Hammem - Take me Back Home

[CARLOSS]

Hi everyone!

Best Liwa drive ever! And I went through a few of them already.

The combination of both Master of Masters @alshamsi_m always “behind the scene” designing the MP details with easy WPs to guide our fella newbies in the dark, camp spot with no animals’ produced biosolids in the area, the track itself with a nice variety of dunes and driving styles (technical, medium size dunes with nice arches, flat areas, fast tracks, climbs & drops) and Mr. Tailor of the Dunes, also known as @Scorpio , executing the plan on a seamless way within the promised timeframe is the maximum best you can ever take in a full day in Liwa.

This time no monkey business, no unnecessary stop overs, neither tires nor mechanical issues, just a few number of second tries and stucks…all went well which is not easy when dealing with Liwa. Everybody performed well and the result is there, magnificent experience in an impressive playground.

But let’s not forget the night before with an amazing Arab touch: Traditional bbq, Arab music…even shisha! Mother Nature also did its part with a magnificent weather, so everything was perfectly aligned. Thanks a lot to our Newbies fellas (Ahmad, Moustafa and Aljamhi) for treating us old interm like kings, and super thanks to both Al Shamsi and Scorpio for your time and dedication.
And that’s it, nice an easy trip report like the drive itself.

Now, counting the hours for the registration of this weekend interm Liwa drive!

See you, Carlos

[Kevin]

I was very lucky to be able to make this drive, and it was my fourth time to Liwa with the group!

My wife and I arrived at the camp through the fog in the morning, to find high spirits and a few camp stories from the night before.

My first impression of the vehicle line up was… “Oh oh, no other Jeeps! Don’t let me down JJ, no spare parts .”

I think this was one of the best drives I have done. Not just in Liwa. We covered over 160km according to my GPS track. The landscape changed throughout, with differing light, from early morning, with touches of mist, through midday and the long shadows of dusk. All the while the colours of sand changed from area to area, often two-toned, ranging from yellow, orange and red to bright white.
Parts of the route were very free flowing across rolling dunes and some areas got quite technical and slower but we had very few incidents that required time to resolve.
Only one pop out on the whole drive which was fixed quickly thanks to the quick action of @Tomvanhouten and a few volunteers with shovels, water and backup compressors.

One note on the enthusiasm to help our fellow drivers out, rushing in too quickly can make those with the car on a jack a little nervous. Assess the situation carefully not to get yourself stuck or add any further risk to the other rescuers. More haste equals less speed.

Early afternoon we stopped for lunch and sat under sun shades provided by @CARLOSS and @Preggy. A variety of refreshments were shared, including @CARLOSS hand made espresso’s and @alshamsi_m brought out a full burger cooking station. (Not quite sure how it all fitted in the Jimny ?! )

The drive was split into two formats, the first part lead by @alshamsi_m and his infamous Jimny, the second half led by @Scorpio and his FJ.

For the first section I drove at the back of the convoy with @osman sweeping. For the second half @alshamsi_m kindly offered me the third car place behind @Scorpio and @CARLOSS . This was a great oportunity to see the untouched dunes and a first person perspective on how @Scorpio navigated us through the landscape.

Thanks again to @alshamsi_m, @Scorpio and any other organisers that spent their valuable time to make this experience possible for all of us!

See you all soon in the dunes

[Paddy]

Liwa is a dream for every offroader in UAE, and now is the right time to visit the best dunes in the whole region.

I planned to reach camp site a little early, however work didnt allow me. I connected with @Scorpio and left a little later. We managed to reach deflation point at around 2130 hrs and in 15 minutes we were at the BBQ area. We sat and talked enjoyed the weather, then went ahead for setting up our tents around 0000 hrs. Well that was a nice intro to the really soft sand.

Now we had our imagination building scenarios as in how soft sand will present us with challenges. But we were not worried as we had @alshamsi_m and @Scorpio with us.

Woke up early, enjoyed beautiful sunrise and prepared for the day ahead, as it wasnt going to be easy. Driving in desert is not same as driving in road, but driving whole day in Liwa itself is next level as you need have full focus and losing it due to any xyz reason can result into unpleasant experience and its really easy if you are tired. So along with skills it was a game of endurance.

At the end I was happy as I was able to finish the drive without getting my name called on the radio and that means I did ok.

I am grateful to Almost4x4, @alshamsi_m and @Scorpio for arranging this drive and giving us a chance to witness it.

See you all on sand soon.

~BR
Paddy

[alshamsi_m]

Hello everyone

After finishing the first day in Hameem, we said goodbye to the first batch and head to our second camp.

Rhe night was nice with food and good mood , thanks Mustafa, Al Jamhi and Ahmedtodxb.

The morning was magical with the beautiful dunes and the fog

We split the drive to two parts, I did the first 25 kms and @Scorpio the rest of the 75 kms . It was great area with different type of sand and colours.

Thanks for joining us and see you in Liwa

Cheers
Shamsi