jgarciabar
New member
I really enjoy your blog, just spent more than an hour reading and enjoying your pics, also downloaded both ebooks from Amazon, keep up and enjoy.
The Road Chose Me: Driving a Jeep Wrangler 80,000 miles around Africa for 2 years
- Thread starter Dan Grec
- Start date
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
Hi Everyone,
After 45,000 miles through 35 countries in Africa, the plan has gone a bit sideways.
You can read the whole story and see more photos of the accident here: http://theroadchoseme.com/disaster
-Dan
After 45,000 miles through 35 countries in Africa, the plan has gone a bit sideways.
You can read the whole story and see more photos of the accident here: http://theroadchoseme.com/disaster
-Dan
Morgan Weafer
Active member
Don’t beat yourself up Dan. Better the Jeep that can be repaired instead of yourself. From the sounds of your write up, it couldn’t have happen at a better spot. Help was not far. Hang in there and keep sharing your adventure with us.
Last edited:
FreedomTraveler
Observer
Dan,
Life's lessons are seldom free, glad no one was injured.
Look forward to more excellent reports.
Continued safe travels,
Life's lessons are seldom free, glad no one was injured.
Look forward to more excellent reports.
Continued safe travels,
GB_Willys_2014
Well-known member
Hi Everyone,
After 45,000 miles through 35 countries in Africa, the plan has gone a bit sideways.
You can read the whole story and see more photos of the accident here: http://theroadchoseme.com/disaster
-Dan
Important thing is no one was hurt.
******** happens.
And then makes for a great story.
Stay safe.
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
Hi All,
Thanks for the kind words - and of course you are all right - the most important thing is that nobody was injured by my lapse in concentration.
I spent a few days cleaning out the broken beer bottles and eggs, and have most things back in order.
I had a bunch of plastic clips on board, and after pulling the rear flare apart I put it all back and it's as good as new.
The front inner fender is all cracked, so it has some Gorilla tape to keep it mostly solid.
I found some guys on the side of the road that were able to "weld" the rear view mirror back together. Driving on the wrong side of the road without it was more annoying than anything, and it must be dangerous.
The guy heated up the aluminum with an oxy torch, then just pushed around the slightly liquid metal with a rod.... it works well enough and the mirror seems very sturdy again.
You can read the full story here: http://theroadchoseme.com/disaster-aftermath
The front axle is now leaking a bit, which it has never done before, so I'll keep an eye on that.
After a couple of hundred miles of driving the Jeep appears to drive OK, though I have not found a paved road yet to be sure.
A major lesson I learned is to keep my winch controller and recovery gear in a storage location that is accessible no matter which way the Jeep lands. It was in a cabinet only accessible from the drivers side - so if the Jeep had flopped the other way it would have been impossible for me to use the winch!
Onwards then.
-Dan
Thanks for the kind words - and of course you are all right - the most important thing is that nobody was injured by my lapse in concentration.
I spent a few days cleaning out the broken beer bottles and eggs, and have most things back in order.
I had a bunch of plastic clips on board, and after pulling the rear flare apart I put it all back and it's as good as new.
The front inner fender is all cracked, so it has some Gorilla tape to keep it mostly solid.
I found some guys on the side of the road that were able to "weld" the rear view mirror back together. Driving on the wrong side of the road without it was more annoying than anything, and it must be dangerous.
The guy heated up the aluminum with an oxy torch, then just pushed around the slightly liquid metal with a rod.... it works well enough and the mirror seems very sturdy again.
You can read the full story here: http://theroadchoseme.com/disaster-aftermath
The front axle is now leaking a bit, which it has never done before, so I'll keep an eye on that.
After a couple of hundred miles of driving the Jeep appears to drive OK, though I have not found a paved road yet to be sure.
A major lesson I learned is to keep my winch controller and recovery gear in a storage location that is accessible no matter which way the Jeep lands. It was in a cabinet only accessible from the drivers side - so if the Jeep had flopped the other way it would have been impossible for me to use the winch!
Onwards then.
-Dan
plainjaneFJC
Deplorable
Dan glad you were able to make the best out of a bad situation and no one was hurt.
trailsurfer
Explorer
Thanks again Dan for the great updates!
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
Hi All,
I've been super-busy lately moving through Kenya.
Without a front driveshaft I managed to slide into a ditch, and had to pull out the winch for the 2nd time in a couple of weeks.
Story here: http://theroadchoseme.com/to-lake-naivasha
The I spent time in the Masi Mara National Park - WOW, WOW, WOW, so many lions I stopped taking photos!
Yep - I get close to the action - this is five male cheetahs out hunting
And this big guy
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/masai-mara-national-park-1
and
http://theroadchoseme.com/masai-mara-national-park-2
I replaced the CV Joint on the driveshaft with a HD unit from Terraflex designed for the high-angles of my lift, so I'm really happy to have 4x4 back:
More details here: http://theroadchoseme.com/nairobi-jobs
And now I'm driving North to Ethiopia, along the shores of the extremely remote Lake Turkana - easily the most isolated I have been in all of East Africa. I love it!
More: http://theroadchoseme.com/to-lake-turkana
and
http://theroadchoseme.com/loiyangalani-lake-turkana
-Dan
I've been super-busy lately moving through Kenya.
Without a front driveshaft I managed to slide into a ditch, and had to pull out the winch for the 2nd time in a couple of weeks.
Story here: http://theroadchoseme.com/to-lake-naivasha
The I spent time in the Masi Mara National Park - WOW, WOW, WOW, so many lions I stopped taking photos!
Yep - I get close to the action - this is five male cheetahs out hunting
And this big guy
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/masai-mara-national-park-1
and
http://theroadchoseme.com/masai-mara-national-park-2
I replaced the CV Joint on the driveshaft with a HD unit from Terraflex designed for the high-angles of my lift, so I'm really happy to have 4x4 back:
More details here: http://theroadchoseme.com/nairobi-jobs
And now I'm driving North to Ethiopia, along the shores of the extremely remote Lake Turkana - easily the most isolated I have been in all of East Africa. I love it!
More: http://theroadchoseme.com/to-lake-turkana
and
http://theroadchoseme.com/loiyangalani-lake-turkana
-Dan
whitenoise
Adventurer
Dan - WOW! What an adventure, 2.5 years and still a lot of Africa left! Thoroughly enjoying all your videos and posts. Now that you've probably experienced the full spectrum of performance from all of your equipment, is there a way you could post a "How would I do things differently (or the same for that matter)"? It would be immensely useful to those of us planning trips of a similar scope....
Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk
Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
Thanks for the kind words!
Absolutely, I'll be writing extremely detailed gear review articles, "what worked and what didn't" and anything else that people might find useful.
It will all come when everything is said and done, and I'll likely even do some of them as speaking appearances around the place
-Dan
Dan Grec
Expedition Leader
Hi All,
After taking the extremely remote Lake Turkana route up into Ethiopia, I immediately bumped into these guys
This is the first country I have seen civilains with AKs (or really any guns) and suddenly they are everywhere.
After all this time on the continent, I finally got to hold one too. Much smaller and lighter than I expected. It was loaded while I was playing with it too.
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/into-ethiopia
I made a stop at a Mursi village before driving myself into a huge gas shortage that is impacting all of Ethiopia. I manage to find some, and a few times I buy from the black market out of containers. It does the trick, the Jeep doesn't seem to complain no matter what I put in the tank
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/the-mursi-people
After swinging through the capital of Addis Abba to pickup a couple more visas I have driven into the seldom-visted country of Djibouti, and I immidiately feel like I have driven onto another planet.
This is like nothing I've ever seen before
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/lake-abbe-pt-1
and here: http://theroadchoseme.com/lake-abbe-pt-2
Although I'm getting close to the end, it feels like there is still a lifetime of adventure in front of me.
Next I go back into Ethiopia before pushing through Sudan and into Egypt, the final destination!
-Dan
After taking the extremely remote Lake Turkana route up into Ethiopia, I immediately bumped into these guys
This is the first country I have seen civilains with AKs (or really any guns) and suddenly they are everywhere.
After all this time on the continent, I finally got to hold one too. Much smaller and lighter than I expected. It was loaded while I was playing with it too.
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/into-ethiopia
I made a stop at a Mursi village before driving myself into a huge gas shortage that is impacting all of Ethiopia. I manage to find some, and a few times I buy from the black market out of containers. It does the trick, the Jeep doesn't seem to complain no matter what I put in the tank
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/the-mursi-people
After swinging through the capital of Addis Abba to pickup a couple more visas I have driven into the seldom-visted country of Djibouti, and I immidiately feel like I have driven onto another planet.
This is like nothing I've ever seen before
More here: http://theroadchoseme.com/lake-abbe-pt-1
and here: http://theroadchoseme.com/lake-abbe-pt-2
Although I'm getting close to the end, it feels like there is still a lifetime of adventure in front of me.
Next I go back into Ethiopia before pushing through Sudan and into Egypt, the final destination!
-Dan
GrandiOdyssey
Member
Hi Dan,
I think its safe to say that you are an inspiration for us and all and I will treat your blog as one of the most important resources when I travel down the spine of Africa in 2021-22. Have their been any issues with not having a carnet so far? Are you able to get into Egypt without one now? From wikioverland it how's that Egypt and shipping into/ or out of South Africa are the only times a carnet is required in Africa but I am hoping that there are work-arounds.
I think its safe to say that you are an inspiration for us and all and I will treat your blog as one of the most important resources when I travel down the spine of Africa in 2021-22. Have their been any issues with not having a carnet so far? Are you able to get into Egypt without one now? From wikioverland it how's that Egypt and shipping into/ or out of South Africa are the only times a carnet is required in Africa but I am hoping that there are work-arounds.