Liwa killer bees

[Mghoneim]

Hello Almosters,

As you can never say no to a back to back weekend in Liwa, I registered for liwa killer bees intermediate drive.

Started my drive Friday evening and arrived to last petrol station in Liwa 30mins after midnight. As soon as I arrive to the petrol station I started enjoying liwa vibes with many race/drifting and dune cars refueling with Ratatatatata in the background wherever you go.

Go my final supplies and headed to the camp. The track to the camp was fairly easy compared to last week’s 10+ land mine camp. Arrived 1:15 am and went straight to sleep and woke up before anyone and started my breakfast and preparation. Members started arriving to the camp for breakfast and after a quick briefing we started exploring the beautiful liwa desert heading towards saudi boarder. By noon we stopped for a break and just before we leave we realized a situation with one of the cars and decided to extend the stop for a lunch break.

Lunch is over and luckily the car was running again we continue the track and got to see the saudi boarder then headed towards the shah drop playing with the dunes when there is an opportunity.

The dunes behind the shah drop are magical! And the 700ft drop was such a fun experience.

Big thanks to Shamsi for organizing this and orlantsev, abu bakr & Rashid for the support.

[orlantsev]

Hello all,

after 2 long days in Hameem last week I was not sure I would have energy for more, especially the car was not been well and visited Jass garage several times during the week. But the day has come, car was fixed, empty streets, so it was time to wrap up work and head towards the camp.

I reached the camp just before sunset and found a very good overlooking spot for sleeping. As usual at this time of the day wind picks up, and I had a small fight with the tent which apparently wanted to be set in a different place, and it kept flying away.

I made few calls and headed to the camp when I saw Rathica and David approaching. After a short discussion it was decided not to go into the bowl which was a designated point for the camp, but stay a bit higher to have a better mobile reception. I did not catch all the latecomers, as my usual bed time is before 11 pm.

Morning scenery was amazing, sunny on top of the dunes, and foggy in the valley. It was good to see fida who comes very occasionally and rest of the drivers who came late. alshamsi explained the plan which included many sights of which the main were the buggy dune and shah drop.

We first reached Moreeb dune, had a short stop there. Lunch break was slightly longer than planned and I managed to get 15 minutes nap in the car.

All in all the major struggle was the soft sand where a few drivers struggled, but it was only few times that the rope had to come out. As expected from the long weekend there were other groups we saw along the way - some driving, some camping.

I drove nearly the same route before, but do not recall visiting these main sites. The shah drop is spectacular, and the views were reinforced by the sunset. It was a cherry on top of our day's itinerary after which we all exited at Hameem, slightly later than planned, but all safe and happy.

This was my last drive of the year, as I will be away until January (hoping to be back before the next edition of "Falcon"). In total I logged 20 drives with Almost this year, which is not bad considering that 40% of the time I was out of the country.

I hope everyone will enjoy the remaining drives of the year, and have a enjoyable New Year celebration

[David]

That time of the year again ... National Day weekend has been for me Liwa with the Almost family since I have been allowed to join drives in that region, a small tradition that I love to keep going.

Liwa is different, of course there are many better areas for going fast or side cresting but Liwa offers a beautiful combination of overlanding adventure and stunning views no matter in what direction you look.

Camped in an area I had never camped before, interesting and good to visit new locations but I must admit that not for me, in Liwa I love to hear the silence and this was not the case. Got moving towards Moreeb from the camping spot, Shamsi leading and Rashid plus Mabobaker as support, I was 2nd lead which I loved, probably the best position to be in Liwa, not taking the risk of leading but still very virgin sands, thank you Shamsi!!!

2nd lead in Liwa is different from other areas, you must give the leading car additional space (mainly in climbs) as it goes "blindly" into some spots and you do not want to block a possible exit if the leading car gets stuck or needs to make an exit from the same entry point, most of the time you don't see the car, you see the tracks and listen to the radio.

Sand was soft, very very soft in some patches, I think this is one of the most challenging points about Liwa, it looks good from the distance but once you reach there the car sinks in. A few situations due to the soft sands but overall we moved nicely and easily pass Moreeb (controversial but I really dislike to see the massive entertainment complex that has been built there) towards the South.

Technical problem with one of the cars in a quick break that made that be the lunch break, luckily the car started working which allowed us to continue the drive, otherwise that would have been the end of it and the start of a complex recovery situation.

After lunch the main courses came, first buggy dune, challenging conditions, from what I remember from previous times there I found the jump in the middle of the wall a bit harder this time, it looked to me as if someone had come down the dune in the ascending area leaving tracks that made the approach more difficult, I was curious to try several gear combinations for the climb but as before best for me 3rd pedal to the metal with moving to 2nd when hitting the wall, this set up and a decent line to the right and the car reaches the top easily.

Once finished we moved through the narrow passage between the oil fields and the Saudi border towards Hameen, very narrow "entrance" that you must use not to end up in trouble with security at any of these 2 locations. Since we lost some time with the mechanical issues we moved using a safe and direct route towards our next destination, the Shah drop, after a "walk around" to find the balcony we enjoyed the most stunning views of the day, gorgeous sunset with incredible views in any direction.

Close to sunset we went down the drop enjoying the sound of the tires when breaking the outer cover of sand and releasing the air underneath. Fantastic experience.

We exited Liwa in the track that borders Qasr Al Sarab when already dark to finish close to the Hameen petrol station.

Another amazing day and adventure with Almost in Liwa, thank you Shamsi for organizing, the always complex lead in Liwa and letting me be 2nd lead, Mabobaker and Rashid for the support, Fida and Orlantsev for joining us and all my fellow intermediate drivers for joining this drive.

See you on the sand soon!!!

[CARLOSS]

Hi everyone,

Regardless of the number of times I have already been in Liwa coming back there again, it is always something special.

The 3 hours driving passes very fast when reaching the spot…another story is the 3 hours back home but still worth it.

I reached on time to the camping stop and as I am a lazy guy, I decided to pitch the tent first before start joining the others. The good thing of being the first or the second to do so is that you have plenty of options, so I took a nice one with premium views waiting for me in the next morning.

Very enjoyable evening spent with old friends in front of the fire telling nice stories and jokes till my time came to go to bed. After a nice sleep and healthy breakfast with expresso coffee I was ready for the adventure.

Master of Masters @alshamsi_m along with @Rashidjass and @Mabubaker were waiting for us, Shamsi leading and both marshals keeping an eye on the convoy.

Most of the drive features have been described in previous trip reports so I will not bother you reading the same thing but still, I would like to emphasize the following:

1) Amazing track, tailor made, seamless and accurate like a Swiss watch. Not too much improvisation I guess so once again, Shamsi made clear that Liwa is his backyard . I took 3rd position and had the opportunity of witnessing his masterpiece tracks.
2) A bit disappointed though because I was expecting some “Saudi bees” flying over our heads but nothing happened
3) Main take-aways are clearly the Buggy dune with I did a few times with different combinations: i) 4H 3rd gear reaching the balcony but getting stuck pointing the top so, I made the drop reversing…nice experience, very recommendable . ii) 4H 2nd gear pedal to the metal reaching 130km and making the drop on a proper way, iii) first attempt I could not make it, wrong entry angle. The second one is the Shah dune which is quite impressive because of its height and tricky pockets in the last section which makes difficult to control the car.

All went well with everybody happy so what else could we ask for? Nothing

Thanks a lot & my appreciation to Shamsi, Mabubaker and Rashid for their time and dedication and many thanks to my mates and advance for playing safe.

See you soon
Carlos

[alshamsi_m]

Hello everyone

It is a costume that we go to Liwa in the National Day but this year was different. I couldn't pull a three days and three nights event so decided to go for a light Liwa version.

Moreeb area keeps developing so you can't depend on last year camp so I had to go for a scout. During the scout I had an accident and I was not sure if the car will be ready for the event .

The day has come and I am still running in the garages . I couldn't enjoy the night in Liwa but was hoping for a better day.

In the morning we had our briefing and off we go. The sand was so soft but that didn't stop us from having some action.

We had a great day after all and everyone were safe and sound.

Looking forward to back during Moreeb festival with bigger crowd this time .

Till then, Stay Safe and keep the sand flying

Cheers
Shamsi

[Ehab]

Liwa never disappointed me, this year the sand was extremely soft and the terrain was challenging but the Buggy Dune and Shah Drop was more than enough and worth the long drive.

Enjoy watching