24 Hours with the Polaris Team

By Mazen Al-Angary

What’s Up Jeddah got an exclusive invitation to experience firsthand a trip of a lifetime with the Polaris team in Jeddah using Polaris ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles).

10:30 AM

Over 200 Km North of Jeddah, our fuel tanks are full and we are ready for anything.

“When are they going off road?” Asked Ghaith Alabdali our operation director.

“We passed Rabigh sometime ago” I said trying to keep the behemoth of a 4X4 in formation with the rest of the convoy.

11:00 AM

We got off road, flattened our tires, and got our instruction on how to drive through the desert to reach the camp.

“If a car gets stuck, don’t panic!” said Dr. Michael “Just move on behind the pack leader, we will backup the stuck vehicle”.

We moved on according to instructions heading to the camp.

12:00 PM

After reaching the camp-site we scrambled to set the Polaris team’ tent up, our instructor Mr. Jafar A.jawad turned to the four of us rookies.

“Today you might break a rib or two” He started saying, “You have to be vary careful, and never try to perform any stunts. This is no game, people get hurt, sometimes seriously injured” .

“This grabbed our attention!” I thought.

“Follow my lead and if any one of you gets left behind don’t panic, we have someone covering the tail” said Mr. Jafar.

Our first task was to conquer sand dunes, we learned how to handle, maneuver, and stop our Polaris ATVs over silky soft sand dunes on our way to the top of a 250 meter high dune.

After hours of suffering and getting out of being stuck in sand situations, we returned back to camp where we found lunch ready for us, and that was what we thought of as a five star meal.

2:30 PM

We sat at the camp for some time to relax, recover, and digest that amazing lunch we had, thanks to Dr. Michael who was our chef during the whole trip. Later on Mr. Jaffar came back to tell us that it is time to go desert-crossing on the ATVs.

We rode over sand dunes and rocky terrain for over an hour and a half to reach a gigantic rock mountain that looked like it was emerging out of a sand pit, we stopped our ATVs to climb the mountain, once on top you get to see the sea from this hight if it wasn’t too hazy that day.

5:00 PM

Before the sun started to set, we headed back to the camp, the whole scene was amazing with all the 13 ATVs riding as a pack of wolves on the desert sand back to our camp, taking directions and following our pack leader.

After dinner, some of us went to sleep either in tents or inside vehicles, while others huddled around bonfire sharing stories and chit chatting till it started to rain… Heavily

8:00 AM

I got up after getting about 3 hours of sleep hugging What’s Up photographer’s Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III bag as my teddy bear, we wear all sleeping in the car and I couldn’t find a safe spot to keep the camera from breaking by mistake.

The whole area was muddy, now we got a unique chance to try Polaris ATVs on muddy terrain. We rode up and down the huge sand dune which turned into mud, till our continental breakfast was ready.

11:00 AM

After we finished that hearty meal, we gave our goodbyes, and thanked the Polaris team for their patience and hospitality in making this exciting, unbelievable voyage happen. After that we headed out of the desert back to Jeddah, with one thing in mind, that this was the most fun we had in a very long time, nothing beats being in touch with nature, and being able to cross any type of terrain with ease, it feels like you’ve been set free.