unURBAN Adventures - Alaska to Argentina to AFRICA!
- Thread starter unURBAN
- Start date
@ E&M
Here is a link, with some nice pictures from travelling in europe: http://forum.buschtaxi.org/offroad-durch-frankreich-spanien-t33978.html
Maybe this helps you, to come to the north :smiley_drive: it is beautiful here too!
This thread is so amazing! Thank you again for keeping us updatet!
We will start from europe to south africa in 150 days over the west route, yes - i count the days!
Here is a link, with some nice pictures from travelling in europe: http://forum.buschtaxi.org/offroad-durch-frankreich-spanien-t33978.html
Maybe this helps you, to come to the north :smiley_drive: it is beautiful here too!
This thread is so amazing! Thank you again for keeping us updatet!
We will start from europe to south africa in 150 days over the west route, yes - i count the days!
Last edited:
I'm sorry I haven't mentioned this before, but an adventure motorcyclist residing in South Africa documents his travels well.
In fact, I think I recall info on that border crossing in one of his many threads....
He goes by METALJOCKEY here is a link to his profile: http://www.advrider.com/forums/member.php?u=15294
And his many threads: http://www.advrider.com/forums/search.php?searchid=16663207
In fact, I think I recall info on that border crossing in one of his many threads....
He goes by METALJOCKEY here is a link to his profile: http://www.advrider.com/forums/member.php?u=15294
And his many threads: http://www.advrider.com/forums/search.php?searchid=16663207
Last edited:
mike morrison
Observer
WOW - huge respect! Just finished reading the chronicles and am sorry I picked up this thread so late. I live an hour outside Port Elizabeth and would have loved to have hooked up with you guys if you had the time. Please keep the posts coming
Meteorite, sinkhole and cave
I just wanted to short mention a few nice places we saw on our way from Etosha, Namibia to Maun (Okavango Delta), Botswana.
South East of Etosha we stopped by the Hoba Meteorite to have a close look at the largest (single piece) meteorite in the world. The main mass is estimated to be around 60 tons and its composition is 84% iron. It was a pretty impressive piece of metal and a few places on it where people have helped them self to a souvenir you could see the metal. Glad we were not around this area 80,000 years ago when it is believed it fell on earth.
From Grootfontain we headed pretty much straight east to Tsumkwe through the dry bushman land. This is the area in Nimibia where the San people live. Just south of Tsumkwe we saw the Naye Naye Pans marked off on the map. I thought it was salt pans (since we had just seen the Etosha salt pan) until the receptionist at Tsumkwe Country Lodge where we camped told us it was water pans. We drove down to have a look. For 17 km we drove through really dry landscape and we thought the receptionist must have been wrong. But then after 18, 5 km we reached the first Pan and we saw a shallow lake with plenty of ducks and flamingos in it.
On the grass land next to the lake the springboks was grassing and it was a really nice and relaxing place. Would have been great for a couple of days relaxed camping, but we wanted to cross the border into Botswana the same day.
We spent our last Namibian Dollars on diesel, extra fuel is always nice to have when you drive in remote areas. At the Dobe border station the border formalities was easy on both sides and we were through within half an hour.
This is a photo of the Dobe border station on Botswana side.
In one of our maps the Aha Hills sinkholes is marked off and in Tracks 4 Africa, the GPS map we use, a campsite is marked of at the same place. When we got there it was just a clearing in the forest. But it was a sign there that told us this was the Aha Dancing Spot, a site where the San people gathers for special occasions for ritual dances. And just north and south of this site there should be sinkholes. We went looking for the sinkholes, but we did not find any. The only thing we found was remains after San huts and a circle where the dancing must have taken place.
Next stop on our road east was the Drotsky’s (Gcwihaba) cave. The cave has a northern and southern entrance and you can walk the 500 meters from one end to the other underground. We did not walk through, but walked a bit into the cave from both entrances.
As it normally gets quite cold in caves we had dressed up a bit, but in this cave it just got warmer the deeper into it you got. In one spot we could see many bats having their rest, they were really small bats.
We were pleased about our chosen route from Etosha to Maun and especially the first 200 km in Botswana was really nice.
Malin
I just wanted to short mention a few nice places we saw on our way from Etosha, Namibia to Maun (Okavango Delta), Botswana.
South East of Etosha we stopped by the Hoba Meteorite to have a close look at the largest (single piece) meteorite in the world. The main mass is estimated to be around 60 tons and its composition is 84% iron. It was a pretty impressive piece of metal and a few places on it where people have helped them self to a souvenir you could see the metal. Glad we were not around this area 80,000 years ago when it is believed it fell on earth.
From Grootfontain we headed pretty much straight east to Tsumkwe through the dry bushman land. This is the area in Nimibia where the San people live. Just south of Tsumkwe we saw the Naye Naye Pans marked off on the map. I thought it was salt pans (since we had just seen the Etosha salt pan) until the receptionist at Tsumkwe Country Lodge where we camped told us it was water pans. We drove down to have a look. For 17 km we drove through really dry landscape and we thought the receptionist must have been wrong. But then after 18, 5 km we reached the first Pan and we saw a shallow lake with plenty of ducks and flamingos in it.
On the grass land next to the lake the springboks was grassing and it was a really nice and relaxing place. Would have been great for a couple of days relaxed camping, but we wanted to cross the border into Botswana the same day.
We spent our last Namibian Dollars on diesel, extra fuel is always nice to have when you drive in remote areas. At the Dobe border station the border formalities was easy on both sides and we were through within half an hour.
This is a photo of the Dobe border station on Botswana side.
In one of our maps the Aha Hills sinkholes is marked off and in Tracks 4 Africa, the GPS map we use, a campsite is marked of at the same place. When we got there it was just a clearing in the forest. But it was a sign there that told us this was the Aha Dancing Spot, a site where the San people gathers for special occasions for ritual dances. And just north and south of this site there should be sinkholes. We went looking for the sinkholes, but we did not find any. The only thing we found was remains after San huts and a circle where the dancing must have taken place.
Next stop on our road east was the Drotsky’s (Gcwihaba) cave. The cave has a northern and southern entrance and you can walk the 500 meters from one end to the other underground. We did not walk through, but walked a bit into the cave from both entrances.
As it normally gets quite cold in caves we had dressed up a bit, but in this cave it just got warmer the deeper into it you got. In one spot we could see many bats having their rest, they were really small bats.
We were pleased about our chosen route from Etosha to Maun and especially the first 200 km in Botswana was really nice.
Malin
G35Vortec454
Adventurer
Another awesome report. You guys are a rare breed of adventurers.
Malin, as usual, I love your writing and photos. Espen, you're such a stud with the guts to undertake such adventure.
Anxiously waiting for more . . .
Malin, as usual, I love your writing and photos. Espen, you're such a stud with the guts to undertake such adventure.
Anxiously waiting for more . . .
I was just surfing the net and came upon the link to this trip on the main page for this site - I'm 99% sure we drove by you on Imogene Pass in Colorado back in 2010! I took the picture from the passenger seat of my friend's H3. We were in the middle of a 6k mile road trip starting from home (New Jersey) and I was shocked to see a Patrol so I had to snap a quick shot.
Attachments
YESSS!!
Still on 15" wheels and 35" GY MT/R. Took this little "detour" over the Imogene (FANTASTIC drive though!) while we waited for new tires and wheels in Moab. E
thebigblue
Adventurer
Hi Espen & Malin.
Just wanted to join in and let you know that I´we have been pleased spending the entire rainy Sunday here in Denmark reading your words, and enjoying your pictures, documenting this epic journey. As many others I find your approach to this adventure inspiring, keep it up.
I would like to know what made you pick a Nissan, and not the Toyota LC that's "the norm", - and what made you start out "overseas" in the USA, rather that head south into Africa ?
All the best & take care
Peter
Just wanted to join in and let you know that I´we have been pleased spending the entire rainy Sunday here in Denmark reading your words, and enjoying your pictures, documenting this epic journey. As many others I find your approach to this adventure inspiring, keep it up.
I would like to know what made you pick a Nissan, and not the Toyota LC that's "the norm", - and what made you start out "overseas" in the USA, rather that head south into Africa ?
All the best & take care
Peter
Last edited:
Thanks for commenting!
My first 4x4 was an 18 years old Nissan Patrol 160 3.3 TD (1985 model). I bought it with just over 300 000 km on the clock, and we drove it several times from Norway (via Denmark) to the Alps for skiing. I sold it at nearly 400 000 km about two years later, and the only thing I did to it those two years was changing a leaking radiator hose. I think the Patrols are as reliable as a car can be, and even compared to the Toyota LC I'll put my money on the Patrol. Availability of parts can be more difficult than with a Toyota, but then things rarely needs fixing.
The Patrol we drive now was bought before we started planning the trip, and the modifications was made for offroad playing. And that is the reason for the lift, gearing, and the big tires. When we started planning an overland journey through South America (!) it was more a discussion if the Patrol would still be a good choise after all the modifications. We decided to give it a try, and it has so far performed better than expected.
The first plan was to travel in South America for about a year, but when Malin went to the Canadian Arctic for a job, we decided to start in the north instead, and then drive south. Time was adjusted to a year and a half. Getting close to the end of the road in the Americas we realized that we wanted more, and after working for three months in Antarctica we could afford to travel another six months. The alternative was more South America or Africa. We went for Africa as we wanted to see as much as we could within the time we have available at the moment. And we don't regret it!
Espen
2WD in Moremi
As we are here in Botswana we wanted to have a look at the Okavango Delta. After considering different options we decided to drive out to the eastern part of the delta and the Moremi Game Reserve, that is a part of the national park system in Botswana. Since it is a national park you need a permit, and in all the national parks in Botswana a day permit costs the same: 120 Botswana Pula per person and 50 Pula for the vehicle, so total cost for us for one day is 290 Pula, about 36 USD. We also wanted to camp in the park at Third Bridge campsite, and we made a reservation for a campsite that cost 476 Pula, 60 USD, per night for the two of us. Quite expensive, in other words.
From Maun where we bought the permits it is about two hours drive to get to the South Gate of the park. We wanted to make the most out of our time in the park and drove up towards the park and bush camped a few km from the gate. Compared to Addo and Etosha National Park that we had visited earlier, the Moremi is not fenced off. Coming closer to the gate we saw more and more animals like springboks and giraffes. A two-track took off from the main road and that was where we found a place to bush camp. We cooked dinner as the sun was setting and we were ready to pop the rooftop tent when we heard a loud lion’s roar. We thought we could also hear them between the roars, so they could not be too far away. This was our first “encounter” with a lion while camping (we didn’t see it though..) and I did not feel too confident about sleeping in a tent with big cats around. I convinced Espen that we could sleep inside our car, meaning in the driver and passengers seats. We had talked about the option before on the trip, that if we ever got to a place we did not feel safe we could sleep inside, but so far we had never done it. To pass some time from sunset to sunrise we had a movie night. We place the computer in between the two front seats and hook it up to the car stereo for the proper sound. It was not our most comfortable night’s sleep on the trip, but on the bright side we were at the entrance gate at 06.15. A sign said the park opened at 06.00, but after using the toilets and waiting around without seeing any rangers we entered the park at 06.35 without anyone checking our permits.
Not far from the gate we saw the first animals and a large group of elephants. After watching them for a while we continued on to the first water hole and ate our breakfast. The drive continued along more waterholes and then we saw a male and a female lion laying in front of us on a small road that took off from ours.
They did not really care about us so we stopped the car and watched them for t least an hour. They moved a bit away from the road and lay down behind some trees.
Are you able to see them? You can still see both of them in this photo. If it was not for seeing them on the road for a while we would have driven right past them and not seen any lions in Moremi at all.
At lunch we stopped at the Third Bridge campsite and as we were eating, elephants were eating their lunch around us.
Third Bridge campsite is an open campsite, no fences around it, and the animals could move freely into camp if they wanted to. The rangers told us to not leave any food or things that smelled of food outside as there were problems with baboons and hyenas coming by looking for food. After lunch we took a drive out on the Mboma loop and as far out on this loop and about as far into the delta you can get in Moremi, we lost our four wheel drive. We came around a curve with quite a lot of sand and since we did not have that much speed we dug in. We removed some sand in front of the tires, and as we tried to drive on we realized that the four wheel drive would not engage. But we were able to get out of the sand. Now it was 45 min to sunset and out in the bush with animals with perfect camouflage it was not the time and place to try to figure out what was wrong. So we just had to keep some speed in the sandy sections and around the curves, and count on the 37s to get us through. Around one curve we saw one elephant coming towards us and he did not seem too happy to see us on his road. We ended up backing as he was just continuing to approach us, and as we moved further away from him he finally walked off the road and into the bush. Some minutes after sunset we were back at Third Bridge campsite and that was not one minute to early as we had to set up camp and get some dinner.
Elephants eat between 140-270 kilos of food a day and the average sleep time is about two plus hours. So while we were in our tent sleeping we could hear the elephants eating outside our tent.
In the morning we saw that they had been 1 ½ meter from our front bumper that night. Beside their footsteps in the sand that looks like someone walking around in giant moonboots (the kind that was in fashion some years ago) they had also left some other evidence, poop. Driving past elephant poop on the road I always wondered the weight of one elephant poop and now was the right opportunity to lift one. I estimated that one weighted about 5 kg.
After servicing the front axle (changed all seals and bearings) on the Patrol about a month ago at Nissan in Knysna, South Africa, because the left side of the axle had been leaking, the right side of the axle had now started leaking oil. Leaving the garage the mechanic that did the service told Espen that it might leak a little bit of oil after changing the seals, so the first week or two we did not really think about it when a few drops of oil came out. But then it started to leak more. A lot more. We wrote Nissan an email before leaving for Moremi to ask them about it. We thought it was kind of suspicious that the four wheel drive did not engage. Since we were far into Moremi Espen did not feel like opening the hub to see if he could figure out what was wrong with our four wheel drive in case something was broken and he could not put it together again. A trailer to tow us out would have cost 8000 Pula, 1000 USD, we later learned from someone that had to be towed out. Espen topped up the diff with oil, using the chef’s suggestion, a well known trick from the kitchen. We filled oil into a Ziploc bag and cut of one corner of the bag. Espen squeezed 7 dl of oil into the diff.
After consulting the rangers regarding the conditions on the roads we took another road out than the one we came in. One of the rangers would also drive out the same road a couple of hours after us and that is always good to know. With Espen in the driver’s seat we counted on our big tires would help us out through the sand in two wheel drive.
The plan had been to continue from Moremi north to Chobe, but not with only two wheel drive. After getting through the sand in Moremi we headed south back to Maun. Back in the campground and with the town with garages within reach, Espen had a look at the hubs and saw that the right one was full of oil from the leaking axel and the other one had no grease in it at all. But the problem was that the mechanic after servicing the Patrol had used too much of the gasket sealant when he put the hubs back in place. Pieces of this was getting into the hub and when we tried to connect the four wheel drive this pieces got in between and it could not lock. With our four wheel drive now fixed and working we wanted to give Chobe and northern Botswana another go. New seals for the axel was ordered from Norway (we have friends coming to visit in a few days’ time) as it is difficult (read: time consuming) to gets parts for the Patrol here in Southern Africa. And we also hope that Nissan in South Africa will take a look and hopefully fix what they didn’t get right in the first place….
Malin
As we are here in Botswana we wanted to have a look at the Okavango Delta. After considering different options we decided to drive out to the eastern part of the delta and the Moremi Game Reserve, that is a part of the national park system in Botswana. Since it is a national park you need a permit, and in all the national parks in Botswana a day permit costs the same: 120 Botswana Pula per person and 50 Pula for the vehicle, so total cost for us for one day is 290 Pula, about 36 USD. We also wanted to camp in the park at Third Bridge campsite, and we made a reservation for a campsite that cost 476 Pula, 60 USD, per night for the two of us. Quite expensive, in other words.
From Maun where we bought the permits it is about two hours drive to get to the South Gate of the park. We wanted to make the most out of our time in the park and drove up towards the park and bush camped a few km from the gate. Compared to Addo and Etosha National Park that we had visited earlier, the Moremi is not fenced off. Coming closer to the gate we saw more and more animals like springboks and giraffes. A two-track took off from the main road and that was where we found a place to bush camp. We cooked dinner as the sun was setting and we were ready to pop the rooftop tent when we heard a loud lion’s roar. We thought we could also hear them between the roars, so they could not be too far away. This was our first “encounter” with a lion while camping (we didn’t see it though..) and I did not feel too confident about sleeping in a tent with big cats around. I convinced Espen that we could sleep inside our car, meaning in the driver and passengers seats. We had talked about the option before on the trip, that if we ever got to a place we did not feel safe we could sleep inside, but so far we had never done it. To pass some time from sunset to sunrise we had a movie night. We place the computer in between the two front seats and hook it up to the car stereo for the proper sound. It was not our most comfortable night’s sleep on the trip, but on the bright side we were at the entrance gate at 06.15. A sign said the park opened at 06.00, but after using the toilets and waiting around without seeing any rangers we entered the park at 06.35 without anyone checking our permits.
Not far from the gate we saw the first animals and a large group of elephants. After watching them for a while we continued on to the first water hole and ate our breakfast. The drive continued along more waterholes and then we saw a male and a female lion laying in front of us on a small road that took off from ours.
They did not really care about us so we stopped the car and watched them for t least an hour. They moved a bit away from the road and lay down behind some trees.
Are you able to see them? You can still see both of them in this photo. If it was not for seeing them on the road for a while we would have driven right past them and not seen any lions in Moremi at all.
At lunch we stopped at the Third Bridge campsite and as we were eating, elephants were eating their lunch around us.
Third Bridge campsite is an open campsite, no fences around it, and the animals could move freely into camp if they wanted to. The rangers told us to not leave any food or things that smelled of food outside as there were problems with baboons and hyenas coming by looking for food. After lunch we took a drive out on the Mboma loop and as far out on this loop and about as far into the delta you can get in Moremi, we lost our four wheel drive. We came around a curve with quite a lot of sand and since we did not have that much speed we dug in. We removed some sand in front of the tires, and as we tried to drive on we realized that the four wheel drive would not engage. But we were able to get out of the sand. Now it was 45 min to sunset and out in the bush with animals with perfect camouflage it was not the time and place to try to figure out what was wrong. So we just had to keep some speed in the sandy sections and around the curves, and count on the 37s to get us through. Around one curve we saw one elephant coming towards us and he did not seem too happy to see us on his road. We ended up backing as he was just continuing to approach us, and as we moved further away from him he finally walked off the road and into the bush. Some minutes after sunset we were back at Third Bridge campsite and that was not one minute to early as we had to set up camp and get some dinner.
Elephants eat between 140-270 kilos of food a day and the average sleep time is about two plus hours. So while we were in our tent sleeping we could hear the elephants eating outside our tent.
In the morning we saw that they had been 1 ½ meter from our front bumper that night. Beside their footsteps in the sand that looks like someone walking around in giant moonboots (the kind that was in fashion some years ago) they had also left some other evidence, poop. Driving past elephant poop on the road I always wondered the weight of one elephant poop and now was the right opportunity to lift one. I estimated that one weighted about 5 kg.
After servicing the front axle (changed all seals and bearings) on the Patrol about a month ago at Nissan in Knysna, South Africa, because the left side of the axle had been leaking, the right side of the axle had now started leaking oil. Leaving the garage the mechanic that did the service told Espen that it might leak a little bit of oil after changing the seals, so the first week or two we did not really think about it when a few drops of oil came out. But then it started to leak more. A lot more. We wrote Nissan an email before leaving for Moremi to ask them about it. We thought it was kind of suspicious that the four wheel drive did not engage. Since we were far into Moremi Espen did not feel like opening the hub to see if he could figure out what was wrong with our four wheel drive in case something was broken and he could not put it together again. A trailer to tow us out would have cost 8000 Pula, 1000 USD, we later learned from someone that had to be towed out. Espen topped up the diff with oil, using the chef’s suggestion, a well known trick from the kitchen. We filled oil into a Ziploc bag and cut of one corner of the bag. Espen squeezed 7 dl of oil into the diff.
After consulting the rangers regarding the conditions on the roads we took another road out than the one we came in. One of the rangers would also drive out the same road a couple of hours after us and that is always good to know. With Espen in the driver’s seat we counted on our big tires would help us out through the sand in two wheel drive.
The plan had been to continue from Moremi north to Chobe, but not with only two wheel drive. After getting through the sand in Moremi we headed south back to Maun. Back in the campground and with the town with garages within reach, Espen had a look at the hubs and saw that the right one was full of oil from the leaking axel and the other one had no grease in it at all. But the problem was that the mechanic after servicing the Patrol had used too much of the gasket sealant when he put the hubs back in place. Pieces of this was getting into the hub and when we tried to connect the four wheel drive this pieces got in between and it could not lock. With our four wheel drive now fixed and working we wanted to give Chobe and northern Botswana another go. New seals for the axel was ordered from Norway (we have friends coming to visit in a few days’ time) as it is difficult (read: time consuming) to gets parts for the Patrol here in Southern Africa. And we also hope that Nissan in South Africa will take a look and hopefully fix what they didn’t get right in the first place….
Malin
Just out of curiosity, how far "behind" are you guys on the posting? I mean, how far ahead are you from the post above?
Botswana - Zimbabwe - Botswana border crossing at Kazana
An update of the Kazane border crossing at
http://blog.unurban.no/#category7
Malin
An update of the Kazane border crossing at
http://blog.unurban.no/#category7
Malin