An idea of a great adventure

[Jo]

I think ONLY if sponsored by Emirates Heritage Club we can deal with Saudi through them, other than that forget it to cross there

I am sure that it would help having them on board. Does anzbodz have contacts to them_

:hat:

[jc]

I think ONLY if sponsored by Emirates Heritage Club we can deal with Saudi through them, other than that forget it to cross there

I am sure that it would help having them on board. Does anzbodz have contacts to them_

:hat:

I have contact with the AD Tourism maybe we can get to them thru her will try on sunday

[Jo]

Buddies,

I will prepare a presentation in the next weeks to have a good base explaining the potential sponsors and adds whats it all about.

CU

:hat:

[KiwaussieChick]

I have only just come across this thread and the trip sounds brilliant Jo!
Whilst I can see there is already a lot of support - mine is here too & I may be able to assist with the UAE Armend Forces side of things - but jc's contact may be better? I will ask the question re a couple of other contacts to see if I can see a way 'into' the Heritage Club...

I can imagine quite a few sponsorship opportunities too!

Will also wait to see what assistance would be most constructive - so feel free to ask away.... I love contingency planning and logistics!

[kghaleb]

Hey guys, was just browsing threads...this could turn into a kick a** event jo;;, drive the empty quarter, desert endurance, treasure hunt, bla bla bla etc....
I think it could work if we get it organized properly, selling the event to the different tourism bodies in the selected countries and this could be done through an event management company, you get media envolved in coverage ( make it like areality TV kind of thing - 24 hours coverage ) selling ads for car makers and mods makers - $$$ !!!!

Get sponsors, overnight camps in selected spots, recovery teams, technical teams, fueling points,

we even could review and arrange the routes with offcials to avoid any "out of limits areas"..

what do you think, too commercial!!!!??? I am honestly for it..

[omar_kid77]

Well it’s a great idea, I am interested to attend this trip and help in this adventure, just please let me know if there any thing/help I can do. From the banking side since I am working with Abu Dhabi Islamic bank.

[maddog]

Also only just discovered this thread, but what a GREAT idea! Bit of a Thesiger fan too so I would definitely like to participate somehow.

From what I see of the route, it may be beneficial to get PDO (Petroleum Development Oman - Oman Govt/Shell Oil partnership) on board in some way for the Oman component. PDO has huge infrastructure and logistic support in the interior of Oman. They have large camps scattered around for exploration and production. Everything that would be needed for the logistics of an expedition like this, including medics/food/fuel/accom etc etc. Without looking at the proposed route in detail, I think from memory there may be some camps in the vicinity. Its been a few years since I was there, but there are also some private companies that were operating closer to the Saudi border, Phillips Oil being one.

My contacts there are getting a bit thin on the ground now, but I'll try to make some enquiries as to the current state of affairs and who is operating where. Needless to say, the support of PDO would be invaluable. They have a history of willingness to get involved with local events too.

As an aside, there may be sucurity issues with crossing the border in Rub al Khali. There were armed bandits operating from the Saudi side that would roam around, shoot up and steal vehicles etc. The border there was very much undefined until recently and they were basically pirates of the desert. Big ROP (Royal Oman Police) presence there to protect and combat it. Likewise in all the oil camps. This was going on up until when I left in 2004. I'm sure its no different now. It may be a condition of approval to cross over, or to even move in the region, to have armed escort. ROP will be the issue in that regard. Hopefully its a problem thats not insurmountable. If the push comes from the right direction, doors will magically open.....!

[maddog]

Jo

just seen the date on your last post - did you make the presentation? What's latest with progress?
Cheers

[Jo]

well, intention and capability...

My intention is to prepare the presentation... I also have the capability but not the time...

Since it is a loooong story anyway, there is no rush...

But it is neither forgotten nor lost....only stuck

:hat:

[Smiley]

A few years ago there were some, I think, Canadian guys who did the route, but with camels and one backup car. They wrote a book about it, but I forgot the titel. I'll think about it and let you know.
If it would be possible to contakt them they can probably tell us a lot about how to get permissions.

[Jax]

I think this is the book you are talking about Smiley, we have it in the library at school...




book blurbs:

From Our Editors
In this book of true desert adventure a photographer traveled across Arabia’s legendary empty quarter for 40 days and 40 nights with two other Canadians during the winter of 1999. In Sand Dance By Camel Across Arabia’s Great Southern Desert, Bruce Kirkby provides an exciting account of the journey that represented the first successful crossing of that hostile terrain since Sir Wilred Theisiger’s 1947 expedition by camel. Kirkby was a member of the Canadian team’s Mount Everest Expedition in 1999 and his photographs have been featured in Outside magazine, American Photo and Explore.


From the Publisher
For forty days and forty nights during the winter of 1999, three Canadians, Bruce Kirkby, Jamie Clarke, and Leigh Clarke, along with three Omani Bedu, travelled by camel across Arabia’s great southern desert – the legendary Empty Quarter. Journeying from Salala in Oman on the Arabian Sea, they headed north and east for 1,200 kilometres across remote and largely unexplored desert wilderness, where ranges of sand dunes tower to over three hundred metres in height. When they finally reached Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf, they were received as heroes. Theirs was the first camel crossing of the Empty Quarter in over fifty years.

The expedition had historic roots, since the team sought to retrace for the first time the original 1947 crossing by world-famous explorer and adventurer Sir Wilfred Thesiger. In the years since Sir Wilfred’s journey, Arabia and the Bedu have faced enormous upheaval. The discovery of oil precipitated rapid and irreversible changes to a nomadic society that had existed in relative isolation since the time of Mohammed. Travelling with their three Bedu companions, the team was afforded a rare glimpse of how these changes have affected the last of the Arabian nomads.

During the desert crossing the team was determined to travel and live as authentically as possible, on camels, taking Arabic names and wearing traditional clothing, drinking their water from rank goatskins and eating mainly unleavened bread and dried camel meat. The cultural insights they were afforded are constantly fascinating – but so are the cultural clashes, since the party was often followed by Land Cruisers full of well-meaning supporters who threatened to destroy the spirit of the journey.

The expedition was also full of adventure and incident – such as a hundred-foot descent down a narrow, snake-infested well, a three-day sandstorm, the sting of a desert scorpion, and the fun of living with inescapable heat and nagging dehydration.

The Empty Quarter Traverse received considerable media coverage, both nationally and internationally. In nineteen countries around the world, 22,000 school children enrolled in the team’s Internet education program, and 4.8 million people visited the expedition Web site. The trek was reported widely and was the subject of a feature story on the CBC National and a front-page colour photo story in the National Post.

Now Bruce Kirkby has written a thoughtful and deeply felt account of this challenging expedition – and has illustrated it with twenty-four pages of his stunning colour photographs. Anyone interested in remote areas of the world or stirred by the romance of old-fashioned adventure and daring will find Sand Dance constantly engaging.


About the Author
Bruce Kirkby has pursued a life of adventure, undertaking major expeditions to remote locations around the globe. After graduating in Engineering Physics from Queen’s University, Bruce had a brief (six-month) office career, before his love of the wilderness and a craving for physical fun tore him away.A professional guide, Bruce has spent much of the last ten years in arduous environments, leading whitewater rafting and canoe expeditions on remote northern rivers.

[Smiley]

Yes it's exactly this one.
In '99 I saw them by chance just entering Abu Dhabi city, when I was comming back from a trip. And I thought:"What does these bedouin want in Abu Dhabi?" They were walking at the side of the highway and didn't look very glorious at all.

[Ali]

Recently and after along search I got 6 amazing documentary films (in DVD) for the arabian deserts and one of them is (baher alremal = sands sea) which is the empty quarter. All produced by the kuwaiti TV and directed by Abdulla Ahmed AL Mehkyal (kuwaiti director) no translation. There is still new film called (empty quarter) which is still not reached my hands

[kghaleb]

Recently and after along search I got 6 amazing documentary films (in DVD) for the arabian deserts and one of them is (baher alremal = sands sea) which is the empty quarter. All produced by the kuwaiti TV and directed by Abdulla Ahmed AL Mehkyal (kuwaiti director) no translation. There is still new film called (empty quarter) which is still not reached my hands

Are they available locally somewhere?

[Smiley]

Recently and after along search I got 6 amazing documentary films (in DVD) for the arabian deserts and one of them is (baher alremal = sands sea) which is the empty quarter. All produced by the kuwaiti TV and directed by Abdulla Ahmed AL Mehkyal (kuwaiti director) no translation. There is still new film called (empty quarter) which is still not reached my hands

Very interesting! Can I copy them?