The dazzle coming of the “Sport” and “Range Rover” decals nearly blinded me. It was an almost involuntary reflex to grab my iPhone and take a snap:

Now the only people I know in Dubai who have a Range Rover is Mr and Mrs Saul. Surely this must be their next upgrade? But I am left wondering if this is a dealer fit option in the UAE. This would not surprise me at all:

“Would sir like diamond encrusted decals?”

Mobile phone cameras were quickly engaged as all the occupants of cars near the Porsche were eager to record a real piece of Dubai bling:

A little search of the internet found a few more photos of this car special car.  I always thought that Dubai colours were black tints and an ice white finish. Perhaps now Gold is the new white?

In a bid to get some down time, I joined the lads for an afternoon desert driving. The weather in Dubai has been a little odd over the last few weeks with huge electrical storms, then sandstorms and the occasional stunning day with clear skies. Last weekend it looked ominous with rain forecast. As we drove out the weather appeared it would hold:

Area 53 is a an area of desert situated a few kilometres past Big Red. It is famous for a number of huge sand bowls which make immense playgrounds for desert vehicles. As there had been a bit of a shower earlier in the day it has the effect of compacting the sand. The boys deflated down to 18PSI as opposed to the usual 14PSI we would deflate to in the usual soft sand when dry.

The threat of rain kept most of the casual drivers away and as a consequence the dunes were empty. We were soon enjoying the huge sand bowls with the convoy of five cars whizzing up and down the slip faces leaving once virgin sand rutted with tracks. It all looked rather dramatic.

There is a monster size sand bowl in particular that attracted us along with the usual quad bikers, dirt bikers and a dune buggy which could wheelie going down hill. It was a sight to behold and sounded like it had 1000 horses under the hood. Sadly, I was hanging on for dear life as Dunk hammered the Pathfinder around the bowl so there was little opportunity for photos.

The trip was winding down when two of the vehicles had some small incidents. Simon had a flat and Pete had his wheel come off the rim. This happened to me sometime ago so I advised as best I could:

Using the matt in the car to act as a base for jacking the Cherokee up, then using a compressor to re-inflate the tire while a couple of the lads held the wheel in place it soon snapped back on:

We were all soon back on the road  a little giddy from riding around in what seemed like a giant skate park. The hard sand and huge bowls gives simply the most sensational roller coaster like feeling. It is easy to become complacent about desert driving as we can do it whenever we want but it really is a lot of fun if you have not been out for a while.

Mr Chris was good enough to lead a team of five vehicles out to Pink Rock. We entered the sand at Big Red at around 11am. At that time of day it was pretty quiet. We quickly aired the tires down and set off into the sand to enjoy the dunes.

It has been some time since I last did any dune bashing and it took a few minutes to get my eye in. I was soon enjoying myself until I circled a bowl, however the sand was just too soft for the behemoth weight of the hummer. And I sank. Now early in my off road career I would put the power down till the axles were deep in the sand. This time – I popped it into low range and made some progress backwards. As I could see I was not going to clear the soft stuff – I engaged the differential lock and got a few of the guys to give me a shove:

The Hummer trundled out no problems and there was no need to deploy tow ropes. In fact we did not need to recover any of the vehicles all day. That is always nice. One of the wranglers ran into a bit of a snag. We heard a worrying comment over the walkie talkies:

“Guys, my accelerator is stuck wide open. I think the accelerator cable may have snapped”

That was a worry. Mr Chris went over to see what was going on. We stayed put wondering if we would have to call a UniMog out to recover the wrangler. After about 20 minutes we heard over the comms:

“Everything is OK. We have just removed a choitrams bag from the engine and we are up and running”

That was a relief and kind of worrying to see the damage plastic bags can do not only to the environment but also to vehicles.

While we were hanging around Russ and Nic enjoyed the glorious weather in the desert

Then Russ thought it might be fun to leap of a dune. Shame he brought half of it with him back into the Hummer:

We had a fun trip for the rest of afternoon and I let Russ take the wheel of the Hummer. He even managed to get it to the top of Pink Rock where we enjoyed a pleasant picnic lunch making sure to bring all our litter with us:

It was an entertaining day and Russ was adamant that he would be back for more. As we aired the tires up back at Big Red the area had got really busy. Lots of people were taking advantage of the great weather to enjoy the desert. It was a real shame for all us to see at least two people toss bottles and cans carelessly out of their vehicles.

The area around Big Red really is an amazing natural beauty spot. It is really sad to see untold number of bottle and cans littering the sand. It took the shine off the whole day for a number of us. I think a few bins and some no -littering signs would help a lot.

This time a group of us rented a comfortable 3/4 Bedroom Villa at the Royal Beach Resort which worked out as a very economical way to spend the weekend in a nice resort on the coast.

We did the usual things – hanging out in the pool, BBQ’ing on the patio as well as endless games of Whist and Rummy, it was really relaxing. On the Friday we went on a little group outing to the UAE’s only natural waterfall at a place called Wadi Wurrayah. The drive is about 30 minutes from where the main hotel areas are. The last five kilometers of the trip are along a rock strewn river bed and a 4×4 vehicle is highly recommended and not for the first time I wished I had brought the Hummer along for this trip. The ride was rather bone jarring – but the end result was worth it. We were greeted by a natural rock pool with the promising rushing sounds of a waterfall.

We were soon all in the water swimming around and enjoying the cool water making a pleasant escape from the arid desert sun. Here are the lads enjoying the refreshing waterfall (shame about the graffiti):

With care, it is possible to scramble up some rocks and for the daring you can leap into the water. In parts the rock pool is more than 4 meters deep – however I was too scared to jump. Below you can see Duncan doing his bit and escorting two of the girls over the edge!

Rupert’s marvellous underwater casing for his camera allowed us to get a couple of memorable photos. Here we are in the crystal clear rock pool:

And later on just off the shore from the Royal Beach there were plenty of sea turtles enjoying themselves:

It was another excellent weekend in the UAE and now with the weather cooling down and Ramadan over I am sure this will mark the start of the outdoor activities after a long hot summer.

Despite best intentions of getting a good nights sleep on the Thursday so I would be fresh for the trip on Friday morning I ended up in enjoying some of Dubai’s night life until the early hours. Inevitably at 9.30am I was not in particularly good shape and felt decidedly unwell as we set off for the 2 hour trip to Fujariah. Still the company of Catherine and Pepita was excellent and their infectious chat lightened the dark cloud of my hangover.

Then I heard that sound. That sound that I knew was going to be in pain. That sound that meant I was going to get hot. Very hot.

“Pull off the road you have a flat” – I could barely get the words out. It was 11.30am, 43c and we were 55km out of Dubai with a rather large piece of metal poking out of one of the rear tires.

Here is the offending protrusion:

To add to this we had taken a wrong turn and were for some reason at Big Red. I quickly went over to the shops at Big Red to see if anyone could help but no such luck. By the time I had got back the girls had done well locating the Jack and freeing the spare wheel. Then I got to work. Jacking up cars with the tools that come with cars is hard at the best of times but with a raging hangover and very hot weather is proved an unenviable task. It was hot dirty work, everything was hot. The jack, the tires, the wheel nuts and the road all feeling like fire to touch. In the thirty minutes toil we got some odd looks from passers by and I felt I had lost a couple of kilos in perspiration. Still I got the tire on and we drove a kilometres down the road and I asked the one of the small tire shops to his electric gun on the wheel nuts. I still have some unfathomable fear about the wheels coming off…

With this behind us – we asked the tire guys for directions to Fujairah and off we went. An hour later we were back to where we started back at the tire shop. I inwardly sighed at not having the off road explorer with us and this time we took the correct direction and headed to Fujairah . We arrived tired, dirty but relieved we made it after a four drive around parts of the UAE I had seen for the first time.

I enjoy coming to the east coast. The temperature is 3-4c cooler and there is a definite relaxed or holiday feeling in the air. Catherine had been given a room at the recently opened Fujairah Rotana Spa which is situated right next to the Al Aqah Intercon. They are offering very good rates and for for 700AED I enjoyed my own twin room with a nice view of the pool and beach. On arrival our rooms weren’t quite ready so we made a beeline for the pool. Here we are enjoying the cool water after a rather arduous journey:

The resort is well equipped with a wide beach, large pool and even tennis courts. I found myself at home sat at the pool bar enjoying some extra sour margaritas and some later afternoon Sun with good company. I think after about the fourth Margarita the traumas of getting lost and flat tires were the subject of laughs and all was good.

Once the sun had gone down we enjoyed a good value international buffet and a reasonably early night after what had turned into a long day.

The following morning I enjoyed a good breakfast and made the most of the pool and the great weather. Though my shoulders were a little sun burnt later. Too soon though it was time to head back to Dubai and this time we took the right roads and were making good progress until we got to the outskirts of Sharjah:

“That sky looks like the world is ending”

It was dark. Really dark. The temperature gauge dropped 20c in the space of five minutes and then it started. It rained. Hard. The visibility was terrible punctuated with the odd bolt of lightning. 22c weather and an electrical storm in the middle of the summer in the UAE? Almost unheard of – sure enough people were pulling over and enjoying some of the new weather. I was concerned that the highway would become flooded so cautiously I pushed on.

As the rain eased I thought it would be a clear run for the last 35km back to Dubai. Then the dust storm came. A really strong Shamal was blowing sand in the air making visibility less than 50m – just like fog but worse. Again I pressed on carefully and as we entered the outskirts of Dubai it subsided but the car was covered in a thick layer of wet sand. Proof that freak weather does happen in the UAE.

It was one of the most event filled journeys (both ways) I have had in ages but with good company and reassuring each other we made it through each little hurdle. While the GMC Terrain made it through the journey I wished we had the Hummer on more than one occasion. While it might not be that fast, quick or super comfortable, it is sure footed, reliable and equipped with all the rescue gear you could ever want.

I have a feeling that even with a new vehicle purchase coming I will still be driving the Hummer on a regular basis, it is a great vehicle for the rigours of UAE adventuring.

Car buying in Dubai is not at all like the UK. Back home the brand dealers hound you. Here they are merely there to give the price and availability – kind of like selecting shoes. Let me give you an example:

My dream car when I was a lad was a BMW M3 – that motorsport badge giving the promise of performance and some unattainable cachet from driving “the best in its class” car. When I was in the position to buy one I went to local dealer to see what he had in the nearly new category. They had a “poverty spec” M3 which I was not keen on and I told him without x,y and z widgets I would not be buying. A few days later the dealer called saying he had the car with the right spec on and it was being prepped at the moment and was in the workshop and would I like to see it. Of course I went down and when I walked through the door the dealer had all ready put the personal number plate I had on my current car on the shiny blue M3. A brilliant close – even I will admit that and I was driving that car away later that week.

Here in Dubai it is very different. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: “How much is this model?”
Dealer: “it is x dirham sir”
Me: “Does it have x,y and z widget?”
Dealer: “It is full option sir”
Me: “Do you have it in stock in color y with interior z?”
Dealer: “Yes” or “Yes, in four months time”

And that is pretty much it. There is no haggling on the price, no speccing the car to the nth degree unless you want to wait upwards of a year. They either have it or not. You pay the price or you don’t. This makes buying new cars straightforward and low pressure. I somehow felt it was an empty experience. I wanted car buying to be a dance of tactical negotiation, between myself and a sharply dressed car salesman who is wearing even more hair product than myself.

I knew I needed something more. So with my Autotrader in hand I headed for the spiritual home of Arthur Daley in Dubai. The Al Aweer used car complex.

Again – trawling around second car lots is also a ritual of buying a car for me. I think well if I can afford the “special edition” surely I can get the “turbo nutter special edition” for the same money second hand?. Everyone always wants a deal.

The Al Aweer car complex sits out on the Emirates road discretely labelled “Used Car Complex” – it is an understatement. I have spent numerous Saturday afternoons in the UK mooching around Trade Sales in the UK described as Europes largest second had car store. It has got nothing on Al Aweer. Once you get there you realise that every possible square inch has some vehicle jammed into that space and that being able to park your current car to go and look at other cars is a challenge in itself.

I was bewildered. Everywhere I looked there were objects of desire. All of Dubai’s favourites were in abundance – Porsche Cayennes, Range Rover Sports, Toyota Land Cruisers, Audi Q7s, Hummer H2s and the Escalades. Then there were the exotica. I had never seen so many Lamborghinis in one place and in so many colours, grey, red, green and even orange. Aside from the luxury cars there was plenty for people with more practical needs but you needed to look hard for them in amongst the many traders specialising in higher end models.

I could have spent hours browsing, it was fascinating. But 45c weather and 80% humidity is enough to put the dampers on even the most fervent car bargain hunter. Still I gave it a good three hours and somehow the heat spurred me on to engage in conversation with the real car salesman of Dubai.
None of the cars on display had a price – forcing one to speak to the “Boss Man”. Who when asked would without hesitation give you the price, model year and detailed spec breakdown of anyone vehicle. When pushed further they would also give you that vital bit of information as to how the car had come in to Dubai i.e. was it an “official” agency import, a personal import from the US or in some cases if it had come in for another GCC country.

Personally I would only buy a vehicle that had been officially imported – after all who wants to spend thousands of dollars on something that has no warranty or recourse? Others are braver than me and there are a vast number of car service dealers that can carry out basic maintenance though parts can be harder to source for un-official imports. For example here is a Dodge Charger SRT8 – it is a 2006 model with only 18K km on it. It was in pristine condition and offered neck wrenching 425BHP for $40,000:

Sadly it was an import from the US and never was brought in by the official Dodge agency – I am just too much of a worrier so I had to give it a miss.

I enjoyed the interaction with the “Boss Man” at each of the dealers. These guys wanted to do a deal. They want to negotiate. It was great. But ultimately after sweating in the mid-afternoon and looking at vast assortment of cars I was beaten. I just could not summon up the courage to take the plunge on a vehicle there. As I am no expert on cars – these are very much sold as seen and you really have to know what you are looking for before parting with your hard earned. It would have been way too easy to end up with a car that had originated from a dodgy source or had been re-build from a car accident. I am sure there are bargains to be had but this time I had to pass it up.

It will be back to the dealers for me, but the good news is that US and Japanese cars are vastly cheaper than in the UK and even the European models fair well with only 5% tax being applied to them despite the strong Euro.

Hopefully my search in more sterile environments will end in a week or two.

Everyone wants to park as close to the terminal as possible. I avoid taking the ramp down to departures and head up to arrivals where there is a short stay car park. However, with the building of the metro the one I usually park in had been closed and I was ushered over to the adjoining one. I joined the queue to enter and quickly realised it was a bad idea but with a car behind me so I was committed.

I made it to the car park entrance and grabbed the ticket, the barrier raised and I had to wait as the traffic ahead was not going anywhere fast. After about ten minutes we edged forward ever so slightly, as we did I was aware that the barrier was still raised menacingly above the Hummer. A little more creeping forward and I heard that noise. That noise you knew that might be coming but thought if you ignored it might never come. Sure enough the barrier had come down and had given the hummer a good whack.

Left with little choice I nudged forward a few more inches and then another thud. Looking through the mirrors I could not see anything. I nudged forward a final time to be greeted by a large cracking sound. “Oh Dear” is what should have gone through my mind – I jumped out our the car and looked to see that the barrier had lodged itself between the car and spare wheel and now looked liked a poorly fitted spoiler adorning my car. I did the walk of shame and removed the barrier from the car in front of everyone. I could see more than one car laughing hard at my predicament. I had a short chat with the parking attendant who had witnessed the whole thing and he told me not to worry about it as it had happened before. I was relieved by this and that the hummer had escaped unscathed, the same could not be said about the barrier.

Hummer – 1

Cark park Barrier – 0

After all of this I then spent the next 30 minutes crawling around a small car park looking for a spot and when I did find one it was impossibly small leading for an interesting contortion to exit the vehicle. With nerves and temper frayed I went into the airport to find my friend

As soon as the metro is finished I will be leaving the car at home to go to the airport.

On a trip to Germany in February I saw the new BMW X6 on proud display in Munich airport. I got some odd looks as I ended up having a double take, a peer inside and finally a photo. I think the Bavarian onlookers wondered what was so special about BMWs latest effort. To me it looked like the ultimate “Urban Luxo-SUV” – here it is in dazzling red:

I thought to myself that the highly luxurious interior, sporty engine and four wheel drive mode would go well in Dubai. Of course it would have to come in “Dubai White” with the obligatory “limo tint” all on windows for it to be Dubai worthy.

I could barely contain a smile when walking down to Safa park this weekend I saw my first Dubai based BMW x6. True to form it came in Dubai livery:

I expect that this will do well with the many BMW fans in Dubai who are tired of their X5′s and are looking for something a little different. For me I will only be an admirer.

I always find the thought of camping under the stars, while a romantic idea, the reality is one of an uncomfortable nights sleep followed by an even more difficult morning after, with a distinct lack of ablutions or creature comforts.

However time with my friends, way out of the city on a beautiful beach makes up for it. That goes without saying. In an effort to make life a little easier here are my tips to have a more enjoyable experience:

1. Get one of your friends to drive.

After all the effort of loading up the car the last thing you need is to drive the for two hours through the desert and mountains. On the drive this time we go an extra bonus as we got caught up in the middle of the Arab Run – kind of like a middle eastern version of the Gumball Rally. The car exotica was outstanding with pimped out Escalades and Hummers with a good assortment of Jags, Ferraris, Porsches and Lambos. Here are a couple of snaps I got:

This chap in the Porsche GT simply gave us a raise of the eyebrows as we took the photo – very smooth:

2. Get a tent that pops up.

OK, so it will not withstand camping in high winds or rain, but the pop up tents you can get from the supermarket for only $25 are assembled in seconds and keep the Sun off and insects out at night. I can only laugh at my mates who argue with their girlfriends in a desperate struggle to erect their poles.

3. Get an inflatable mattress with a compressor that with a 12V adapter.

Again in 30 seconds a comfortable night is ensured. Again, I can only laugh as others struggle with hand pumps or expel all their puff in manual blow up efforts

4. Get the most comfortable camping seat possible

No point in having to struggle to relax whilst enjoying the company and some beverages

5. Bring oversized beers

Why have to get up every 20 minutes to fetch a new beer? – when a big 750ml one will last you an hour. Below Tim demonstrates the joys of a comfy chair and a frosty, giant sized fosters

6. Make sure you are untalented and do not have to provide entertainment

Duncan regularly plays his guitar while we sing- a-long, this time however as a special bonus as Renata and Ursula put on a dazzling display of what I can only describe as “fire twirling” although its proper name is Fire Poi. It was an amazing spectacle and one I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing.

Dibba beach offers one of the best camping spots you could wish for. A wide, fairly clean beach, with warm refreshing waters set on a backdrop of rugged mountains. Tim commented “That was an amazing camping experience” and was glad he made the effort despite having to leave at 7am to ensure making his flight back to the UK. Every time we go we wonder why we don’t go more. I think we will try and make another visit before the summer sets in.

In all honesty I can say the drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai resembled some kind of war scene. Cars were strewn along side either side of the road, all the victims of wet weather accidents. The journey there and back was never wracking to say the least.

I had wondered if the meeting was going to happen as I edged my car out of Jumeriah to be met with a number of people pushing their high specced Mercedes and Porsches out of the flood waters. The people pushing their sports cars looked at me in a 4×4 and with the look of “Maybe I should have got one of those after all”

My colleague and I had decided to carpool for the trip and we decided to meet at Ibn Battuta. The scene that greeted was no surprise. The lack of good drainage has caused this type of flooding across Dubai:

It was not so bad on arrival – but when I got back to Ibn Battuta later that afternoon, things had gone from bad to worse. Traffic was queued all over the place and it had been raining all day driving up the water level.

I chose to try and wait it out. I got an early evening meal and even decided to catch a movie in some vein effort that what going on outside “would sort itself out”

I could not have been more wrong. I fired the Hummer up to strains of Rhianna’s Umbrella song playing on the car park tannoy (irony perhaps?) and immediately knew something was wrong as a bus decided to drive up the wrong side of the road directly at me. After avoiding this I got stuck in a queue with the police behind me trying to get to the scene of the incident.

It became apparent when a gentlemen with a plastic bag on his head walked up to the Toyota Camry ahead of me and started gesturing to the driver to turn around and tapping his hip. Indicating the depth of the water ahead. I was worried. Very worried.

The Police eventually got to the front and were busy getting cars up on to the banks over the kerb. The water pooled at the intersection was simply to deep for them to pass. They waved me to drive on.

Despite having driven a car at 160mph on a track, sliding a car around a hair pin bend and spinning a single seater sports car – never in all my driving days have I been worried. I inched the Hummer into what seemed like an ocean and I felt very much like a U-Boat Commander. I could see it would not be far – but there were cars abandoned everywhere as their attempt to ford the water had failed:

I felt sorry for the owner of that S2000 – but more worried about the depth of water against the traffic signs. I was making slow and careful progress with the odd worrying burble from the engine when I glanced in my wing mirror. Sure enough two chaps in their white van undertook me at speed and creating a huge water break and sped off into the distance.

My trip home that night from Abu Dhabi back to the villa was about six hours half of which I was enjoying a movie and some dinner. Others spent more time than that on various Dubai roads and I really feel for them.

The following day the waters were mostly gone – leaving sand piles as their footprint. For me the cold and wet weather has left me with only one thing – for the first time a Dubai cold.

Before I headed off to the warmer climes of Australia for the Christmas break we had room for one last foray into the desert. Usually when we go out we will head to one spot have some fun then make a beeline back for Dubai. This trip was a little different. We managed to pack in three fun filled destinations in one day – Fossil Rock, Wadi Tayyibah and Sandy Beach in Fujeriah. Typically one of these destinations could easily occupy a day if you included lunch – but this day we were not hanging around.

First we headed over to the old favourite of Fossil Rock and got treated to a rather large welcoming committee of what seemed like and endless camel train. We took care too keep a respectable distance and grabbed some memorable photos:

We only took three cars and with each of the drivers now fairly experienced behind the wheel we ended up having a lot of fun with only two very minor stucks requiring a quick tow that slowed us down. As we drove across the undulating dune scape we came to very flat very wide part of sand. Boys will be boys and we spent 20 minutes pretending to be Jeremy Clarkson revving the engines of the cars and making fast sweeping turns like we were on some rally stage. One of the lads was brave enough to take this photo as we held a small drag race.

My favourite part of dune driving is the big descents down slip faces. Feet off the pedals you put faith in the engine breaking, steer for dear life while offering up a small prayer for forgiveness. Even after doing this numerous times it is still a marvellous feeling

Sometimes it is easy to become indifferent to things you own and I often wonder if I should have instead got the Nissan Patrol or Jeep Wrangler but when you look at it in a different light all is well. That is what I thought when I looked at this capture of my Hummer – sure it has its foibles but it has become a part of my Dubai adventure and I still love it dearly.

After we had finished playing in the sand we re-inflated the cras tyres and took the 30 minute drive over to Wadi Tayyibah. I enjoy driving Wadi’s a lot, the Hummer is right at home on the loose rock. It has great clearance and while there was the odd nasty sounding “squawk” from my friend’s Nissan Patrol ,the Hummer just crunched through with authority thanks to the amazing articulation of the wheels and axle. My friend got up high for a nice aerial shot of the Hummer entering a particularly tricky section:

Sadly this was all over to quick and we pushed on to get down to the Sandy Beach Motel in Fujeriah for a refreshing dip and snorkel around Snoopy Island. It seems that inflation is alive and well in this Emirate as the entrance fee had tripled from 25AED to 75AED since last season. Still it was worth it to see the turtles and enjoy the view:

We got back to Dubai at 7.30pm, having started ten hours before, all feeling a little tired. However I was pleased that we had gotten to have a fun filled day and we spent the evening enjoying the Dubai winter with a BBQ and some cold drinks whilst we recounted the highlights of the day to each other. It was a great UAE weekend and all for the cost of a tank of fuel and a beach entry fee – value indeed.

Over the summer I had picked up a couple more accessories to my recovery kit

1. A couple of high quality shackles – making it much quicker to attach the tow ropes
2. A high quality tow rope
3. A “Super Max Air” type compressor – we timed it re-inflating one of the Hummer tires from 14PSI to 30PSI in about 80 seconds which was excellent

All of which got used on our first trip out. I thought I might pre-empt the stuck the hummer was going to make by poking a little fun at myself and making a small modification to my spare tyre cover:

However as the trip proceeded it was not the Hummer to get stuck – quite the opposite in fact.

We had a couple of first timers with us and myself and Duncan gave the safety driver briefing beforehand. Duncan led the trip which saw taking in some nice dunes to begin with, however it was not long before Celia in her shiny new Wrangler got stuck. I was some distance away – but we could easily see plumes of sand billowing into the air. This was perhaps a sign that it might take some time to get them out – and when they came back – the wrangler had gotten a nice two tone body colour:

As it was Celia’s first time in the sand I let Matt drive the Hummer and I jumped into the Wrangler to provide a little tuition and to re-instil some confidence back into her.

After some quick instructions about how to safely descend a dune and advice when to get on the power, Celia was into the swing of it. She went from “I think this is terrifying” to “I really enjoyed that” by the end of the day. I was pleased, as I remember clearly that having a good co-driver to offer advice and also scream in sympathy is a valuable learning aid.

I really like the Hummer as a day to day car – off road on rocks and dirt trails it is fantastic. However I have always longed for more power under the hood as instant on power can really help out in the dunes. On this trip we had along a big Durango with a huge 5.7 litre HEMI engine. I was keen to see how it would get on. Sadly on this day it did not fare to well getting in two serious stucks, complicated by the fact we could locate no rear recovery point.

On both occasions we had to perform up hill tows which was not ideal and involved a lot of digging of sand and numerous attempts at towing. At one point we had about six guys scrumming down behind the Durango to get some momentum into the tow.

The last stuck for the Durango initially had Duncan using the Pathfinder to drag it out – however a gut-sickening wrenching noise came from his car. He then called in the Hummer to help in the recovery – firstly because we had no idea what the noise was and secondly the weight of a bigger car would help.

I spun the Hummer around and two sharp jerks later the Durango was free from the sand. Here we are setting up the tow:

Sadly this day we did not make it down to Fossil Rock as after the recoveries and a late lunch the light was failing. So instead we had some fun on the dunes. Rupert got a great shot of Duncan and Matt getting some serious air:

Again a really fun day – sure we might not have made it over to Fossil Rock, or driven as many dunes as we all might have liked. We still enjoyed a fun day out, teamed together in recovering the vehicles and a number of us enjoyed fruity cocktails later that night at the Roof Top Terrace bar at the Royal Mirage. It offers an amazing vista of the Palm Jumeriah where we re-told our desert tales and whiled away another balmy evening in Dubai.

I have always had a hankering for the X5 though when I test drove one in the UK it did not really do anything for me. The new model is a marked improvement. The lavish interior seems lifted directly from the seven series and the smooth 4.8L engine never missed a tick through the rigors of Dubai traffic. As you might have guessed I liked it, I liked it a lot. Getting back into the H3 suddenly made me realize the quality that goes into the BMW marque. However at nearly twice the price and probably giving a reduced off-road experience I will be holding onto the Hummer (for now at least)

Overall 8/10 – Comfortable, powerful and safe. The new Jumeriah Jane favourite? I think so.

Last weekend saw us take a trip Liwa also known as the Empty Quarter home of the largest sand desert on the planet. The directions from Dubai are straightforward. Drive to Abu Dhabi then bear left and then drive 200km into the desert (if you reach the Saudi border you have gone too far)

Liwa is the home of some mighty 200-300m sand dunes and as a good friend puts it “Liwa is the proper desert” and as such requires the right amount of respect and safety precautions. Before setting off – I checked I had all my recovery gear, my GPS was working, walkie talkies were charged and I had a car charger for my cell phone. I was also careful to ensure keep my vehicle fueled up at every opportunity. After a long drive (nicely broken up by a trip to the car museum) we arrived at Moreeb Hill.

Moreeb Hill is the home to annual hill climb challenge and on seeing it I can see why people turn up with 1000BHP vehicles. Apparently the hill climb record is 12 seconds. I would love to see that – but have my doubts about being in the vehicle! Here Carol has a go in her Nissan Patrol:

I did not even bother trying it in the Hummer as I had the worlds amount of camping gear in the car – and it is not the most powerful vehicle, even unencumbered. After Carol had finished playing on the hill, we aired down our tires, then drove into the dunes searching for a suitable camping spot. After 30 minutes of the trickiest dune driving I have yet to encounter, we found a fairly flat spot and proceeded to set up camp:

There was no escaping the fact we were in the desert as the sun beat down hard upon us. The temperature was registering 42c with precious little shade available to offer us protection. While setting up I heard a noise that I could only describe as a helicopter. However what crested a dune was something much more impressive. It was a Chevrolet Avalanche 2500 – it sports an EIGHT point one liter engine and with no muffler the awesome engine and exhaust notes echo off the dunes giving an attack helicopter like sound. The Avalanche is owned by a very jovial gentleman called Jamal who is a committee member of the Dubai 4×4 forums. Carol was pleased he arrived as he was able to lead our afternoon drive through the dunes of Liwa.

I had taken one look at the dunes and made the decision that I was not going to drive this time. I felt I still do not possess the desert driving skills yet and the Hummer is not the ideal vehicle for some of the climbs that are required. Also perhaps the more compelling reason was I could get to ride along in the Avalanche!

Once camp was done we set off in seven car convoy. We drove through some very tricky dunes and bowls. The avalanche was so powerful it just ate up steep inclines with ease. However it was challenged by not only its huge weight and long wheel base but the the transfer case would not engage into four wheel drive. Jamal’s twenty plus year of desert driving experience soon put pay to these hindrances however we still had a few “stucks”:

Shaukie (another long time Dubai 4×4 member) who drove a heavily modified red wrangler was the recovery vehicle “par excellence” – these guys simply do not hang around. Shaukie shoots up to the scene of the stuck, the recovery rope was out and shackled up. A quick beep of the horn, the tow was engaged and the vehicle was recovered. Average time was probably less than five minutes. One recovery was not quite as smooth:

On one particularly tricky bowl Craig in his diesel turbo Land Cruiser had a nasty stuck with the vehicle in danger of tipping over:

Shuakie and Jamal got on the walkie talkies in a flash and instantly started issuing safety instructions. Four guys provided counterbalance by standing on the running rails of the Land Cruiser while Shaukie towed out the car. Here is the recovery in progress:

Some of the standout moments during the four hour desert drive was descending several 200m tall slip faces:

Seeing a real camel train snaking its way through the desert. A truly memorable site:

A land based oil rig burning off the natural gas in the still of the night:

Once we got back to camp we fired up the barbecue and recounted tales of the day until long into the night. I am no real fan of camping but the stars you can see late at night and the seemingly endless sea of sand dunes that presents itself in the morning makes the discomfort worthwhile.

I was a little disappointed not to be with Chris and the drive through Area 53 – but the pull of seeing Liwa before the summer sets in making it too hot camp was irresistible. Liwa was an unforgettable experience, but it made me realize I am not really a die hard outdoor type – however once a year I will go back and remind myself of the beauty of the desert.

After thirty minutes of completely failing to follow the very detailed instructions on how to get to the Hatta rock pools we finally got on the right track and the Hummer again proved it is really at home on the trails transporting our party in relative comfort over the rough road. At one point just before a steep descent there was a spectacular vista which begged to be photographed:

We parked up alongside numerous 4×4′s and even some regular saloon cars – however I am sure that their undercarriage would have taken some knocks. We grabbed our gear and took the short hike down to the pools. When we first went down I could only see some very shallow pools and was initially a little disappointed:

However on climbing down a little more there was a sort of “rocky beach” which was the entrance to the Hatta Pools proper. A couple of regulars to visit here were surprised by the number of people visiting that day – it certainly had a beach holiday feel to it:

We all took the plunge and swam the length of the pools which were quite deep at times. It was really invigorating and made a pleasurable change to be in water that was not salty and not full of chlorine. The Hatta pools are more of a “Hatta Channel” and it was very picturesque:

We took a little walk along the wadi above the pools when Matt decided he wanted to take a leap across what can only be described as a chasm. It was a little scary for both of us as on his first jump it was a little further than he expected and when I heard a cry of “S@$!” I could only respond with another expletive! He made it though…definitely not one for those who have not spent most of their lives bouncing across rocks like human spring.

Below gives you an idea of the chasm Matt leapt across:

It was a really fun day and definitely a must do to anyone who has the time to get out of Dubai and see a little more of what the rugged UAE countryside has to offer. I am looking forward to taking my next slew of visitors there.

It seems that Hummer/GM have been listening and have just released plans for a V8 5.3L developing 295BHP version of the H3 in 2008. Personally I think this sounds fantastic for flying around the dunes. However probably not so great for my carbon footprint….(I wonder when Liberty will be taking pre-orders)

The route Duncan had planned was to cycle along Wadi Assimah then Wadi Tayyibah followed by a short drive down to Dibba beach where we would make camp for the evening. You can see the route here:

There were nearly 30 people in the group and 10 4×4′s and we created a bit of a stir at Al Ghail with the local residents wondering what was going on. Certainly some of the younger folk of the town impressed us with their “burnouts” and loud music in vehicles that had seen better days. After a little administration, the obligatory team photo and distribution of bikes we headed out. Here are the rather nice “Scott” mountain bikes and at 160AED for the days rental proved good value:

The first part of Wadi Assimah proved quite challenging for both cyclist and motorist. The cyclists were having to contend with heat of about 35C and a trail surface that was particularly unforgiving. Water breaks were the order of the day with the 4x4s staying close to support the cyclists:

Once we entered the wadi proper there was an interesting (read nerve wrecking) piece of driving we had to take the 4x4s through. Duncan summed it up nicely in an email prior to the trip:

“Incidentally- the very start of the Wadi Assimah, where we start the ride, involves some quite technical 4×4 driving over a dry river bed, with lots of potholes and water filled (depends if it’s been raining) trenches, so there is a possibility that the 4×4 drivers might get a little held up, or even have to go via road to the end of wadi assimah and come back up to meet the cyclists. Hopefully though all of the cars will get through and they can catch up the bikes.“

Chris had been a little more direct with me and doubted the Hummer would squeeze through one particular turn. When I saw it – I understood what he meant. Here Matt stands in the gap – not a whole lot of room to drive through (notice the large boulder on the left of the trail) and turn:

With a sharp intake of breath and good directions from both Matt and Chris and an inch at a time the Hummer made it without a scratch. There could have only been an inch of two spare though!

Following this there was a few pools and rock climbs to navigate. After having got the through the tight turn I was pleased and the Hummer confidently went through these:

Here you can probably see me smiling at the fun I was having driving:

Following Wadi Assimah there was a short tarmac section before we reached Wadi Tayyibah. This was to prove much better for the cyclists with a more compact surface and a lot more downhill sections. There was also some interesting rock crawling sections that tested the Hummers wheel and suspension articulation well. When locked in low-range and at a dead slow speed the grip it is able to generate is impressive.

At about 5.00pm we dropped the bikes off and headed down to Dibba beach where we made camp for the evening. A a number of people refreshed themselves in the Indian ocean after a long day in the sun:

It was a nice spot to camp with and reasonably popular with at least four other large groups of expats enjoying the spring weather. It was a very relaxed evening fuelled by barbecues, some tasty beverages and some gentle guitar music (I can’t comment on the singing!) Here Duncan plays the blues next to the camp fire:

It was my first camping experience in a long time, let alone in the UAE. My usual idea of camping is checking out of the Hilton and checking into the Sheraton. However what it is all about is having a great time with you friends. The rest of the trip photos are here. I hope to go again before it starts to get really hot.

The drive toward Dibba and though Ras Al Khaima up towards the entry point for Wadi Bih is pleasant. I always get a great feeling of calm once I leave the hustle and bustle of Dubai.

We had a convoy of seven cars with almost as many children along for the ride. This made it a very family oriented day which was a great diversion from the usual madness that is dune driving. It was also nice to see a fellow Hummer drive come along:

As the trail through the Wadi was in really good shape – despite being rather dusty – Kinda was keen to pilot the Hummer and she did an excellent job:

The UAE Off-Road explorer describes Wadi Bih as “The UAE’s answer to the Grand Canyon”. I have to agree with that assessment. The vistas were spectacular and easily as good as the North Rim vistas in the Grand Canyon:

Here is the view from well over 1000m above sea level:

Just after we got to the peak – we spotted a nice diversion off the trail with a shaded area which proved to be an excellent spot to break for a picnic and some relaxation. I was amazed at how well prepared some people are – Gary appeared to not only pull his lounge and dining room from out of his Tahoe but his kitchen as well:

It was a really fun day spent in great company and I want to thank Carol for doing a great job organizing everything and using her charm at the various border crossings. I will certainly be going back, as to witness such scenery only a couple of hours out of Dubai is too good an opportunity to miss. However, I had to get the Hummer a good valet after as it was really dusty on the trail:

The day was tinged with a little bit of sadness as I realized it would probably be the last time I would get to spend time with my colleague John Foster in Dubai. I have been working on and off with John for over five years and had the pleasure of working with him directly in Dubai for the last eight months. He is an old hand in the region and was a real mentor to me – showing me patience, knowledge and appreciation of the local culture and practices, without which I am sure I would not have gotten half as much out of my current position. I wish him well as he starts a new challenge in Singapore. Here is a nice photo of John and his daughter Jasmine having fun on our Wadi Bih trip.

It was good to be in the desert again and this time I remembered to switch of the all important Stabilsys system in the Hummer. While this a good thing to have in the wet, has the less than desirable effect of braking the car when the car slides around in the sand. With this off and the tires down to 13PSI the Hummer faired well in the “Big Dunes2″ area which presented the most challenging terrain I have yet to drive over.

After about an hour or so of some fairly exhilarating driving I came down a slip face and had to make sharp left turn to avoid driving into some bushes when I heard the sound. It was a flapping rattle and the near side dipped down. I instinctively knew I had lost a tire.

I stopped quickly and found that the tire had come off the wheel. This was caused by a low tire pressure (13PSI) and turning quickly at the bottom of the dune when the tire is heavily compressed. I was initially quite shocked upon seeing it:

I have changed a few tires in my time – but never in the desert. Chris had the benefit of experience and decided that a wheel change would not be needed. All we had to do was “just inflate it and it will pop back on” – sounded simple!

First we loosened up the wheel nuts then used some sand ladders as a base for the car jack. While digging around for the jack – I discovered the Hummer comes well equipped with a hazard triangle, fire extinguisher, tool kit, first aid kit and even a space blanket (glad I didn’t need to use that this time). Once the car was jacked up – we started up the engine, connected the air compressor and held the inside of the tire against the rim as it started to inflate. Below you can see Chris (in the yellow) and Javier (in Blue/White) helping out and holding the tire as Chris oversees the tire inflation:

After less than a minute – sure enough there was a resounding pop – and the tire was back on. We tightened up the nuts and set both front tires to 14 PSI. We also had a close inspection and could see no damage. We were back up and driving in about 30 minutes. Everyone pitched in to help and the teamwork of the whole thing was probably the most enjoyable aspect of the day.

After a spot of lunch we drove around “Big Dunes2″ some more – however at the very highest points, the sand was way too soft for the Hummer. Here I learned to use the momentum of the car to avoid it getting stuck. We found an awesome sand bowl there required some tricky maneuvering to escape out of and I also found myself going down a couple of long slip faces which certainly got the adrenaline running. It was a really good day out and I continue to learn and improve – but still there is plenty more I need to know before I head out somewhere advanced like Liwa.

Every time I head out to Big Red where we have started a number of 4×4 trips I am always rubber-necking an unsual desert vehicle of some description. Yesterday’s award goes to the ultimate BMW E30 desert vehicle:

The chap in this car gave us a friendly wave when we pulled in to get a photo. Looked like they were going to have a lot of fun. Just like our group had had.