Adrenaline, axles and dunes: How Emirati women are claiming the desert

Dubai: When Amna Ahmed Alshamsi drives her Jeep up the face of a dune and pulls off a switch she once only watched on Instagram, she is doing more than dune bashing. She is quietly dismantling the idea that the desert belongs to men.

Amna, Abeer Ali Al Khaja and Maryam Ahmed Abdullah are three Emirati women who desert drive, modify their own cars, and belong to an outdoor community that runs everything from dune trips to 14-hour road journeys.

Ahead of Emirati Women's Day on 28 August, marked this year under the theme "We Emerge Stronger and Better," their story is exactly the kind the occasion exists to spotlight: women doing something few expect them to, and doing it well enough to leave a convoy of men stunned.

It started in childhood, and in the sand

Contrary to the assumption that Emirati families keep their daughters away from the desert, all three grew up in it.

"It depends on the family," Amna explains. "For me, my parents used to do that, actually."

"Our families actually go with us to the desert from childhood," Maryam adds. "Not only the desert, we also used to go on road trips with our families."

That shared upbringing is how the three of them met. "We actually know each other from the desert," says Abeer. "We met in the desert."

"We were in a desert trip where we have a common friend," Amna recalls. "She did a trip for the girls to teach them how to drive in the desert. The three of us already know how to drive, so we were there just supporting. We had a camping site, we camped, and by the next day we became friends." That was almost two years ago.

The pull of the dunes

I asked them what they love about dune bashing and what about the desert and driving pulls them and they all answered the same thing.

"I think it's the adrenaline," says Maryam. "Exactly," Abeer agrees.

For the girls, there is something deeper underneath the thrill.

"It's very fun to do something new. There is also this sense of power when you drive your own car in the desert, and you're dune bashing, you're switching. You do these amazing things that I always saw on Instagram. Once I started modifying my car, I began to explore that side."

Learning the machine, not just the drive

Desert driving, it turns out, is as much about mechanics as nerve. The three have taught themselves the workings of their vehicles through the most direct method available: breaking them and fixing them.

"Once you modify it, you just start to break less," Maryam says. "The drives are not as easy as you can see them. Once you start to modify, you have to modify other things as well."

"If you started to put big wheels, you have to also modify other things," Amna continues, "so the other parts don't break."

The failures they describe are specific and hard-won. "The tyre pops out," Maryam says. "For my car, I usually get the shift that breaks down every few months, I have to change it. And the axle, sometimes even the differential." This is knowledge you only earn in the field.

Impressing the convoy

The empowerment, they say, is real, and it often arrives in the form of surprised men.

"Once you have a Jeep, you automatically go into these communities," says Abeer. "When they see a girl driving, they will always underestimate your ability to drive. And that's not our case. We usually impress."

Her proudest memory captures it perfectly. On a trip organised by a Jeep dealership, Amna and Maryam were the only two women among six or seven cars of men, and a debate broke out over whether Maryam should attempt the advanced level.

"I told them, she's advanced. And she was like, no, I'm not. We were fighting in the car," Amna laughs. "Eventually we went into the advanced level with the guys, and she really impressed them. They were all shocked. Two of the guys couldn't even catch up with the driving. It was really a proud moment. I was really proud of Maryam that day."

If the car in front can do it

Their advice for women who are curious but intimidated is disarmingly simple, and it comes straight from Amna.

"My logic in all of this, if the guys can do it, we can also do it. And if the car in front of me can do it, then I also can do it. I always tell that to the girls as well. If the car in front of you is going on top of the dune, or doing that switch, then you can also do it. It's actually not that difficult to drive in the desert."

A community that welcomes everyone

For women who want to get involved, the three are part of Unity Outdoors, a group run by a friend of theirs that organises both desert drives and road trips.

"They don't only do desert drives, they mostly also do road trips," Maryam says. "The owner is our friend, so we are always there to help and support her. Everyone can join. She also does girls-only trips, not only mixed trips, so the girls can join. She also sometimes does a beginner desert trip, to teach girls how to drive in the desert."

No single box for an Emirati woman

For all the talk of adrenaline and axles, Amna's closing thought speaks directly to the spirit of Emirati Women's Day.

"There is no one stereotype for Emirati women. We all come from different families, and every family has a different kind of thinking. You cannot put an Emirati woman in one box and expect her to be that. You cannot base an Emirati woman on saying she can only do one, two, three. That's not like us. Every woman has a different ability to do things. So if you like something, if you have a specific hobby that you want to do, then just go and do it. No one will judge you there."

Summer means less driving and more travelling, with Abeer and Maryam recently making the long haul to Salalah. But when the cooler months arrive, the dunes will be waiting, and so will they.