Territori 4×4 proposa i Libia disposa. Territori 4×4 proposes and Libia disposes. This premise is the best way to understand the adventure that the members of this LIBYA ADVENTURE EASTER 2009 raid have proposed.
First of all, we introduce ourselves:
1.- HDJ105, pilot Jesús Ferrer and Territori guide Jordi Tobeña.
2.- KDJ125, pilot Xavier Caselles and his wife Lourdes
3.- Galloper, driver Joan Papio.
4.- KDJ 120, pilot David Sanglas and his wife Margi, together with the two scorpions Jan 4 years old I Pol 3 years old. It is the first time that children travel to Libya, a success!!
5.- HDJ 100, pilot Quim Doys and Marta
6.- HDJ 80, pilot Josep Prat and Antonio
7.- HDJ 80, pilot Salvador Baulenes and his son Salva
8.- HDJ 80, Mare I Rosa pilot.
As you all know it was not the best start to a holiday, but the desire and our enthusiasm to make this trip overcame all obstacles.
We arrived in Libya after a long journey on Wednesday at 2.25pm and 23ºC, a good temperature while we wait for the paperwork and especially the Libyan license plates!
We all put the new license plates with great enthusiasm to be able to start the first contact in sandy lands. At the same border we met our native companions, the guide Lamin and the policeman Wallit. There, we were also informed that one of the entrances to the MURZUQ, provided in our itinerary was closed, Aiii ! Tobeña acts, improvises and zaaasssss, decides to reverse the route to ensure the fulfillment of all the planned stages.
Our optimism always above any uncertainty: it is an adventure trip and this is how it begins!
Destination Derj, our machines loaded with diesel oil, approached near the first dunes of the Awari Lakes. We camped very close wanting to step on the sand and wanting to see the famous lakes.
We arrived on Thursday at noon, we started the first contact with the sand, uuufffff how nervous, we are very anxious, happy and at the same time we felt an uncertainty of what would happen to us in the next few days…
We enjoyed that afternoon very much, I actually had a great time, the drivers were enjoying the driving, many ups and downs, especially for some it was a baptism, to start with a long descentaaaaadas! Yes, and like everyone, we had a little respect when we looked at the slope and thought “this is where we go down?” anyway we breathed and we were already down! Honestly the feeling was short but very intense.
I was also fascinated by the native landscape around us. A contrast of water, sun, sand, and the intense color of the palm trees that surrounded the hidden lakes of the Awari.
The second night was the only and last in a high-end campsite at the foot of the dunes.
The desire to continue the journey continues to grow.
First thing in the morning we head WP74 about 150 km from the village MURZUQ, we head to their erg. 11 am 28ºC. We start the dunes, a strong sand and a bright day, we stop to eat at the WP Fornons, an endearing memory of another raid.
We continue to enjoy some camping, some gathering dinners and a field fire provided by a member of the funniest part of the group: the PATO MARE! Always a few joke talks between everyone, around the fire and our unconditional companion called whiskey!!
Saturday arrived. In the morning 25ºC, we continue with more dunes, and more dunes, some ridges that our friend Jesus caressed to improve our pace, it is appreciated! but sometimes, without warning, we had a long and steep descent behind us that with a second length, we all went down without time to react, pure adrenaline. Above all, you end up with a sigh when all four wheels touch the flat surface.
We are noticing that the level of the dunes is increasing day by day and concentration is becoming more and more important among drivers. The day’s stage is 137km pure sand!!
We are already immersed in Murzuq….., and the fellow travelers, we already seem like family, the trust is greater and the jokes increase every day. Especially at night, after dinner, once we have the fire running; Whisky briefing or Tobeña-Ferrer mojitos. hahaha!! We all finish, explaining the funny part of the day. Anyway, so far I can read…
Sunday. 9.45 – 31ºC. We continue: dunes and more dunes, a lot of heat, a landscape that I can’t think of too many words to define it. It is such a large immensity of sand, with rounded and diagonal shapes, different colors and an almost white sky. Amazing.
This day is starting to get worse as a sandstorm is approaching. We continue the journey, but visibility is getting worse and worse and it is very difficult to find the best way to continue our route. The difficulty increases either because of the soft sand and poor visibility, until in a large pot we separate the group and we spend a whole afternoon to meet everyone. What a day! We ended up exhausted, us and our beasts even the co-pilots!! Damn WP 83, what it cost us to get to it. How tremendous the increases with FEs.. fes, fes,…
130 km stage, with laps included, real 60 km UUUFFFF !!!, are those days when you want to leave the car, wherever, and wait relaxing in your camping chair and drinking something cool. At night we don’t stop commenting on the browns that have emerged during the day, luckily it ends with a few laughs, jokes and,,,
Monday 13, 8.30 a.m. 6 p.m. It’s David’s birthday, he starts his day climbing a dune, it was his own birthday present! Satisfied, we went to leave the Murzuq through the Tilen-Sile exit, (Coll de Anai closed by the military) to go to another erg, the famous AKAKUS. We passed a long, long Tenere, a grandiose plain and on a track, where our friend Josep Prat destroyed a wheel, the only one of the trip!
We set WP 93, it’s very hot 14h 31ºC, we enter this erg, the most different of all the ones seen at the moment. A huge rocky vision where we can imagine different shapes depending on how you look at it. The first time you enter this desert, you don’t understand how it can be that there are so many rock formations in the sand, obviously little driving in dunes since the protections we wear are not resistant enough…
Tobeña proposes the search for the largest ARC OF THE AKAKUS where it is a mandatory photo!!
We found it and were even more eclipsed by the grandeur of the stone. There is no photo that can capture the reality we saw.
We continued the route looking for a place to camp because it was starting to get dark and we wanted to look for an endearing place among the huge stones to rest, a nice place to continue with our night talks!
Tuesday morning we are ready to continue visiting the spectacular AKAKUS and its cave paintings, which unfortunately have been transformed into graffiti by Gaddafi’s rebels… no comment… We follow the route in search of fuel for our machines.
Destination is Serdeles where in theory there should be gas oil for everyone and we would also enjoy a shower, which was already time! Well, as can be usual in Libya, an oil country, there was no drop of gas oil in Serdeles… UUFFFF, what a pity for those who were rushing. The positive part was a shower that sat perfectly for all of us… and with more joy we traveled another 140 km towards Gath, to refuel. Good luck for the slings for some on this journey!! What a hot day, we were at 33ºC and we did not put the air conditioning on to save fuel. anyway… It was fun!!
In the afternoon with all the tanks full, we returned to our dunes and we missed them! We headed back to AWARI, passing through a huge sand plain. We stopped to camp at WP 108, it is still very hot, 20h 24ºC.
On Wednesday morning we entered the AWARI, the dunes of the Awari seem to be more normal since coming from Murkuk the heights seemed smaller. But I insist, they PRETEND that there is some “trap”. For this reason, concentration is very important during the tour of this erg.
The dune cords, one after the other, were easier, some more technical or rather more mousetraps. Conclusion: we enjoyed it a lot, the dunes were fun and with the experience of the previous days, the pace was quite fast.
We reach 44ºC, intense sandiness and sun. The photographers did not stop taking photos because the environment deserved it. We finish the dunes, traveling 165 km and continue in a hamada, about 70 kms, accompanied by sun… Lots of sunshine… We camped at the AWARI.
Thursday the end of the dunes, we continued on the AWARI, passing through dunes that marked the way and the end of the adventure. We left the erg at around 4pm, 32 ºC and did cross-country for 300 km, passing through arid, not sandy landscapes.
We camped near WP 37 in a kind of well and followed our nocturnal tradition of drinks and comments, games, jokes, anecdotes of the day, along with the madness of the Pato-Mare.
Friday. We left in the direction of the border, on a paved road, a day of kms without much news, only noteworthy that in the afternoon, 40 km from the border, we found a white sand beach ideal to spend our last camping together. And by chance our teacher Jordi Tobeña and Jesús discovered a real luxury of apartments right next door and we quickly changed the camping for hot shower and clean sheets! Stage of 500 km approx. Of course, we had dinner together, but in a Turkish restaurant!
Saturday, we cross the border (3h) and head to the Hotel de Hammamet. I think that there we all put an end to the LIBYA SS 2009 adventure (group of ducks).
