Almost4x4

This time’s trip report is not as a driver but as a passenger.

Oh, wait… did I mention that I was in [mention]Shamsi[/mention] car and he was the lead car and this was in Liwa.

There is no better vantage point than being in the front. You get to see the beauty of the untouched dunes from the front & see the wonderful convoy behind you.

I also got to see firsthand how a lead car driver thinks.

So as part of an off-road convoy we follow a ‘track’ created for us. We put our faith in the marshal that he will take us through a safe track worthy of our level and ensure that we will enjoy it.

I never fully grasped what it takes to make a track. I thought tracks were sort of provided to the lead car. They just had to do a few adjustments and voila here’s a track. Easy-peasy. Ha… what false notions I had.

A track is a work of art. Nature has given you a blan'k canvas, no tracks, smooth sands, virgin untouched dunes. You have to make your mark. The dunes are enticing you to challenger her.

The lead car is the artist, the challenger. He sees a dune and his mind whirls with possibility. Should I climb it, how high should I go, what’s on the other side, can the weakest driver in the convoy make it, will the climb be a newbie 10+, intermediate or advance. His mind runs through the various scenarios of what possible outcomes can come from the challenge.

Moving forward he challenges the dune, he decides to climb it, he is the first. But remember the dune will fight back. To mount her he will take a beating. Sometimes the challenger wins sometimes he will lose. But not every time he will get away unscathed. If he wins, that’s the track that you and me follow. He has done the hardest work. He has created a path for you to follow all he asks is to safely follow in his foot step, enjoy yourself and learn from the experience.

I said something earlier, I said that the track is a work of Art. I say that because of the emotions involved in creating the track. A track is made with science, experience, curiosity, luck, wisdom, patience, generosity, anger, and excitement. That track gives you your rush, your experience, your fulfillment. It scratches that itch you have. It leaves you satisfied.

As a passenger I saw the raw emotions of our founder. Even after all these years of off roading he screams in excitement like a school boy going on a roll coaster for the first time. I saw him joyfully jumping in his seat and eyes filled with excitement as his convoy conquers a drop or a challenge. He relishes the fact the you have conquered your own fears and come out the other side stronger.

I won’t write too much about the drive, I am sure the other members can write about it much better.

All the marshals have their heart is in the right place. They want you to leave the desert with a satisfied smile on your face and ask for nothing in return. Their capacity to give is heartwarming.

Thank you to every marshal and lead out there… for just going first.

Thank you [mention]Booy[/mention], [mention]rashidjass[/mention] for the fantastic time. Thank you [mention]Shamsi[/mention] for allowing me to come and sit on your roller coaster drive. Also thank you for the nonstop conversation.

Now time to go and still clean the sand from my ears…. bye

[mention]alex9683[/mention] thanks for this amazing report, you nailed it.
It is indeed a unique experience to go with a marshal, especially in the leading car. And you can learn so much from them, so if you have the chance to be a passenger, always take it thumbsup

alex9683 wrote: Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:18 pm A track is a work of art. Nature has given you a blan'k canvas, no tracks, smooth sands, virgin untouched dunes. You have to make your mark. The dunes are enticing you to challenger her.

This is the main reason I sometimes go by myself to a nearby desert and do a few minutes of offroading... the challenge of choosing the track on a virgin area is different from following a leader!

But the odds of getting in trouble are much higher... and the skills to design a track, suitable for each level is something that few will master... KUDOS for our Marshals on this!

"Write a Trip Report or I will kill you" ~Someone special

13 hours of continuous driving. Felt more like a short expedition than it did a long offroad trip

The drive was truly a unique experience and I am grateful for being given the oppurtunity to be a part of it [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention].

Started the day off with meeting [mention]Johanna[/mention] at a gas station then drove all the way to Hameem area.

Like Alex mentioned, pure virgin sands and not a single track in sight. I'm still so fascinated by how our marshalls take us into these untracked terrains and give us such an amazing time acting us our insurance and guardians.

The drive was filled with sharp descents, high archs and every once in a while, a nice sidecrest. The intermediates and marshals got a chance to hone their skills at some extremely sharp slopes leaving us Newbies in awe.

Unfortunately, the weather was not in our favour. The winds were so strong that the car would sway at standstill and sand blasted at us when we stepped out. This didnt stop anyone of us from having utmost fun and we ended up with a a couple tire problems from various drivers.

I myself had 2 second tries on the drive but soon got a newfound appreciation for my car's gearing. It was perfect for liwas tall and long stretches and the car just gulped it up effortlessly.

It was also my first time in a long time not behind a patrol and instead sandwhiched between [mention]Jasper[/mention]'s and [mention]kriskian[/mention]'s FJs.

A big thanks as always to our marshalls [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] [mention]Booy[/mention] and our lead [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention]. Thanks also to our intermediates for their support.

Take care and hope to see you all soon!


Cheers,
Haani

Hello Everyone

I woke up at 4 am in the morning thinking “was it worth to wake up people at this time?”. The advantage of posting a trip way ahead is to give the members the chance to plan specially if it is a far drive with long hours more than 2 hours of driving, Also, if the weather is not predictable like the month of MARCH and after the experience we had with our last Liwa trip Seven Shades of Sand . The only way to know the weather is 7 - 10 days from the forecast which indicated that we are going to have a rough night on Friday so I had to call it off and let the people sleep well in beds and come fresh in the morning.

The wind supposed to go to it is peak at 10 am and goes to OK at 1 pm, well that is not how Liwa works, the wind did slow down around 12 pm but unpredictably it will pick up for half an hour then calm down again, all the way till the end of the drive !!!

The terrain was new for even the members who were with me in this area for many times. I chose the track which was a mix of Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge rally and our offroading tracks but you can’t predicate what is ahead of you!!!

There were moments where I couldn’t see because of the mix of SAND & WATER once you try to wipe it up, it becomes worse and you need these millisecond s to decide what is the best route for your convoy or how am I going to get out of here ??? slow

The area was amazing, with its breath taking shades and sizes. Marshals always describe the desert nearby is like an entertainment city for a kid , but LIWA is like Disney Land in love

At the end of the drive a had a great feeling of satisfaction and “ It was worth all the effort we did to come and enjoy “.

I would like to thank all who made it another successful event by Almost4x4. Get ready, there might be a lite version of Liwa before it gets HOT !!

Tell next time, stay safe and see you in the sand

Cheers

Liwa, what more can one say.

I met up with [mention]Booy[/mention] at the fuel station & [mention]alshamsi[/mention] was already there. We grab a few coffees & hit the road to Liwa. [mention]Booy[/mention] & myself drove together & at one stage we past [mention]alshamsi[/mention] , he called us on the radio to confirm that we know that the event cannot start without the organiser & him being the organiser was behind us, we replied that we are just cleaning the engines a bit grin . [mention]Booy[/mention] was lead & we continued to the last feul station. We filled & checked the fuel consumption......that stays between [mention]Booy[/mention] & myself grin . More member pulled in & got coffee, we where chit chatting & then we headed to the meeting point. The wind was pumping & after sinus surgery I made sure that no dust or funny stuff went up my nose. [mention]Mohamadahshan[/mention] was a little bit late, but go there. By now the wind had picked even more so we had a quick convoy orders & instructions. [mention]alshamsi[/mention] will be lead with [mention]Issa[/mention] second lead & Almost 4x4's "lifesaver" [mention]Mohamadahshan[/mention] will be 3rd car, the rest of us got a place, I was secong last with [mention]thiago[/mention] at my six [mention]panos[/mention] at my 12.

We headed out & the going was still easy till we hit the dune, the the fun started, some places I could hardly see [mention]panos[/mention] infront of me. At one stage when I cam over the dunes [mention]panos[/mention] 's tracks was blown away & I was where did they go now O_O , I drove slowly looking for tracks or something, then in the distance I saw a little red flag & the chase was n to "catch" the red flag. I caught up with the convoy, the going was pretty tough in these conditions, visibility was very bad at stages, [mention]Johanna[/mention] kind got "lost"in a bowl because of visibility, but with the help of [mention]Booy[/mention] she was out soon & back on the road. We had a few second tries & [mention]Issa[/mention] was kind enough to get crested twice on the same dune so that we newbies could gross thumbsup , that you. We had a quick coffee break & got back on the track again.

Not long after that [mention]Issa[/mention] had a pop out & there again I was able to learn something new, how to insert a new valve, thank you [mention]alshamsi[/mention] & [mention]Booy[/mention] for showing us that trick, that was filed & I already got two valves, just need the spanner thingy. While they were fixing I saw a plastic ball lying over by a dune, I walked over & picked it up, it was still fairly hard. The pop out was fixed & we were back on track heading to the main road.

The route was beautiful, the dunes was different from the other dunes I have seen in Liwa. the route was not super difficult, but you had to focus & concentrate otherwise you would have been in trouble. We completed 115Km & for me in those conditions I think we did very well.

Thank you [mention]alshamsi[/mention] , [mention]Booy[/mention] , [mention]Issa[/mention], [mention]Johanna[/mention] , [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] & [mention]Scorpio[/mention] for looking after us & getting us safely to to the road.

Another amazing trip for me, the scenery even through all the wind & dust was beautiful.

Till we meet again in the sand, stay save.

Regards
Rooies

What an incredible job to take us safely thru sand storm, rain and huge dunes. Thank you [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] , you always impress me.
Liwa has been so good to me this year, I had the opportunity to go there few times and love every one.
Really want to go back.
Thank you founders, marshals, advance, intermediate and crew to make this happen.

thiago wrote: Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:12 am What an incredible job to take us safely thru sand storm, rain and huge dunes. Thank you @alshamsi_m , you always impress me.
Liwa has been so good to me this year, I had the opportunity to go there few times and love every one.
Really want to go back.
Thank you founders, marshals, advance, intermediate and crew to make this happen.

Glad you got your password back grin