OUR EXPERTS
Crossing the Crescent :
From Arada to Khis Words by: Marina Bruce Photos by: Marina Bruce, Ingrid and Peter Gabris, Heather Gorman, Dawn Wadsworth
The Rub Al Khali, or Empty Quarter, is the largest sand dune desert in the world, covering around a quarter of a million square kilometres. Mainly located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, small sections spill into neighbouring Oman and the UAE and this portion was our destination for a fun-filled adventure weekend in early January. The Rub Al Khali in the UAE is mainly situated south of the Liwa Crescent, a 140km long series of ancient oases, linked these days by a streetlit dual carriageway. British explorer Wilfred Thesiger is believed to be the first westerner to visit Liwa in 1946 and since then, many more of us have followed in his footsteps, forgoing the traditional camel for our trusty 4x4s!
Keep calm, it’s only breakfast!
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OUTDOORUAE
The wonderful Rub Al Khali
So, on a cold January night, seven cars assembled to camp some 10kms south of the Arada roundabout, ready to make a relatively early start the next day. This was not one of my standard, “suitable for anyone with a 4x4 tag along trips”. Due to the technical difficulty and remoteness of the route, I needed my drivers to have some experience and a real sense of adventure, so it was by invitation only. We woke to a cool clear morning and after breakfast I set my GPS for “east” and started to pick an easy path from Sabkha to Sabkha, these being the salt flats which typify this area of desert. Over on the west side of “the crescent” the crossings are relatively low and mostly easy and we made good progress despite stopping many times for photographs. Did I say that this drive takes you into the most photogenic dunes in the UAE? Huge sand massifs rise from the grey Sabkha, some over 100 metres in height; on their North faces they are complex with small dips and gullies at low level, growing in size until you reach the top where there are massive car-grabbing bowls before tipping over to the south in spectacular slip-faces. The low sun in the early morning and late afternoon
see the sand take on a rich red hue and the shadows cast by the curves in the sand show the dunes at their most photogenic. The dunes gradually become larger, the crossings higher and the degree of technicality increased too, but by this time my groups were in “the zone” and took the many self-recoveries, necessitated by the soft sand conditions in their stride. Stopping for lunch high up on a dark red dune, we enjoyed our hot food, ready in the right place at exactly the right time - such is the joy of heating pies in the engine! By now I had stopped following the route in the book and chose instead to forge my own path; in retrospect I suspect Mike’s route may have been easier, but I have no regrets as we all got out of the desert in one piece and what’s a little bit more sand between friends? Late in the afternoon, we came to a really difficult crossing - a tricky approach to a huge bowl, followed by a 20-metre high wall of sand. It took us about an hour to get everyone through here, and I briefly contemplated camping there for the night, however, I could see the perfect campsite less than 500 metres away so decided to press on.