Wahiba Sands (East-West)
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Day and date: Thursday, 11th February 2016
Drive Type: Intermediate+
Meeting Point: Shell gas Station, Al Kamil
Google maps users (just copy and paste in Google maps): https://www.google.ae/maps/@22.2234768,59.2012199,17.49z?hl=en
GPS users:
Meeting Time: 2000 hrs, February 11, 2016
Drive Start: 2030 hrs, February 11, 2016
Drive End: 1200 hrs, February 13, 2016
Duration:
Drive Route: Al Kamil – Bidiyah thru the Confluence Point 22°N 59°E in the Wahiba Sands
Drive Terrain: mostly Sand, crossing over high dune ridgescampout at Al Kamil on the 11th night and an intermediate+ level drive thru the Wahiba sands via the confluence point 22°N 59°E in the East-West direction. thereafter, a campout alongwith another convoy which will join us thru a beginner’s route on the 12th Feb
Checklist:
a) Keep your emergency contact info at vehicle dashboard.
b) Carry air compressor with you and ensure it’s in working condition.
c) Ensure your 4×4 vehicle is in perfect condition and with enough fuel.
d) Compatible Radio and off-road flag is a must.
e) Carry all necessary off-road gear / recovery equipment in good working condition.
f) Carry enough water / refreshments / re-hydration drinks for self & co-passenger(s).
Sounds like a fantastic trip 😀 – but if I was to be away for valentines weekend – there may be trouble. 😕
I hope there is another trip planned like this soon :ymhug:
:drive:
Great trip Ajay. Very much looking forward to it. Thank you.
quote Pbencini:Sounds like a fantastic trip 😀 – but if I was to be away for valentines weekend – there may be trouble. 😕I hope there is another trip planned like this soon :ymhug:
:drive:Bring both your valentines 🙂 along. I am sure they will enjoy
Hi Ajay,
I’m currently signed up for this trip for Group 2 on Adventure Oman Facebook page, but would love to join Group 1 if I’m allowed. I haven’t been to Wahiba sands so I’m super excited to see and drive it.
Darin
thanks Ajay Bhai. Looking Forward to this trip already!
Ajay Bhai,
Kamal (050-7863113) is also confirmed for this drive. kindly add him in participant list please.
Our trip to the Wahiba Sands dunes in Oman was nothing short of spectacular. This was truly an expeditionary drive of unchartered dunes for the whole convoy :yesss: . It was a trip that saw a group combined from members of DO, ME 4×4, Adventure Emarat, and Adventure Oman :ymhug: . The trip was led by Ajay and supported by Arun D’Souza of Adventure Oman ^:)^ . The trip was a 3-day expedition with the advanced group meeting on Thursday evening. This group consisted of 9 cars (4 from Dubai, 1 from Abu Dhabi, and 4 from Muscat) and approximately 18 people. We met in Al Kamil Oman, which was an 8-hour drive from Dubai 😮 😮 crossing into Oman at the Al Ain Mezyad Border Post. The drive was fantastic with beautiful mountain ranges and a nice sunset as the backdrop . After we all reached our meeting point in Al Kamil, we had dinner at a local Pakistani restaurant and then immediately set off into the desert to find our camping spot for the first night. We drove through the desert tracks for about an hour or two and covered about 30km until we reached our camp site. There was lots of vegetation around, which brought out a few critters we were looking to avoid…scorpions :-ss :-ss . Everyone quickly set up camp so that we could sit and enjoy the camp fire and some drinks after the long journey #:-s . The temperatures dipped quickly and I surmise that late into the night we were in the single digits :-O . At about 3 am someone had a brilliant idea that we go to bed and get some rest as we had a full day of dunes ahead of us (-| .
We all woke early and eager and quick had our breakfast, tea, and coffee ~O) . We also had a local farmer stop by and make himself comfortable by our fire and enjoy tea with us :ymhug: . By 8:30am Ajay had given the convoy the necessary brief and convoy positions. The Wahiba Sands dunes run perfectly North to South and this is how most people cross them. However, we were tackling them East to West 😮 , which made for a very interesting drive :drive: :drive: . Our destination was to hit our camp site for that evening, which was about 30km as the crow flies and required crossing about 15 or so of these large North/South dunes. We drove for about 8 hours throughout the day and covered about 50km. The drive was very technical with large and small dunes with many gullies, valleys, ditches, bowls, etc. There was also a lot of vegetation so it made it very challenging to get any good run-ups for climbs as you would be bounced of the rock-like vegetation #-o . The sand was sooooffffffttttt :YMTONGUE: . On many occasions convoy members found themselves buried deep to the chassis. If it weren’t for the winch on our sweeper’s Jeep, many of us would still be digging out sand now ^:)^ . Many recoveries required, the winch, tow straps, digging, and of course, good old muscle power with pushing :-BD ! The drive really tested everyone’s skills and stamina to be able to dip and dive through the dunes and then to recovery when the sand won the battle. All in all though, the convoy adapted very quickly and was able to move smoothly through difficult parts. We would often stop for photo opportunities as there was some great scenery.
By 5pm we had reached our campsite near 1000 Nights Desert Resort. At this point, a newbie convoy of 4 cars from Muscat joined :ymhug: . The plan was for all of us to BBQ together, camp the night, then have a relaxing newbie drive in the morning to introduce the wonders of dune bashing to them. As we sat up on the dunes a sandstorm blew in and covered us in sand for about 2 hours X( . This was one of the less enjoyable parts of the trip but an adventure nonetheless. After if subsided, we were able to set up camp with a nice bonfire, and our Omani hosts put together an incredible BBQ with chicken, curry, biriyani, all nicely spiced up to warm you up from the inside out. It was such a fantastic BBQ and great to see how they all collectively put it together. It was a nice way to BBQ as a group!
Again the night was very chilly and reached single digits but by early morning the sun rose and so did the tired and sleepy campers! We had a collective breakfast of meat, fish, bread, sausages, cheese, coffee, tea, etc and it was a pleasant start to the day. By about 10am we were all finished packing up the camp and Ajay had assembled us all for the pre-drive brief. We now had 4 cars in the convoy who had never driven on sand before so the brief was extensive with a Q&A session as with any first timers. The plan was to divide the group into 2 convoys: the newbies+support and the others. Ajay asked me to lead the newbie convoy :yesss: , which was a great honor. It was slightly challenging at times as we were now driving West to East on the dunes, which meant we were trying to find a track up the leeward side (the steep side) of the dunes :drive: . We found some nice tracks nonetheless as well as some steep, long descents to give the newbies a great taste of how fun desert driving is :ymparty: :ymparty: .
By noon, we had wrapped up our drive. It was the last congregation of everyone together. We had 12 cars now and about 25 people. Everyone shook hands, exchanged contact details for future adventures, gave thanks to everyone for a wonderful time, especially to Ajay and Arun for their leads and guidance ^:)^ :ymapplause: :ymapplause: , and then departed our separate ways. On the way out we filled the tyres, had some quick food, and headed back on a lovely sunny, Saturday afternoon drive through the mountains back towards Mezyad Border Post. Fortunately, the drive back was only 6 hours and we reached back to Dubai around 8pm in the evening.
This was a fantastic trip and a huge thanks to Ajay for leading it :thanks: :thanks: . It was truly an amazing one and the only bad thing about it….was it ending!
Very much looking forward to the next one!!
while writing the excellent Trip report, Matt had missed out our visit to the confluence point 22N 59E, or probably he did it on purpose 🙂 and wanted to wait till our claim is verified and is finally accepted.
Here are the details of that part of our adventure. :thanks: Matt, I borrowed heavily from your trip report to write this piece. Hope you don’t invoke any copyright violations :))
http://www.confluence.org/confluence.php?visitid=20523
BTW, in recorded history, this spot has been visited only once in the past and that too, more than 13 years ago.
Well done team :ymapplause:
Thanks Ajay. This is a very cool and unique experience and accomplishment. It is really nice to see our team on the Confluence.org website. Thank you for taking us there!! :thanks: :thanks:
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