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Sand, Sun and excitement

On November 23, Friday sleep was forgotten as adventurers gathered in a throng in front of Dragon Mart. Reason: The Al Futtaim Great Escape Fun Drive was back and almost everyone with a spirit of adventure wanted to be a part of it.

After deflating the tyres, over 500 four wheel drives, flagged off at 9am from Dragon Mart. After a short stretch through the roads and tarmac, the convoy, carefully supervised by the Marshals, got their first taste of the desert. The easy tracks at the beginning were just a warm up for the short dunes and ridges that came up shortly. Marshals, clearly visible in their red T-shirts, were present at every difficult twist or turn. While the experienced roared past, blasting away the sand, the novices stopped to follow instructions from the much-experienced marshals, volunteers from the offroad club Dubai4x4.com.

The route, which was set by route director Shahid Ahmad, months prior to the event, was clearly mapped out in the route notes book — given to each car before you set off.

This was not a race; The Great Escape desert adventure was all about bonding. The November sun was merciful and gave an opportunity for families to take a break, step outside their vehicles to stretch their legs, enjoy the flora and fauna and take photographs. As the afternoon wore on and the terrain got more challenging, occasionally one could see the frustration levels rising in some of the participants. But on the most part, the participants had a good time and enjoyed their time out with their families. The event ended up at the desert camp where everyone enjoyed a relaxed barbeque lunch with a good measure of music and dance thrown in.

The desert camp also gave us an opportunity to speak to some of the participants and marshals on this event, who shared their experience at the Great Escape Desert Adventure. This was a first time experience at the Great Escape for Michael Jenson, a 34-year-old Australian. “The Great escape desert adventure surpassed my expectations. There was a good spirit amongst the participants as we chipped in to help pull the stranded 4WDs out. The best part was of course to fly up the same dune and not get stuck! My wife and I will definitely be back next year!

For Kareem Gad, a 29-year-old Software Architect from Egypt, this was not the first time in the dunes. “I have personally witnessed the event grow year after year, and this year it was definitely bigger. The route this time was, in my opinion more suited for such events, as it looped around but still managed to end up within the boundaries of Dubai. One of the main issues we, as marshals put on top of our list for the day was "Safety First". Organising and guiding 500+ cars through the desert requires a lot of effort with the overhead of keeping yourself and everyone in a safe position at all times.”

Kishore, a 30-year-old Designer from India has a similar experience to share. “This was my second time at the Great Escape and I found it much bigger and better this time around. Last year there was chaos at the starting point with no one knowing how and where to go. But this time, things were much better organised as the vehicles were asked to deflate at the starting point itself to avoid any confusion.”

But if you thought desert driving is a men’s sport, then think again. There were many adventurous and spirited women behind the wheels of 4-wheel drives at the Great Escape. Emily Ray, a 34-year-old British teacher accounts her experience. “Last year I has participated in the Great Escape fun drive as a member of the public as I was new in the UAE and had only just discovered the Dubai 4x4 club. I absolutely love the thrill of this sport and can't understand why there are not more women drivers out there!”

Mr. Satheesan Nair, a 55-year old Indian, came all the way from Abu Dhabi with his Prado full of family and friends just for this event. “It was at my son’s insistence that I agreed to participate in this event. It was my first time driving in the dunes and I was very apprehensive on how the day would unfold. But all my fears were in vain as it was a very well organised event. I had come with my whole family and we had a wonderful time."

For all those of you who missed it, don’t lose heart for Shahid Ahmad and his teams of trusty marshals are already on work planning the next Great Escape Desert Adventure.