Weekly Photo Challenge: Enveloped

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Enveloped.”

Many people think in the UAE we have perpetual sunshine, however we have seasons – although they are less distinct than at home – and quite often, what we consider “bad” weather.

Despite being 150kms inland, and 23 degrees north of the equator, the Liwa area suffers from foggy mornings throughout the winter – I reckon as often as 25% of the time in December and January.  The fog “envelops” the desert from 5am in the morning, until it clears around 9 or 10am.

Photo taken February 2014.

Weekly Photo Challenge : Orange

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Orange you glad it’s photo challenge time?.”

1) Sunrise in Liwa – 19th Feb 2015

2) Classic car and my son Cam at the Al Dhafra Camel Festival 2013

3) Camel beauty contest winner, having being annointed with saffron, at HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Camel Festival.

Liwa Wakes Up

I spent a couple of extra days in Liwa before the Dark Skies Challenge 15, much of it spent with my friend Chris working on improving his offroad driving skills – which he did very well!  Thursday morning say me with a few hours off, so once awake and on the road I spent them snapping away in the magic morning hour.

Early morning bus service – can’t see it being too busy!

Bin day near Khannour

School buses

Drawing water

Pylons are everywhere

Bin truck catches up with me

The Liwa equivalent of “painting the forth road bridge”

I paused high on a hill for a breakfast picnic – the weather was perfect, not cold yet not too warm, and not a breath of wind (that came later…).  Late last year a friend had told me that the Al Hayl Tower, nestled deep in a date palm plantation could no longer be seen from the top of the hill – but thankfully it is, from “my” waypoint there are quite a lof of date palms to peruse so I need to tell my friends roughly where to look!

The next stop was the Liwa Fish Farm, who now have a raft of ducks!  The guide took me further along the road to some polytunnels, where thousands of cucumber plants are producing one of the UAE’s staple foods (in modern times anyway).

Collective noun for ducks in water – raft, team, paddling

Outside sitting room for the workers

Required photo for a fish farm!

anyone passing can draw from the filtered, cool water at this station

12 polytunnels full of these

Mini cucumber – essential for salads here

I couldn’t resist a drive around some more plantations

wonderful gate

more polytunnels

classic Nissan Patrol pick up – not registered for road use tho

workers accommodation

Finally it was time to head back to the camp and prepare for the 51 cars who were joining me for the Oasis Offroad Dark Skies Challenge 2015!

so that’s what the truck was drawing water for!

cones are attached to the truck with rope – creating a moving roadblock!

Been a while since these shops saw customers!

Camel herder looking after his flock

Ah Liwa, how I love you!

Dark Skies Challenge 2015: The Photo Competition

It’s been a particularly busy February for me – Oasis Offroad held the second edition of the Dark Skies Challenge which took place on the penultimate weekend of the month.  For now, here are some of the photo entries – and a facebook link, so if you’d like your vote for the best picture in each category to count, please click through and “like” your favourite.

Action Shot

Sponsored by Black Pearl Car Care Centre, Al Ain

Vote HERE for this category

Sunrise/Sunset Shot

Sponsored by Southern Sun Abu Dhabi

Vote HERE for this category

Nature Category

Sponsored by The Liwa Hotel

Vote HERE for this category

Teamwork

sponsored by OutdoorUAE

Vote HERE for this category

Desert Life

Sponsored by The Liwa Hotel

Vote HERE for this category

Best Stuck!

Sponsored by Rahal Outdoor

Vote HERE for this category

So there you have it – our 11 participating teams chose their best photographs from an epic weekend, and are hoping to be voted the best in their category to get their hands on some amazing prizes by our sponsors.

Voting closed at 0800hrs GST (or MCT – Marina’s coffee time) on Monday 2nd March 2015.  Will let you know who the winners are later next week!

Sunday Sandy Snapshot #7

There’s nothing like camping in Liwa – this dramatic spot was reached by a relatively easy route through the dunes.  A similar picture featured in a blog last year but I couldn’t resist sharing it again.

Not The Weekly Photo Challenge : Scale(s)

Inspired by the Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale – here are scale(s) of a different kind!

“Alive without breath, as cold as death, never thirsty, ever drinking, all in mail, never clinking.”

Whenever possible I like to respond to the WPC with a desert photo and here is one of the most bizarre things you will ever find – a fish farm in the desert!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Scale.”

The Rub Al Khali (The Empty Quarter) is the world’s largest sand desert.  It covers 250,000 square miles and stretches from the UAE in the North, touches Oman in the East and covers a huge portion of Saudi Arabia.  The British explorer Wilfred Thesiger made two epic crossings of this inhospitable land back in the 1940s but today one normally crosses it via 4×4.  This week’s snap of a camel caravan illustrates the sheer scale of the dune massifs which stretch across much of Arabia.

After The Rain: Liwa January 2015

The UAE had a bit of weather last week (19th Jan).

Now snow in the high mountains of Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah is nothing new – every couple of years some snowflakes fall there; however huge hailstorms enough to turn the desert white are extremely unusual.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to see it as I was in Liwa, but there we experienced widespread, heavy rain which made the normally warm sand dunes appear sombre, dark, desolate.

After the rain the dunes were left adorned with the most beautiful and unusual patterns – in five years of regular desert trips I have never seen the Liwa quite like this! The rain was undoubtedly plentiful, but whether it fell monsoon like or was just a prolonged bout of moderate rain, we will never know.

the raindrop effect

the sand never looks grey when it is dry!

“sandwich” anyone?

all sand wet but white sand doesnt change colour like the red stuff

meanwhile on the sabkah

parallel lines

looks like someone has been out “combing” the slipface!

sandy staircase

drying out from the top down

crumbly crest

rain must have cascaded in a swirl down here

mother nature has been wielding a paintbrush?

must have been spectacular during the rain

3d

only drying out where the sun catches it

how many shades?

this must have looked spectacular with water running in multiple directions

sharp edges after the rain

normally these dunes are red all the way to the top

islands of red sand

dusted with talcum?

look at the lines in the bowl top middle

slowly drying out

Could some 1970s wallpaper have been inspired by this?

sandslip -just too heavy with the rain

beginning to dry out but still interesting!

crusty coating on top of the dune

The rain will gradually seep through the top layers of sand and may stay damp quite near the surface for most of the winter – unless we have a heatwave!  Thus making it far easier to traverse the sand dunes for the next couple of months, including hopefully, for our Dark Skies Challenge in 4 weeks’ time!

Dark Skies Challenge

On the last weekend of November 2014 Oasis Offroad ran a special trip titled “the Dark Skies Challenge.”  The concept was simple – teams of four had to work their way over 100kms of sand dunes to find “buried treasure” and camp for the night under a super-dark sky.

Winner Action Shot Category – Team Jolly Gazelle

We are going to run this again for 2015, this time moving it to February as it offers the best sand condition/daylight/weather combination.  So, on Friday 20th we will be deflating our tyres and heading deep into the desert in the most remote part of the UAE – The Western Desert (Al Magrib).

Winner Desert Life category – Team Sandsurfers

We are hoping to field five teams from Oasis Offroad and will also invite one team from each of five other offroad clubs.  Last time we worried that our five teams of four cars would get in the way of each other and follow much the same tracks but in reality, this didn’t happen – often teams went for hours without seeing anyone else, so we will be expanding the event!

First four sectors of a 10 sector route

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are various criteria to be met – teams will have to have at least one long wheelbase car (Anything with 4 doors or an FJ cruiser), and one intermediate driver has to be included.  Team leaders have to be “authorised to list and lead trips” for their club – there are some seriously big dunes 0ut there and we want everyone to arrive at the campspot safely!

Winner Stuck Category – Team Dune Busters

Here’s a screenshot of the report I wrote for OutdoorUAE magazine in December

and for all lovers of statistics, here’s the trip report I submitted to Oasis Offroad.

“The tracks have all been received; the team leaders have written a trip report for their team; photos have been submitted.
Cars have been washed; sand has been shaken out of shoes; offroading gear has been stowed away “until next time”.

First of all I would like to thank every single participant, driver or passenger, for having faith in my idea and coming along for the weekend. I know some of you had to re-arrange holiday schedules, take time off work and swap shifts with co-workers to clear enough time to drive the 400kms from Al Ain to Arada, traipse across the desert before driving back from Ghayathi at the end of an exhausting weekend!

So now it’s time to announce the WINNERS. And guess what – everybody who took part WON!

If I had told most of you two years ago that you would be able to navigate your way across the most remote of deserts in small teams with no outside support or assistance – would you have believed me? Yet you all managed to clock up over 100kms in varied terrain and you did it in style!

Winner Teamwork category – Team Sandworms

Many of you had never driven in Liwa – well we started there in the big dunes around Arada before our route took us north through the Magrib (Western) Desert. The area was chosen as it is one of the last places in the UAE you can really “get away from it all.” The particular route was chosen as due to the lie of the dunes, it’s impossible to do a straight line unless you have a rally bike! Therefore considering/choosing a good line was vital, and you all got the hang of this, some of you pretty quickly!

Quite a few of you had never had the chance to clock up “serious” kilometres before the event – welcome to the “century plus club”, all of you!

Winner Nature Category – Team Sandworms

 

 

 

 

 

Some statistics

5 teams of 4 participants with assorted passengers. A forward sweep team of 1 and a rear sweep team of 2. All in all 36 brave souls taking on “the Magrib”!

Nissan Patrols = 4 ; Xterras = 2 ; Pajeros =3 ; Jeep Wranglers = 8 ; Toyota FJ = 1 ; Nissan Pathfinder = 1 Toyota Prado = 2 ; Ford F150 = 1 ; Toyota Landcruiser = 1.

The second oldest car in the challenge was driven by Andrew Garcia – his Jeep Wrangler was born in 1995.
The oldest car in the challenge was a 1993 Toyota Landcruiser driven by Fishfacenic!

The youngest participant in the challenge was Zach who is only 26.

The team who have clocked up most life experience are the Koeksisters and Winchboy (KSWB).

Every team had to have at least one long wheelbase car – KSWB must have misread the instructions as ALL their cars were LWB!

Casualties – one burnt out clutch (still could move though, just not change gear), and 3 minor bumper damages.

The total kilometres the whole group drove were an amazing – 2831kms – driving this distance from Al Ain would take you to Nepal, Somali, The Sudan, Egypt, Turkey or Kazakhstan!

The fastest speed clocked was by the Dune Busters – 81kph – please tell me you were doing this on one of the flat plains!

Winner Sunrise/Sunset category – Team Jolly Gazelle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The teams undulated over the dunes climbing an amazing 33420 metres – that’s 4 times the height of Mount Everest!

Dunebusters – ascent: 2056, descent 2109m
Jolly Gazelle – ascent: 1779, descent 1820m
KSWB – ascent: 1792m, descent 1826m
Sandsurfers – ascent: 1855m, descent 1891m
Sandworms – ascent: 1939m, descent 1997m
Rear Sweep Team – ascent: 682m, descent 707m
Forward Sweep Team – ascent; 1373m, descent 1439m
(Final Recce (Tom and Mark) – ascent: 2662m, descent:2711m)

Average speed over the day (including stops for…. well, why did you stop?)

Dunebusters – 14.6km/h
Jolly Gazelle – 10.7km/h
KSWB – 10.7km/h
Sandsurfers – 13.2km/h
Sandworms – 13.9km/h
Rear Sweep Team – 11km/h
Forward Sweep Team – 17.3km/h

Average speeds when moving

Dunebusters – 29.7km/h
Jolly Gazelle – 27.3km/h
KSWB – 28km/h
Sandsurfers – 26.9km/h
Sand Worms – 28.8km/h
Rear Sweep Team – 22.4km/h
Forward Sweep Team – 25.6km/h
Final Recce Team – 32.5 km/h

Distance covered as per track for 31st October
Dunebusters – 132km*
Jolly Gazelle – 111km (tucked in on Friday night with KSWB)
KSWB – 116km (chose their own super remote campsite!)
Sandsurfers – 140km*
Sandworms – 118km*
Rear Sweep Team – 104km (spent the night with the Koeksisters and Winchboy’s braii and coolbox)
Forward Sweep Team – 127km
Final Recce Team – 126km

Net Distance Covered *finishers

KSWB – 116km (to remote campsite)
Jolly Gazelle – 111km -5km = 106km (to remote campsite)
*Dunebusters – 132km – 5km for photo of farm sign = 127km
*Sandsurfers – 140km – 5km = 135km
*Sandworms – 118km

The shortest track driven on 31st October from DSC Start to campsite was 118km by Martin and his team, well done the Sand Worms!!

Sunset over our campspot

Weekly Photo Challenge “Shadowed” 2

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Shadowed.”

Considering how many great photo opportunities there are at sunrise, I should perhaps set my alarm clock to go off earlier!  This pic was snapped on the last day of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge near Himeem, UAE  in April 2013.