Every month a new trip will be uploaded to this site: enjoy!
You may have seen ranges of sand dunes elsewhere in the UAE, or even the world, but nothing is like the Liwa desert. It’s like comparing a beach bungalow to a skyscraper. A bit far-fetched you say? Well, if we assume a storey of a building is about three metres, then our destination is a 36-storey building of pure red sand. In fact, Tal Moreeb is a sand mountain almost 110m tall, and just one of many to be found in the area north of the Saudi-UAE border up to a tarmac motorway that borders the north, known as the Liwa Crescent.
You will realize this when a quick swerve is required: the car will sway, the traction is iffy, the brakes are soft. But just look at the disc brakes found on the BMW X5M, and you will see what I mean – they practically fill the entire 20-inch rims! This car offers fantastic performance on the tarmac, equal to many sports cars. Plus, although not its finest point, it does offer at least some of the dual-purpose we expect from an SUV. Having said that, it is definitely not suited for careless dune bashing, with its low fascia and bumpers and lowered suspension. But that’s OK for this trip, because it’s all smooth tarmac to the Moreeb Dune; but you can always play a little off-road with due care!
For those adventurers wanting to spin some sand, I’ve added three extra routes, of differing difficulty levels, all starting from Tal Moreeb, which is reachable by a tarmac road – so, from first-timer to expert driver, this destination will be an unforgettable experience for all. The three routes are color-coded like the ski slopes: green is easy, blue is intermediate, and red is advanced; they’ll make sense once you have them downloaded to your GPS device. But please note that the main trip is fully on tarmac and ending at Moreb Dune, which is smack bang in the middle of Liwa!
Download the KML file for your GPS by clicking here. Once downloaded, you can import the file into your GPS device and take it on the road, or double-click that file and it will open automatically in Google Earth if you have that installed (all adventurers should! Google Earth).
And here is an interactive map of the routes.
View Moreb, Liwa in a larger map
Please take due care when entering the sand at Liwa; the dunes are fierce and although it seems you will stay right next to the road, once you pass a few dune lines you are well and truly in the thick of the Empty Quarter, and that is no place to go unprepared. My disclaimer is here.
Please read the original article: The Looming Shadows. Published by The National, Apr 17, 2010.
Or view a pdf file of the original article here, as published in The National.
I’m amazed you would take a BMW X5M off the road!
Good review of the X5M 🙂 Yes, it can go off-road!
great post, surfed in looking for X5M, and sure found one!
Beautiful trip in beautiful and fastest car!
The bmw will run circle’s around those little pretty dunes.
hey cm’on, you didnt take it on the dunes, didya!!!
Actually, yes! 8) With due care to avoid sharp crests and drops, as the clearance is low. The power is amazing and it will climb forever!