Liwa Oasis: The Shah Fields - Is the Party over?
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:02 pm
Hi Guys,
I have been dune bashing in Liwa since 1997 and it has been a lot of fun but I am beginning to think the party is finally over, or last least over when it comes to happily exploring the Shah Fields.
On Sunday I did a reconnaissance trip with my desert driving partner to our favorite camping spot, the CD dune in the Shah Fields down close to the Saudi border. It is a huge sand dune that has a nice big flattish ledge close to the summit at the top of the southern face that is a perfect camping spot.
Well all was cool at our favorite camping spot until you wander up thirty feet and look over the dune summit toward the Liwa Crescent Road and suddenly you discover the Empty Quarter isn’t as empty as you remembered it last winter.
In three huge interconnected Sabkhas spread out and growing by the minute is a giant cancer tumor called the Al Hosn sour gas complex. It really is freaking huge. I think the road encircling the Al Hosn complex fence is about 10 kilometers in length and there have to be thousands of workers on site.
Anyway after the hysterical crying got under control we drove back out to the Liwa Crescent Road by taking the four lane paved “highway” surrounded by dozens of cars, 4x4s and trucks and as you can imagine it is not nearly as much fun as crossing the dune ranges whenever you drive North/South between the Liwa Crescent Road and the Saudi border.
The current four lane highway is bad enough but who knows what the planned rail way will do to desert driving in Liwa when they start laying rails between the Al Hosn sour gas complex and the sulfur storage and export facilities at the port of Ruwais on the coast.
For the last couple years our standard Liwa outing was jumping off into the desert close to Qasr Al Sarab resort and then follow our noses through the Shah Fields to overnight camp at the summit ledge of the CD dune. Then the highlight was enjoying an evening of nice barbecue, cocktails and checking out the Milky Way across the night sky with only artificial light coming from the Saudi border post on the horizon. In the morning we would continue west once again following your nose to exit at Moreeb dune. A nice route which made for a great couple day desert getaway.
Now with paved roads through the heart of Shah and the gigantic Al Hosn Gas Complex sitting in the middle of everything it is time to find another playground in Liwa.
I am thinking that I just might have to dust off my 1990s trip notes on the routes going west to Arada and onward into the Western desert because it really looks like Shah and the Eastern Desert is lost to the industry and the modern world.
Any ideas would be appreciated!
Cheers Sandman
PS As an aside does anyone know if anyone is Abu Dhabi is carrying any Nitto Desert Grapplers inventory? My desert driving partner is looking to replace his current set on his FJ. His current set he got at ICON in Dubai but they appear to have either dropped Nitto or just aren’t carrying any in stock.
I have been dune bashing in Liwa since 1997 and it has been a lot of fun but I am beginning to think the party is finally over, or last least over when it comes to happily exploring the Shah Fields.
On Sunday I did a reconnaissance trip with my desert driving partner to our favorite camping spot, the CD dune in the Shah Fields down close to the Saudi border. It is a huge sand dune that has a nice big flattish ledge close to the summit at the top of the southern face that is a perfect camping spot.
Well all was cool at our favorite camping spot until you wander up thirty feet and look over the dune summit toward the Liwa Crescent Road and suddenly you discover the Empty Quarter isn’t as empty as you remembered it last winter.
In three huge interconnected Sabkhas spread out and growing by the minute is a giant cancer tumor called the Al Hosn sour gas complex. It really is freaking huge. I think the road encircling the Al Hosn complex fence is about 10 kilometers in length and there have to be thousands of workers on site.
Anyway after the hysterical crying got under control we drove back out to the Liwa Crescent Road by taking the four lane paved “highway” surrounded by dozens of cars, 4x4s and trucks and as you can imagine it is not nearly as much fun as crossing the dune ranges whenever you drive North/South between the Liwa Crescent Road and the Saudi border.
The current four lane highway is bad enough but who knows what the planned rail way will do to desert driving in Liwa when they start laying rails between the Al Hosn sour gas complex and the sulfur storage and export facilities at the port of Ruwais on the coast.
For the last couple years our standard Liwa outing was jumping off into the desert close to Qasr Al Sarab resort and then follow our noses through the Shah Fields to overnight camp at the summit ledge of the CD dune. Then the highlight was enjoying an evening of nice barbecue, cocktails and checking out the Milky Way across the night sky with only artificial light coming from the Saudi border post on the horizon. In the morning we would continue west once again following your nose to exit at Moreeb dune. A nice route which made for a great couple day desert getaway.
Now with paved roads through the heart of Shah and the gigantic Al Hosn Gas Complex sitting in the middle of everything it is time to find another playground in Liwa.
I am thinking that I just might have to dust off my 1990s trip notes on the routes going west to Arada and onward into the Western desert because it really looks like Shah and the Eastern Desert is lost to the industry and the modern world.
Any ideas would be appreciated!
Cheers Sandman
PS As an aside does anyone know if anyone is Abu Dhabi is carrying any Nitto Desert Grapplers inventory? My desert driving partner is looking to replace his current set on his FJ. His current set he got at ICON in Dubai but they appear to have either dropped Nitto or just aren’t carrying any in stock.