Sincere gratitude to Almost4x4

[vin_d]

2012 is almost over and we all are looking forward to the new year. It’s a time to pay gratitude to people who made positive impact on my life and Almost4x4 is on top of the list. My journey with Almost4x4 began almost 1.5 years back. After moving back to the UAE in 2009 I was looking for a group active in mountain and desert driving. My first experience of desert driving was in late 80s when I tried to drive Willys on the Murud Janjira beach in India. I might have driven hardly 20 meters before Willys sunk in the sands and I had to seek help from beach-goers to get it out. My Willys was a fun vehicle that probably lacked 4-wheel drive. Or, may be just I didn’t know how to drive in the sands. Driving on beach was fascinating, the feel was amazing and it was a kind off show-off in India those days. After that incident I did try driving on sands a number of times, mostly spending time in pulling the Jeep out. The most memorable experience was in 90s when I visited the Thar Desert in Rajstan and went for a desert safari as a part of military training exercise. Again the vehicle was a Jeep. I don’t recollect the exact model but it resembled Willys, probably modified as it easily conquered the sand dunes. As cadets we were allowed to try our skills, and once again I failed. However, Jeep and Desert always remained in my mind. I didn’t get a chance to go to the desert until I came to the UAE in mid-90s. Although there were plenty of opportunities to drive in the desert those days somehow it never happened except for going on organized desert safaris every now and then whenever relatives/visitors came to meet us. Desert wasn’t a priority those days.

My interests of desert driving were renewed when I frequently visited the US and was surrounded by the US army officials. We were stationed at San Diego and I had quite a few opportunities participating in the desert drives known as Borrego Badlands Bash. It was a fun drive and I participated mostly as a passenger. I did take some desert driving classes at Western Adventures 4X4 Driving School but due to lack of time I never managed to complete the course though learnt some basics, which made me confident.

I came back to the UAE in 2009 and bought 2006 Jeep Wrangler only to explore wadis and deserts of the UAE. I had no clue about the groups/clubs conducting the adventurous drives and decided to take-off to desert with one of my friends. We had no idea how challenging the desert would be in the month of July. On one sunny morning in July we set off to Abu Dhabi and found our way to the desert. We were completely ignorant of the desert challenges, we had no recovery gears, no towing points (my friend had LR3), no towing ropes, no maps, no idea of escape routes, forget all we had no water. The only tools we had is tyre deflator and pressure meter, and of course iPhone for navigation. We knew that we had to cross around 45km of desert towards East direction to reach the highway heading towards Al Ain. Fortunately the drive was trouble-free but with full of tension as we were unprepared to climb dunes forcing us find flat tracks resulting extra mileage. I wasn’t sure whether my wrangler will keep going till we reach tarmac. The drive was fabulous, soft sand and continuous skids were enjoyable. Finally we managed to reach the tarmac before gas dried up. The total drive was 90km and it took 5 hours. Although it was an adventurous drive we realized that we were lucky to have no issues and that made me look for a group.

The real opportunity of learning desert driving the correct way came when found I Almost4x4 on the internet. The site was user-friendly, informative and registering with them was breeze. My first drive was Eid Family Drive in 2011. If I remember correctly the meeting point was Al Badayer shops with detailed directions on how to reach it. The first person I met was Ali Thamar, one of the marshals, who introduced me to Bu Salem, Abu Jimmy, Khatib and Lamboo. The drive superb and organized, and at no time I felt it was risky or left-alone. Marshals were always there to help and teach. I would like to extend my warm gratitude to Ali, Bu Salem, Abu Jimmy, Khatib and Lamboo, and of course other marshals for the safe drives they conducted, for caring the participants & encouraging them, for teaching correct ways of desert driving, for inculcating importance of clean deserts, for their friendly approach. Its only because of them I feel capable and confident of venturing into the desert myself for leisure drives and camps. Although I am not regular now-a-days due to hectic workloads and travel I always look forward to be with them. Bu Salem, Abu Jimmy, Khatib, Lamboo, and other marshals – please accept my sincere gratitude, you all are my teachers. Thanks you, thank you and thank you. Hope to see you all in 2013.

[Humanfaith]

I must agree with you, this is the right group.

You were highly lucky about your Al Ain adventure ..