Watch ‘em run
Watch ’em run promised to be a scenic and refreshing morning drive with plenty of wildlife viewing.
To the disappointment of our convoy, the gazelles and oryxes which are usually ubiquitous throughout the area where we drove today, were nowhere to be seen. Considering that the first half of the drive was low paced with low revs due to technical terrain, it is highly unlikely that these shy creatures were scared away by the sound of our engines. A more plausible explanation for their absence during our drive would be that they were tipped off by a mole within Desert Fellas, to undermine my credibility as a local guide. Maybe we’ll have better luck next time.
After an hour of driving, and completing one of the most challenging crossings in the Al Qudra desert, the convoy experienced their first sighting of Moon Lake, where we stopped for a short break. The sight was rather underwhelming from ground level but looked spectacular from the drone images taken by Zoubeir.
From this point onwards, the desert opened up to longer, well spaced dunes, that would have been perfect for high speed side sloping if it wasn’t for the tenacious grass outcrops that had to be dodged while ascending and descending these slopes. This put a tremendous emphasis on alertness and skill of the convoy to maintain a consistent following distance while constantly changing speeds during the various phases of side sloping. The fact that we were the only convoy in the desert up to this point added serenity to the already spectacular scenery.
It was around this point in the trip that one of the Fellas in our convoy had to be escorted out of the desert on account of a sick passenger. Immediately after re-entering the desert we were greeted by high dunes with clean surfaces. We made some high speed climbs, see-sawing between adjacent slopes, and maintained that high pace on our way to the exit, to end our drive on schedule.
Thanks for the efficient sweeper support on today’s trip Zoubeir. Fouad, you handled the role of second lead very well. Keep it up.
4 comments on Watch ‘em run
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Nice trip report Preggy and the images you share are beautiful, looked like a very scenic drive.
It was a fantastic drive in Sweihan🥲
I reached early to the meeting point and started to deflate when Preggy noticed that the chosen meeting point which he sent became in front of the the desert entrance in the middle of the road.
I should have parked in a place where rest of fellas can park easily.
Lesson learned 👍🏻 Even in fun drives there are lessons to be learned.
Preggy started it nice and easy till we reached to the technical area which I started to admire and became my favorite 🤩. We faced some challenges and we did overcome them the way we should. I was in a position where I need to keep an eye on the leader at the same time not to put the rest of the convoy in deep trouble. Being a second lead makes me understand how following same track, following distance, and quick radio communication is important.
Thanks Preggy for the trust and giving me this opportunity as a second lead.
Zoubeir as always you did such a great support to all of us.
Did I mention Sweihan ?
Clearly you miss Sweihan a lot. Watch this space as we are planning a Junior trip in Sweihan within the next few weeks.
Another great fun drive with a mix of technical and higher speed side sloping areas with the opportunity to take in the natural beauty that the al Qudrah area had to offer. Thanks to our lead preggy, 2nd lead Fouad and sweeper zoubier who also managed to capture some of the amazing scenes we witnessed during the drive .