggest drop of the drive right in front of him, that’s when all hell broke loose with a lot of other stuff going on (which is a whole another camp night story by the way) and we heard @JockJKU on the radio going "Well I am in the back, so I will just turn around and run away"
.With absolutely no way of rescuing his car with any other car from the back because there was simply no space there and @giorgio almost got stuck while trying to rescue Panos and the drop being right in front of him. With the rest of the convoy and other intermediates and advance drivers all stuck in the back of the convoy. That’s when we came up with the idea of literally pushing his jeep over the cliff, so me Giorgio and Optimus gave it our best and pushed him over the edge. Ran back to our cars and followed the drop.
Fast forward we reached safely back to Moreeb dune and that’s where Shamsi and I said our goodbyes to everyone and left for home but not before Shamsi gave Moreeb a try and went up a few climbs with a broken engine mount !!
We drove back to pick up Outlaw and he started in a heartbeat, he missed me. Shamsi pulled over to take a power nap but I did not have that option since I was afraid if I stopped I wouldn’t be able to move again. So I just kept gulping down Redbull after Redbull, Outlaw drove on a broken transmission in 3rd gear on the highways cruising on 120kmph and then tackled the congested traffic of Sharjah industrial area, reaching the workshop while all this time being escorted by Shamsi all the way from Liwa. We left Outlaw at the garage and then Shamsi dropped me home, I cannot thank this gentleman enough. He could have easily just left me but he drove me back home.
Just as it was mentioned later, we will have our revenge. Outlaw will be back and will take on Liwa.
Until next time, see you all in the sand.
P.S. : Outlaw is getting a new transmission and should be ready for action in a couple of days.
Adventurous League of Mountains, Oceans and Sand Thrills
