Rub Al Khali, the Empty Quarter

From Najran, along the Yemeni border into the Rub Al Khali, the Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world. It is encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, reaching well into the UAE and Oman. Dunes reaching up to 250m in height. I am driving up and down the dunes on well-paved two-laned highways. Of course I don’t attempt to venture too far off the roads, only in between the dunes. There the sand is firm with no danger of sinking in and getting bogged in loose sand (again!!!). You can travel far on these in-between-the-dunes areas, which provide the most beautiful, remote and scenic camping spots. I now seriously regret the choice of car, wishing to have a full blown 4WD which does not mind digging the wheels into the sand. But, hey, Lola is doing well, for a van of her making.

Along the road, then in between the dunes, I find the Germans again. We are trying unsuccessfully to get into the Oroug Mani M’aradh Wildlife Sanctuary, where the near extinct Oryx has been reintroduced into the wild. Herds of Arabian Sand Gazelles and Ostriches are roaming again. We are not lucky, the only road in this area we find is too sandy for us to access. So, we give up and travel further up the road, where Steffen and Birgit know for another access point to be. Here we learn that you can only access the reservation after prior permission by the Saudi Department for the Environment. We are quite acquainted with Saudi customs by now, therefore we know, waiting a bit may bring results as well. We don’t have to wait for too long and a ranger comes along. After a short chat, we all scramble into his vehicle. And off we go into the wild. And what a ride that was! This guy really knew how to ride the dunes. After dropping a lot of air out of his tires we climbed up the highest dunes, raced along a steep tilted slope around the inside of a huge sand crater, (scary!!!) down the steep valleys, around the corner and up some more steep dunes. And even he got stuck! But as Saudis don’t get out of the car, unless absolutely necessary and don’t like digging, he just put the foot to the pedal, steered left right left right…. Until the car decided that’s enough and moved again. (I’ll have to tell Lola that trick). Yes, and we even spotted an Oryxes; over there, on the faraway sand dune, that white spot!!!Read more