The Desert Diva Overview
This is a 1 or 2 night camping trip with guided visits to the Al Dhafra Camel Festival to explore the cultural heritage and nature of the area. Ideal for rookies and families, our trip will be in the Liwa area, concentrating on the area around Madinat Zayed. Access to our camp is along a sandtrack so 4WD or AWD will be essential, however no need for 4×4 unless you join us on Saturday morning for our offroad drive. The maximum number of cars will be 8 including your trip leader Marina. JOIN US ON EITHER THURSDAY AT 1600 HRS, OR FRIDAY AT 1400 HRS!
Still balancing!
What’s included
- Dinner at Camel Festival Thursday evening
- Breakfast and shwarma (or similar) lunch, dinner at camel festival on Friday
- Onroad sightseeing trip Friday morning (nothing happening at camel festival then)
- Friday afternoon visit to camel festival
- Breakfast on Saturday
- Easy offroad drive Saturday morning
- Evening campfire, chats and stories
Price
- Car plus driver – 900aed
- Car plus driver plus 1 adult passenger – 1300aed
- Extra adult passengers – 400aed
- Children aged 5-12 – 250aed
- Children under 4 – complimentary
Book Your Place!
- There is a limit of 8 vehicles including Marina on this trip. Please book as soon as you can by downloading our registration form here and returning it to marina@desertdivaevents.com. Upon receipt of the form we will send you either our bank details for payment transfer, or send you an electronic invoice if you have elected to pay by credit card. A deposit of 50% is required to secure booking, final payment required before 10th December thank you.
Meeting Time
We meet in Madinat Zayed, Western Region at 1600 hrs on Thursday 21st or if you are joining us on Friday, at 1400hrs, again in MZ.
Optional Offroad Driving on Saturday Morning
This is an easy drive with multiple stops so is ideal for rookie drivers, and for those with young families. Safety is our priority and adrenaline junkies may find it boring!
Most of our participants are quite new to offroading so we will include some tips and tricks in our safety briefing. We will continue to coach you over obstacles throughout the trip, as and when required.
The desert, although a harsh and hostile environment is also fragile, so to minimise our impact we suggest
- Drive in the tracks of the car in front of you
- Do not throw rubbish out of your car
- Avoid driving over plants if you can (it isn’t very good for your car either!)
Vehicle Preparation
We will meet at ADNOC fuel station Madinat Zayed so please fuel up your car before you come and say hello.
Please ensure your car is in tip-top condition!
- Must have recovery points front and rear
- Must be in tip-top condition (this includes the spare tyre too)
- Those with locking wheel nuts should carry a key to release them
Please see here for a list of suggested vehicles if you are joining our Saturday morning offroad drive and other car information, but please get in touch if your car is not on the list.
Please see here for a suggested packing list
Please see here for our thoughts on what best to wear. Please note for the Friday evening visit to a VIP camp for dinner, men should wear full length trousers and ladies either full length trousers or a long skirt.
Safety
Your safety is our number one priority!
Access to our camp will be along a sand track, so no dunes
There will be no high side-sloping, side-cresting or other advanced manoeuvres on the offroad trip. The aim is to explore the desert safely and make the trip memorable for all the right reasons!
However, it is a fact that most expedition injuries happen not during the driving, but around the campfire. Please take the utmost care near campfire and BBQ area, and if you sit on the ground, be aware of your surroundings.
Please wear trainers or boots in the dark and around the campfire – it may be the “empty” quarter but there are some creatures there which will bite or sting you if you stand on them by accident! If anyone should be unlucky enough to be stung by a scorpion, then we will drive them out to the nearest hospital – it will take at least an hour to reach there.
Notes
- This trip is suitable for families, couples and individuals.
- Children of all ages are welcome and they should be seated in a car seat appropriate for their age/weight.
- Maximum recommended persons per car – 4
- All persons should wear seatbelts whenever the car is moving.
- For those of those with Liquor licences, alcohol can be consumed when we have stopped for the night – ie none before or during driving.
Read about last year’s trip here.
Do hope you can join us! Please note we will be in the area all week and Marina is available for private guiding 17th-20th December. marina@desertdivaevents.com
