1st Bush Camp at Moreeb Dunes

11 November 2022

We had a leisurely drive from our lunch stop to here, Moreeb Dunes.

As this was our first camp, there was a lot of work to do for the organisers but they did brilliantly, especially Karen, a NZ woman. They managed to keep calm and cheerful throughout lots of hassles and changes. Chief amongst these changes was some desk warrior in the Saudi Arabian department of something or the other deciding that our truck could not enter Saudi on some silly pretext. Despite the fact that the same truck crossed last year and that trucks like it have crossed hundreds of different borders worldwide with little serious hassle.

1st Bush Camp at Moreeb Dunes

Bush Camp at Moreeb Dunes

The outcome of this was that Madventure decided to hire a coach for the trip and buy a whole new portable kitchen set, gas bottles, pots and pans, cooking utensils, cutlery etc etc. It must have cost a fortune. I’m sure they made very little profit or even took a loss on this trip. Any other company might have cancelled. Kudos to Madventure team.

We had a very tasty spag bol sitting in the desert in the dark. Tasty, tasty, very tasty. We leave tomorrow morning at 8am for another bushcamp 350km away. Breakfast 7-7.30am. I’ll get up at 6ish to pack my tent and sleeping gear away and avoid any hurry, hassle, rushing and stress.

(Please click on any thumbnail above to enlarge the whole gallery for full size sliding photos)

Some factoids about the dunes from good old wikipedia:

Moreeb Dune or Tal Moreeb or Mor’ib Hill is a large sized sand dune located in proximity of Liwa Oasis at the Empty Quarter desert in the United Arab Emirates. With a reported 50 degree slipface, and height of 300 metres, the dune is popular for organised drag races competitions.

Moreeb Hill is the tallest dune in the UAE, and one of the largest hill climbs in the world. Moreeb Dune is one of the highest sand hills in the world. The dune is 1600 meters long Geography Moreeb Dune is located in the United Arab Emirates, 25 km south of Liwa Oasis. The total distance from Abu Dhabi to Moreeb Dune is about 250 km.