LANDY TO LONDON

Ciao Kaspuur!

2010-06-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? What was that green blur that blocked out the sun over Europe for two weeks? It was as though Kaspuur grew wings as she carried us through Europe in just enough time to get a snippet of the highlights and leave us smacking our lips for more.

Italy is certainly something of fairytales with its cobble stoned walkways, gondolas, ancient bridges, medieval masks and Venetian glass. Lush vineyards and curvaceous valleys claim the countryside with gelato and deliciously simple dishes a state of "normale" throughout. It is hard to say which town was my favorite out of Venice, Florence, Chianti, Livorno, Pisa and Trento as they each offered us something special but Trento was a real gem. Lago di Levico was a fantastic retreat with snow-capped mountains in the distance, shining waters in the foreground, green forests as far as the eye can see and sunset cruise paddleboat rides on the agenda.

Venice >>>

Florence >>>

Ange and Matt in Livorno >>>
Pisa >>>

Trento >>>

We left Italy reluctantly and with the benefits of the Autobahn found ourselves flitting through Austria and southern Germany - our windscreen wipers working overtime. It seems we had driven straight out of summer.

AFRICA PHOTOS

2010-06-05T04:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33988380@N00/

WE MADE IT TO CAIRO!!!

2010-06-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

We were rather arrogantly expecting streamers, a welcome party and fireworks as we pulled into Cairo. It was certainly one of those celebratory moments when you realise what you have not only achieved but survived. As it was our bodies were merely holding out for the downtime we subconsciously craved. After a yummy meal at Chilis, all four of us crashed in some way or another. In true Campbell style he slept...for 24 solid hours.

A couple days later when we were all compus mentis and able to accept the gravity of the situation - having driven from Cape Town to Cairo - we reeeeally celebrated. Since alcohol was scarce we celebrated with lots and lots of gelato at one of Cairo's many scrumptious gelato and pastry stores. Yum yum.

Blue Steel >>>Who said those Pyramids where big? Pyramids of Giza and Sphinx >>>

Cairo is just as crazy, although massively more cosmopolitan, than any other African city. Thanks heavens for sound proof windows. Take a listen to this noise outside our hotel window:

Sadly, the time has come for the Gummi Bears to go their separate ways. We have loved traveling with Danny and Jill on and off since Malawi and wish you guys only the best on your travels East and beyond. After hunting high and low we found some "Red Lion" whiskey to drown our tears into as a final farewell to our friends. Coochie coochie and "I am Freeeench" will miss you terribly. xx

OVERLANDER GEM: Visemar Line ferry from Alexandria to Venice - book through aferry.com

There is a new ferry line that runs a service from Alexandria to Venice. This ferry line is so new we booked onto its maiden voyage. We were among 8 travelers set to make overlanding history.

However, in true African style, on our way to Alexandria we got a call. It was a bad call. The Egyptian port authorities have denied transit for the maiden voyage. We would have to wait another week. We were told there was zero chance of us sailing as scheduled.

So, we had resigned ourselves to spending a week in a budget hotel waiting to see if we could sail. Alexandria is a sprawling city with 15million people and not enough parking. It was mayhem trying to find somewhere safe to leave Kaspuur. A few hours before our ferry is due to sail we get a call from the ferry company. “If you can get to port we can get you on the boat”. Considering the rigmarole and full day of paperwork it took to get us into Egypt we never ever thought we would make it. It is amazing what pushy Egyptians and a lot of baksheesh can achieve. With 30minutes to go before the boat left the docks 8 overlanders did indeed make overlanding history. It is a fantastic way to leave Africa's red dusts in your wake.

Ben and Campbell having a drink. Cheers to Africa - we love you! >>>

Baksheesh and Escorts

2010-05-20T04:23:00.000-07:00

Four tired, dirty, excited Gummi Bears elbowed their way off the boat onto Egyptian soil and were met with chaos and total disorder. What can only be described as a stampede of crazy people frog-marched their way through three barriers to rush to ... hmmm, I'm still not quite sure what the rush was about.

Karma came to bite them all in the butt when the man with the power to let people through handpicked the few of us not trying to maul and flatten our neighbors. Naturally the four of us accepted this invitation.

We have been ripped from the developing world and slapped, like a baby's bottom at birth, with the tourism assembly belt that is Egypt. 50plus of these ginormous hotel boats sat on the Nile in Aswan and all overflowing with pink tourists in mini shorts, wife beaters, big hats and cameras glued to their noses. It took us a while to come to terms with flush toilets, aircon, swimming pools, wi-fi in our rooms and food that doesn't have negative after effects. Although we all loved the real Africa it is surprising how quickly you can readjust.

Felucca boats on the Nile >>>

While waiting for the car to arrive on the barge which was a few days behind us, the Gummi Bears explored the Temple of Isis by night and the souk (market) by day. The touts and locals are on full tourist alert and you cannot step out of your hotel without being offered a felucca (boat cruise) ride, taxi, curios or a horse-drawn carriage ride.

Danny and Jill on the felucca to the Temple of Isis light show >>>

Campbell and the felucca captain >>>

Chilling out on the Nile >>>

The Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens was blisteringly hot but amazing. Unfortunately there was a hefty fine for taking any photos so sorry folks, no pictures for you.

Colossus of Memnon >>>

Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple >>>

This brings a new meaning to a camel ride in Egypt >>>

Baksheesh can be loosely translated as a tip, bribe or bonus for services offered. It's a part of the Egyptian culture and is widely accepted as wages are generally quite low. In East Africa we had the stereotypical dirty street child with the extended belly, snot running down their faces and flies in their eyes beg us for money and at times like these it is hard to say no. It has taken some getting used to when well dressed Egyptian children rush over in packs smiling, healthy and giggling hellos in our direction and then fling a "baksheesh, baksheesh" at us.

The road to Aswan and Luxor went by with the expected temples, heat and long roads and a familiar friend has returned - the speed hump. Kaspuur was last abused by this traffic calming devise in Tanzania but that was nothing in comparison to Egypt. Next to the Pyramids if Giza, speed humps are their national treasure.

Our journey from Luxor to Cairo was at best utterly bizarre and quite scary. We decided to make the trip to our African overland finish line over two days and stop in the not-so-small town of Asyut. Little did we know that there had been some trouble in these parts a month earlier. We were therefore baffled when a police escort was forced on us en route to Asyut, another two police escorts were allocated (one inf ront and one behind us) to take us to our hotel, a personal escort to take us out of the hotel to get food and drinks, several escorts to get us out of town and four hours out of Asyut. All this time, no-one would tell us why this was necessary. We found out when we got to Cairo.

One of our escorts >>>

We figured it was for our own protection but the people and the roads were perfectly safe with nothing but the usual donkeys, camels, speed humps, small children, tuk tuks and bikes in the road.

Suprises

2010-05-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

So many people thought we were mad to go to Sudan and I'll admit we were a little nervous about it as we didn't know what to expect. The Gummi Bears sat in Addis all those weeks ago watching the news with anticipation about the Sudanese elections. Being so untouched by tourism, Sudan was one of the highlights of the entire trip and with such welcoming locals, stunning sunsets, scenery and desert camping like this who could blame us.

Desert camping just outside of Wadi Halfa >>>
Jill and I making friends on the ferry >>>

A very kind police officer helping us about town. He was very excited to see tourists in Sudan and told us to send our friends to visit his beautiful country >>>

Naturally there was some serious scouting of the area before pitching our tents in the desert for fear of scorpions and snakes. Apart from tracks all we found was a lone spider that chased Campbell around the desert for a bit, got bored and retreated into its hole.

We were also pleasantly surprised by the Wadi Halfa ferry that by all accounts is meant to be awful. With a ceiling of stars and the splashing of water on the side of the boat as we crept our way to Egypt the only discomfort was the hard surface to sleep on. By this point, however, you get used to functioning on only a few hours rest a night, so no biggie.

Campbell catching a few extra hours of zzzz >>>

Getting settled on the ferry >>>

Is anybody out there?

2010-05-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

It was hot on the day we left Khartoum and it only got hotter on the road.
Kaspuur's chassis would singe skin on contact both inside the car and out. Against all odds - the heat, the sand and the distance - our trusty companion kept going.

North of Khartoum, the merciless desert threatens to swallow the small towns that compete for resources. As it turns out there are a number of cool pyramids and temples in Sudan worth visiting. To get to some of the more interesting places we had to go off road and into the desert with dusty whirlwinds blowing away the almost nonexistent path. Other signs of life were increasingly spars and the reality of dehydration cracks at your lips. The trek is worth it and the cherry on the top was to have the entire sight to ourselves. In typical Sudanese style, a ticket collector walks out of the desert, takes his fee, proudly bestows a genuine receipt and disappears back to the mirage from whence he came.

After some sightseeing and desert camping it was on to Wadi Halfa. This one horse town is the end of Sudan (and feels like the end of the world) and the beginning of the ferry crossing to Egypt - a major milestone in the trip! The crossing went smoothly thanks to the services of a fixer (the very same used by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman!). The best part of the ferry was sleeping under the stars on the deck. No names mentioned but it is worth noting that the experience was slightly ruined by a massive puncture in our camping mattress. Sleeping on metal is not comfortable!

Here are some photo's (in no particular order) that best explain this part of the trip....

Free reign of the Pyramids of Meroe >>> The Pyramids of Meroe from our desert camp >>>

Nothing but nothing on the roads >>>

Chasing the blissful shade >>> The all consuming heat >>>
No guards or other tourists to tell you what to do >>>
I'm off to ask the goat herder if he paid his entrance fee >>>
A small breakdown in downtown desert. Our Achilles heel - corrugation - coming back to haunt us >>>
Do not pass go! Temple at Naqa >>> A small twister behind Kaspuur >>>
Another perfect African sunset >>>
First class cabin on deck >>> Kaspuur waiting to board the ferry. We had to leave it on the pier and hope it was driven safely onto the barge behind it >>> Wadi Halfa >>> Desert cooking >>>

Injera to Ful

2010-05-11T04:01:00.000-07:00

Descending the mountain pass to the border town of Metema the excitement of a cuisine other than injera, injera or injera was soon overshadowed by the wall of thick hot air that enveloped and sucked us into Sudan.

Injera formed such a big part of our experience in Ethiopia that it deserves a mention. It is a giant fluffy pancake served on a pizza-size metal dish and comes with whatever meat is available doused in spicey-as-hell berbere. Ethiopians eat with their hands so, after washing up, you tear off a section of injera with your right hand (your left hand is generally considered as the hand used to wipe your bum and therefore has no place at the table) and then attempt to scoop up the meat dish and secure it safely down the hatch without dropping it in your lap.

I remember being so grateful for actual flavor in our meal after Kenya’s somewhat bland Nsima/Ugali, beans and spinach. It was definitely a case of be careful what you wish for! Injera should come with its own warning sign: ‘Unsuitable for tourists unless you welcome the inevitable evacuation that naturally ensues’. Although not as titillating on the taste buds, Tibs (simple injera with meat and veg) is a much safer option.

Upon crossing the Ethiopian/Sudanese border, the contrast between the two countries was instantly noticeable although Sudan had nuances of its own. We no longer have locals begging or hanging on the car craning their necks to get a good peek at Kaspuur’s load and are pleasantly surprised at how welcoming everyone has been, especially of the American contingency.

So far the Gummi Bears are thoroughly enjoying Sudan. We were all familiar with falafel and schwarma, but our first meal of Ful saw us mmm’ing and ahhh’ing all the way to Gedaref where we spent our first night in Sudan. This is also where we had our first lessons in the Arabic culture. The lokanda (communal hotel) would not entertain the idea of men and women sharing a room and we were promptly led to our rather pricey rooms – ladies in one and men in the other. I have received reports that Danny and Campbell spooned but this is unconfirmed ;) Just teasing!

Apart from the yummy food and welcoming locals, Khartoum has surpassed our expectations in its infrastructure and development. Brilliantly constructed bridges line the White and Blue Niles and massive glass hotels and office blocks dot the city skyline. However, most impressive has to be the existence of a STEERS! Aaaah-haaa!!! Oh, watch out for Sudanese news as they are likely to report juice shortages once Campbell has left the country. He has become best friends with every juice vendor from Khartoum to Wadi Halfa.

Sudan requires that you register with the police in every town that you stay in. After the first registration fee in Khartoum all the rest are free and merely an irritating formality. Although tour books say it is optional, we have found out it is essential to register to take photos in the country. Weird, but hey.

Every Friday Khartoum provides the amazing spectacle known as Suffi dancing/whirling dervishes which are utterly mesmerising and a little intimidating to watch. A plethora of Sudanese gather outside a mosque forming a circle around their religious leader, his servant and drummers. Rhythmic arm movements and chanting works the crowd up into a religious frenzy and those totally overcome by Allah's presence break from the circle and begin whirling, dancing, gesticulating and even on occasion biting themselves. The religious leader is heavily laden with beads and a bright green outfit and is so revered that his sweat is mopped with tissues that are then burned with incense and blown into the faces of the crowd. It is believed to be good luck if you breathe in this smoke.

A whirling dervish >>>

The religious leader >>>

The religious leader's servant >>>

A follower so overcome as to bite himself >>>

Even the young are inspired >>>
We also visited a souk (market) in Khartoum. So many colors, flavors and smells.

Shoes anyone? >>>
Spices >>>

After several relaxing days at the Blue Nile Sailing Club in Khartoum we headed into the unforgiving Sahara desert and it's many ruins.

The view from our campsite >>>

Video link

2010-05-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the video mentioned in my post below. Like I said T.I.A:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPdTXbLj58w

T.I.A

2010-05-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

Two Egyptian and Sudanese visas later we (the Gummi Bears – Kaspuur & Team America) finally left Addis for the famous rock-hewn churches of Lalibella. With clear skies and rumors of tarred roads we headed out optimistically and were soon met with, you guessed it, torrential rains and dirt roads. Oh well, what’s driving in Africa without dirt roads, rocks, donkeys, camels, locals, cattle, goats, dogs, you name it to add to the challenge of getting from A to B.

Very serious driver in a very serious Ethiopian highland woolen hat, hmm sexthy>>>

A typical downpour on a typical day on typical African roads. Typical! >>>Lalibella is a two day drive from Addis. Arriving in Debre Birhan late at night after our first day of the trip north, we realized we were going to have to take what accommodation we could get. The nicest hotel was fully booked but they did have a conference centre, so in true T.I.A style we made it work.

The conference centre >>>

I had a harsh, and embarrassing, awakening at 5am when I wiped out face first down the conference centre steps – they had a see-your-own-reflection polished quality to them. If it hadn’t been so painful I would have laughed myself silly. Needless to say Campbell took the first shift of driving. 18hours and many winding mountain passes later we pulled into Lalibella – so much for our rule of never driving at night.

The next day four rested travelers set off into the meandering alleyways, tunnels and caves leading to and through the churches of Lalibella. We were greeted by priests reciting verses in Amharic from the bible in such a way as to entice their visitors into their ritual and mystical lives. Shoes had to be taken off and left at the door, hats, liquids and sunglasses had no place in the holy sanctuaries of these stunning buildings.

Lalibella rock-hewn churches >>>

The pebbled roads leading to the churches conveniently pass the town’s primary and secondary schools. If you happen to miss-time your passage you will find yourself followed by teams of school children all interested to chat. They’re excitable questions form a vital part of your experience of Lalibella and range from where you’re from and what your name is to whether you have pens, chocolate, money, books and the “top of the pops” being farangi coins to add to their collections. The kids are quirky, harmless and proud to have people interested in their heritage. The all time favorite was a little kid of 6 rocking it out with such vivacious enthusiasm and fervor that sent warm ripples of laugher right through our bellies to our snapping fingers and tapping toes.

Having had our fill of what the small town has to offer we set off, again optimistically, to Bahir Dar. We made it less than 1.5hrs down the corrugated mountain pass before bare-bummed herd boys were peering into Kaspuur’s bonnet trying to work out why fuel was not making it to the engine.

It was looking bleak. Two Americans, two South Africans, and a multitude of prying Ethiopians were stumped as to how we were going to solve this mechanical dilemma in the middle of nowhere. Two cars an hour pass down this road, if you’re lucky, and Lalibella is a town with many able mechanics but almost no spare parts.

Gummi Bears, as we have named our team, had to go T.I.A style yet again! Jill and I hitched a ride with a very obliging local (and his gorgeous puppy Jack) back to town to employ the assistance of a mechanic. 3hours and much negotiating later I was sitting on the back of the mechanic’s motorbike petrol station bound to pay for a tank of petrol so he could make it out to the boys. By this point Campbell and Danny had convinced the eager herd boys to put their cattle and goats to one side and make themselves useful as roadside assistants.

The game was on for man of the hour. Campbell was definitely in the lead as he successfully determined that the problem lay with a broken fuel pump but Danny’s abseiling skills came in a close second. Before the mechanic arrived, the theory was to turn the car around and face it downhill to get the fuel flowing through the car, but they only succeeded in blocking off the road entirely so that the next oncoming car was forced to stop and assist whether he wanted to or not. Naturally in their attempts to bounce the car into a downhill position Danny had to abseil down a cliff and off the bulbar. Wow, what farangi’s!! In the end it was a unanimous decision, the mechanic was the man of the hour when, in true T.I.A style, he took his life in his hands by sitting on the bonnet holding the jerry can and the direct fuel feed into the engine in place while Campbell and Danny sat safely in the car and drove the bumpy roads back to town (video link to follow).

Mechanics siphoning fuel from the tank to run directly into the engine >>>

Man of the hour (or should I say day) - the mechanic - sitting on the bonnet during the drive back to Lalibella >>>

One 9hour bus ride to Dese on what is so aptly named the vomit commit saw Campbell heading 9hours back to Lalibella, parts in hand, and Danny, Jill and I 9hours in the opposite direction to extend our Ethiopian visas that were about to expire. In short we were all successful in our endeavors, Kaspuur is purring sweetly once again and the Gummi Bears reunited in Bahir Dar where we had some down time at the monasteries on the peninsula. We are now in Gonder, which is also known as Ethiopia’s Camelot, touring the numerous palace ruins. Three nights of downtime here before we head to Sudan – desert here we come!!

Palaces of Gonder >>>

The Gummi Bears take over Gonder >>>

Logic in Africa

2010-04-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

There we were staring into the face of adversity, and I am not just talking about driving on the opposite side of the road. A final gut wrenching climb brought us to the Ethiopian border where we were greeted by the usual touts and drove through what we thought was an unmanned boom in search of customs and immigration. An armed border official brought us to a hostile halt. We were mobbed by more touts and children.

“Give me your passports”

“Who said that?” A plain clothed “customs official” demanded we give him our passports. Four well-seasoned travelers all thought as one “Voetsek!!!” Once established that the said individual had no ID, he became irate and sought the backup of the armed border official who promptly told us to “Go back to Kenya”.

Realizing that logic wasn’t getting us anywhere we weighed up our options. With the Isiolo - Moyale road still fresh in our memories, we had to concede and tried to show them our passports through the window, to which the response was “there are no tiefs in Ethiopia, give me your passports”. Well, what could we do? With four hands poised ready to burst open the doors and chase after our passports in case he was in fact a tief, we waited with baited breath as our visas were scratched and sniffed for authenticity.

It turns out that a uniform has little meaning here. Once the officials were pacified and immigration – a different man this time with no uniform but he had a desk and a stamp – had stamped our visas, we learned that the government had given customs the day off. With strong suspicions that this was our punishment for logical thinking, we insisted on being served and refused to hang about in the crappy Moyale border town for two days. Eventually after Jill and my powers of female persuasion, the armed guard called in a favor and a customs official sauntered down the street in a kikoy and slops to stamp our car into Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is a strange place and very different to any other country we have been in thus far. It seems quite opposite to other African countries, in that the towns are not so great but cities are much more pleasant. Apart from fantastic tarred roads and beautiful landscapes, until we reached Addis Ababa the people of Ethiopia had left us wondering why we were here at all. Towns people would shout and scream at us with such anger, throw sticks and stones at the car and generally give you a look that is anything but welcoming. Everywhere you go an echo of “You you you farangi you you you farangi, give me money, give me money” rings in your ears.

Ethiopians we have spoken to in the city explain this behavior away as their culture but I am not convinced. In contrast, many Ethiopians we have met in the city of Addis are so welcoming and friendly. For the time being we are just confused by the country. However, we did experience some phenomenal local singing and dancing at a club the other night. The dancing is almost like body popping but with more rhythm and flow. It’s really impressive. The shoulder shrug/jerk is our new thing – wow, what silly farangi’s (foreigners) we are.

Campbell enjoying a well deserved local beer (St George) in Addis Ababa. Check out the puffy hair. It has since been cut by yours truly - I have discovered a hidden talent to control, to some degree, Campbell's thick locks >>>

On another note, Kaspuur has been to the doctor to replace the rear shocks and for a wheel alignment. Isiolo – Moyale strikes again, although all-in-all not a bad damage report considering what we put her through. Our Egyptian visas are all shiny and new but hold thumbs for the Sudanese visas for us!!

Kaspuur at the doctors >>>

Rattling our way to Ethiopia

2010-04-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

Two days of relaxation and some more curio shopping later Campbell, Kaspuur, one giant wooden box and I were detouring back to Nairobi. “Haven’t they done Nairobi” I hear you say? Yes, either we completely wreck our car on the infamous Isiolo – Moyale road that has claimed many a traveler with the weight we were carrying or we ship the weight home and hopefully do less damage. So, after finding a curio shop that makes wooden boxes we packed our Kitibikai (aka dead body), other artwork and odds’n’sods and drove to Nairobi that day.

The morning at the shippers. Yes, that is all our stuff lying about the place >>>
Shipping was an interesting experience. We had an audience of over 30 onlookers in the cargo terminal of the airport while we weighed our newly acquired box – 135kg WHAT!!! How have we been driving with so much dead weight? I’m not sure if it was a mzungu thing or that they really don’t see a shipment like this on a daily basis but we were centre stage.

With that out of the way Team America rejoined Kaspuur and off we rattled, bounced, slammed and swerved up the east trans-African “highway” to Moyale. No-one can adequately describe how bad this road is, you have to experience it for yourself in order to get a sniff of what the ordeal entails – it’s corrugated, desolute, baron, rocky, volcanic, sandy, dry, nomadic and incredibly muddy in parts after the rains. Four (Team America & Kaspuur) exhausted overlanders rolled into the town that marks the halfway point, Marsabit, with a real sense of having just survived something major.

For two years Campbell and I have been talking about this stretch of the journey and hoping that the landy we chose would make the trip. We chose well. Although she was punished, Kaspuur put in a stellar performance. I, however, didn’t do as much. Poor Campbell drove 80% of the first leg to Marsabit with Danny helping out while I decorated the landscape with my own personal breadcrumb trail. Hansel and Grettle have nothing on the trail I left. Whatever bug I had required a day of recovery in the arse-end of nowhere, Marsabit, where there were facilities close by – a definite requirement. 12hours of “shaken not stirred” had not done my stomach any good.

Campbell taking a moment to admire the nomadic scenery ... while eating a bowl of Chocos>>>

Our last few sunlight hours on the Isiolo - Marsabit leg. We still had several hours of driving ahead of us in the pitch dark with nothing but our headlights to guide the way >>>

Believe it or not, this is one of the good stretches of this road. The gravel-like shards are asking for a fresh wheel to puncture >>>

We made it to Moyale the next day feeling almost nostalgic at having crossed one of the biggest milestones in our trip. Little did we know that we were about to get sent back through Kenya by a disgruntled border official.

Marsabit

2010-04-09T04:11:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to let everybody know where we are...

The name of Marsabit will send chills down the spine of any seasoned East Africa traveller. This is the half way point between Isiolo (the place where you said goodbye to tar roads) and the Ethiopian border. Its a two day drive. This road is renowned for being the worst road in Africa. This is very true. The entire stretch is a washboard of corrugations that shake your car and your bones.

We wisely made the choice to lighten our vehicle by 135kgs before leaving. This makes a lot of different. There are places where the road is so bad that you choose to drive through the desert instead.

So here we are in Marsabit. It has a wild west feel to it because it is so remote but it still has a bank and internet facilities so the modern world is fast approaching.

This road is currently being tarred but the Kenyan government is years away from completing it. Anybody with hopes based on rumours of soft roads (like we did) should give them up quickly. Off to the Ethiopian border tomorrow..

Mzungus do Mount Kenya

2010-04-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

We have come to learn that we are Mzungus – it means white person. It is one of the words you recognize in most Swahili conversations and is usually accompanied with stacks of laughter in a “look at what the silly white people are doing now” way. It is quite fitting especially when you realize you are doing something incredibly western that is totally out of place in Africa, such as:

- Climb Mount Kenya with every piece of unnecessary trekking fashion accessory while your porters, who have climbed the mountain for several years, hike in trainers, simple rain attire and jeans.

- Wear Indiana Jones cowboy hats for the sun and still get burnt.

- Learn 3 words in Swahili and repeat them so you think you are saying more than you actually are e.g. Sawa sawa (Alright alright), Pola pola (slowly slowly), Poa poa (cool cool), Jambo jambo (hello hello)…I could go on and on.

So the mzungus, sporting their cowboy hats, and Kaspuur made their way to Nanyuki (2300m), the town where most Mt Kenya mountain treks leave from. Facing separation anxiety, Kaspuur put in a good performance on the dodgy roads through the rural villages into Nanyuki town where we left her in the capable hands of the Sportsmans Arms hotel which was teaming with British soldiers – no-one dared mess with her here.

Handing over to Campbell to blog the mountain…

Enter Campbell:

So we climbed a mountain. It was difficult. It was more than difficult. More so it was incredibly beautiful. Here’s how it broke down…

We were picked up from the Sportmans Arms Hotel by our team (2 porters, 1 cook and a guide) at a leisurely 11am. They rolled in on the coolest matatu we have ever seen – it was kitted with a flat screen TV in the back, playing Kenya’s top 40 Christian music videos. Our groovin ride took us to the base camp at the entrance to the national park.

The day was going well. We still felt the sense of adventure when it started to torrential downpour and our matatu got stuck en route to the park entrance. ‘Kit up Team we’re hiking to the gate’ was our guide’s authoritative word on the matter. We were all a bit unprepared as we had been glued to the flat-screen TV, so by the time we got to Sirimon Gate Ally and I had to change a full set of clothes. We were soaked through and didn’t smell too good either but a good cuppa joe and a meal later we begun our epic journey up Mount Kenya.

Mount Kenya is huge. The peak is only one attraction in the reserve. There are valleys and craters at every turn. The scenery and plants are constantly changing as there are different climactic zones as you climb higher.

Some of the 100s of snapshots from the trek>>>Two really tired mzungus made it to camp on the first evening. We climbed some altitude on day 1 and the cold was setting in so we asked our guide for our jackets - I was really looking forward to climbing into a down North Face jacket. Our guide’s response was not good. In fact, that’s exactly what he said ‘this is not good’. Somewhere along the line wires had been crossed but it turns out you don’t really need all the fancy kit, layers work just as well even if you do resemble the Michelin Man. Toilet paper was thicker than our sleeping bags that looked like they had been stolen from a kids slumber party but once again layers work well. It’s amazing how much we convince ourselves what we need in life.

We thought we were pretty fit individuals, but as it turns out fitness has very little to do with climbing a mountain at such an altitude. We had trekked from Old Moses hut (2600m) to Liki North hut (3993m) to Shiptons Camp (4294m). Ally started to feel the altitude at Likii North so sleeping and eating was difficult, although these are the most crucial challenges to overcome when trekking this high as you are burning twice as much but not eating to compensate. As it goes in life I teased the pants off Ally thinking that she was just making things up, until on our trek from Likii North to Shiptons Camp I was hit with a full wave of what it means to trek at altitude – I struggled at the back.

Liki North Hut>>>View from Liki North>>>

"I'm not fat, just big-boned!" >>>

"I'll show you, I'll leave a present in your boot. Pah, calling me fat!">>>Shiptons Camp is the final camp before the summit (4985m) and it is important to arrive in tip top condition as you wake up at 3am the following morning to summit. We, however, flopped into our bunks with headaches pounding like bongo drums – the first signs of altitude sickness – and nausea. We arrived at camp looking and feeling like we could not go on – we both wanted to run back down the mountain at this point.

A small group of Brits who were already at Shiptons camp had arrived the day before to acclimatize. Apparently this is what everybody does. Not us. We were going to attempt to summit in 12 hours – then again we’d had a day of acclimatization at Liki North which most people don’t have. The Brits were naturally chatty and kept telling us their pain when they had to acclimatize. Not knowing we were summiting in 12 hours, they would say things like, ‘Hurts, yeah. Don’t worry. 24hrs of rest and you’ll be fine.’ Later a group of Greeks arrived to summit in 24 hours and they made a point of telling us that 12hours can’t be done. Well, did we prove them wrong or what!

Our experienced guide took one look at us, fed us and sent us to bed with strict instructions to drink water through the night. Seen as you don’t sleep much at altitude we drank and peed our way through the pain. Excellent!

A vvvvery cold night camping at Liki North >>>2am the next morning we were up, feeling right as rain and ready to attempt to summit. We asked our guide to set an incredibly slow pace. Wow, slow has a new meaning to us now. Whole herds of mountain snails made the summit before us, but we made it and would not have done it at any other pace. Hiking through the night to the dawn we arrived shortly after sunrise. The scenery is truly amazing. I was so overcome with the task that emotion cracked my voice when I thanked our guide. He put out his hand to shake mine. I embraced him with a hug which clearly wasn’t quite done in his culture.

Ally and Campbell getting ready at 2am>>>Thanks to Ally’s hired spunky attire (red jacket, pink rain trousers and 100 other layers) she has become the first telly tubby to summit Mount Kenya!

We made the sunrise at the summit>>>

Happy, tired Campbell at the summit>>>We were finished, ready to crawl into our sleeping bags and pass out but our guide reminded us that we have to walk the equivalent of a half marathon to the overnight camp. This was not good news. To make it worse the next day we had to walk 3/4 of a marathon to get to the transport link to take us back to our hotel.

This was hard - almost harder than the summit. Blisters appeared, feet ached and our pain was only interrupted by some of the most amazing scenery we have ever seen. With the summit no longer visible we were still stumbling onto gorges, craters, waterfalls and lakes.

We made it to our transport link back to Nanyuki barely walking. It was more of a shuffle. We were Zombies dead to the world. Our guide was so proud of us that he hugged us good bye. I thought the hug in the middle of a taxis rank was a little unnecessary but I think he was trying to adopt my custom. Others who had made the summit with us that day gawked at us and patted us on the back as they had taken the lazy route and Jeeped it to the final destination – all 54km. What a sense of achievement that was for us.

We thought our adventures were over, but one of our porters enjoyed spending his tip at the bar before our matatu was due to leave. When changing matatus at a junction town he ended up in a brawl. After throwing a few handbags he was thrown back in the matatu to continue to the next stop. Exciting stuff.

Recovery…lots of sleeping, eating and more sleeping.

Ally catching 40winks >>>
Point Lenana is the peak to the far left, then Nelion and Batian (technical climbs) to the right>>>
We are hardcore, we conquered Mount Kenya>>>

The Great Rift Valley

2010-04-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Nairobi is a crazy city to drive in. You find yourself competing for road space with donkey-carts, cyclists and lawless matatu (taxi) and bus drivers who have no qualms driving in the wrong lane meters away from on coming traffic. They play chicken with their lives on a daily basis. Campbell and I learnt to be pushy drivers in Nairobi otherwise you will sit in traffic for hours while your lane fills up from the front.

After driving around for hours trying to find Upper Hill Lodge & Campsite in our outdated travel guide we enlisted the help of a lovely fruit saleswoman who insisted on coming in our car right to the door of the campsite and then taxiing herself back to her market stall. We would never have found it without her – another example of how lovely and friendly the African people are.

While Kaspuur had her service we explored the area by bike (which is much scarier than cycling in London), enjoyed the comforts of an actual shopping mall, bartered for more artwork, booked our Mount Kenya climb, chilled out and met Michael the overland cyclist who made us look like pansies. Wow, what a feat! He has cycled all the way from Denmark, down the west coast of Africa and now down the east coast from Kenya to Cape Town.

The Great Rift Valley>>>

After stocking up in one of Africa’s major supermarket chains – Nakumatt – we pushed on to Lake Naivasha northwest of Nairobi. Our spur of the moment decision to go here really paid off as it turned out to be a gem. We got to cycle through Hell’s Gate National Park with zebras, buck, baboons and warthogs meters away from us without a car as a buffer. Lucky there weren’t any lions! Hell’s Gate Gorge was a definite tour not to be missed with its steaming hot springs, twists and turns, volcanic plugs and rock strata’s. Our Israeli friend Yuara joined us on a stunning hike of the extinct volcano Mount Longonot (2777m) and its massive crater.

The devil's in Hell's Gate Gorge>>>

Hell's Gate Gorge>>>

The Volcanic plug>>>

Can you see the zebras? >>>

Mount Longonot >>>

Fisherman’s Camp on the waters edge of Lake Naivasha brought the party to us. It turned out that a music festival had been scheduled during our stay. It was a weird situation to be in - to have traveled so far from the UK and yet have hundreds of British music lovers flock to our campsite in their wellies, tattooed arms, spare beers in their jean pockets and horny teenagers. It was like a mini Glastonbury Festival without the rain and loads of hippos bopping to the tunes on the other side of the electric fence. Wicked mate!

We promised ourselves we would slow down on bartering for artwork. That was until we drove out of Naivasha on our way to Nyahururu and passed the most stunning curio shop yet. Several hours later with our pockets burning and what looked suspiciously like a dead body on the back seat we pushed on ACROSS THE EQUATOR (WOOOOHOOO – northern hemisphere!!) to Nyahururu which boasts to be Kenya’s highest town at 2500m in altitude. Here is where we got our first taster of sleeping at altitude – Nyahururu you got nothing on Mount Kenya!Kitibikai - artwork that looks suspiciously like a dead body>>>

Sparks between borders

2010-03-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

After bartering for more artwork we left Moshi at 3pm and, ignoring all our instincts and putting good judgement aside, we pushed on to the Tanzanian/Kenyan border. We didn't count on the roads to the border sucking so badly...and the roads on the other side of the Kenyan border sucking even more!

Jittering from the corrugated roads two South Africans made it between borders...where we would go no further for several hours. Customs and immigration had already stamped us through at this point and need I mention that our goal is to prove our car is roadworthy enough not to be abandoned in their country. Anyhoo, as life (and murphy's law) goes, we broke down on the other side of the Tanzanian border in no man's land.

Several hours later after two dodgy "electricians" (we nicknamed them sparky cos that's all they managed to create - sparks), many prying unhelpful eyes and one very annoying, demanding, pushy fixer my incredibly clever and quick-thinking man got us back on the road with a temporary fix.

We couldn't believe how ridiculous the Sparkies were. Essentially, the corrugated roads knocked our cables out of position from the battery to the starter motor causing the car to lose power entirely. The Sparkies, who came highly recommended as the best in the business (wa'eva!), had a small wire that they linked up to the battery and created sparks on all our fuses to try find the problem. Our translator (the Sparkies couldn't speak English) was a very helpful guy from immigration although he kept insisting that these guys were brilliant and that the job at hand was very very difficult. Along with they Haynes manual Campbell managed to figure out the problem in no time but couldn't get the Sparkies to let him test his theory. Eventually Campbell managed to push his way to our car and give everyone the fright of their lives when Kaspuur roared back to life.

Can you Adam and Eve it, the Sparkies still wanted to be paid - for doing nothing!!! - and they wanted our Haynes manual - as if! We gave them a fair tip for their time to which they scoffed at and we made our way to Kenya. What a long long night.

We broke down again less than 24hours later - hmph! Despite all odds, we rolled into Nairobi and will roll the car to Land Rover for a major service on Monday.

In the grand scheme of things it is a minor problem that can easily be repaired, so we aren't worried but I am so proud of my man!

We don't do packing

2010-03-18T02:01:00.000-07:00

Ally and I have managed to pick up some really nice African art & Americans along the way. Mostly we have been bartering things we really don't need, or think we don't need. Among the list of things we have traded are a cordless drill, electric razor, guide books, swiss army knife, flasks, compass... the list goes on. These are things we find are taking up space and we are unlikely to use. Its been part of our plan to get the Kaspuur lighter.

So, now we have just traded weight for weight we decide to ship our African art back to Cape Town to save space. Dar es Salaam seems like the logical city to ship this stuff from. As it turns out Dar is not logical at all.

Firstly, as it turns out Dar is our most manic city yet. We set out to find the post office. We take one look and decide that no mail has ever been sent or received from this place(this is a little unfair, I'm sure it works well but it didn't leave us feeling confident our package would arrive safely).

So onto the courier companies. UPS seems to have the best rate so we used them. By the time we arrive we had been driving around Dar for two hours. Its 38 Degrees. The roads are lawless and parking is 300 Shillings an hour (about the cost of a coke).

UPS don't do packing material. In fact nobody does packing material. In all our searching we found one guy who made a box out of sheets of cardboard and used very expensive bubble wrap (imported from South Africa). This small operator drives to the courier companies and sets up shop on the sidewalk. Its an hour wait for him to arrive and an hour process for him to make the box and wrap everything. Ally is supervising. I'm circling the block, refusing to pay parking on principle (you park anywhere, like on a sewage drain, and then some guy arrives from nowhere and asks for money). I lost 3kg's in body sweat.

Ally is almost done supervising, when the box price suddenly doubles. Our courier cost also goes up because the make shift box adds 5kg's onto our weight. All this time the temperature is still rising. A compromise was agreed whereby UPS gave us a discount to cover the additional packing costs. This avoided certain bloodshed. It only took a full day, tears, sweat and a little bit of your soul but our goods are now safely en route to SA.

Da lyons for real!

2010-03-18T01:59:00.000-07:00

All our relaxation from the Golden Tulip was undone in one morning in Dar trying to get some "simple" admin done - see Campbell's post. Usambara Mountains, northeast of Dar Es Salaam, was the perfect way to unwind and is a definite must on the Dar to Marangu route.

We decided to go local and camped at Irente View point which is set up on a shear cliff drop up in the mountains. King James Engineer built the bandas and the viewing deck himself. We weren't brave enough to stay in the bandas but the camping grounds were too stunning to turn down.

The next two days were an education and a half. Our guide, Joseph, took us on a 6hour hike through the Usambara mountains teaching us about local plants and their medicinal value as well as local history. We really recommend asking for Joseph from Irente View Lodge if you want a great guide and don't let his age deter you. Although he is only 19, he is definitely worth his weight.

Campbell holding a camelion - apparently these are a really bad omen in Tanzania and are "shooted by the kids with a stone" >>>View from Usambara Mountains >>>
Joseph with the very yummy Jack fruit that tastes like a rubbery version of pineapple - bizarre but tasty >>>

We can't quite work out whether it was the local cuisine, the sampling of Jack fruit, the long drop masking itself as a flush toilet, or the doxy but the Usambara Mountains left Campbell with a nasty case of Bombay belly which saw us to Marangu.

Marangu is the town where most trekkers leave for Kilimanjaro and where every local on the street runs at you to sell you some trekking package of sorts. Coffee Tree campsite came in close second to Fawlty Towers in Livingstone, but not quite. I know Campbell was grateful for the clean toilets in close proximity to our campsite.

I can tell you it was hard leaving Marangu and not climbing Kilimanjaro with the amount of stories you hear and the vibe in the town, but we have decided to climb Mount Kenya.

We met up with Team America in Moshi and an honourary Team America member, cousin Nikki, to go on an awesome safari through Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara National Park. We went through a great tour company Peter Tours and Mountaineering who provided a great budget camping option.

We were lucky to enjoy the big five (with the exception of leopards) and in the Ngorongroro crater we had three lions sleeping in the shade of our car - so wicked!

Shortly after this picture was taken all three lions got up walked over to the car and plonked themselves in the shade. We quickly rolled up our windows >>>

The real deal up close and personal!

Vicious animals in Lake Manyara National Park (hee hee Jill from Team America having a laugh) >>>
Team America (plus cuz) are heading to the gorillas in Uganda and Kaspuur are heading to Nairobi to service the car and climb Mount Kenya.

Team America (from left Nikki - cuz, Danny and Jill) >>>

Two cops and a bottle of gin

2010-03-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

African countries are filled with police road blocks. Mostly they are trouble free, freindly affairs. Except for our most recent one. A cop waves us off the road and the conversation goes like this..

Campbell: Hello, how are you?

Cop: Very good thank you. My freind, we have a problem.

Campbell: What problem?

Cop: Well, my freind, this machine (cop produces a speed tracker that looks like a packman game) says you were going too fast.

Campbell: Really? This is a Land Rover, they don't go fast.

Cop: Can I have your licence please. You pay cash fine now. (cop walks away with licence, Campbell stays in the car, Cop returns) What is wrong my freind?

Campbell: I have no money.

Cop: Okay, I let you off with a warning but you still pay me a fine.

Campbell: Huh?

(Campbell hands over a bottle of gin we have been carrying for weeks)

Cop takes gin and smiles. We drive on.

Kaspuur and Team America!

2010-03-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

Since our last post we have covered a lot of ground – a whole country in fact – from Chipata in southeast Zambia to Liliongwe in Malawi.

I know I am not going to get away without mentioning this in the blog so I may as well face the music. Very unlike me, I almost lost our Carnet de Passage at the Zambian/Malawi border crossing. Losing our Carnet is worse than losing a passport because it is much much harder to replace. We are all human I guess! You can bet Campbell teased the pants off me all the way into Lilongwe.

Lilongwe is like most major cities in Africa, chaotic and haphazard although functional in its own way. Sticking with our theme for all cities of get-what-you-need-and-get-out, we made our way to the greatly anticipated Chembe Eagle’s Nest in Cape Maclear, Monkey’s Bay.

OMG, what a tough place to get to! Do not attempt when the light is fading and you are only in Dedza – it’s longer than it seems. As highly recommended as Cape Maclear comes we did not expect it to be so remote. It was late in the day and my shift to drive when we happened upon one of the most winding roads through the steepest mountain passes we have encountered on this trip. With the low-hanging mist and only the light from my headlights, it was a scene directly out of Silent Hill – freaky. In the interest of preserving our brakes I had to gear down the mountain from second to first all the way. So we did not reach speeds greater than 20mph for over an hour. No surprises that I handed the wheel over to my co-pilot at the base of the mountain.

This is with our spotlights on >>>
If you think that was destination found, think again. The time was fast approaching midnight and with nothing but pitch black on either side of the road and our headlights blinding the locals we drove on and on towards what we thought was Cape Maclear – our estimated 4hour drive ticking into 8 hours on the road that day. Eventually, after a scary situation with some villagers and some precarious causeways and drainage pipes that you would think could never ever hold a 3 ton Landy, we were directed to Chembe Eagle’s Nest.

If it hadn’t been for the torrential down pours for three days in a row we would probably still be staying in this idyllic location run by a Welshman named Kevin.

Our view from the campsite as we wake up >>>

Campbell has filled you in on our lesson learned on the way to Nhkata Bay. In summary: lots of mud, a night in Dwanga, a comfy bed, meeting Carston and Lucy, yummy dinner and breakfast, lots of reliving our narrow escape and many guardian angels :)

Next stop Mayoka Village, Nhkata Bay. An absolute must for anyone traveling to Malawi. Mayoka offer camping (although you need a small tent), chalets right on the water front and dorms all for reasonable prices. They have awesome friendly staff who great you every day as though you are their long lost relatives. You can also use (for free) snorkeling gear and attempt, if you dare, the dug-out canoe. Jill and I provided the whole village and all the fishermen with endless laughs at our attempts to get on the damn thing. It was great fun. Poor Danny swallowed a ton of water just trying to help us on. Campbell was clever; he stayed well clear of us.

Big tent, small campsite and Campbell teatering over the edge >>>

Nhkata Bay is also where we met what would be our travel buddies for the next few days. Danny and Jill have been backpacking around the world for a year and still have a year to go. Over the past few days these two Americans have provided us with lots of laughs, entertainment, rum, hakuna ma tatta renditions and valuable travel advice. We thought we would enjoy having our back seat to ourselves again, but we missed you guys (sob sob) moments after we dropped you off at the bus stop to Kilimanjaro. It is looking likely that we will meet up again though.

Our journey with Team America took us from Nhkata Bay to Chitimba (ahoy Irish Miles Nash with the short shorts and Steph) where we had yet another successful bartering session for African art. From there across to the very painful and annoying Tanzanian border crossing, where they would give us US$5 2003 printed notes but would not accept them (wa’eva T.I.A) to Mbeya. Again, nothing really worth doing or seeing in Mbeya but it’s a good get-what-you-need-and-get-out city. We stayed in a missionary run accommodation which I would recommend to anyone needing a clean bed for the night – yey yey no camping!

Yet again we tried and failed to make a certain distance. Mbeya to Dar es Salaam is further than you think with interchanging good and bad roads, speeding buses and debris of overturned trucks littering the roads. We were first in line to watch two trucks right an overturned truck with a cargo container. Awesome to watch but we got told off for taking photos. Opps – it’s not like anyone was injured!

Our route took us through a national park were we saw herds of elephant, buffalo and giraffe as well as the most beautiful and yet silent heat lighting dancing across the sky. Unable to make Dar we stayed in Morogoro for one night and sampled Kuku Chombe, which is essentially like KFC but with less oil, and the local beers Serengeti, Safari, Kilimanjaro and I can’t remember the name of the fourth (Danny?).

Dar Es Salaam…hmm. My mother always says "If you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all".

We decided pampering was a definite need after the hard graft of the past few days, so Campbell and I checked in to the Golden Tulip.

Roads are meant for walking

2010-03-06T04:16:00.000-08:00

Malawi has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. The colours here are incredibly rich in everything that you see. The only thing more colourful than the land is the people. And they are everywhere you go because even the biggest highways belong to foot traffic and cycles. Its very hard to take your eyes off the road for all the people, potholes, bicycles and bad motorists coming from the opposite direction.

Everybody in Malawi is friendly. No business is done without introducing yourself and asking after each others health. We got a taste of true Malawian friendship last night when we got incredibly stuck in mud...

Our day started by leaving Cape Maclear for Nkata Bay. A good days drive up the shores of Lake Malawi. A setback occurred when one of the roads was closed due to a bridge being washed away. This meant a diversion back to Lilongwe, then North to drive round the bridge. This adds a good couple of hours onto an already long day.

So back to Lilongwe and North on the M1. This is a lovely piece of tarred road (still full of villagers walking everywhere). We decided to leave the civilised road for the M7. A road that hasn't been travelled by another car for a long time (we only found this out en-route). This we hoped was a short cut. In many ways it was, just not in the time saving way. We travelled through 35miles of the most amazing countryside. Through tiny villages with people who were amazed to see a car drive past.

The journey ended onto the road we were looking for which was well tarred for about 4 meters before we went back onto dirt and mud.

10 minutes of mud brought us to a huge truck stuck in the mud. It blocked the entire road. No way to get passed... Maybe. A Land Cruiser found a way through so we decided to follow. We rounded the huge truck (still stuck in the mud) and slid off the dirt road into knee deep mud. We were stuck in a bad way.

4 hours later we were still stuck, now with a couple of other cars and the big truck. It was dark, oh and we were in a national park crossing with lion amongst other big animals around.

Just when we thought it was hopeless 25 people pulled the huge truck out of the mud in tug-of-war style. 5 people and a Land Cruiser pulled us out of the mud. We then towed a pickup out of the mud. Another 4x4 and our Landy tried to tow a Cruiser out of the mud before our (3 ton) tow rope snapped. Another Landy pulled a Mazda out of the mud with a running start into the tow (crazy way to lose the back half of your Landy but it worked!). After that we called it a night for the graders and trackers to come collect the cars we couldn't get out.

We were looked after that night by Carsten and Lucy. They very generously put us up for the night, fed us and sent us on our way the next morning feeling ready for the road ahead. A very big thank you to them.

The stunning scenery of the Ntchisi Mountain pass. The calm before the storm raging around the corner >>>

Our landy working hard to pull a Land Cruiser out of the ditch. This was our last tow for the night. The ditch and mud we were stuck in was much deeper than this >>>

Sorry about the poor quality photo but this is the knee deep mud that we got stuck in >>>

Zambia

2010-02-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

Zambia is a country that has been touched by civilization and yet it has a personality and a character that is so unique. Piglets, lambs and chubby babies hide behind their mums as you drive through the many villages with smoking huts and millie crops that dot the countryside. Village woman balance improbable loads on their heads, landscapes are lush and green right to the horizon and the thin ribbon road meanders through the mountains to meet the lacey mists at the mountains base. Families proudly display the fruits of a hard day’s labor on fashioned tables and props for passersby to purchase, although you should know what you are buying as few villagers speak English.

Campbell and I pulled over to buy what we thought were potatoes and melons but we came unstuck. No-one in the village could tell us what these porcupine-looking green things were nor the mangled root-like-potato-looking things which we later discovered was Cassava. I am yet to find the name of the green vegetable but apparently it is like butternut except you boil it and eat only the inside. Now that we know how to cook it, we will try it tonight.
We agreed that quite a few Zambians could enter the Tour de France and put Lance Armstrong to shame. As Zambia is not the wealthiest of countries the transport system is unreliable and terrifying at best, instead everywhere you look there are bicycles laden with precarious weights of produce of all sorts. You can barely see man nor bike for produce and they cycle extremely far distances and crazily steep mountain passes. The common cargo are large sacks of local charcoal which has an unusual smell that is very different to western charcoal but you grow accustomed to it.

The major towns are all hustle and bustle in a chaotic manner that would shake any Londoner or New Yorker. Bright colors almost leak into the streets as hawkers come at you with their wares of electric colored clothing, foreign exchange, brilliantly carved African art, guavas, tomatoes, Nyaminnyami’s (necklaces carved in the shape of Zambia’s Valley River God) and bracelets.

Before leaving Livingstone we stopped in at the first of our Seven Wonders of the World sites, the glorious and breathtaking Victoria Falls. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. After wringing out all our clothes from the falls, our adventures then took us from lovely Livingstone to the appropriately named Eureka campsite in Lusaka. All I can say is that we were begging for a decent shower and a good nights rest by the time we got there. Bad roads, torrential rains, no street lights and manic drivers had both of us on edge by the time we got there – Eureka!! We met a seasoned traveler, crazy Craig who had done West Africa and is now doing East Africa by himself, as well as some unfortunate Belgians who had flipped their Land Rover Discovery days before and were now stranded at camp Eureka with a car literally held together by tape.

After stocking up in manic and rather disheveled Lusaka Town we tried and failed to make it to Chipata in one day. Our only other option at the time was to stay in a kraal campsite in Petauke village which is so small that you can drive through it in 5minutes. The kraal made my skin crawl and we were gauked at like animals in a zoo, which we probably looked like it at the time. Torrential rains soaked our boerie rolls, turned our tomato sauce to soup and to make matters worse the butternut we had bought from Spar to braai that night had already been eaten from the inside out by maggots. I think it’s important to mention, for our mothers, that the butternut was eaten in-store and that we haven’t stooped that low in the hygiene department, not yet anyway. It was bleak times! We figured our health would be better served to not shower at all than to use the kraal ablutions. A particularly rude cock (easy Chunky!) crowed us awake at the early hours of the morning but we were grateful for the excuse to pack up and leave for Malawi.

Adrenalin Rush (Day 2)

2010-02-20T04:05:00.000-08:00

With great apprehension Campbell and I made our way to the Bakota Gorge. The gorge is 96m at its deepest point. We abseiled 54m and we had a 53m freefall during our gorge swing.

First up was the abseil where we could choose to do a regular abseil or rap jump...we both took one look at the drop and decided to abseil. The scariest part was trusting the security line and the guide on that first lean into the abyss, but otherwise you can take things as fast or as slow as you like. I got the hang of bouncing off the wall quite quickly, but then again I have more padding than Campbell ;)

Conehead, hee hee >>>

The flying fox was our next clifftop thrill and by far my favourite experience. You know those dreams you have of being able to fly, well this is an awesome substitute. The best is that you are in control. You run off the edge whenever you're ready and there is no downward plummet, you just fly.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPERMAN!!

The last activity was by far the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. That sinking feeling you get in your stomach when you are flying and the plane hits an air pocket. Times that by 100, remove the seat and add a whole bunch of rushing nothingness all around you and you'll still not come close to the pure panic of free falling for 53m before the rope catches.

Campbell thought he bellowed like Tarzan all the way down. However...even the guides thought it was a woman jumping. I am proud of him, he faced one of his biggest fears and lived to tell the tale, even if he did sound like a wailing woman all the way down.

I sounded like a hyperventilating baboon, so unladylike.

With aching and bruised bodies but awesome memories we are sad to leave Fawlty Towers tomorrow for Lusaka and then Chipata where we'll spend one night each before heading into our fourth country of the trip, Malawi. No more easy camping, it's back to dust and rough sleeping, but we'll have many more amazing adventures.

Adrenalin Rush (day 1)

2010-02-19T10:24:00.000-08:00

White river rafting down the Zambezi is fantastic and classed at category 4 and some rapids were category 5. Scheduled with Fawlty Towers but run by Safari Par Excellence, we have had the most memorable experience.

We joined a group from the overland company GAP and met some sponky people. The day was run very safely and professionally. After being briefed on security procedures we set off in the converted cattle bus 10miles upstream from Victoria Falls. Passing the stunning and mind-boggling site of one of the seven wonders of the world, we made our way to the steepest gorge I have ever climbed down to get to the start of our rafting experience.

I will let the pics tell the story. In our raft, from back left: Andrew, Campbell, Sandra. From front left Steve, me, a very crazy Irish guy named Ray and our guide Baby Face.

I thought I was in the winning team until the first major rapid called "The Mother" and with names such as Oblivion, Terminator, Gnashing Jaws of Death etc we thought The Mother would be a pretty tame rapid. It swallowed us whole.

What goes down, must come up ... >>>

...and over. I am the one second from the bottom who is about to get face planted into the Zambezi >>>

As the American boys said "Mommy spanked us bad!"

At the time I couldn't quite work out how I was the only one to fall out of the raft on this occasion. The photos provide all the evidence...I was kicked out!!

Step 1. Campbell looks like he is on a rodeo ride, I am directly opposite him. >>>

Step 2. Campbell...still rodeo riding with well placed foot behind my bum. >>>

Step 3 . That's my leg in the air going overboard while everyone else survived the rapid. >>>
We all lived to tell the tale >>>
After the awesome rafting experience we treated ourselves to a sunset booze cruise which was stunning. We saw a croc and some hippo. Very cool.

Tomorrow we will get our adrenalin fix from extreme height thrills.

Crash course in 4x4 101

2010-02-18T01:36:00.000-08:00

Savuti campsite in Chobe National Reserve, north east Botswana, gave us a unique siting - the Savuti Channel. This channel is a bit of a mystery in that it doesn't flow in one direction year in and year out. Geologists believe it has something to do with tectonic plates swelling every few years that causes the channel to start and stop flowing as well as to change direction of its flow. Most Batswanas have not seen this in their lifetime and on this occasion the channel hadn't flowed in over 30years. So we counted ourselves lucky!

We have discovered that Botswana is a mecca for 4x4'ers, especially this time of year when the rain turns the roads into an obstacle course. If it wasn't for the advice we have received from friends and family (Andrew, Michael, my pops and Coops to name a few) we would not have made it this far. Mokolodi gave us rocky terrain, Khama Rhino Sanctuary and CKGR gave us manageable wet and dry beach sand, Moremi and Savuti gave us black mud, deep deep dry sands, dried craters, dodgy bridges, corrugated stoney roads and river crossings.

Campbell and I have had a major crash course in 4x4'ing and we are loving it.

The majority of our landy was covered in this muck >>>

We thought this sand was bad until we got to the other side of the hill where we had to keep swapping between diff hi, diff low and hi through the Chobe Forest Reserve >>>

Campbell wading into the Savuti Channel to test the depth so we could drive through it - notice that it is flowing >>>

Believe it or not there is a "bridge" underneath the car. The narrow planks sounded like they were breaking under the weight of the car as I drove across it >>>

We then rattled our way over corrugated roads following the Namibia/Botswana border with the stunning Caprivi strip to our left . We took it slow to try and save our shocks. It was painful.

1 night in Thebe River Campsite and many many mosquito bites later saw us on the ferry to Zambia with Botswana behind us and the crossing of the Chobe and Zambezi to our left.

Zambia border crossing was quite possibly one of the most stressful things we have experienced so far. There is no other way to describe it but CHAOTIC! We were hassled by runners as soon as we got onto the ferry. Before you are allowed into Zambia you have to pay road toll, ferry toll, 3rd party insurance, carbon emission fee and a council fee. Our fixers were a team of three speedy guys - one to do the running, one to client face and one to manage the other two. The other compulsory car accessory in Zambia are white front and red rear reflectors for your car. We thought we had been duped and didn't really need all this shenanigans, but three road blocks on the way into town left us thankful for our team of fixers at the border. Phew!

We are now chilling out and recovering in Fawlty Towers Backpackers in Livingstone while our landy is having a service at Foleys Africa. Tomorrow is white river rafting during the day with a booze cruise down the Zambezi in the evening. Saturday we are going abseiling, gorge swinging, rap jumping and will be doing the flying fox. I am nervous about the rap jumping...eeekkk!!!

Charging Elephants, de ly-ons and 4 bee 4’s

2010-02-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

From CKGR we drove to Maun were we literally rolled into Caltex on the dregs of our fuel tank. Maun is a funky town where old meets new, tourists mingle with the hawkers from the markets and Campbell negotiated his first successful bargain. It went as follows:

Campbell approaches a drinks stand on this 40degree hot day, opens our ASDA portable braai, points at the display of drinks and says, in very broken English, "Two cokes, one braai". At which point the lady's eyebrows disappear into her hairline and she replies in perfect English "Ah, no!". Feeling dejected and a bit silly, my pooks was about to pack up his offer when a keen Indian at the next door stand took the braai and shoved two cold cokes into Campbell's hands. Score!

Next stop, Moremi Nature Reserve in the Okavango Delta where we went on a very scary but totally awesome game drive and saw hippo, elephant, giraffe, zebra, warthogs, a massive lizard and of course lots of buck (buck are everywhere).

I say scary because we were mock charged by two elephants and Campbell risked a lot to climb on top of the landy to get a better viewpoint of a family of hippo, before realising that there was another much larger hippo not far away. I don't think you can call it a mock charge but the hippo definately thought we were up to no good and left it's watery and I'm sure quite cosy spot in the delta to shoo us away. We didn't get any pictures of the hippo out of the water because we were desparately trying to get Thomo off the roof of the landy and into the car so we could leg it!

Then as we were being chased back to our camp by an ominous storm on roads that put our 4x4 skills to the test, we came upon a particuarly bad ditch. As we are still amatures in the world of 4x4'ing we stopped to discuss our approach when a herd of elephants jumped out from behind the dense bush 4metres to the right of us. The female mock charged us to make sure we weren't a threat to her family and when she'd had her say one of her young males clearly thought mom was losing her touch, so he mock charged us again. Wow, did we p**p ourselves. See the panic in her eyes below...ahhh!!!!!

Stressed elephant >>>

Chilled out elephant >>>

Once again we heard lion but did not see them. A cheeky hyena also scared the begeeeezers out of me. Campbell had gone to shower and having read about how to pack all your food items away when camping in a game park with hyena, I turned off off the lights except a small torch so I could appreciate the fireflies and stars. After about 30seconds I realised how stupid I was being and thought I better pan the area with my torch. One pan to the right, one pan to the left ...HYENA 2metres away from me. Ahhhhhhhh!!! Thinking it was a lioness on the hunt, I forgot everything I'd read and bolted to the tent. I had two seconds to regroup when I thought I heard Campbell coming back from the bathrooms, well I couldn't let him get eaten while I was hiding out in the tent. So I stuck my head out to find a hyena happily licking our braai pit. So, taking a page out of the elephants book, I mock charged it and ran to the car to turn on all the lights. It worked, the hyena bolted. I am mock charging machine and I saved Campbell's bacon...well if it had been a lion I would have!

Apart from 4x4'ing through white sand, massive ditches and black mud, Moremi also threw us a few really dodgy bridges which literally sounded like the bridge was breaking underneath us. We are a great team.

We also discovered several baby bees in our landy. They haven't surfaced since so we hope they flew into the landy rather than originated there. 4 bee 4 experience and half.

2010-02-13T02:47:00.001-08:00

After negotiating what I think will most likely be our easiest border crossing for the trip, we drove into Gaborone with expectations of roughing it. Minutes later we drove passed a shopping centre that rivals Cavendish Square. Needless to say Gabs eased us into Africa!

Our first night in Botswana took us to the privately owned Mokolodi Game Reserve just south of Gaborone where we camped in the “wild” for the first night. Our campsite was clean with an outdoor shower, flushing toilet (we discovered later that this is rare in African camping), a braai pit and sink. We even had sturdy trees to test out our hammocks (wow, what a great buy those were). Campbell said he felt like the tall blue people in Avatar and how they sleep in cocoons!! All I can say is 19,000miles…eish!

We didn’t get much sleep that night. First lesson learned – always sleep with ear plugs. I love nature but I love my sleep more. I was convinced that every sound was a large animal coming to step on us in our ground tent. Ignorance is bliss! I have since slept like a baby thanks to my Superdrug earplugs.

Our first game drive in the landy took us over rocky and occasionally sandy terrain but Caspuur sailed through it without having to use the diff lock. We saw quite a few buck, giraffe, zebra, warthogs and many stunning birds.

We were meant to leave the next morning for the Khama Rhino Sanctuary but were delayed in Gaborone trying to find the Department of Wildlife and Nature Parks. The guide sent us one way and the Batswana sent us another, but we found it in the end. After taking several hours (African time) to book our weeks accommodation in various game reserves we stayed at the Mokolodi Backpackers as we would never have made the long drive to Serowe.

Apart from the excitable owner and the tick-ridden mangy dogs the place was great. They had a pool, a pregnant pig named New Year and some funky guests who we had drinks with later that evening.

Crack of dawn the next morning saw us at Exact Exhausts in Gaborone to have our rear break discs skimmed. I think the whole of Gaborone was thankful for that. Talk about nails on a chalkboard effect. After the minor delay we were back on the road and rhino bound.

Khama Rhino Sanctuary with its 4300 hectares of land has been my highlight of our trip so far. With 33 white rhino and 3 black rhino, among other game, it is well worth the visit. This is by far the best camping we have had to date. Lovely HOT showers, a tap with drinkable water in your campsite, a braai pit, shady trees and tons of secluded space - it was so peaceful. That evening we spent part our booze cruise game drive practicing the functionalities of the diff lock on the beach-like sand. In fact we were able to put our skills to the test on our way back to the campsite when we came upon a 2WD Toyota corolla stuck in the sand. All I can say is we looked like professionals! In gratitude we were treated to several drinks with Michael (Toyota corolla) and the manager of Khama Rhino Sanctuary. Botswana’s local beer, St Louis, is extremely light and not too shabby.

We were chased into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve by the biggest blackest storm clouds I have ever seen. The first of our rainy season torrential downpours only lasted for a few moments before it washed away and the only signs of its presence was two wet tourist ringing out their clothing.

Apart from its massive expanse of land, and I mean HUGE (52 800 km2 - it’s the size of Denmark), I am sad to say that Campbell and I were a little disappointed. This is also largely down to the fact that we hadn’t read up enough about the place. The campsites have NO running water, a pit latrine and no dustbins. You are totally self-sufficient and the park officials don’t offer emergency help at all. We made a rookie error and didn’t fill up with diesel in Mopipi when we should have. Thinking there would be diesel in Rakops we drove right passed the only diesel/petrol spot within 300 kilometers of the CKGR. To be fair, the map we are using did say that there was petrol/diesel in Rakops. Hmm, it’s obviously outdated. So we have to conserve the fuel and do short game drives, but with such a massive area to cover and rations on diesel we haven’t really seen much other than buck and ground squirrels here. Oh well, live and learn.

The highlight of the CKGR was hearing lions roar throughout our last night and into the early morning. We were both too scared to move.

We are heading to Maun tomorrow where we will stock up on water, fresh food and diesel. Then it’s on to the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park. We have decided against seeing the salt pans which is a pity, but we have spent longer than planned in Botswana already and need to get on the road.

We are both really excited for the delta!!

Botswana

2010-02-07T02:34:00.001-08:00

We are now through the Botswana border. It turns out no-one really knows what a carnet is. We had to instruct both sides of the border on how to fill it out.

Our first stop has been the Riverside shopping mall. Very first world. It has all the shops you would get in SA.

Our cell number is 26772878098

Off to by food and find our campsite for the night.

2010-02-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

Some snaps on the way to East London.
Our first sign of wildlife :)

East London was amazing. We stayed on Andrew and Cherry’s game farm in Morgan’s Bay and were treated to stay in the Nyala room named after the Nyala buck. What luxury!

Some snaps at the horseshoe bend in the Kei River.

I don’t know how we are ever going to eat just pasta and rice concoctions after the yummy foods we have eaten - stews and sushi in Cape Town, roasts and divine meat in East London. Hmmm, I think Campbell and I will have to resort to a nice restaurant every few weeks. Hee hee.

After a stunning game drive on the farm and lots of bubbly, mint and cherries (cherries from Cherry..heehee), Campbell and I headed to Masselsport, just passed Bloemfontein, for our first real night of camping. One thunder storm later we made camp for the first night in the Landy to London expedition. We also had our first “overlanding” experience down a 13km dirt track littered with potholes hidden by floods of water. Tidal waves splashed over the bonnet and with nothing but our spotlights and the lightning to guide our way it was AWESOME!

Celebratory drinks!

Game spotting.

Campbell's first giraffe sighting!

View on the way to Masselsport.

Our first successful camp - check out that awning!!

On Monday morning we made our way to Klerksdorp to do some best man admin at Bona Bona game reserve. Stunning place and I can only imagine how gorgeous it will be for Kayne and Anelia’s wedding.

Next stop Joies. I can’t believe a week has gone by and everyday has been a whirlwind of lists and tasks to do for the trip and to repair the damage to the landy. I won’t bore you with the details; I will let Campbell do that. Just teasing!

Heading off into deepest darkest Africa today and we are SOOOOO EXCITED!! We will camp just before the Gabarone border and then negotiate accommodation in game reserves on Monday.

East London

2010-01-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

We are now in East London. The drive went well. We are trying to make it to Johannesburg to get the damage fixed early next week. We have spent today chilling on the farm with family. Spotted my first Giraffe.

Landy is very over weight. We are now repacking it and throwing out anything that is too heavy. Which is mostly booze and food.

Landy Damage

2010-01-24T23:24:00.000-08:00

We have been off the radar for a while after our last exciting post. Our container arrived at Kings Shippers where Campbell and I went to go welcome it to South Africa.

Two excited clients (us), Kings representatives and customs officials were shocked with this sight.

It appears that great force was used to make our landy fit into the container. The packers clearly overpacked the container and rather than going to the effort of repacking boxes they thought they could resize our land rover instead. Which they achieved with flying colors.

Here's what we know. The landy was left with our shipping agents in London to be packed into the container with the wheel on the wheel carrier. When we opened the container, the wheel had been removed and placed under the car obviously in an effort to make the car fit. The top prong of the wheel carrier was bent which cracked the back door inwards which shattered the glass. A wooden bulk head separated the landy from the boxes. With the force that had been exerted to make the landy fit, the car was pushed up against the bulk head bending the bull bar back onto the bonnet taking the bumper with it.

We now need to replace the whole back door, the bumper and the bull bar. So we play the waiting game again until insurers approve the quote and the works are done. Campbell and I are becoming proficient at the waiting game.

As much as we love being with family and friends, we are eager to get on the road. South Africa is very expensive with the Soccer World Cup on the horizon.

The docks and more

2010-01-16T01:36:00.000-08:00

Our landy being offloaded...

...and some Cape Town sites.

The Landy is in sight

2010-01-15T00:14:00.001-08:00

After several weeks of chilling in Cape Town waiting for our container to arrive....

...we have finally spotted our ship. We went for a fantastic hike up Lions Head with a few supporters to witness the momentous occasion.

Our ship was third or fourth in line to be offloaded but we have just checked the harbour log this morning and our ship has officially docked!!!! woohooo!!!

Now we just have to wait for the call to meet the customs official to clear our goodies.

Chilling in the Cape

2010-01-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

We have been in Cape Town for just over two weeks now. We have spent loads of time with family, many of which have travelled just as far as us. Our families ensured we ate well before embarking so we have been living the good life.

Our Landy arrives next week so we still have loads of time to chill.

Photo's - Day 2 of the SA vs England test. Table Mountain from Blouberg.

Cape Town

2009-12-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

We have landed safely after a very long flight. The Landy is still stuck in a container somewhere in the English Channel. Its been great relaxing with family and enjoying the sun.

We have been looking at overland stores here. We were shocked at how expensive overland kit is here compared to the UK. The Uk is cheaper on almost everything, even if you take into account the weaker pound/stronger Rand.

All we have to do now is chill and wait for the Landy.

A race around the world

2009-12-20T04:36:00.000-08:00

We handed our Landy and all our worldly possessions over to the good chaps at Wentworth International Movers about 4 weeks ago now. When we booked it all in we had no idea which would land first. Us, or the Landy. Our Landy has only made it to Felixstowe docks. That's like taking 4 weeks to get from Earls Court to Heathrow. The ship is only set to leave for SA tomorrow. We fly to Cape Town two days later. It looks like we will win the race hands down. Our landy should roll off the docks on the 11th of Jan. The guys at wentworth have been very helpful and I highly recommend them. They have been very polite to respond o my constant phone calls asking where is Landy now?

The coolest part of the whole shipping process is the ship its going on - massive!

Happy sailing!!

2009-11-25T13:57:00.000-08:00

We have sweated and toiled over the landy for what seems like forever. It has been a part of our lives for the last 6months plus. As of 24th November Casper (my name for the landy - Campbell disapproves. It's way better than Yolandy!!) has been entrusted to the shippers Wentworth's who use Kings as an affiliate shipper on the South Africa side of the world.

Suddenly our lives have been reduced to 1.5 bags each, an almost empty bedroom and no landy to paint, polish, rust treat, clean or fuss about. It's refreshing in a way to have this break from the car that will be our home for 7months, but also slightly unsettling to send our stuff off on a ship without us.

"See you on the flip side Casper"

Packing:

Now you see them>>>>> Now you don't>>>>>

Split charger

2009-11-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

I have been having issues with the batteries charging correctly. It all started with my batteries being being replaced. They were passed their sell by date. The new batteries don't seem to be functioning well. The leisure battery does not hold enough charge to power the inverter and the main battery is sluggish in starting the engine when linked. At first I thought it was the alternator but after a bit of testing it seems to be the split charger.

I have had a look at the amp hours on the batteries and they are significantly different. After reading up a bit on the net this is apparently not a good thing. I'll be taking the batteries back this weekend to get two with the same amp hours rating. Hopefully this will do the trick. Will keep you posted.

Alternator

2009-11-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

Our new batteries are now showing increasing signs of discharge. Its looking like the alternator may be to blame. I need to run a test on the alternator tonight which should reveal if it needs replacing. Not good news since we ship to Cape Town in a week.

New Batteries

2009-11-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Just when we thought the car was completely finished... Since our last post we had a whole list of things done to the Landy. Wheel carrier, split charger, electrics... The long list of things to do has now reduced to smaller and smaller jobs. Although, we are realising that the list of things to do never really goes away. Its just part of owning a Land Rover.

We have also learned that no matter how much time and you spend fixing things, the stuff you haven't fixed or given any attention to will still continue to break. We learnt this lesson when doing a morning run to the shops on a cold Saturday morning - the car wouldn't start. A quick call to the RAC, an hour wait and some diagnostic looking equipment all resulted the only possible conclusion - the battery needed to be replaced. Not only was one battery dead but the backup was dead too. So off to the garage to get two new batteries.

Lesson of the day - stuff will continue to break and the RAC do not cover Africa. The only option is to replace everything.

Back from the shop

2009-10-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

We took our Landy back to Bob at Church Road Garage a few weeks ago. Here's the low down on what he did for us...

We don't know when the cam belt was last changed on the vehicle. Not wanting to risk a cam belt going en route we opted to get this changed. Turns out it was a good time to do it. The wear and tear on the old belt indicated it was time for a new one. Alas, whilst Bob was changing the belt he noticed that our radiator wasn't looking so hot. Figuring this is another important piece of kit we opted to have the old one reconditioned. Overheating is a common problem for Defenders especially in hot climates. The heat gauge on the dashboard now settles at half the temperature it was at before the change. Definitely an improvement.

Now that the major mechanical problems (well, most of them) have been dealt with it was time for some overland installations. Bob installed a split chargers system for us. The vehicle origionally had one but it was removed. We now have a car radio (barely audible over the sound of the engine), CB radio, work lights, front spots and an inverter all connected up. The Landy is starting to return to its former glory.

The next installations will be a safe, bull bar and swing away wheel carrier. Watch this space.

12hours, many blisters and two sore backs later...

2009-10-18T15:16:00.001-07:00

The new door is finally suited and booted. Spot the difference. Pleeeease tell me you can spot the difference (the one on the left is the new one). Proud, sore and tired mechanics!! Stupidly enough we thought we had done the hard part. Two hours after this smug photo shoot we finally got the door on and locked. We thought putting the door back onto the vehicle would be as easy as taking it off. Wishful thinking!! I have the blisters to prove it. Our first three attempts, frustratingly enough, allowed the door to close but not lock.

HELPFULL TIP to any brave soldier who tries this same feat: close the door until it locks properly then tighten bolts. One person needs to hold the door in position (Thomo was the only one strong enough for this) while the other sad minion turns the bolts blister by blister. Believe me, when it is so cold outside that your nose won't stop running and your hands are shaking and you have been at this game for hours this isn't a lot of fun.

The most important thing is that the door is on and in good working order. Go team!!!

still working on the new door...several hours later!

2009-10-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

It has taken the best part of our day to get all the parts off the old door and onto the new one. Thomo is such a trooper having done most of the research and hard work on today's project. My nimble fingers proved invaluable on the small tricky screws and bolts, but mostly I acted as a prop to hold the door in place while my man worked. What a super hero he is :)

Fun shots with "New Door" project

2009-10-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

All the knobbly bits off the old door:

"Hello!!!"

"Ha, you thought I was actually in the Landy. Fooled you!!" This is the old door.

"Where's the door that goes with this handle?"

"New Door" project continued...

2009-10-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

...and in with the new:

"New Door" project continued...

2009-10-18T05:54:00.001-07:00

The old door was one of the worst affected rust areas on the car.

Out with the old...

The New Door

2009-10-18T05:01:00.000-07:00

We were very lucky to get a brand new door in the purchase of the car, already spray painted the perfect colour (we have had some issues with getting the right paint colour, so this was a relief). It took us a whole 20minutes to get the old rusty rear passenger door off. WOW, they are super heavy. Here is the landy without the door - feeling a bit exposed and patched up !!

Top Tips

2009-10-14T04:23:00.000-07:00

We haven't even left yet but we are already picking up some good advice from people and our own experiences. Here are a few...

Talk to people who have done it before. Their advice is worth its weight.

Do as much of the work on your car as you can yourself. It will save you money but requires a lot of time. It will also help you get to know your car.

Buy your vehicle at least 6 months before you travel and drive it regularly.

Buy half of what you think you need and take twice as much money. A very difficult thing to do.

Paperwork, paperwork and paperwork. Be prepared for it. Carnet, insurance, MOT, V5, shipping docs, visas, vaccinations, international drivers license... These things take ages to organise and are generally a hassle.

If it needs fixing do it before you go. You will be too busy fixing the things you didn't know needed fixing while you are travelling to fix the things you knew needed fixing in the first place. Thats a mouthful.

belts and radiator

2009-10-08T03:02:00.000-07:00

The Landy is back in the shop. Not knowing when the cam belt was last changed we figured it was a good idea to have it changed now. Turns out to have been a good idea. The belt was worn and needed changing. Whilst the team from Church Road Garage were changing the belt they noticed the radiator was shot so time for a new radiator to go in. Although these aren't things you want to hear its better to hear them now than when they go wrong in the middle of nowhere.

Frustration

2009-10-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

No doubt we will encounter more frustrating circumstances but the company I ordered overland parts from have failed to deliver the parts. The Landy is now sitting idle in at Church Road Garage because the parts did not arrive. I have been able to source the split charger from another supplier but the wheel carrier is proving hard to come by. Will have to wait for new stock to arrive.

Rust to boxes

2009-10-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

We spent yesterday rust treating the chassis at Pit Start and Campbell finished off the rest of the chassis with Hammerite today. It's almost as good as new!

I was tasked with wrapping, folding, sticking, stuffing and packing most of our belongings into boxes as well as making a detailed inventory of items. The countdown to the ship date has begun and we have to learn to live with less. It's time to be brutal!!

More work on the Landy

2009-10-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

It was off to Pitstart garage again today. We did some more rust treatment on the chassis. We are at the point now where all the problem rust is gone. The rust treatment work we are doing now is just to clean things up and extend the life of the vehicle. It is still slow going but we are getting there.

We got the Landy back from Church Road Motors on Thursday. The vehicle is much improved for having a major service. The new shocks are great.

On Monday we take it back to get the electrics worked on as well as a safe and wheel carrier installed. After that we will be close to having our Landy overland ready.

Back and Booked

2009-10-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

The Landy is back from its major service. Big items were new shocks, some more welding and the usual filters, brakes, fluids....

The new shocks were definitely needed. The ride is a lot smoother and road handling is much improved.

We have now sent off our forms to book the shipping and process the carnet.

Waiting...

2009-09-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

Still waiting for the Landy to come back from it's major service before we push the big red button called 'point of no return'...

Landy Service

2009-09-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

Our Landy is going back to Church Road Motors in Barnes for a major service tomorrow. The guys there did a great job on welding the rear cross member so we are making use of their services again. Many areas of the vehicle are still a black box to us. We didn't get a service history with the vehicle (well, one that can be backed up with receipts) so we are going to for a major service on brakes, steering, fluids, shocks, cam belts, wheel alignment, gearbox, transfer box...

In doing some minor servicing ourselves we realise now how long it takes to do things yourself. Its definitely more fun doing things yourself but for speed and quality of workmanship we are handing our landy over to the pro's.

The route...version 105

2009-09-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

So three months and counting till we fly home. WOW, time has really flown.

To give the family and friends a rough idea of our time scale:

January 2010: South Africa, Botswana, Zambia

February 2010: Malawi, Tanzania

March 2010: Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya

April 2010: Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt

The rest is TBC...but here is a rough idea:

May 2010: Jordan, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Greece

June 2010: Albania, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Italy, France, Switzerland,

July 2010: Germany, Netherlands, Antwerp, Belgium, France, UK

...a new and much prettier addition to the team :)

2009-09-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

Ally finally gets an invite to the blog!! Hmm, I see we will have to work on communication.

Rust treatment

2009-09-20T11:28:00.001-07:00

The door sills of the Landy are badly rusted. Here's is our brief process to treat the rust and paint.

We purchased some wire brushes and abrasive sanding disks. A couple of hours grinding down the rust leaves you with a good surface to clean with solvent. Let this dry then apply metal ready products. We gave the surfaces a liberal coating of the amazing POR15 product. Then some primer on top and finally green paint. We have been struggling to find the right paint colour. Our landy's paint codes don't match the colour so we are not sure what to do next. As the rust treated area will mostly be covered by rubber sills we have decided to live with the dark green paint I bought. Its not close to our colour but we needed to get moving with the treatment so on goes the dark green.

A week after performing this treatment we noticed some of the green didn't bond well in certain areas. This was because we didn't allow the primer to completely dry. Good lesson - don't rush the job. It only cost you time later to do the job properly.

Changing track rod ends

2009-08-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

Some pics of me having to use increasingly larger tools to get the old track rods off... See below for my best tips on how to change these.

Here's few tips on how to change track rod ends. For those who don't know what a track rod is, its a long bar that helps to keep your front typres aligned when turning. Firstly, this is a really easy task. The biggest difficulty we had changing them is to get the old ones out. Using a universal ball joint separator a crowbar and a lot of sweat & tears will get the old ones off.

The biggest trick to doing this is to precisely measure the length of your track rod and ends. THe track rod ends screw out of the ends of the track rod. Also, this can be a very difficult task if the ends are firmly in place. Years of rust and mud can make them difficult to remove. Here's my handy hint to getting these off easily..

1. A lot of WD40

2. Heat. Even using a cigarette lighter a few times will help the metal expand and contract a few times.

3. Wedge a screw driver into the track rod grooves. It was only after using a lot of WD40 did we notice there are two grooves than run down the side of the track rod at the ends. Getting a flat screw driver into these slots can help.

After this its easy. Screw back in the new track rods (you can get these off ebay). Again make sure the length is perfect otherwise you will lose wheel alignment. Counting the turns of the track rod ends or measuring the length with a tape measure will do.

The guys from Pit Start were a great help. We would not have been able to complete the task without their advice. Check their website http://www.pitstartgarage.com/.

The difference in driving the car was immediatly. Much lighter and more responsive. If your stearing is dodgy check your track rods. It may be a quick win.

New Fuel Tank

2009-08-23T12:36:00.001-07:00

Some photo's in no particular order.

Ally painting the rear cross member.

Ally draining the old tank.

The old tank. This is its good side. The liquid on the top it Q20. That's me trying to take off the fuel line connector. More difficult to remove screws...

Me. Lesson - shave before working with grease and dirt. It just ends up all over your face.

The new tank with the old fuel line connector. I finally got the screws out (see previous photo)

***

After owning our Landy for a few weeks we noticed the fuel consumption was a bit high. That and the giant puddle of diesel under the car each time we stopped made us think the tank might be leaking. So here's my step by step guide to change a land rover fuel tank...

First off buy a new tank. Ebay shops seem to be the best place to get them. Nice and easy delivered to your door. Its worth buying all the seals, pipes other parts around the tank that you think may need replacing. You can be sure that if your tank has rusted so badly that it needs replacing other things around the tank will need replacing too.

We booked ourselves into pitstart self service in London. They have a fantastic setup with all the tools you could need and more. I highly recommend them. Check their website pitstartgarage.com. This place is essential for any overland preparation.

Extras we bought for the task were spare nuts & bolts, rust treatment products and jerry cans.

We turned up to Pit Start early on Saturday morning expecting the job to take a few hours. We ended up taking more hours than I care to mention. The Haynes manual always makes these jobs sound so much easier and shorter than they actually are. There are always complications.

We had to remove our rear step and tow hitch. This took a few hours. There is something about 18 year old bolts that make them difficult to remove. In the end I had to cut them off with a hacksaw. An angle grinder was a bit of a fire hazard around our tank.

Removing the pipes and electrics from the tank also takes ages. The angles are difficult to work with. The clamps had completely rusted over the fuel pipes. These had to also be cut off.

It turns out our tank had rusted through the join (tank is constructed in two halves) and through the bottom of the tank! The only thing holding the tank in place was the tank guard.

With the tank removed we cleaned the chassis and general underside of the rear chassis. It turns out there was a few kilo's of mud stuck to everything. Mud is great at holding moisture and helping rust penetrate the metal.

After wire brushing and cleaning the chassis with solvent we sprayed it with pre-primer. As a rust treatment we used POR-15. This is supposed to be the definitive rust treatment primer. Two coats of this and a chassis paint coat on top completed the rust treatment.

Finally the new tank was put in place. Another easier said than done task. Although the replacement part was a good fit getting it in place with the tank guard and reconnecting everything again was another time consuming task.

Land Rover's bolt on bolt off simplicity still stacks up, it just takes a long time to get the bolts off!

Landy Acquisition

2009-07-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

We have now purchased our Land Rover. We are really pleased with the Landy but after owning for a short time we realised there is a big oil leak and some serious rust on the rear cross member. It is now in the shop receiving some major welding. The oil leak has now been resolved. It turned out to be some loose bolts somewhere.

We are still waiting to hear back from the mechanic but are hoping that the welding goes smoothly. The first attempt revealed worse rust than we had anticipated.

Here are some images the previous owner took of the vehicle. We will hopefully update with some more of our own.

Here are a few points as to why we chose this Land Rover.

- BFG tyres, a must for any African adventure.

- Over landing accessories - Brownchurch roof rack, under body protection, inverter, work lights, cb radio

- Relatively low mileage for a Landy at 111k miles

- secure rear body. The vehicle is '91 county but the rear windows have been removed and plated over. Dog guards, rear window grilles and an additional lock on the rear door make the vehicle relatively secure for a Land Rover.

- Simplicity of the 200 tdi engine

There is a constant Land Rover/Land Cruiser debate. This is why we went for the Land Rover..

- UK based preparation. Land Rovers are more common in the UK. There is a vehicle to suit every budget and a club/mechanic/website all to hand any where in the UK. Not to say this isn't so for the Land Cruiser but it helped persuade me to buy British.

- Overland prep. It is easier to buy a Land Rover with some overland prep than it is to find a Toyota that has received the same prep.

- Owning a Land Rover!