Almost4x4

Abu Dhabi desert challenge reloaded was a fantastic way to kick off the weekend, and I had been keenly looking forward to it all week. Liwa is definitely Liwa, and we were in a new area at least for me being the vast desert North of the ‘Liwa Crescent’. This area from Madinat Zayed through to the Western end of the ‘crescent’ has the lighter-coloured sand, smaller dunes and less Sabkha, but it proved to a huge amount of fun, with some spectacular views, and several really nice drops and bowls.

Bu Salem boldly led us past so many tempting bowls and slopes – it was a bit like going into a sweet/candy shop and not being able to try all the delicious sweets on offer! Let’s please go back and explore some more!

The campsite was very close to the road, and it was great to chitchat with friends both old and new. Camping itself was surprisingly comfortable, due to the relatively-cool temperature, and early morning cloud-cover. The heat really picked up though by midday, but despite that we had a fun lunch all together under Bu Salem’s cleverly-rigged groundsheet, keeping us out of the blazing sun.
The convoy was led by Bu Salem, myself in second lead, and swept by Rashidjass (in his fancy new FJ!). The drive itself was very long but relatively straightforward, with some interesting technical bits, soft sand and big drops. Generally drivers did extremely well, but there were some ‘lapses of concentration’ and a few incidents caused by them. A really big thankyou as always to all the organisers.

It was my first time in Liwa and I could till the difference
On the camping night we had an issue with 4 FJ tires cut in the middle of the night at the middle of the desert but I'll leave it to the concern guys to talk about it
2:30 AM Rashidjass arrived with his orange FJ to save the trip for all FJ owners (5 FJ Cruisers & 1 spare tire)
Driving from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM must be a pleasure for any off road lover specially with Bu Salem in the lead and Rashijass sweeping
Everything was new for me from the high drops to the deep bowls and the -powder- sand which caught me more than on time, I managed to get out all of them except one which I had to sacrifice my original skid plate for it thanks everyone for help and for the family spirit (Bu salem have told me one year back that one day I'll have to give it off and I did in Liwa) now I got the privilege of having Desert BAT spot and GPS point in my name in Liwa, but I must be a new quality skid plate
* What ever you spend on a quality equipment will be paid back to you in a difficult situations
I had second try 2 times getting out of 2 deep bowls while others climbed the same easily and softly -it is the experience factor-
I left with some of the guys at 4:30 PM while my eyes were looking backward to those who will keep driving till it's night
I love the desert and now I'm more confident that this is my favorite (sport) with the best club and best off roaders
Thank you all for being a part of that wonderful Friday and see you soon in the sands

It’s always worth the drive to travel to Liwa. It’s my first time in this side of the territory where @alshamsi_m said “it’s flat, but very beautiful”, I don’t know about “flat” but it’s definitely beautiful! Thursday night we reach the camp at around 11pm and meet new & old members. An early recovery was commenced that night when @KIMOz had a 2 punctured tires, @alshamsi_m & the rest of the FJ family off to the rescue & back to camp relieved.

Friday morning we had breakfast & a straight forward briefing. Drive started around 9am, few stuck & second rounds, some areas are tricky; visually the sand looks hard because of some plants around the area but surprisingly it’s very soft but all drivers did good in the end. I chose to stay in the convoy that down to seven cars & drove until the sun sets. I know @alshamsi_m will give us more & yes! Few climbs & more drops with “balconies”! No radios for I guess an hour & someone suddenly… “radio check?” to know if he’s still in the same frequency.

In this drive you learn how to approach tall dunes, when to use the accelerator after a sharp drop in order to climb the next again, etc.. but most of all the feeling you get as a family member. For me it’s not only the drive, it’s also about helping & looking each other’s back whatever car you drive, nationality you have or your rank in the convoy, we stick together & stay together as one team. It's a pleasure to drive with the "FJ Family" in the club :)

We reach Araada around 6:30pm, inflate, refuel & reached home safely. Big thank you to all the organizers who made this all possible. Until the next drive.

Hi Everyone

Let me give you the summary of the ADDC reloaded.
1. Damaged tires (4) before the event starts
2. Damaged Skid plate
3. A Car went back home on recovery
4. Exhausted driver
5. Couple of sick passengers
6. LOTS OF FUN

All in All the drive was smooth and good but I have some comments :

1. By now , you understand how serious is driving in very far places and that you have to be prepared by doing all the needed perpetration recommended by the marshals.
2. We discovered that one member had no towing point from the back because he was upgraded by the OLD SYSTEM which shows how important these rules we make because if you don't have the right towing point either it will take longer to rescue the car or it might cause a rollover.
3. Drinking water all the time was important specially in hot weather.

Rashid Jassim proved again to be the guardian angle of all. Thanks for the support. Thank you for everyone for making another successful trip by almost4x4.
Now let me give you a briefing of the family spirit we have in Almost4x4, it happened that Kimoz went to the wrong direction of the camp site which caused him loose his 2 treys and while looking for him Momo lost the same too. Now when I asked @Desert_Bat & @salhanai to give their tiers to their friends , they gave without second thought or asking why?? because they believe it is their responsibility to take care of each others.
While having the lunch , All were sitting together under the shade and this looks like the way we eat in the Arabia . I love it .

Hope to see you soon.

When this trip was announced i was pretty sure this is gonna be one hell of an adventure.
I signed up as soon as i saw the trip announcement and began preparing for this trip with checks for the car and acquiring the right sized tools this was my second time in liwa and i knew what was coming .
Arrived at the camp pretty late and had alil chit chat around the fire .
The drive next morning started of at a smooth and steady pace and i started getting the nag of it . There was this one dune which you were supposed to climb drive over for about 400 metre and go on the other side , i went on the other side and landed hard ended up bending the number plate , part of my suspension(i was told about the suspension today when i gave the car in for repair) and also the sterring alignment went off. the Avenger was hit but didnt give up and i completed the whole drive . The heat at one point was getting unbereable i remeber reading the temprature out and it was about 50 degrees and i chugged bottle after bottles of water down to stay hydrated.While reurning we had an option to either stay and drive for another hour or we could leave then i choose to leave as i didnt wanna push the car too much .
Once on road i noticed my cars entire alignment was of and so was the traction regardless of what i did the the traction light wont go off . at this point i decided it was best to call for recovery and not take any chances on the highway. @alsahmsi_m then dropped me and my passenger home (thank you for that!) and the jeep arrived an hour later on recovery
All in all a good day out in Liwa lots of drops amazing views and enjoyed everybit of it
until next time
Defrag out !

The trip to LIWA was amazing. I was very lucky to get the chance to see it from a privileged position: Megatron’s passenger seat with [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] at the steering wheel…

The splendid and immense desert of Liwa

The vast desert of Liwa is one of superb beauty. We had the chance to see black camels, a group of three gazelles, and even a lizard, apart from endless magnificent multi colored dunes.

On top of that we saw the abandoned fuel truck, on which [MENTION=8771]KIMOz[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5597]Defragmantor[/MENTION] had good fun climbing on.

On this trip I discovered for the first time the “singing dunes”, what a fabulous and captivating sound when we were descending the steep big drops…

The NO-Pro Camera and the motion sickness

All these things are now well recorded in my memories, since I quite did not manage to take any nice video with my NO-Pro Camera. Today I checked some videos and they look like the ones recorded when a camera falls from a helicopter on a windy day, then fall along the side of a mountain and finally hit on some stairs for a while so the motion sickness knocked on my head and told me to stop. Thanks a lot [MENTION=2551]ginger[/MENTION] & copilot who gave me a pill which made the difference.

The Orchestra-Man

I was amazed by the multitasking abilities of Bu Salem: he was at the same time “drawing the route”, checking the GPS, analyzing two or three alternatives around us on where to go next, checking the maneuvers of the cars behind in the mirrors and sharing tips on the radio to help people make corrections and improve their driving skills, listening to the music, talking to me and cheering up the team, all at the same time!!!

THANK YOU!!!

Every time I join a trip with Almost4x4 I both ENJOY A LOT & LEARN A LOT so…

…thanks a lot to the organizers & marshals [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION] for having made this trip possible and for taking care of all of us…

…thanks a lot Bu Salem and KIMOz for making space for me in your cars in this trip…

…and thanks to ALL for the nice atmosphere and the good spirits of ALL both at the camp and during the breaks. As other members have commented, the feeling of community is very nice in the Almost4x4 Family. THANK YOU.

Thrilled to read all above .... Honestly missed this grate event��

This was an exceptional and challenging drive from point of view smart decision making, recovery and rescue skills, self-hydration attention and endurance! All this in the majestic Liwa.

Reaching petrol station
I met @alshamsi_m there, and was told that he was awaiting the arrival of one of the members, and that @Mark B was on camp site already. I topped my fuel tank and hit the camp entrance point.

Camp Coordinates
A day before the drive, I entered all coordinates on BaseCamp then transferred them to my device, and apparently the camp site coordinates were copied wrongly. So I reached my private camp site and did a circle looking for members, but no one was there so I checked and entered the correct coordinates, it showed me around 3.4 km further. It tempted me to keep going straight on sand. With inflated tires I had to stop somewhere to deflate them. My private night drive was not that long as I reached a shortcut on the gatch road and at that moment alshamsi_m was right behind me, he was astonished that I left the petrol station before him and then found me in front of him :005:

Here is a preview of my little adventure
[IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320x240q90/661/383n0U.jpg[/IMG]

Camp Site
Reached the camp site, where I found members gathering. Started to setup my tent and inflate my mattress. Took my Karak equipment and started its preparation while we received a radio call from buddy @KIMOz , we understood that he lost two tires, so alshamsi_m decided to lead for the rescue mission with @Desert BAT and me behind him. Very kind of him, @Mark B was willing to join us as passenger for help but my seat was covered with a lot of bags and as we rushed to help Kimoz, he didn't joined me.

Rescue Mission
The rescue mission used to be very simple, we receive the struggling car's coordinates and we go for assistance. But as that night nightmare seemed to be planned :027: we didn't found Kimoz at the first coordinates he given us, probably his built-in GPS was shaking seeing Liwa for the first time and didn't provided correct coordinates :005: So we stopped to request a second time his coordinates. While doing that we saw an orange light rotating in the middle of nowhere and was about the same distance the GPS was giving us. Requested by alshamsi_m, @Desert BAT and me went straight to that light, riding on top and bottom of dunes, we lost that light. We found our selves back on the gatch road (we figured out that it was trailer and not Kimoz), we stopped then because I requested to enter again Kimoz coordinates on my GPS. After I did that, I changed my course and enter the sand again, that was an area with old steel poles that supposed to hold spikes fences. Most of them where covered by sand and only the top of each was rising from sand. One of them was only 20cm height and didn't saw it, I hit my left front and rear tires on it...tires sidewalls were damaged and lost instantly all the air. Kimoz tires were damaged the same way but in different area...

[IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320x240q90/673/nmJXMV.jpg[/IMG]
Lucky that @salhinai reached at that time and very kind of him he borrowed me his spare tire which was same specifications as mine.
My recovery took a lot of time and effort. Because I fixed my jack in the rear axle, so when we took off the damaged tire and needed to place the spare one, we had to dig in the sand and that made my jack plate unstable and so the jack fallen. We had to secure the car with another jack etc... (so please always jack your car from a side which will be far from the digging areas)

Drive day
First of all a thankful feeling to @salhinai without him I couldn't drive on that day. I was happy too seeing my old buddies finally driving in Liwa. We can say that we inaugurated the summer with this drive, sand was burning and sun was not kind! Obviously I underestimated it. For the next drive I would wear my boots and pant.
We had long journey were some members left us half way (on on-road exit) They took a smart decision to leave, some of them needed to reach their home earlier, and some of them where exhausted and saved energy to drive back home safely.
Here is the track of our drive :
[IMG]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320x240q90/912/S8Vm5B.jpg[/IMG]


What I learned from this drive is all about energy saving. Unexpected situations could happen during long drives thus time and energy are consumed excessively specially in summer. Our daily energy is not unlimited, so I would like to share with you my personal tricks list for the next drives to anticipate and save calories:

• Car in excellent conditions; Clear Towing Points, Easy Access to tools.
• Unnecessary walk around under the sun, or standing outside beside your or your friend's car... the car heat coming from underneath car is exhausting!
• Windows up and A/C on (when no need engine maximum performance), having and drinking plenty of water

On the way back to Dubai
Thank you @Rashidjass and @salhinai for the escort. We did all the way together taking care of each others as one family.

Thank you for reading my long report. And wish to see you very soon.

Regards to all,

Yet another awesome drive that was long awaited for me since it has been a while since I last been to Liwa. I land in the airport took a taxi home and got few things together and off I went. Got there were I saw [MENTION=8718]momo[/MENTION] & [MENTION=3879]Desert[/MENTION]bat fixing Momo's miss hap with the spike. While we were doing that [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] came to us and took the BAT with him to go and fix @Kimos miss hap too.
In the morning after some nice pumpkin muffins from @Arabasque , dates and hot coffee from @alsahamsi_m and karak made by [MENTION=8718]momo[/MENTION]; we started the drive, the track was nice and smooth where Bu Salim managed to take us to some nice drops to listen to the singing dunes. Around 4ish we took the guys who wanted to leave to the road and those who decided to stay went on to round 2 where Bu Salim asked me to be second lead and wow the speed of that second part just spiced the trip. By the end of the trip I have to say I was exhausted. I had the pleasure of driving back to Dubai with @Rashidjass and [MENTION=8718]momo[/MENTION] after getting fuel for the cars and our-self ( Note this is the FJ chapter of almost4x4 :you're kidding, rig ).

Thanks to [MENTION=44]alshamsi[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1657]Rashidjass[/MENTION] for taking care of us and looking out for all of us, thanks to my fellow drivers for a fun filled time in Liwa.

This was a great experience for me....other than the thrill and excitement you read about above, it was my first LIWA drive!

I was missing a requirement but was able to borrow one from a fellow driver who keeps extras.....thanks for that!

Great fun but I got quite exhausted and dehydrated mid-way.....which taught me a lot on water supply and salty drinks and sugar food! I would like to thank each and every person in this drive - even passengers. When I wasn't feeling well everybody came to the rescue - I don't want to put names so I don't miss anyone but i just want to emphasize that it wasn't only drivers of the trip that came to help (passengers as well who are not all members of the club) and thank you for that!

Even after reaching the exit point - everybody waited until we were all ready to move and headed in one convoy to the nearest station.

Thank you all and much love!