And a new Hope:
10am the man said. I should have known he meant 10am Moroccan time.
The car looked like it was fixed, but Boss Ali explained that they only fixed the gas tank (and did it well - they also added a protective plate under it), but not the exhaust because they weren't sure if I liked the Ferrari sound.
I didn't.
So off went the exhaust again, and a local boy took it off with a motorcycle to get it welded. We used the next 90 minutes to repack the car (all of our kit was still there!), distribute some Petit Cadeaux to the folks in the garage, and the next 30 minutes waiting for the exhaust to be reattached.
Then... Ali came up with 6500MAD (call it 600 EUR) as the cost of the repairs + the cost of towing + gifts for the people that worked on the car (like, oh, say, those nice aluminum sand ladders, because every mechanic needs sand ladders...?).
Oh HELL no. Another 30 minutes later, we were at a slightly more reasonable 370 EUR (4000MAD) all in. Still not cheap (and at least 50% more than a local would pay), but hey, they did good work so, what the hell.
We now have a functioning car - that does need a trip to a tire shop to get the optics adjusted, but I can live with that), an interesting exhaust sound in 1st gear (think Trabant or Wartburh for the Eastern bloc people), and a truly annoying noise from the rear part of the exhaust at 2100rpm in 4th gear. Which of course is almost exactly 80kp/h, aka., the lower speed limit.
Ah well! At least we're moving!
Of course, no day would be complete without another problem - today was "let's have a rock break the windshield day" - luckily very low and just to the right of the center as seen from the inside, so it's not in the drivers direct field of vision. Naturally it happened THE MOMENT when I said we'll need to get the windscreen polished when we get back because of a scratch that a rock caught on the windshield wiper made. After some consultations with "Home Based TechSupport", a swift "ghetto style" / field expedient repair regime of superglue and duct tape managed to stop the expansion of the cracks, and lifting the seat a bit got the scratch away from my direct view. I'll tape it from the inside tomorrow. So, yay!
Tomorrow, a Cannonball-rally style run to Dakhla, and then we're out of touch for a while - entering Mauritania!
Have fun folks. We'll try and check in tomorrow - otherwise, catch you when we can. Hugs and kisses to all that follow us from Guelmim.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Day I really don't care...
Sooo... Yeah, we killed the car.
Technically, it was the rock desert that did it for us, or rather, kilometer 74 of said rock desert. The paved road turned off road into a desert piste - so far so good, but then... Then we had race teams coming back on that same piste, because the road we planned to take was impassable for them. Which, to be honest, didn't exactly inspire us with confidence that we can make it, even on the "correct", "nicer" and "easier" road we then took.
But we did. Over dry river beds, random ditches, past local kids that threw rocks (thanks kids...) while we tried to get through a ditch, and over sand (and mud) where the only thing that got us through was a very Clarkson-like scream of "POWEEER!". How the 2WD cars made it, I have no idea, but there was a girl crying at the first ditch, so I don't imagine this was fun. For any future Bamako participant - even if they say your rather low 2 (or for that matter 4) wheel drive car can do it - NO, it can't, not "comfortably" at least.
We then arrived at a beautiful road (or, as us Westies would call it, a f*cking rockz track in the middle of nowhere - though we thought it was the best thing we've ever seen), only to find in one of our regular 10-minute car checks that we were now definitely leaking something. Fortunately, it was "only" gasoline, not oil.
One of the local "Official Bamako" garages had a Land Rover out patrolling (guess they expected issues? :)) and they towed us back some 40-odd kilometers to Zagora.
THEN we realised that some nice guy at Subaru designed the gas tank so that it fit over the 4x4 drivetrain, the exhaust system and that some screws were under the wheel supports, and some under the back seat.
Gee, thanks, unnamed Fuji Heavy Industries engineer. We love you too. I hope you got fired.
So, as we left the car (and most of our stuff, for which we pray it will still be there tomorrow!) this evening, they were hoping that the gas tank would be fixed by tomorrow, 10am. Here's hoping that they look at the hole we made in the exhaust system as well (we sound like a Ferarri"), that they can clean the sand from the brakes and that we didn't kill the automatic transmission while being towed.
I think we're having fun now.
Think.
Probably not.
On the bright side, we're back in the same hotel as yesterday (niice!), and will sleep in a clean bed. Tomorrow, if the car works (Inshallah!), we'll take the tarmac road to Agadir, and from there try to catch up on Friday with the rest of the teams in Dakhla in Western Sahara... If we don't catch them - well, we are NOT NOT NOT crossing the Mauritanian border - or Mauritania itself - on our own, so, hey, we'll distribute our donations to the other teams lagging behind, and then take a week or so getting back home through Morocco and Spain.
We shall of course keep you, our adoring readership posted.
Technically, it was the rock desert that did it for us, or rather, kilometer 74 of said rock desert. The paved road turned off road into a desert piste - so far so good, but then... Then we had race teams coming back on that same piste, because the road we planned to take was impassable for them. Which, to be honest, didn't exactly inspire us with confidence that we can make it, even on the "correct", "nicer" and "easier" road we then took.
But we did. Over dry river beds, random ditches, past local kids that threw rocks (thanks kids...) while we tried to get through a ditch, and over sand (and mud) where the only thing that got us through was a very Clarkson-like scream of "POWEEER!". How the 2WD cars made it, I have no idea, but there was a girl crying at the first ditch, so I don't imagine this was fun. For any future Bamako participant - even if they say your rather low 2 (or for that matter 4) wheel drive car can do it - NO, it can't, not "comfortably" at least.
We then arrived at a beautiful road (or, as us Westies would call it, a f*cking rockz track in the middle of nowhere - though we thought it was the best thing we've ever seen), only to find in one of our regular 10-minute car checks that we were now definitely leaking something. Fortunately, it was "only" gasoline, not oil.
One of the local "Official Bamako" garages had a Land Rover out patrolling (guess they expected issues? :)) and they towed us back some 40-odd kilometers to Zagora.
THEN we realised that some nice guy at Subaru designed the gas tank so that it fit over the 4x4 drivetrain, the exhaust system and that some screws were under the wheel supports, and some under the back seat.
Gee, thanks, unnamed Fuji Heavy Industries engineer. We love you too. I hope you got fired.
So, as we left the car (and most of our stuff, for which we pray it will still be there tomorrow!) this evening, they were hoping that the gas tank would be fixed by tomorrow, 10am. Here's hoping that they look at the hole we made in the exhaust system as well (we sound like a Ferarri"), that they can clean the sand from the brakes and that we didn't kill the automatic transmission while being towed.
I think we're having fun now.
Think.
Probably not.
On the bright side, we're back in the same hotel as yesterday (niice!), and will sleep in a clean bed. Tomorrow, if the car works (Inshallah!), we'll take the tarmac road to Agadir, and from there try to catch up on Friday with the rest of the teams in Dakhla in Western Sahara... If we don't catch them - well, we are NOT NOT NOT crossing the Mauritanian border - or Mauritania itself - on our own, so, hey, we'll distribute our donations to the other teams lagging behind, and then take a week or so getting back home through Morocco and Spain.
We shall of course keep you, our adoring readership posted.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Day 5 (or what ever day it is)
No, really, what day is it?
Today we had Gorges de Todra, The Unesco-protected village of Ait Bennhaddou, Ourzazate, smoking brakes, Zagora, service stop, turban buying and stolen sunglasses. And a magnificent hotel.
So, from the top:
Todra Gorge is cool - but not for 2 wheel drive Fiat Puntos (we still haven't heard from them). Ait Bennhaddou is worth a miss.
The road Ourzazate to Zagora causes brakes to smoke (literally) and necessitates a 10 minute stop, followed by a judicious use of engine breaking. Whoops. Who knew that the 1.7 ton car + some 600 kg of kit would cause problems? :)
We stopped in a garage in Zagora before heading to the hotel to get an oil change ("change - 1 liter out, 5 liters in), the air filters cleaned, a non-working brake light replaced, and a general health check of the undercarriage done. We are now "ready" (and by that I mean "slightly less likely to come to a nasty end") in the rock desert tomorrow. I hope the car comes through ok.
While I was getting the car sorted, the woman bartered 30 EUR, a t-shirt and a bottle of wine for three scarfs, one set of silver earrings and a silver bracelet. E
In addition, one of the vermin, excuse me, lovely native children I gave stuff to with the intent that they'd NOT steal stuff swiped my driving sunglasses. I hope he gets some use of them, just before they cut off his hand for stealing.
At least the hotel today is amazing. If yesterday was 4*, this one must be the local cluster of galaxies.
By the way, this is likely to be one of the last "live" updates, as we are about to enter "indian country". Keep track of us with the SPOT, and we'll get an update in when we can - probably somewhere in Senegal.
I leave you with a photo of me going native.
XOXO, the lunatics.
Today we had Gorges de Todra, The Unesco-protected village of Ait Bennhaddou, Ourzazate, smoking brakes, Zagora, service stop, turban buying and stolen sunglasses. And a magnificent hotel.
So, from the top:
Todra Gorge is cool - but not for 2 wheel drive Fiat Puntos (we still haven't heard from them). Ait Bennhaddou is worth a miss.
The road Ourzazate to Zagora causes brakes to smoke (literally) and necessitates a 10 minute stop, followed by a judicious use of engine breaking. Whoops. Who knew that the 1.7 ton car + some 600 kg of kit would cause problems? :)
We stopped in a garage in Zagora before heading to the hotel to get an oil change ("change - 1 liter out, 5 liters in), the air filters cleaned, a non-working brake light replaced, and a general health check of the undercarriage done. We are now "ready" (and by that I mean "slightly less likely to come to a nasty end") in the rock desert tomorrow. I hope the car comes through ok.
While I was getting the car sorted, the woman bartered 30 EUR, a t-shirt and a bottle of wine for three scarfs, one set of silver earrings and a silver bracelet. E
In addition, one of the vermin, excuse me, lovely native children I gave stuff to with the intent that they'd NOT steal stuff swiped my driving sunglasses. I hope he gets some use of them, just before they cut off his hand for stealing.
At least the hotel today is amazing. If yesterday was 4*, this one must be the local cluster of galaxies.
By the way, this is likely to be one of the last "live" updates, as we are about to enter "indian country". Keep track of us with the SPOT, and we'll get an update in when we can - probably somewhere in Senegal.
I leave you with a photo of me going native.
XOXO, the lunatics.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Day 4 - Tinerhir
Oh god...
Once you drive off the Malaga - Melilla ferry, well, nothing changes. You're still in Spain, a "normal" European country (Melilla being an enclave of Spain), the only difference being that instead of gas costing the 1.465 it does in mainland Spain, it costs 1.025 EUR.
But then. THEN you hit the Moroccan border. Go to window 1, get white form, fill out, get it stamped and entered, then go hut 4 over there to get green car paper stamped, go back to window 1 because they can't read your Moroccan entry number, once written in ink into your passport, go to hut 4 to import car, then go to random guy in Moroccan uniform to get a stamp on the green form. Proceed to border and get waved through.
And this was the easy border. What did we get ourselves into!?
Having arrived at 8.30, cleared the border at 10, and left Nador at 11 (after changing money and filling up the Jerry cans for just under a Euro per liter), we then proceeded to cross the magnificent Atlas mountain range to get to Tinehir (which is spelled different on road signs, the Garmin map, the Michelin map and on Tripadvisor), where the official hotel was full and we are now at a *cough* 4* hotel (if you give one star for each cockroach and cancerogenic substance in the room). It's an adventure. :)
Oh, right, I had a point - one I'm sure I'll make again this trip.... Great Architect of the Universe, thank you for giving me the privilege of being born in the West. I don't know what the people you had born out here did, but I'm sure some of the m****rf***ers had to be at least camp guards, if not Jewish Capo's in 1945. Why else would you make them stand at 1900 meters and beg for water? Or have them live in a place where the predominant product being grown on the field is apparently plastic bags?
RSVP - address to the couple in the un-killable Subaru.
Love,
David
Once you drive off the Malaga - Melilla ferry, well, nothing changes. You're still in Spain, a "normal" European country (Melilla being an enclave of Spain), the only difference being that instead of gas costing the 1.465 it does in mainland Spain, it costs 1.025 EUR.
But then. THEN you hit the Moroccan border. Go to window 1, get white form, fill out, get it stamped and entered, then go hut 4 over there to get green car paper stamped, go back to window 1 because they can't read your Moroccan entry number, once written in ink into your passport, go to hut 4 to import car, then go to random guy in Moroccan uniform to get a stamp on the green form. Proceed to border and get waved through.
And this was the easy border. What did we get ourselves into!?
Having arrived at 8.30, cleared the border at 10, and left Nador at 11 (after changing money and filling up the Jerry cans for just under a Euro per liter), we then proceeded to cross the magnificent Atlas mountain range to get to Tinehir (which is spelled different on road signs, the Garmin map, the Michelin map and on Tripadvisor), where the official hotel was full and we are now at a *cough* 4* hotel (if you give one star for each cockroach and cancerogenic substance in the room). It's an adventure. :)
Oh, right, I had a point - one I'm sure I'll make again this trip.... Great Architect of the Universe, thank you for giving me the privilege of being born in the West. I don't know what the people you had born out here did, but I'm sure some of the m****rf***ers had to be at least camp guards, if not Jewish Capo's in 1945. Why else would you make them stand at 1900 meters and beg for water? Or have them live in a place where the predominant product being grown on the field is apparently plastic bags?
RSVP - address to the couple in the un-killable Subaru.
Love,
David
Day 3+morning of day 4
Good morning world. For the record, while the seats on the Malaga - Melilla ferry are not exactly comfortable, and they seem intent to prepare you for African temperatures with the air conditioning, we are now nearing the Spanish enclave of Melilla - and I actually have an European phone signal. Yay!
So, events of the day. Highway, separated from more highway by a few stretches of an A-road, and some more highway. To break the highway monotony, we had a culture stop in Granada to see the Alhambra and tHe Nasrid palace - which is impossible in the summer, seeing as we got the last tickets for the 16.30 tour yesterday - 3 weeks ago. Ah well.
Anyway, today is the first day of Africa (assuming we get past customs when we land), so, huh, I'm a little terrified of driving, but let's see. I'm not sure how regular the updates will be from hereon, but we will try to keep you, the adoring reader (Hi Dads!) updated.
And for those f you that were expecting car trouble: Nope, not a thing. And here's hoping that Mr. murphy doesn't go: "Oh, you're out of Europe and reasonable access to repair and towing services? Here, let me break that for you."
I leave you with a shot from the Alhambra.
So, events of the day. Highway, separated from more highway by a few stretches of an A-road, and some more highway. To break the highway monotony, we had a culture stop in Granada to see the Alhambra and tHe Nasrid palace - which is impossible in the summer, seeing as we got the last tickets for the 16.30 tour yesterday - 3 weeks ago. Ah well.
Anyway, today is the first day of Africa (assuming we get past customs when we land), so, huh, I'm a little terrified of driving, but let's see. I'm not sure how regular the updates will be from hereon, but we will try to keep you, the adoring reader (Hi Dads!) updated.
And for those f you that were expecting car trouble: Nope, not a thing. And here's hoping that Mr. murphy doesn't go: "Oh, you're out of Europe and reasonable access to repair and towing services? Here, let me break that for you."
I leave you with a shot from the Alhambra.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Check-in/OK message from Bamako SPOT Personal Tracker
Bamako
Latitude:36.71647
Longitude:-4.42001
GPS location Date/Time:01/27/2013 21:52:42 CET
Message:Checking in - all good!
Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Bamako
You have received this message because Bamako has added you to their SPOT contact list.
Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
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Latitude:36.71647
Longitude:-4.42001
GPS location Date/Time:01/27/2013 21:52:42 CET
Message:Checking in - all good!
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/A-eFc/36.71647N/4.42001W
If the above link does not work, try this link:
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Bamako
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Spain...
We are about 150km out of Barcelona on our way to see Alhambra for some Moroccan culture before we board the ferry in Malaga at 11pm.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Check-in/OK message from Bamako SPOT Personal Tracker
Bamako
Latitude:41.73687
Longitude:2.64047
GPS location Date/Time:01/26/2013 20:59:39 CET
Message:Checking in - all good!
Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Bamako
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Latitude:41.73687
Longitude:2.64047
GPS location Date/Time:01/26/2013 20:59:39 CET
Message:Checking in - all good!
Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Day 1+Day 2
Other teams have reported issues with snow in Slovenia, tire punctures, water pump issues, alternator problems and electrical faults. Some spent the day in French villages, others on the highway in Italy.
We, on the other hand, have a Subaru apparently made out of volcanic bedrock and Jovian diamond. All we can report is insane gas prices in Italy, medieval road toll systems (ticketing booths everywhere), nice weather and a shopping stop in our favorite food store in Nice.
Right now, we're about 3h from our stop for the night just outside of Barcelona, where dinner shall consist of a baguette, cheese, and a duck terrine, accompanied by a lovely 5houses white.
Pray the rest of the trip might go this way.
I leave you with a picture of the christmas-like atmosphere in the car.
We, on the other hand, have a Subaru apparently made out of volcanic bedrock and Jovian diamond. All we can report is insane gas prices in Italy, medieval road toll systems (ticketing booths everywhere), nice weather and a shopping stop in our favorite food store in Nice.
Right now, we're about 3h from our stop for the night just outside of Barcelona, where dinner shall consist of a baguette, cheese, and a duck terrine, accompanied by a lovely 5houses white.
Pray the rest of the trip might go this way.
I leave you with a picture of the christmas-like atmosphere in the car.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Check-in/OK message from Bamako SPOT Personal Tracker
Bamako
Latitude:47.48810
Longitude:19.02195
GPS location Date/Time:01/25/2013 11:12:41 CET
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Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Bamako
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Latitude:47.48810
Longitude:19.02195
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Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Bamako
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Typhoid vaccination...
So, let's review - for my typhoid vaccination, I just voluntarily swallowed something that has Salmonella Typhi as its active ingredient. :)
This is going to be fun!
This is going to be fun!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
OhHiThere!
So, let's review - the LED lights are on:
1) The Trunk
2) The extreme ends of the roof box
3) The top of the roof box in the "Shark" antenna
4) On the bottom of the roof box
5) At the front of the car as daylight driving lights
6) At the back of the Driver/Navigator seats on the divider mesh
7) On every tire valve
DISCO TIME! :)
1) The Trunk
2) The extreme ends of the roof box
3) The top of the roof box in the "Shark" antenna
4) On the bottom of the roof box
5) At the front of the car as daylight driving lights
6) At the back of the Driver/Navigator seats on the divider mesh
7) On every tire valve
DISCO TIME! :)
Do you think...
We have enough guides? :)
Okay, so there might be a few dozen paper maps as well. I know some of you (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) want us to get lost, but we'll try not to give you the satisfaction.
And if we do get lost, I promise to blog about it.
Okay, so there might be a few dozen paper maps as well. I know some of you (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) want us to get lost, but we'll try not to give you the satisfaction.
And if we do get lost, I promise to blog about it.
Fooood!
Cup noodles, cookies, energy bars, pate, processed cheese, candy, wafers, rice and beans (with the MRE's still to come, a bottle of cheap Scotch and double-strength instant coffee...
And a small bottle of Hennessy cognac in a pink protective wrap.
Because yeah, that's just how we roll.
(Do note, it's the biggest box of them all...)
And a small bottle of Hennessy cognac in a pink protective wrap.
Because yeah, that's just how we roll.
(Do note, it's the biggest box of them all...)
Clothes packing...
One of these is all each one gets for 3 weeks... A few t-shirs and pants, towels (sadly, I didn't have time to get "Don't Panic" embroidered on them...), and some underwear, and we're good to go.
Now, being true to "NNNP" (For the non-Yugoslav-socialist-upbringing people, NNNP is "Nic Nas Ne sme Presenetiti" - Nothing is allowed to surprise us), we do have a few Ariel LiquidTabs with us to use in the washing machine.
Washing machine, I hear you ask? Why, of course - if it was good enough for Sal and Dean in "On The Road", a sealable bucket with water in it will be good enough for us!
Now, being true to "NNNP" (For the non-Yugoslav-socialist-upbringing people, NNNP is "Nic Nas Ne sme Presenetiti" - Nothing is allowed to surprise us), we do have a few Ariel LiquidTabs with us to use in the washing machine.
Washing machine, I hear you ask? Why, of course - if it was good enough for Sal and Dean in "On The Road", a sealable bucket with water in it will be good enough for us!
A small sample of donations!
I know you want to know - here's some of the school equipment - though we didn't bother bringing up the 200+ notebooks and pens we also got - and some toys, hand-powered flashlights, etc., etc...
We also got a huge box of medical kit, clothes, toys and a sewing machine, but that's going on the truck, otherwise there would be no space in the car :)
We also got a huge box of medical kit, clothes, toys and a sewing machine, but that's going on the truck, otherwise there would be no space in the car :)
Car spares
Filters, belts, tyre repair kits, alcohol testers (for France...), window cleaner, spare tyre valve covers (because I just KNOW someone is going to steal the ones with LEDs in them we have on now) - and WD40 to make it go and Duct tape to make it stop.
Kitchen
With the ultra-cool pressure cooker thing! And a plain gas cooker. And stuff.
The zombie apocalypse might come, but we WILL be eating well.
The zombie apocalypse might come, but we WILL be eating well.
Misc stuff :)
Because one never knows what might need sewing. Or when you might need a raincoat. Or a signalling pistol (the fact that I took some fireworks besides the flares is TOTALLY irrelevant.)
Oh, and lots of baby wipes (Dear Procteroids, it was a donation, so stop rolling your eyes. I can see you from here.). Because I don't see a lot of showers in our future.
Oh, and lots of baby wipes (Dear Procteroids, it was a donation, so stop rolling your eyes. I can see you from here.). Because I don't see a lot of showers in our future.
Bathroom...
Mouthwash and dry shampoo being the most important parts of this.
Now, we do have a solar shower as well, but I don't think we'll get much use of it. It's worth a shot.
Oh, and suncream and bug spray. A LOT of sun cream and bug spray.
Now, we do have a solar shower as well, but I don't think we'll get much use of it. It's worth a shot.
Oh, and suncream and bug spray. A LOT of sun cream and bug spray.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Let's review...
ONE WEEK TO GO!
Yay! I think!
Tomorrow we'll start with the final packing of the car (which, BTW, ran its battery down again - guess I have an hour or so walking around it with a voltage meter in my future). We'll share the pictures as we go along, but I don't think anyone will be overly surprised when I mention that the food box is actually the biggest one we're taking. We're taking some scotch - "Vat 69" - with us for purely medicinal purposes - not something I'd normally drink, but, who can resist a whisky that "in 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton took supplies of Vat 69 on his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, stating that it would be used for medicinal and celebratory purposes" - well, EXACTLY!
The passports are back - though there's a catch, the Mauritanian visa has "UNE" entry, which might be a bit of an issue - as are the start numbers, medical insurance #2, and car insurance papers for Africa. Oh, and we have the first batch of Euros in small bills - something that we hope will assist us in solving pesky minor problems, such as, oh, you know, not having a dual-entry visa for Mauritania.
Packing starts tomorrow - and with it, pictures.
Watch this space!
Yay! I think!
Tomorrow we'll start with the final packing of the car (which, BTW, ran its battery down again - guess I have an hour or so walking around it with a voltage meter in my future). We'll share the pictures as we go along, but I don't think anyone will be overly surprised when I mention that the food box is actually the biggest one we're taking. We're taking some scotch - "Vat 69" - with us for purely medicinal purposes - not something I'd normally drink, but, who can resist a whisky that "in 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton took supplies of Vat 69 on his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, stating that it would be used for medicinal and celebratory purposes" - well, EXACTLY!
The passports are back - though there's a catch, the Mauritanian visa has "UNE" entry, which might be a bit of an issue - as are the start numbers, medical insurance #2, and car insurance papers for Africa. Oh, and we have the first batch of Euros in small bills - something that we hope will assist us in solving pesky minor problems, such as, oh, you know, not having a dual-entry visa for Mauritania.
Packing starts tomorrow - and with it, pictures.
Watch this space!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Are you f*cking kidding me!?
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to a drug called Malarone.
Malarone (from Wikipedia): "The drug combination atovaquone/proguanil (INNs, trade names Malarone, Malanil) is an antimalarial medication used in both the treatment and prevention of malaria, commercially available from GlaxoSmithKline since 2000."
Malarone (from Wikipedia): "The drug combination atovaquone/proguanil (INNs, trade names Malarone, Malanil) is an antimalarial medication used in both the treatment and prevention of malaria, commercially available from GlaxoSmithKline since 2000."
Why am I on about drugs? Because I just had a heart attack. You need one of these per adult per day to prevent you from contracting Malaria. Which is all nice and well, and I really really don't want to get Malaria - we need 4 boxes for the two of us - but the "problem" is the price.
You see, a box of this costs 63$. SIXTY-THREE US Dollars.
And the amount on the photo is enough for 12 days. So, to be guaranteed malaria-free, you'd need (approximately) two and a half of these per month.
To put things into perspective, a gram of the active ingredients in the pill costs 15 USD.
To put THAT into perspective, a gram of investment-grade gold at todays spot price costs 53 USD. A gram of 999 silver is 0.96 USD.
Dear Glaxo-Smith-Kline, are you fucking kidding me? I am all for "free market" etc., but this - this is insane. Okay, yes, it's the "good" anti-Malaria drug, but hey, the other one makes most people hallucinate, so this is what you really want. Now, tell me, how is the average person in Africa supposed to afford this?!
Not cool Pharma. Not cool. And remember people, this is the GOOD stuff... "Among adults who received MALARONE for treatment of malaria,
attributable adverse experiences that occurred in ≥5% of patients were
abdominal pain (17%), nausea (12%), vomiting (12%), headache (10%),
diarrhea (8%), asthenia (8%), anorexia (5%), and dizziness (5%)."
The "bad" stuff will... well... Mefloquine... "Neuropsychiatric effects are reported with mefloquine use.[1]
The FDA product guide states it can cause mental health problems,
including anxiety, hallucinations, depression, unusual behavior, and
suicidal ideations, among others.[8]
Some have reported severe central nervous system events requiring
hospitalization in about one in 10,000 people taking mefloquine for
malaria prevention, with milder events (e.g., dizziness, headache,
insomnia, and vivid dreams) in up to 25%.[10]
When some measure of subjective severity is applied to the rating of
adverse events, about 11-17% of travelers are incapacitated to some
degree.[3]"
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Damn!
The tent might be a touch larger than expected.
Addendum after having folded it back together: Dear Bamako participant, please do not do the mistake we made, and go buy or borrow a 2-person tent. Do NOT borrow or buy a 4-person tent. I now know what God feels like when trying to compress matter into a black hole, and have gained a basic understanding of n-space folding, quantum mechanics and Dr. Who's Tardis.
Learning for today: I do not want to be God. I do not have his patience.
Addendum after having folded it back together: Dear Bamako participant, please do not do the mistake we made, and go buy or borrow a 2-person tent. Do NOT borrow or buy a 4-person tent. I now know what God feels like when trying to compress matter into a black hole, and have gained a basic understanding of n-space folding, quantum mechanics and Dr. Who's Tardis.
Learning for today: I do not want to be God. I do not have his patience.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Kit, part 2: The Bug-out Bag
Wikipedia: A bug-out bag[1][2] is a portable kit that contains the items one would require to survive for seventy-two hours[3][4] when evacuating from a disaster. The focus is on evacuation, rather than long-term survival.
So, here's our current take on it... We each have one, with the exact same core contents - and packed exactly the same, so you just grab one, and go...
There are still bits that are yet to come, like MRE's (arriving 23rd Jan ;) - and if you ever need them - adventuremenu.cz), copies of passports and visas, and scans of all documentation on a mini-DVD, etc... and there are items which I won't be showing here for... well... various reasons ;)
Let's go clockwise:
Center:
The bag itself. On it, two packages of tissues.
Right:
Anti-bacterial wipes and gel.
Multi tool, large, with knife.
LED Flashlight
Compass
Fire Starter
CS gas
Spice mix (this is my individual addition, I can't run away without salt, pepper, paprika and curry!)
Saw
Center bottom:
Binoculars
Knife/Fork/Spoon
First aid kit for anything up to a medium-sized wound, basic pills (aspirin, "real" painkillers, water purification, stomach pains, antibiotics, diarrhea..., with 2 condoms for emergency water storage (thank you US Army for that hint)
Head-mounted light with 3 modes (dim, full brightness, red)
Plastic binders
Center top:
6 cereal bars
Small PMR radio (3-5km range), with built-in flashlight
Dextrose tablets
1 red, 1 white Chem-light
Nasal spray and eye drops (remember, we're going to the desert..)
Left:
High-visibility band
Small multi-tool
Hand-powered flashlight
A compass/whistle/thermometer/magnifying glass combo
Tape
Just so we're clear: this is the bear, sorry, bare necessities - ideally, one would also grab a satphone, the UHF/VHF radio and a few other.... choice items :)
In case you're feeling like reading up on this, here's a good link to start with:
US Military Survival Manual (.pdf)
And the link to the 1992 version, which I personally find better.
So, here's our current take on it... We each have one, with the exact same core contents - and packed exactly the same, so you just grab one, and go...
There are still bits that are yet to come, like MRE's (arriving 23rd Jan ;) - and if you ever need them - adventuremenu.cz), copies of passports and visas, and scans of all documentation on a mini-DVD, etc... and there are items which I won't be showing here for... well... various reasons ;)
Let's go clockwise:
The bag itself. On it, two packages of tissues.
Right:
Anti-bacterial wipes and gel.
Multi tool, large, with knife.
LED Flashlight
Compass
Fire Starter
CS gas
Spice mix (this is my individual addition, I can't run away without salt, pepper, paprika and curry!)
Saw
Center bottom:
Binoculars
Knife/Fork/Spoon
First aid kit for anything up to a medium-sized wound, basic pills (aspirin, "real" painkillers, water purification, stomach pains, antibiotics, diarrhea..., with 2 condoms for emergency water storage (thank you US Army for that hint)
Head-mounted light with 3 modes (dim, full brightness, red)
Plastic binders
Center top:
6 cereal bars
Small PMR radio (3-5km range), with built-in flashlight
Dextrose tablets
1 red, 1 white Chem-light
Nasal spray and eye drops (remember, we're going to the desert..)
Left:
High-visibility band
Small multi-tool
Hand-powered flashlight
A compass/whistle/thermometer/magnifying glass combo
Tape
Just so we're clear: this is the bear, sorry, bare necessities - ideally, one would also grab a satphone, the UHF/VHF radio and a few other.... choice items :)
In case you're feeling like reading up on this, here's a good link to start with:
US Military Survival Manual (.pdf)
And the link to the 1992 version, which I personally find better.
Kit review, pt1.
Folks,
some of you have mentioned that you'd like to see what we're taking along on the trip - and I'm happy to oblige. I'll do this in a few installments - today, we'll cover technology and 1st aid.
Just FYI - the black boxes are all the same size. I heard many stories about how they all eventually end up broken due to the stress of jumping up and down while driving on African tracks, so I engaged the old gray matter to think about what needs to be protected when being transported - and came up with these... They are, in fact ammo boxes for hunters from the local sporting goods store. :)
Box 1) Instant camera (Fuji Finepix) with 70 shots - apparently, these are a very easy way to give a "petit cadeaux" (small gift) to children. Assorted AA, AAA and 9V batteries, power plug adapters and a spare Samsung "idiot-proof" digital camera.
Box 2) The land-mobile pharmacy, covering everything from toothache (an industrial packaging of Ibuprofen) to "Africa-belly", serious pain, vitamins, antibiotic, antihistamines, stomach ache, water purification tablets, blood thinners/coagulants, etc.
Box 3) A platoon-sized first aid kit. We can do everything from scrapes and bruises, to minor field-expedient surgery and stiches.
Box 4) Video and Photo - a Sony digital camera (records straight onto DVD-RW's), and our trusty Nikon photo camera.
Box 5) Satellite navigation and comms: A Garmin Nuvi 765 for on-road navigation, with maps of Europe and what road maps there are of Africa, and a Garmin GPSMAP 276C with the Topographic maps of the parts of Africa we're going to (made by the Bamako team).
Then, two Sat Phones: The big, ugly Qualcomm Globalstar sat-phone (cockroaches will be using this thing to communicate after the apocalypse), but it's a phone only... Works almost anywhere, EXCEPT in the bottom part of Africa - go figure. The good side of it is that it only needs a view of the sky to function (and a satellite over head).
The second one is a Thuraya SO2510 - a nice, small unit, which has the great advantage of being able to send/receive normal SMS messages, as well as send short e-mails. It's also much cheaper (0.5 EUR/minute or SMS) to use than the Globalstar unit - but the drawback is that it needs to have a clear view of the southern sky, as it's only got one satellite in equatorial orbit. This will of course be les of a problem the further south we go.
Probably the most important bit of this box is the small orange device at the top-end of the picture - the SPOT Satellite messenger. This little darling sends location information every 20 minutes to a webpage (which is what you can use to track us - link is above to the right), and can send OK/HELP/911 messages. So if we're in trouble, you'll know, because it also posts status updates onto this blog. I can not overstress the peace of mind this thing buys you.
The "normal" 1st aid kit, courtesy of IKEA and beefed up with suggestions from the US Marines.
Two high-power PMR radios (still reasonably short-range, I don't think we'll get more than 2km on average out of them) for keeping in touch if someone needs to leave the car...
Most boxes and bags also have a small way of generating light - either by a Chemlight, or a small LED light. :) Because who wants to look for a battery when he needs one of these! :
That's it for now! Next installment - bug out bags and car! :)
some of you have mentioned that you'd like to see what we're taking along on the trip - and I'm happy to oblige. I'll do this in a few installments - today, we'll cover technology and 1st aid.
Just FYI - the black boxes are all the same size. I heard many stories about how they all eventually end up broken due to the stress of jumping up and down while driving on African tracks, so I engaged the old gray matter to think about what needs to be protected when being transported - and came up with these... They are, in fact ammo boxes for hunters from the local sporting goods store. :)
Then, two Sat Phones: The big, ugly Qualcomm Globalstar sat-phone (cockroaches will be using this thing to communicate after the apocalypse), but it's a phone only... Works almost anywhere, EXCEPT in the bottom part of Africa - go figure. The good side of it is that it only needs a view of the sky to function (and a satellite over head).
The second one is a Thuraya SO2510 - a nice, small unit, which has the great advantage of being able to send/receive normal SMS messages, as well as send short e-mails. It's also much cheaper (0.5 EUR/minute or SMS) to use than the Globalstar unit - but the drawback is that it needs to have a clear view of the southern sky, as it's only got one satellite in equatorial orbit. This will of course be les of a problem the further south we go.
Probably the most important bit of this box is the small orange device at the top-end of the picture - the SPOT Satellite messenger. This little darling sends location information every 20 minutes to a webpage (which is what you can use to track us - link is above to the right), and can send OK/HELP/911 messages. So if we're in trouble, you'll know, because it also posts status updates onto this blog. I can not overstress the peace of mind this thing buys you.
There are going to be two
more boxes - but they're not ready yet. One will be the "computer" box -
we're taking a small Netbook with us to be able to store pictures and
movies onto a hard disk, and if we get any WiFi, use the internet to
update the blog a bit, and a few other things... And the "random
communications" box, with the VHF radio and other assorted supplies. You
will see them when I finish them.
Most boxes and bags also have a small way of generating light - either by a Chemlight, or a small LED light. :) Because who wants to look for a battery when he needs one of these! :
That's it for now! Next installment - bug out bags and car! :)
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
SPOT works ;)
Aha! As you can see below, the tracker works ;) We'll try not to spam the blog with updates though - once per day should be enough!
Check-in/OK message from 3ezer SPOT Personal Tracker
3ezer
Latitude:47.50310
Longitude:19.07456
GPS location Date/Time:01/02/2013 13:09:17 CET
Message:Checking in - all good!
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/An9wP/47.50310N/19.07456E
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.50310,19.07456&ll=47.50310,19.07456&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
3ezer
You have received this message because 3ezer has added you to their SPOT contact list.
Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com
Latitude:47.50310
Longitude:19.07456
GPS location Date/Time:01/02/2013 13:09:17 CET
Message:Checking in - all good!
Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/An9wP/47.50310N/19.07456E
If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.50310,19.07456&ll=47.50310,19.07456&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
3ezer
You have received this message because 3ezer has added you to their SPOT contact list.
Every day is an Adventure. Share Yours.
http://www.findmespot.com
Budapest-Bamako 2012
Dear all, for your viewing enjoyment - the Travel Channel documentary of the 2012 Budapest-Bamako... Keep an eye out for the Green Land Cruiser with the number 25 - that's our guys ;)
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