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Sahara Crossing

laszlo szucs

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Mar 10, 2020
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great_britain
is anyone here thinking of a sahara crossing expedition? or have experience? im thinking to do it after proper preparation.

thanks
 

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The principal barrier at present is getting there. With all crossings to Morocco suspended at present, it's a long swim. As with all of these things, preparation is the key. A well serviced vehicle, decent tyres, spares to repair them, water and sufficient fuel and you can do it in a Renault Twingo. Relevent tools and knowledge on how to use them is important of course and a reliable means of communication. I'd not do something like this solo. Sure many would and that's fine. Unless. Having a travelling companion in another vehicle has been proven time and again to be very very useful. Last thing from me, as you clearly are doing, is do your homework. Be sensible and don't take unnecessary chances. Sound like a good trip in the making.
 
i wasn't thinking of jumping into the car tomorrow. more likely meet people in here who has experience and planning something like this in the next couple years.

we are 2 landcruisers, penman trailers and a (lifted) american jeep. no experience and plenty of time for good preparation
 
ohh forgot to mention...our trailers will be transformed into something very useful tool.
 
Of course. I did get that. It's great to have something to look forward to. I was going to do Morocco again this year but look how that went. I'm hoping to maybe do it next year. No point waiting til all of this is done. Got to get planning now. I have a Metalian trailer that I have dragged around on a good many trips. Brings a new versatility. But also something else to prepare well.
 
thanks for your reply. who knows, we might able to form a group in this forum and do a trip like this. my daughters are blond and i don't think i could protect them if anything happens. but it will be life changing experience which we wanna give them.
car's health is 100% number one priority too.

crossing the sahara desert with a possibility of transporting school supplies to remote villages is the main reason. do something good and have plenty purposes.

loads of planning to do, but im doing it, we are doing it.
 
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Do it! Tonnes of support on here. Not just pre trip, but members have airfreighted replacement turbos, bearings and all sorts of aid packages to people on trips as well as diagnosed noises and other failures. Plus we love a good trip report.

You can take too much stuff and there are threads on what to take, but the principle is knowing what could stop you dead in your tracks and what you can still move with and what you could get fixed on the route. Focus is then on the show stoppers and making sure they're tip top or you have a spare.
 
Morocco ferries have been running for over a year now, just not the ferries from Spain. Current access is via France or Italy on a long and expensive crossing. Then you need to add in to the equation that if you travel from France its a List B country so if Vaccinated you need a PCR test timed within 48 hours (the ferry takes 40). If unvaccinated you need a PCR and 10 day quarantine on arrival. Sadly Morocco is a dead end with heading further south at the moment with Covid restrictions. Theres a small possibility of crossing into Mauritania but its risky and expensive.

Best to have a look at some of the region specific sources of information rather than on here. If you're on Facebook the Overlanding North Africa Group or the Overlanding West Africa and Morocco Group are by far the best and probably the only ones with members with detailed, up to date local knowledge. Theres a few other copycat groups but they have limited expertise.

The Hubb regional forums are OK but lag behind on recent info and that's got worse with covid. Chris Scott's Sahara Overland site provides clear concise summaries of info received from recent travellers and his own trips to the region. For the Sahara as a whole Chris is probably the most knowledgeable person out there but even he gets info from others who know more than him in specific areas.

Sadly the golden age of Trans Sahara travel of the 80's and 90's has long gone with the growth of Islamic extremism, smuggling and banditry in the Sahel. It'll be many many years before this sort of travel is possible again.

Ignoring COVID restrictions the longest trans Sahara trip possible in some safety is Tunisia - Algeria - Mauritania - Morocco. Otherwise, with the exception of Egypt its all a no go zone. Tunisia is straight forward enough, as is Algeria until you get about half way south, then you'll need Police/military escorts or guide. Crossing into Mauritania takes you in to a Red Travel Advisory zone for about 100km or so, from there its a 1000km of desert with no facilities and no help if things go wrong. go too far south and thats Jihadi territory, go to far North and that's Polisario land. From then on its, relatively speaking, plain sailing.

There are hurdles to overcome with Visas, depending on which passport you have. For UK passports getting an Algerian Visa is a lottery, some get it, some get refused with no real reasons. Travel Insurance will need a specialist company to deal with the Red Travel advisory areas, but Battleface should be able to provide cover for a fee.

Charity work is all good but best to work with a known charity in the country you looking at working with. Morocco got particularly sensitive after a number of people were killed in a stampede when a well meaning soul starting handing out clothing in 2018. Mauritania should be OK and I'm not sure about Algeria or Tunisia on that front.
 
yeah, the biggest challenge is going to be the politics side of things - ad its also the sort of thing that is hard to just work through, unlike most of the technical stuff. But looking forward to seeing this come together, do it!

from the charity standpoint, ofcourse you should do what makes sense and what fits your mindset. Lots of options, lots of different ways to make a difference to different sort of environments and people and communities.
 
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