Friday... full of good cheer
Been there, dune that!
Getting lost, digging out his 4x4 and screaming as he went dune bashing were all part of the excitement for Joel Paz at the Gulf News Fun Drive...
- As told to Daniel Thomas, Friday magazine
- Published: 00:00 January 27, 2012
It's not for nothing that we called it the ‘soup bowl'. Surrounded by steep dunes, it looked as if a giant spoon had been used to scoop the sand out to create a massive crucible in the Liwa desert, off Abu Dhabi.
My wife May, a friend Cheryl and I were in my Nissan Xterra at the bottom of the ‘bowl'. I had entered it relatively easily, but now realised it was not going to be easy to climb out. At the first attempt to drive up the bowl's sides, the car began losing power. Then I remembered some valuable advice I'd read on online discussion forums: don't drive straight up a dune - the best way to ascend is at an angle. So I shifted the positioning of the car and went full throttle. Thankfully, we gained momentum and began climbing out. Relieved, I smiled, glad I'd entered the 2012 Gulf News Fun Drive.
I'd been dreaming of returning to the dunes ever since I first went to the Liwa desert as a Fun Drive volunteer five years ago. I was so excited to be a participant this year that I was probably the first to register my car. I began preparing for the 300km drive days in advance. Every evening after work as a designer I'd head straight to automobile accessory stores to buy things I would need, such as a shovel and a tow rope. And at home I'd research desert driving online to get a better idea of what to expect. "It's gonna be great!'' I kept telling May.
The day before the Fun Drive, I got my car serviced, and then on the day itself I was up at 4.30am. We got to Abu Dhabi before the registration time at 6am and I was surprised to see the entire area around the Mafraq Hotel was choc-a-bloc with cars.
After checking our water and fuel stock, we came in line for the flag-off and, at 7.20 am, we were on the trail.
The first section of the drive was on gravel and one thing I learnt was patience - you couldn't go too fast or you would end up just clouding the trail with dust and unable to see the car ahead. May was the navigator and I warned her to be really careful when reading the route guide. If we missed one turn, or failed to note the odometer reading (showing the kilometres clocked) at the points mentioned in the guide, we'd lose our way and might not be able to continue on the drive.
I'd driven on volcanic ash dunes back in the Philippines, but the sandy stretch in Liwa was nothing like I'd ever experienced.
Reaching the first two check points was relatively easy. Although there was a long queue at the petrol tanker at the third check point, we decided to wait and fill up rather than risk getting stranded in the desert with an empty tank.
From there onwards, up to check point five, we encountered some truly adrenaline-inducing driving conditions across amazingly steep dunes.
One of the off-roading lessons I learnt was that, when climbing dunes, you don't go in a close convoy because you never know if the car in front will be able to make it to the top or whether it will slide down. I learnt that the best practice is to wait your turn until the path is clear and then ascend the dune.
It didn't take long for us to realise that if you lose focus in the excitement for even a few minutes and forget to keep notes of the route boards or the kilometre readings, you are sure to get lost. It very nearly happened to us. One moment we were driving on an open flat trail following a set of tyre tracks, and the next moment I realised we were all alone in the desert. There were no cars ahead or behind us; the tyre tracks we were following were slowly being blown away in the sand. Luckily, stepping out and climbing onto the step rails of my truck for a higher view, I spotted a few specks far away. I did a quick U-turn and drove towards them for about 15 minutes and, just as I'd guessed, they were the Fun Drive cars. It must have been the relief of joining the group, or perhaps I relaxed a little too much, because a few minutes later the tyres did what I feared they would - we got stuck in the sand. We had to jump out and shovel. But it wasn't too bad and we were soon on track and bashing the dunes once again.
It was about two hours after this that we entered the soup bowl. May and Cheryl were screaming their heads off at this point. Getting out of that area was tricky and required some good off-roading skills, as well as a couple of failed attempts and recalculations. I realised how difficult it is to ascend and descend. As you throttle up the dune all you can see through the windscreen is the sky - which means you can't really make out when you should actually reach the top of the dune. It's only when the car tips down that you know you are starting the descent. In that split second, you need to decide how you will be handling the drop. The trick is to gather enough momentum for the climb up and, once over the top, take your foot off the gas pedal and apply the brakes as softly as possible, or you risk going sideways and rolling over.
It was 6.30pm when we spotted the camp lights in the distance. After parking, we pitched our tent and set out for the buffet. Later there was a big party with music, a raffle and yes, a performance by belly dancers. When we finally slipped into our tent to sleep it was the early morning.
All too soon the next day came and we hit the tarmac and reality. Sadly that was the Fun Drive over for another year, but I'm already looking forward to the next one!
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