Gilf Kebir 2009 - not sure if it has any LC content

[Guest]

Hello all,
It's been over a month now since I (plus Andy White, Steve Coates &
wives) came back from Egypt. Being a lazy old git I delayed reporting
it here and, frankly, there is nothing realy to report on the Land
Cruiser front - nothing broke, nothing malfunctioned or fell off (OK,
one M8 bolt on the hatch door stay). The LC just performed as
expected, day after day, mile after mile...
The desert drive over the distance of 2400 km between Dakhla Oasis and
Siwa Oasis took us two weeks. And it was not a typical off-road bash -
each LCs started with over 600kg on the roof rack (25 jerry cans plus
tent) . Plus the usual clutter of camping gear, spares, provisions,
photo eqipment, first aid kit, etc... and more fuel and water inside
the car. At least another ton ...
I used 500L of diesel, 200L of water,seven bags of wet wipes and 24
cans of Stella. We visited some places that have not been visited by a
human being since the Neolithic Age, met German archeologist Rudolph
Kuper who beat us to the Foggini Cave and tried keeping it all to
himself, found fresh traces of human traffickers and a giant piece of
silica glass in the Great Sand Sea, and took the ritual bath in Bir
Wahed near Siwa at the end of the trip.
A selection of pictures is here: http://www.panoramio.com/user/3866366
Word of caution: shipping cars to Egypt by sea is not for the faint hearted.
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80 (auto)
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[Guest]

Welcome back Roman
john92hdj801hdt
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[Guest]

Hi Roman,
what a great trip and great photos !!! and impressive autonomy too !!!
Gilf Kebir is No.1 on my wish list and I'm planning this trip for next
winter. I'm starting my trip to Mali and Burkina Faso (via Algeria) next
Friday so I will run out of holidays for some time...
How did you arrange the shipment of the car and what is the approx. cost
of such transfer ?
What about ferry to Tunis and driving trough Libya ? Have you consider
this option ?
You mentioned 500L of diesel, 200L of water - was that the total amount
you were carrying or the amount you actually used ?
Regards,
Tomaz
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[Guest]

Hello Tomaz,
Thanks.
I can see you want to be in the thick of it. Let us know please what's
it like in northern Mali. Last time I was there it was all peaceful
and quiet, but now ...
It was a bit over GBP 2.5 thousand both ways, not including countless
bribes, extra accommodation in Alex, taxis between ports and offices,
rebooking desert permits, gallons of mint tea .... You name it. In
all, we were delayed over a week as a result of a joint
British-Egyptian effort on the part of shipping agents to make our
lives miserable.
We did it in 2008. At the end of the day it was about the same cost
but we thought that this time we could save some time by shipping the
cars rather than driving. We were wrong! Driving is more fun than
hanging around container depots.
That was the actual consumption figures. At the end of the trip I was
left with 100L of diesel and lots of water. We were planning 4.5 -5 L
of drinking water per person. Only the first few days of October were
really hot (45 deg C outside, 55 deg C inside cars). After that it was
nice and cool (10-15 deg less) and we only used 2.5 -3 L per person.
Have a great trip and watch out for AQIM!
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80 (auto)
On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 8:59 AM, tomaz sustar <[Email address removed]> wrote:
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[Guest]

Hello Roman,
thanks for the answer.
Regarding the AQIM - we decided to take our Algerian guide with us for
the whole trip in order to minimize the risk ... anyway I will let you
know about the outcome
Regards,
Tomaz
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[Guest]

Roman
I met yourself and Andy at the last but one ELOC event when you were
planning this trip - fantastic trip - awesome photos - what more can I say.
Need to get off my arse and get some stuff done on the truck - and start
thinking about next year.
What was the duration of the trip - start to finish?
Would you recommend a trailer on this type of trip?
Regards - Denis
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[Guest]

Hello Denis,
Glad to hear from you again.
If I remember your LC, you have done more than enough for a trip like this.
A very well maintained stock car with good fuel and air filtration,
lots of cargo space and a very strong roof rack is all you really
need. Anything else is added comfort or plain bells & whistles. Even a
tent.
Well, I shouldn't be saying this, having myself spent quite a few bob
on my LC, but one comes to realise this one day ;-)
We were out in the desert for 15 days, shorter than planned due to the
delay in shiping the cars to Alex.
I wouldn 't recommend a trailer for this, nor frankly any desert trip.
Maybe trailers are OK in the bush, but not in a sand sea. It will bog
you down more often and will generally be a pain. The simple truth is
- what you can't carry in or on a LC is better left at home.
Rgds,
Roman (London, UK)
'92 HDJ80 (auto)
On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 10:22 AM, Denis <[Email address removed]> wrote:
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