unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!

[Dgurley2000]

What an adventure! I'm curious what the menu will look like in a camp like that? Lots of hot meals?

 

[AREA 5]

Thanks two you both for what you have done i have read your trip so many times while on my night shifts and it just gets better and better with every read

Dom

 

[unURBAN]

That is truely awesome! Glad you two get to work together down there. I take it you found a place to store the Patrol while working? And after you two are done you getting back into the Patrol and driving north!?

Question; where did you shower in the Canadian Artic camp!?

It will be fun to work together on the ice. The Patrol will be stored in a warehouse here in Punta while we are working, and it is good to know that our "home" will be waiting for us in a safe place.
When we are done working we hope to drive north somewhere...
In the Arctic camp there was no showers, so it was just a bowl or two of hot water for a good old wash. In Antarctica we have a shower tent with two showers where the heated water goes into a bucket, and then a small pump that runs on batteries pumps the water up into the shower.

 

[unURBAN]

Thanks for all the nice comments, feedback and dinner invitations....

We will do our best to post some blogs from the ice when we are not busy in the kitchen. When it comes to menu on the ice it is hot food for every meal. Since it is roughly one Ilyushin flight a week onto the ice during the season (when the weather is cooperating) we have a good suply of food. Fresh fruit and vegetables from Chile, Chilean salmon and other fish, Argetinian beef and Patagonian lamb. So then it just up to the chefs to cook some good meals...

Malin

 

[RMP&O]

Well, it is sad to see your trip report come to an end....or at the least a temporary end.

This has truely been one of the best trip reports I have ever read. On top of that I had a chance to meet you two!

You two make me want to sell everything I own except one truck and just hit the road. You have truely inspired me and I suspect many more!

cheers!

 

[unURBAN]

Well, it is sad to see your trip report come to an end....or at the least a temporary end.

This has truely been one of the best trip reports I have ever read. On top of that I had a chance to meet you two!

You two make me want to sell everything I own except one truck and just hit the road. You have truely inspired me and I suspect many more!

cheers!

Thanks, RMP&O!

We'll se if we can find a way to post some updates from the ice. No guarantees though...

And you have a nice house! Should be easy to rent out for a few years...? ;-)

Hope to see you on the road one day! On a different continent, perhaps...?

E

 

[unURBAN]

As promised - a decision...

Yup! I’m going in to do dishes! Not really the dream job, and I could probably make a lot more money if I flew back to Norway to work even with the flight tickets included, but it IS an opportunity to fly into the interior of Antarctica and see how a polar camp works.
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Union Glacier is here somewhere...
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And as you know, we have said many times that we don’t really feel ready to go home just yet. Life on the road is too good. The last couple of months we have regularly been discussing how we can extend our trip. We have squeezed a few more bucks from our savings account, and with both of us now working for 2-3 months in Antarctica, we have finally landed on a conclusion: we are doing another 6 months after finishing our contracts with Antarctica Logistics and Expeditions. Where? Well. It would have been easy to spend the time in South America, but we do kind of feel that we would also like to try one more continent before we park the Patrol back home in Norway.
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So, yes, we are packing our stuff and sending it to Cape Town in South Africa, and the plan is to drive home!
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..through Africa!​

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There is however one major challenge for us, and that is the lack of internet in camp in Antarctica. We have only briefly started to look into dos and don’ts for a drive north through Africa, so I guess we’ll be spending the first weeks in South Africa trying to get organized. The idea would be to more or less stick to the east coast after leaving South Africa or perhaps Namibia.
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Hopefully, we’ll find lots of tips and suggestions here when we come back online…. Budget would be about 75 USD per day. Our route would be north along the east coast (more or less, and with plenty of detours, of course), and over to Europe probably from Egypt. So! The questions are: What do we need to see, and where should we go???? Soooo, anyone? ;-)
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And finally, internet connection from Antarctica is VERY limited, and I don't think we'll be able to respond much to comments and suggestions, even if we manage to upload a blog or two. BUT WE’LL BE BACK!!
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E&M

 

[bobDog]

2-3 months isn't long......cold maybe but not long.:sombrero:

 

[beartrap]

looking forward to following you on your trip home....to the comment that 2-3 months is not long....
I spent an eternity in Chicago once..compressed into 4 months...

 

[bobDog]

looking forward to following you on your trip home....to the comment that 2-3 months is not long....
I spent an eternity in Chicago once..compressed into 4 months...

LOL! Yeah buts that's Chicago.:coffeedrink::ar15:

 

[4 Corners Expeditions]

Here is a link to trip report from a guy who took the same route from S. America to Africa and headed north. It is a detailed blog with useful information on his trip through Africa. The URL link below will take you to the point in His journey where he was shipping his vehicle to South Africa from S. America.

http://transworldexpedition.com/?m=201003

 

[Ruined Adventures]

^^^Nicholas Rapp's site is the best reference I've found so far in regards to shipping Buenos Aires to Cape Town. To save you some internet time, here's the cliff notes from TransWorld Expedition's shipping process:

TRANSWORLD EXPEDITION FINAL BREAKDOWN
Car shipping - From Arg to South Afr $3,000
($2000 USD for the shipment, $1000 USD port fees in Durban, South Afr)

Airfares - From Arg (Buenos Aires) to South Afr (Johannesburg) $600
(Nick took the train to Durban to pick up the truck)

Every week on Thursday, there is a train leaving Johannesburg to Durban (and vice versa) with sleeping options. I get a small compartment for less than US$40, and at 6:30 p.m., the train departs for its 13 hours trip. You can travel on the Shosholoza Meyl in a seat for US$10

I read somewhere that Malaysian Airlines has the best rates for flights. I believe you will need to get a Carnet for the Patrol, but I imagine you have one from when you shipped it to the US?

SHIPPING
For my destination, two companies were less expensive. Hamburg Sud, and MOL. Here are the contact info:

Federico J. Boettner
Hamburg – Süd / Aliança
Phone: ++54 11 5789-9900 – ext 366
E.mail: federico.boettner [AT] ar.hamburgsud.com

and

Luisina V. Abruzzese
Agencia Maritima Sudocean c/o MOL
labruzzese [AT] ocean.com.ar

ARGENTINA
A big part of the cost is the port fees. My quote to go to Africa is app. US$2,000 and of that, $1,000 go to the port here in Agentina. Not sure yet about the fees in Africa. The container stuffing cost depends a lot of the terminal. On T4, I paid US$450, but on another terminal, I may have paid US$900. When you have you company nailed down, you need to make a copy of every page of your passport, and go to a notary to certify the copy. You also need a certified copy of your outbound flight ticket. Everything should cost you US$60. Then you go to the custom office located at the port, where the cruise ships leave. There, you should give them a copy of the vehicle title, the copies of passport and ticket, and sometimes they can ask you for a copy of the content of the vehicle. You also need to bring them the paper the Aduana gave you when you entered the country. If you go there at 9:30, you should be done by noon.

Then, you can go the the port. You first need the gate permit to enter. Just bring the Aduana papers in the building at the entrance. They will take care of you there, and dispatch a custom officer to check your vehicle and seal the container. You can be done there in just three hours after several back and forth between the warehouse where you are stuffing and the aduana. Not bad at all...

PORT OF DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA
after a day of running back and forth between the clearing agent, Hamburg Sud and the warehouse. US$1,360 later, I am good to go, and with Colin, I drive to a shop specialized in exhaust pipes. The following morning, they take out my catalytic converter, and replace it by a straight pipe. This will allow me to run on the low quality petrol I will find in Africa...

FROM ANOTHER SOURCE, CAN'T REMEMBER WHO
the Buenos-Aires to South-Africa route is well traveled and easy. Just be aware that port fees in South Africa can add up, and that they're different in each port (Durban adds some 1600 USD to the bill, much less in Port Elisabeth). Also, consider shipping from across the river in Montevideo, Uruguay: you could save between 500 and 1000 USD (and still fly from Buenos Aires, ferry connections from Montevideo to Buenos Aires are frequent).

By the way, i think this is the best news ever! Your zigzap itinerary looks like a great start on planning. :sombrero: You may need a detour towards the end though.

The one problematic country is Egypt. To cross it by car, you need to let a guaranty equivalent to 800% of the value of the vehicle.My truck, according to AAA is worth US $6,800 which means I would have to hand down $50k just to cross the country. So I have to find another solution...The first one is to go up to Sudan, and try to take a ferry in Port Sudan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. From there, go up to Jordan...The other solution would be to sail from Djibouti or Eritrea to Yemen, and drive to Oman and the United Arab Emirates, where I could sail directly to Iran.

EDIT:It looks like getting visas for Sudan and Saudi Arabia is now easier. I also get confirmations that there are boats three times a week between Sudan or Eritrea to Saudi Arabia.

Luckily you have plenty of time to get that part sorted out.
There's tons of info available on the Africa Overland Network, you should probably post on there to get more answers. When you have more time, another great source is Africa4x4cafe. Hope this helps...in case it's not obvious, i'm trying to make up for all the border crossing info I've borrowed from your travels!

 

[jpvm]

This adventurous post froze just like Espen and Malin in Anctartica .... we need an update , a picture, something to enlighten our working days ... this post will fall just like a greek share ... or better, get back to the Patrol and start driving north again reporting and taking those marvelous pictures , we won't make it seeing just ice pictures for the upcoming next 3 months ... over.

 

[iRagedoYou]

What an AWESOME adventure! Thanks for sharing those amazing photographs :luxhello::victory:

 

[blackbird]

just finished reading from page 1, I must say is a great adventure one day I must take on, btw when you were in Mexico you drove right by my hometown, San Ignacio its very close to Atotonilco, my grandfather has hectares and hectares of agave growing everywhere, he sells to the best Tequila distillers. thanks for the pictures its very awesome to see those blue hills again.