ATV Riding in the Garden of Eden
by Lou Hebert
There is a large island in the Persian Gulf, just off the coast of Kuwait, that the locals swear was the site of the original Garden of Eden. The island is called Failaka, and today it resembles an urbanized desert wasteland more than any likeness to the biblical epicenter of all humanity. If it has ever been your dream to take a dune buggy tearing through a post-apocalyptic deserted island at break-neck speeds with no limitations on your driving or the machine, then this is the destination for you.
During Operation Desert Storm, the United States engaged the entrenched Iraqi army on Failaka. The battle left most of the island in ruin. In the aftermath, the Kuwait government purchased all of the homes and businesses from each of the island's residents. Failaka was then abandoned, which meant that thousands of vacation homes and stores were left vacant. Today, the island is occupied by a handful of squatters that make a living renting out ATVs to adventure seekers at $35 an hour. This may seem steep for a 125cc dune buggy, until you realize that there are no restrictions.
Being free to do whatever you want to a rented machine does not seem like a good business model, but it can also seem like a challenge to drivers that are not faint of heart. When you first locate one of the Arab-Bedouin rental spots scattered across the island, you will have to be prepared to haggle. He will ask for 20 Kuwaiti Dinar, but you must be persistent and talk him down to 10KD, which is the actually going rate. The buggy ATV will then be gassed up and that is when things start to get dangerous. If you have completed an online ATV safety course, then you may not feel comfortable with how negligible this situation is regarding your safety. There are no hospitals on the island, and the ferry back to Kuwait only comes once a day.
You are truly on your own and completely at
risk.
There are no helmets and no restrictions. Seat belts in most of the vehicles are hand-tied shoulder belts. Honestly, when enjoying an extreme situation such as this it is best to wear a five point harness, neck pad and a helmet because it is not just crashes that can cause injury. Blasting across a field of sand is difficult because the jarring vibration of the vehicle can become overwhelming. Ideally, you want greater vertical travel in your suspension for better stabilization at higher speeds so the wheels move more than the cab. A smoother ride paired with a secured driving position equates to greater control. On the dune buggies of Failaka, there is none of that.
There are two seats in the buggies, so there is room for two people to ride. This is a smart choice because it gives one person the opportunity to focus completely on navigation while the other focuses on driving. If you are riding along as the navigator, remember to hold on to hand-holds located within the plane of the roll-bar. In an open-air vehicle with an exposed roll-cage, it is often enticing to casually grip the bar around the door area. If an accident occurs and the vehicle is rolled over, mistakenly gripping the roll-bar will cost fingers.
One of the most enticing opportunities on an ATV is the possibility of flight. Most drivers have dreamed of jumping their vehicle over hills and moguls, and Failaka gave us the opportunity to see how high we could launch a 125cc dune buggy without shattering the suspension or ourselves. To do this, one will need a launching hill that has a nice level incline that does not terminate in a sharp upturn. Too much finishing pitch on a jump can flip your vehicle.
Next, we learned that you have to hit the jump straight on or risk being flipped to the side. If you do flip to one side, remember to turn into the roll; just as you would with a skid. In the end, we had a busted suspension spring, one engine fire, various cuts and bruises and one of the greatest ATV experiences of our lives.
There are no helmets and no restrictions. Seat belts in most of the vehicles are hand-tied shoulder belts. Honestly, when enjoying an extreme situation such as this it is best to wear a five point harness, neck pad and a helmet because it is not just crashes that can cause injury. Blasting across a field of sand is difficult because the jarring vibration of the vehicle can become overwhelming. Ideally, you want greater vertical travel in your suspension for better stabilization at higher speeds so the wheels move more than the cab. A smoother ride paired with a secured driving position equates to greater control. On the dune buggies of Failaka, there is none of that.
There are two seats in the buggies, so there is room for two people to ride. This is a smart choice because it gives one person the opportunity to focus completely on navigation while the other focuses on driving. If you are riding along as the navigator, remember to hold on to hand-holds located within the plane of the roll-bar. In an open-air vehicle with an exposed roll-cage, it is often enticing to casually grip the bar around the door area. If an accident occurs and the vehicle is rolled over, mistakenly gripping the roll-bar will cost fingers.
One of the most enticing opportunities on an ATV is the possibility of flight. Most drivers have dreamed of jumping their vehicle over hills and moguls, and Failaka gave us the opportunity to see how high we could launch a 125cc dune buggy without shattering the suspension or ourselves. To do this, one will need a launching hill that has a nice level incline that does not terminate in a sharp upturn. Too much finishing pitch on a jump can flip your vehicle.
Next, we learned that you have to hit the jump straight on or risk being flipped to the side. If you do flip to one side, remember to turn into the roll; just as you would with a skid. In the end, we had a busted suspension spring, one engine fire, various cuts and bruises and one of the greatest ATV experiences of our lives.
Off-roading in the Garden of Eden was
extremely dangerous, difficult but completely unforgettable.
Check out these videos of riding through the Failaka Islands:
Lou Hebert is an American writer and adventurer currently living abroad.
