Liwa Marathon - Going South

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

We left the site sharp and on time like a Swiss watch to start the venture of the second day. The newly upgraded intermediates had never driven this area so they enjoyed the big arches and what the terrain was throwing at us .

Our newbies 10+ were having a blast too . Imagine that out of 135 km we spent 20 km in 3.5 hours which indicates how rich and beautiful the area love. According to un official source we made 70 km in that 20 km

Unfortunately, due to a mechanical problem, we had to leave early at 2:30 pm but to my surprise, I could still see happiness and satisfaction on the members' faces by reaching out to the road.

I promise you that we are going to make another one again but this time in the dark side of Liwa and driving against the wind which means that we are going to choose the walls and climb them as much as we like

Till next time, stay safe and see you in Liwa Festival

Cheers
Shamsi

[Kuba]

Hello Almosters!

There was a lot of first times for me during this drive
First time camping with the club. And I must say it was an amazing experience! I arrived at the gates about an hour after sunset. Started deflating my tires and started to worry how will I get to the camp... Never drove in the desert after dark before.(First time driving at night)
Fortunately just before I started panicking some other club members arrived so I was saved Thank you Ahmed for leading as safely to camp site!

We already got the message from intermediate drivers that they were late so it was up to us to set up a camp!
When intermediate drivers finally arrived we could see how tired they are but nevertheless all were happy with a lot of stories to tell:) Some of us stayed till late morning hours, and as I'm not mistaken one of our colleagues stayed up all night guarding the camp and keeping the fire burning.

After breakfast we set of to explore Liwa desert. And what a desert it is! Pace was not too fast but fast enough to give us a little thrill. We have done couple of pretty big drops.
Intermediate drivers were given permission to climb a couple of walls and drive one really big and steep arch ( at lest from my perspective).
Newbies were also given a chance to drive on one arch... and I'll be honest with you. I didn't feel I was ready for it at the time. After seeing a struggle my colleagues had I decided that my control of the car is notgood enough to safely go up and down so I decided to back down. But congratulations to everyone that had guts to do it!

Unfortunately our trip had to be cut short due to mechanical problems. I write unfortunately, because I believe everyone wanted more, but nevertheless this few hours were so amazing that there is absolutely no regrets and I hope to repeat it as quick as possible!

Stay safe and see U in the sand!

P.s. I tried Ahmed's famous tea for the first time... And survived:)

[BShehzad85]

Great! Experience!

Camp:
I reached camp site around 6:30 pm and thought I lost the track as didn’t see any body for couple of hours, later on newbies started reaching, we set up the area and had great conversation on topics like “Artificial Intelligence” “action cameras” “sports injuries” and other experiences, @alshamsi_m and other intermediates arrived just before midnight, had some further chitchat, experienced “smart charcoal , went to sleep around 12:30, cold night.

Drive:
Woke up around 7, packed up all gears, had light breakfast, got ready and left for drive, it was a first time experience in “Madinat Zayed” track was absolutely beautifully and untouched, however sand was very soft to my experience so felt a difference to usual driving experience. Overall great experience, did some great “straight crests” while holding breath, watched intermediates do some amazing side crests.

However we had to close the drive early due to M.Alshamsi FJ faced some issues, took us over an hour to exit at a fast pace.

Thanks Mr. Ironman (M Alshamsi) for arranging the trip, 3 days in a row takes lot of energy and effort.
Thanks intermediates and support Team for being supportive as usual.

[Spyda]

This was one of the highly anticipated drives this year with the club. After a long drive over from sharjah reached the camping location. Set a fire sat and chilled with a few of the other members. Shamsi turned up alone and explained that they had one car broken down from the intermediate convoy and the rest will be late. I turned in early for bed to get some rest for the 135km we was going to be driving the following day.

After a cold night, woke up early around 7 am , had some breakfast and Shamsi gave us a briefing about what the day will be. After some 20km we had experienced some very steep drops and really nice arches. Unfortunately the fun got cut short with our Leaders car Mando having a mechanical issue. Disappointing to have the drive cut short but main thing we got the car out safely and the convoy. These things happen and part of offroading, unfinished business in Liwa and I can't wait till the next opportunity to go and drive on the beautiful two tone sands

[ahmed77moharem]

Hello everyone
I reach to the camp gate point around 8:00 p.m. & I was expecting to find the intermediate drivers which they will guide us to the camp but the bad news was one of the cars was had a technical problem & they will join us late.
At the camp gate point there were 4 cars, I was lucky as they allow me to lead them to the camp point.
It was a new experience to lead a convoy for a first time at the dark sand using the skills which we learned from the previous challenges with the group & the easy track which issued by @alshamsi_m.
We reach to the camp point easily & safely and start the friendly discussions.
We waked up at 7:00 a.m. as instructed by @alshamsi_m in order to take our breakfast & start the trip at 8:30 a.m. as the plan was to drive 135 KM inside the desert.
Really it was a very nice trip, heigh dunes and arches with heigh speed and momentum.
But unfortunately, @alshamsi_m car had a mechanical problem, so we finished the trip at 2:30 p.m.
Finally, thanks to our founder @alshamsi_m for the nice trip & advices throw the driving.
Thanks to @Kuba, @Spyda, @BShehzad85, @lapsis to give me the chance for this challenge.

[Stephan]

Hello everyone,

Apologies for a very late trip report. Better late than never they always say. This has been my third time in Liwa and I have forgotten how magnificent this place is. The clear skies and the golden color of the dunes make this place special.

I took my family with and we spent the night in one of the hotels. I left early morning to reach the meeting point. Once there, everyone was still busy making breakfast and packing up, getting ready for the day ahead of up.

It was time to start the drive and the excitement of driving in this area was about to get underway. There were nice area where we made huge arches and some relatively flat areas where we could increase our speed. Shamsi gave the intermediates also a suprise by creating two lines to drive - one for the newbies and one for the intermediates.

Just about midday, when we were all warmed up and having fun, Shamsi's car experienced mechanical issues. Just then, we had to leave because we didn't want to take the risk continuing driving. We exited the desert safely and it was time for everyone to inflate and say goodbye.

Thank you for arranging the trip and for everyone's support.

See you soon,
Cheers