The Road Chose Me: Driving a Jeep Wrangler around Africa

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by max_boost
Haha yea good luck. Libya. Badass!

+1, given the current state of affairs in Egypt, Libya and further west along the North African coastal countries, have you any concerns about your safety at all? Any plans to stay away from certain areas?

I watched a documentary about an American guy who went through on a motorbike initially but ended up returning and fighting with Libyan rebels, albeit this was before Ghadaffi was overthrown.

In any case, subscribed to your YT!

[Grecy]

Originally posted by n1zm0


+1, given the current state of affairs in Egypt, Libya and further west along the North African coastal countries, have you any concerns about your safety at all? Any plans to stay away from certain areas?

I watched a documentary about an American guy who went through on a motorbike initially but ended up returning and fighting with Libyan rebels, albeit this was before Ghadaffi was overthrown.

In any case, subscribed to your YT!

Yes, of course I'm keeping a close eye on things in Northern Africa and thinking carefully about my route.

Algeria and Libya have been closed to tourists for a few years now - they will not issue tourist (or business, I believe) visas for any reason what so ever. So it's not possible to do the full loop of Africa for the last few years.

It will be more than 2 years till I'm in Egypt/Sudan area, so I will look into it then - a lot can change between now and then.

I'm in contact with two overlanders driving through Morocco right now. They are having an amazing time, friendly people, don't feel scared, etc. Loving it. They've met people driving North on the West coast who just left Mauritania and Western Sahara who have nothing but great things to say about those as well.

Mali is sketch, I'm hoping to avoid it by sticking to the coast. If I must, I'll go through it as fast as possible - stick to main roads, only drive during the day, stay in locked compounds overnight.

After that, I'm told everything is great.

-Dan

[OU812]

no updates since November??

[CompletelyNumb]

He was still in Canada as on last month.

[stealth]

I think you are planning on going from Morocco, south, correct?

FYI.. Looking at your map I see you crossing from Algeria into Morocco or vice versa. The borders are closed there, so you would have to catch a ferry to spain perhaps...

Looks like a lot of fun, I wish I could do the same trip.

[OU812]

Originally posted by Grecy


drive down into Morocco in late December.

Maybe something happened to him??

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by OU812


Maybe something happened to him??

I think he may of underestimated his time lines. After watching several documentaries about people trekking, and riding motorbikes in Africa their timelines always get blown out.

And according to his facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/dangrec

It says at the end of January he was road tripping across canada snowboarding.

Side note:

If anyone wants to watch a fantastic doco about some guys driving trucks through africa I recommend this one:

Africa's Cowboy Capitalists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GslPzhFLyas

[Grecy]

Hey Everyone,

I've had a challenging few months, and I'm more than overdue to give you all an update.

All the details of what happened and the path forward to Africa are in today's issue of JPFreek Adventure Magazine



I feel extremely lucky to be supported by new friends and family, without their support I don't think I would have found a way forward.

Tons of details in the coming days and weeks,

-Dan

[Grecy]

Originally posted by stealth
I think you are planning on going from Morocco, south, correct?

FYI.. Looking at your map I see you crossing from Algeria into Morocco or vice versa. The borders are closed there, so you would have to catch a ferry to spain perhaps...

Looks like a lot of fun, I wish I could do the same trip.

I won't be going into Algeria.
As far as I know, Algeria and Libya have not been issuing visas for any reason for a few years, so it's not possible to drive across the top of Africa right now.

I'll ship the Jeep to Europe, then drive to Spain, catch the ferry to Morocco, and go South from there (Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, etc.)

-Dan

[zipdoa]

I know how it feels to torch a diesel motor on a cool expedition vehicle. Going through that sucks. Did you sell it?

[OU812]

Dude. That totally sucks ass. Better it happened here than over there. You would have been so much worse than the land cruiser in the Congo when they blew the axle. So when do you aim to be rolling?

[Grecy]

Originally posted by zipdoa
I know how it feels to torch a diesel motor on a cool expedition vehicle. Going through that sucks. Did you sell it?

I did sell it, which helps a little.

The new owner said he'll put another OM606 in it, which is cool.

-Dan

[Grecy]

Originally posted by OU812
Dude. That totally sucks ass. Better it happened here than over there. You would have been so much worse than the land cruiser in the Congo when they blew the axle. So when do you aim to be rolling?

The timing works perfectly for me to be at Easter Jeep Safari in Moab in a week or so, then I'll high tail it over to the East Coast, ship to somewhere in Europe and get moving down to Morocco.

Likely into Morocco in late May or early June.

Tons of details on the new Jeep build coming this week. It's turned out better than I ever dreamed possible!

-Dan

[zipdoa]

Originally posted by Grecy


I did sell it, which helps a little.

The new owner said he'll put another OM606 in it, which is cool.

-Dan

Bittersweet, I'm sure. Good luck on the adventure, I'll be watching intently.

[Grecy]

Phase two of the Africa Jeep build is now complete.

Tons and tons of pictures here: http://theroadchoseme.com/jeep-build-phase-2-complete



Onwards to the final piece, EJS, then Africa.

-Dan

[MalibuStacy]

So sick

[OU812]

Sweet!

[Grecy]

This was the last night I'll ground tent with this Jeep.

http://instagram.com/p/BC9qRJOlBJA/

-Dan

[Grecy]

I spent a few days in San Diego hanging out with John and the crew at Ursa Minor while the fitted and modified my J30.

Read the whole story here: http://theroadchoseme.com/ursa-minor-j30-pop-up-camper



To say that I'm extremely impressed and happy is a massive understatement.
This top is a complete game changer.

-Dan

[nzwasp]

How long do you estimate it will take for your jeep to arrive in Africa?