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Insights on International Overlanding · The Overland Journal Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I'm your host,
0:07
Speaker 1: Scott Brady, and we have a unique episode this week.
0:10
Speaker 1: This was actually recorded in twenty sixteen when I was
0:15
Speaker 1: on a trip through Kenya and Uganda with doctor Brian
0:18
Speaker 1: Bass and some other friends. You can hear more about
0:22
Speaker 1: doctor Brian Bass in one of our episodes that we
0:25
Speaker 1: called the Real Indiana Jones. Fascinating character and I recommend
0:29
Speaker 1: that you listen to it. So this conversation that you're
0:32
Speaker 1: going to hear now was done in the field somewhere
0:35
Speaker 1: in northern Kenya, So you're going to hear a lot
0:38
Speaker 1: of sounds of birds and other creatures encroaching on the audio,
0:43
Speaker 1: but for the most part, it is a very interesting
0:46
Speaker 1: listen to a gentleman by the name of Stanley Illman
0:49
Speaker 1: and Alex BECKERIEA and Stanley is the founder of front Runner.
0:54
Speaker 1: Many of us know for their accessories, but Stanley is
0:58
Speaker 1: a lifelong overlander in Africa and around the world. And
1:01
Speaker 1: Alex Beckeria was one of the founders of the g
1:05
Speaker 1: Wagon Endecker project that was done with Unicat also with Stanley,
1:10
Speaker 1: So a very interesting individual that has had a lifetime
1:14
Speaker 1: of travel in Mercedes G class and Range Rovers, et cetera.
1:18
Speaker 1: Enjoy my conversation with Stanley and Alex. This episode is
1:24
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1:28
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1:32
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Speaker 1: unique and innovative and tough as tanks. Scott Brady here,
1:59
Speaker 1: publisher of Overland Journal and Expedition Portal, and i am
2:02
Speaker 1: at beautiful Lake Baringo in Central Kenya, and I'm with
2:06
Speaker 1: two gentlemen that have been overlanding for literally decades in
2:11
Speaker 1: some of the most harsh environments on the planet. And
2:14
Speaker 1: they've come to the conclusion what is the ultimate overlander?
2:18
Speaker 1: And they've built it for themselves here with these Mercedes Benz,
2:21
Speaker 1: the Londavogen and Deckers, I've got Stanley Illman from front Runner,
2:26
Speaker 1: and I've also got Alex Bekeeria from Dimes. And these
2:29
Speaker 1: two gentlemen have been traveling together for how long, Kitty ideas?
2:33
Speaker 1: For thirty years? And I'm sure you guys have seen
2:36
Speaker 1: some crazy things in Africa over that. And how long
2:40
Speaker 1: have you been using the Mercedes Belandavogan.
2:43
Speaker 2: I've been using it since the first one.
2:46
Speaker 1: Okay, so from the late seventies. And you've had many
2:51
Speaker 1: of them. I mean I've seen.
2:52
Speaker 2: A few, but I've had about ten ten of.
2:54
Speaker 1: Them all together. And Alex, how about you? How long
2:58
Speaker 1: have you been using.
2:58
Speaker 3: The since the first time? Standing took me on a
3:01
Speaker 3: trip that Yeah, then.
3:04
Speaker 4: I moved the first one, and then the second one,
3:06
Speaker 4: and then the third one.
3:07
Speaker 3: Yeah sure, yeah yeah.
3:09
Speaker 1: And and what Stanley, what would you describe is that
3:13
Speaker 1: the thing that really draws you to the Thelaundevogu.
3:16
Speaker 3: And what what makes it the ultimate vehicle for you?
3:19
Speaker 5: I think the riding comfort to start with, the visibility
3:22
Speaker 5: that one hasn't and.
3:24
Speaker 6: Also just the space inside the vehicle, the.
3:27
Speaker 5: Coolness that's what feels when one's driving in the car
3:31
Speaker 5: has a vertical wind screen which helps ye stops the
3:35
Speaker 5: sun getting on your invest today and the car rides
3:40
Speaker 5: very safety. We've never had any reviews seeing.
3:42
Speaker 6: This excident, so it seems to do.
3:46
Speaker 3: Yeah.
3:47
Speaker 1: And you have a long history in motorsports as well,
3:50
Speaker 1: so I think you probably expect the vehicle to perform
3:52
Speaker 1: at a level that maybe some of the other ones can.
3:55
Speaker 5: I think we drive them a little quicker than we
3:58
Speaker 5: said one will normally drive them. But you know, we've
4:00
Speaker 5: got to say the vehicle trying to treated as best
4:05
Speaker 5: you can. Have a just decisi you've got the period
4:08
Speaker 5: that is.
4:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Alex, what would you say are some of
4:12
Speaker 1: the things that stand out in your mind of why
4:15
Speaker 1: you like the Glandelager.
4:19
Speaker 3: I like the fact that it is quite narrow, not
4:22
Speaker 3: wide so and as I says, you said, has a
4:25
Speaker 3: very good visibility. It's over it's very easy to see
4:27
Speaker 3: where the start stop, so to cornerate it, to go
4:31
Speaker 3: through trees, or even the tracks are when you run,
4:37
Speaker 3: you're traveling on texts, you are or nearly on the tracks,
4:40
Speaker 3: and not the danger of being on the track, to
4:42
Speaker 3: the danger of anafuncture or other issues on your tires. Uh,
4:50
Speaker 3: the comfort is great. I don't think there is any
4:52
Speaker 3: other is kind of comfort, driving position and so on.
4:57
Speaker 3: I think we just also you like that we've been using.
5:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, the thing that I've noticed about the Gundavogen is
5:08
Speaker 1: they kind of figured out the perfect set of specifications.
5:13
Speaker 1: It's the one hundred and twelve inch wheelbase, so it's
5:15
Speaker 1: long enough to be stable at high speeds, but short
5:18
Speaker 1: enough to still do well in technical terrain. The approach
5:21
Speaker 1: and the departure angles are also very aggressive for a
5:24
Speaker 1: vehicle like this, so I found that with that in
5:27
Speaker 1: the differential locks and the excellent ground clearance, these things
5:30
Speaker 1: really do perform well in the dirt. And we've seen
5:33
Speaker 1: that in some of the driving that we've done here
5:35
Speaker 1: on this trip. Although none of it was particularly technical,
5:38
Speaker 1: we did need that kind of ground clearance, particularly when
5:41
Speaker 1: we went over the pass from Uganda into Kenya. We
5:43
Speaker 1: got into some larger boulders and ledges that we needed
5:46
Speaker 1: to climb up and down, and I was certainly thankful
5:49
Speaker 1: that we had a vehicle with this much ground clearance
5:52
Speaker 1: as well. So tell me a little bit about what
5:55
Speaker 1: inspired the entech or you shared the story a little
5:57
Speaker 1: bit with me, But what was the thing that said
6:00
Speaker 1: we're going to build not only what we believe to
6:02
Speaker 1: be the ultimate vehicle, the Gland of Argan. But we're
6:04
Speaker 1: going to build the ultimate the landa Argan.
6:09
Speaker 3: Well.
6:10
Speaker 5: I think what inspired us was that we converted these
6:12
Speaker 5: vehicles for many, many years with all sorts of tents
6:16
Speaker 5: or you know, and move racks and bullbars and pipes
6:20
Speaker 5: of wheels and whatever else.
6:21
Speaker 6: We tried and export.
6:23
Speaker 5: The huge opportunity in Switzerland sort of stage eight nine
6:27
Speaker 5: years ago. That ten years ago, I think when we
6:30
Speaker 5: started and we went to the factory and this Swiss
6:35
Speaker 5: important because we were buying the fool not so much Mercedes,
6:40
Speaker 5: but was called the.
6:40
Speaker 2: Pool and we started with that and.
6:46
Speaker 5: We were able to expect the vehicle exactly the way
6:49
Speaker 5: we wanted and that was a great opportunity for us.
6:53
Speaker 1: And you guys bought ten of them, if I recall,
6:56
Speaker 1: and then and then once you bought the vehicle, Stanley
6:59
Speaker 1: shared with me a little bit about how that process
7:01
Speaker 1: worked because it was going to take almost two years
7:04
Speaker 1: to get the cars, so they gave you lots and
7:06
Speaker 1: lots of time to fill out the spec sheet with
7:09
Speaker 1: all the goodies on.
7:10
Speaker 3: It right and at the same time get prepared to
7:13
Speaker 3: do with them.
7:16
Speaker 5: So what we did is we took one engine's out
7:19
Speaker 5: of every Robbie Bletch and he set them. We try
7:23
Speaker 5: to get as many joints as we could, and we
7:25
Speaker 5: try to design the interior for the fuel tanks and what.
7:28
Speaker 6: We wanted to put inside for additional.
7:30
Speaker 2: Fuel and for the water, and for the troll system.
7:33
Speaker 5: And the next and then you know system. And we
7:37
Speaker 5: designed all that can before we even started. And then
7:40
Speaker 5: we decided to have them book by Uniquets, so we
7:43
Speaker 5: gave them some joints and they put stuff together for us.
7:48
Speaker 1: And one of the things that I think has been
7:49
Speaker 1: neat for me is is how many consumer products that
7:53
Speaker 1: front Runner has released as a result of this project.
7:56
Speaker 1: You guys figured out what worked and then you made
7:59
Speaker 1: other products available to the consumers.
8:02
Speaker 2: We did exactly that.
8:04
Speaker 5: So we today we we figured at has figured out
8:07
Speaker 5: some tool systems and what the tents and fuel tents
8:11
Speaker 5: for the diesel thelendovolvements that are around fish, the traditionals
8:16
Speaker 5: and and some of the other ones as well, the
8:18
Speaker 5: five hundreds or whatever they are.
8:22
Speaker 1: So so Alex, tell me where have you guys taken
8:24
Speaker 1: these trucks. What are some of the the highlights of
8:27
Speaker 1: your adventures? With these vehicles.
8:30
Speaker 3: Oh, it's all a person of taste. I think Algeria
8:38
Speaker 3: was certainly a very nice trip. To the very south
8:40
Speaker 3: of Algeria on the border.
8:41
Speaker 2: Of the valley, that was very nice.
8:45
Speaker 6: Uh.
8:46
Speaker 3: Then it came up into the wise from South Africa
8:50
Speaker 3: to Kenya, a very nice trip. Every trip is different,
8:58
Speaker 3: you can do the same group this is it's always
9:06
Speaker 3: full of adventures of surprises.
9:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've thoroughly enjoyed traveling with you guys, and it
9:11
Speaker 1: showed me a lot about why you guys designed the
9:14
Speaker 1: vehicles the way that you did. You've kept them as
9:16
Speaker 1: light as possible because you want them to perform in
9:19
Speaker 1: a certain way. You've also kept them pretty low to
9:22
Speaker 1: the ground. You didn't put big suspension lifts or anything
9:24
Speaker 1: on them because you wanted the vehicles to handle it
9:27
Speaker 1: at high speeds. And and I've noticed on some of
9:30
Speaker 1: these roads here in Africa that anything can happen, a
9:33
Speaker 1: huge pothole, or a ledge or a donkey running in
9:36
Speaker 1: from the side, or haven't forbid, a child running in
9:39
Speaker 1: from the side. And you guys need these trucks to
9:41
Speaker 1: be able to perform limit handling. And they do. They
9:45
Speaker 1: really do handle well.
9:48
Speaker 5: Yes, I think the truck's handled very very well, and
9:51
Speaker 5: you don't get to something less trouble with these other vehicles.
9:55
Speaker 5: The hexelred of very color.
9:56
Speaker 6: Gated roads doesn't seem to throw you off. They seem
9:59
Speaker 6: to do very very well.
10:01
Speaker 1: So Stanley, what would you say or your top two
10:05
Speaker 1: or three things that you did to the vehicle that
10:07
Speaker 1: you like the most, the modification that you you thought, man,
10:11
Speaker 1: that really exceeded my expectations.
10:14
Speaker 6: Well, the roof of pins were a big thing.
10:16
Speaker 5: Tolinas that we put then wouldn't have really the vehicles
10:20
Speaker 5: that we're talking about.
10:22
Speaker 6: The loom fracks that all them keeps it all together and.
10:26
Speaker 3: Allow as you know, we had a spare wind screen
10:31
Speaker 3: inside it is.
10:32
Speaker 4: A place where we can put the same tracks, or
10:37
Speaker 4: we can put sleeping bags or whatever it's there.
10:40
Speaker 3: Out of the way.
10:41
Speaker 1: Sure, that's us another we think about these pants. Yeah,
10:45
Speaker 1: I thought that was a good idea that you guys
10:47
Speaker 1: had to put these lex and wind screens that that
10:51
Speaker 1: they that they keep the film on so they don't
10:54
Speaker 1: get scratched, and then they stick the wind screen underneath
10:57
Speaker 1: the mattress. So they've got a spare wind screen just
11:00
Speaker 1: as it gets damaged by a rock or something going
11:02
Speaker 1: down the road or a branch comes through it, they're
11:04
Speaker 1: able to pop out the factory windscreen and put in
11:07
Speaker 1: a replacement so that they can get home.
11:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, we we've done it once many years ago. We
11:13
Speaker 5: hit a Koodoo and we drive all the way back.
11:15
Speaker 3: From the h and that would not be fun.
11:21
Speaker 1: So you like the obviously the front runner rack, it's
11:24
Speaker 1: one of the one of the really the forefront in the
11:26
Speaker 1: industry as far as lightness and strength and also you know,
11:31
Speaker 1: modific modifications that you can do to the rack, so
11:33
Speaker 1: the different accessories that you can fit. So beyond the
11:37
Speaker 1: tent and the rack, is there anything else? Standwy you really.
11:39
Speaker 5: Light balls, there's lights, there's awnings, you can you can
11:44
Speaker 5: put jerry cans on top, you can put water on
11:47
Speaker 5: top if.
11:47
Speaker 6: You need more.
11:48
Speaker 5: Just depend on the configuration where one's going, on what
11:51
Speaker 5: one's doing.
11:52
Speaker 6: The very flexible private system that works for most.
11:57
Speaker 1: Yeah.
11:57
Speaker 5: The thing we did as well as we added to
11:59
Speaker 5: stay weok is onto the vehicles as well to stay
12:03
Speaker 5: wheels on the back, the bullbars that we made for
12:08
Speaker 5: them as well with a witch blade.
12:09
Speaker 6: You made those a front front as well, which seems
12:12
Speaker 6: to work.
12:12
Speaker 1: Those are very nice bumpers.
12:14
Speaker 3: I think one of the last modifications that we did,
12:17
Speaker 3: which I think is really simple but really great, is
12:19
Speaker 3: this good wing your windows that allow access to the luggage.
12:27
Speaker 3: Because we have a draw system and it's lying. Everything
12:29
Speaker 3: is lying at the higher level. It makes that so
12:32
Speaker 3: much easier when you can't be sure you have access
12:34
Speaker 3: direct the storage box.
12:37
Speaker 1: So yeah, I noticed that I've used that many times
12:40
Speaker 1: on the trip already. You just pushing the two latches
12:43
Speaker 1: and and up they go and you can access a
12:45
Speaker 1: bag that's closer to the other end.
12:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, as well as the cargo net inside. It's
12:50
Speaker 3: also also quite handy.
12:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been it's been nice for me to see
12:54
Speaker 1: these vehicles again. I t testro of the ent Degor
12:57
Speaker 1: the first time in twenty eleven, but it was for
13:00
Speaker 1: pretty short period of time. But for me to now
13:02
Speaker 1: be able to spend weeks with the car, I can
13:04
Speaker 1: really see both of your vision come through in the vehicle.
13:08
Speaker 1: And it's certainly the kind of truck that you would
13:10
Speaker 1: want to drive around the world, that's for sure.
13:12
Speaker 5: Yeah, you can you can go anywhere with a truck
13:14
Speaker 5: Coman's with two refrigerators in it. That's very good access
13:17
Speaker 5: to the back doors which also works very very well.
13:20
Speaker 5: And so you know, utilize the vehicle to.
13:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, large water tank, a large fuel tank, all with
13:27
Speaker 1: transfer pumps. Yeah, it really makes it very livable. I
13:31
Speaker 1: noticed that there's not a lot of effort required to
13:33
Speaker 1: make something happen. A lot of times people there there
13:36
Speaker 1: everything's an afterthought with this. You push a button, turns
13:39
Speaker 1: on the pump, you go to the rear bumper, you've
13:41
Speaker 1: got water.
13:43
Speaker 5: And the other thing is that it's the secret through
13:46
Speaker 5: and the years of experience is.
13:47
Speaker 6: The ease of access to everything very quickly.
13:50
Speaker 5: What's important, you know, and able to put up a
13:53
Speaker 5: camp in five minutes.
13:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, that's what makes it really.
13:56
Speaker 6: Worth and put it down maybe in ten Yeah, you
13:59
Speaker 6: know up and does so.
14:02
Speaker 1: You guys have have employed some some interesting materials in
14:05
Speaker 1: with these vehicles. I know that the roof tents employ
14:07
Speaker 1: some carbon fiber, and you guys have even had titanium shovels.
14:11
Speaker 3: Prepared for the vehicles.
14:13
Speaker 1: What what of those unique products have you found work
14:16
Speaker 1: really well for you? What are the things that you
14:18
Speaker 1: would recommend others to consider.
14:20
Speaker 5: Always consider, I believe is the likeness of everything. And
14:23
Speaker 5: the secret to traveling and many traveling is any time
14:26
Speaker 5: you get any evidence that's.
14:30
Speaker 2: The vial, the niqueness of it.
14:31
Speaker 5: We made a cartagium shekel say another then and that's
14:38
Speaker 5: all the little bits that add up.
14:39
Speaker 6: By the coin. You could have another fifty pounds.
14:41
Speaker 1: In aboven and that would easily be another fifty pounds
14:44
Speaker 1: of fuel if you needed it for range or just
14:46
Speaker 1: keeping the vehicle lighter.
14:47
Speaker 3: So it performs o water.
14:51
Speaker 1: So, Alex, what were some of the things, some of
14:52
Speaker 1: those more exotic things that you put on the truck
14:54
Speaker 1: that you really found worked. Great question.
14:59
Speaker 3: It's uh, well, you try things out also because you
15:03
Speaker 3: may end up seeing that you don't really use. We tried.
15:08
Speaker 3: We put put it around canisters we used to be
15:12
Speaker 3: in old the cities pent spare wheels as a tool
15:16
Speaker 3: reserves old ones and we found a way to fit
15:19
Speaker 3: them in the in the spare wheels. After this good
15:22
Speaker 3: pan we realized that if you fill them completely with oil,
15:26
Speaker 3: which is what we did, you're making the spare Wey
15:29
Speaker 3: carrier very heavy, you know, with the big Hutchison bier
15:33
Speaker 3: with the bidlow and another there's a version that takes
15:36
Speaker 3: seven and a version takes nine liters. That's the weight
15:39
Speaker 3: of the kerry can becomes very heavy. And we started
15:42
Speaker 3: seeing that the original the cities pent spare wey carry
15:46
Speaker 3: start practice, so we had to reinforce them and then
15:48
Speaker 3: we decided we don't need that much oil can carry
15:53
Speaker 3: them out. But it's a good place because you don't
15:56
Speaker 3: use it the would you agree, it's in a very
16:02
Speaker 3: nice position. It's normally over thirty so it's a good
16:06
Speaker 3: place to keep it on the spare with it's also
16:10
Speaker 3: nice a nice product I mentioned to you yesterday the
16:16
Speaker 3: carbon fiber someplace, so again another way to.
16:20
Speaker 6: Increase lifeless.
16:24
Speaker 3: Taking over every trip. We get some new ideas also
16:29
Speaker 3: from our travel companions for some positions, and then we
16:33
Speaker 3: see if we can either improve or change something that
16:36
Speaker 3: is already existing, or whether it is a new product
16:40
Speaker 3: that can be developed, can be others. So it's a
16:43
Speaker 3: continuous development. And because we made a certain number of vehicles,
16:47
Speaker 3: it becomes a small service product because everyone who has
16:50
Speaker 3: one of these vehicles wants to wants that accessory or
16:54
Speaker 3: that whatever comes from.
16:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's one of the things that's been neat for
16:59
Speaker 1: me to see through this processes is how much testing
17:02
Speaker 1: you guys do. I mean the advantage that front Runner
17:05
Speaker 1: has with its owner out here using the products in
17:08
Speaker 1: the field. That's very unique. Not a lot of companies
17:11
Speaker 1: do that.
17:14
Speaker 5: They don't and I think that's the secret to how
17:17
Speaker 5: you both like a bitter stuff. We've always try to
17:20
Speaker 5: keep everything as light as possible, and I think it
17:24
Speaker 5: works today and you see what breaks.
17:26
Speaker 3: Sure, you can engineer everything.
17:27
Speaker 5: You think it's perfect, that it ain't to the hitter
17:30
Speaker 5: proligations as the big bumps.
17:31
Speaker 3: Sure.
17:33
Speaker 1: Sure, And that's been another part of the thing that's
17:36
Speaker 1: been fun is to watch you guys work through problems
17:38
Speaker 1: and challenges together as a team. You never saw anything
17:41
Speaker 1: as being insurmountable, and we've gotten through some some pretty
17:44
Speaker 1: significant challenges just because of termination from all of you guys.
17:48
Speaker 1: Sure and land Phronsie, who's not who's not on the
17:51
Speaker 1: video here but Champion Phronsie.
17:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have a.
17:55
Speaker 5: Lot of fun and you know the parts of back
17:58
Speaker 5: up and give in. Like Allnata, you have to find
18:00
Speaker 5: a way to get home. And yeah, fun fun finds.
18:05
Speaker 1: No, that's great. I guess the last question I have.
18:09
Speaker 1: You had all the vehicles painted Matt Tan, which I
18:12
Speaker 1: think looks great. Some would think maybe that it makes
18:15
Speaker 1: the group look very military, which could obviously have advantages
18:19
Speaker 1: and disadvantages. What was the mindset behind the color choice
18:24
Speaker 1: and how have you found that that affects your travels
18:27
Speaker 1: as well?
18:28
Speaker 3: Bought the first We both we both before this, like
18:32
Speaker 3: twenty years ago. We both took cars in this Cow
18:36
Speaker 3: four sixty special special dirt was made for us with
18:41
Speaker 3: chassis Lamber because it was understand that we see this
18:45
Speaker 3: double again, we should pick certain specification and we like
18:49
Speaker 3: that follow very much. Ages incredibly well. It resists very
18:54
Speaker 3: well to the dirt. Even when it's thirty it still
18:56
Speaker 3: looks good. And I think the fact of looking military
19:01
Speaker 3: can be a disadvantage, that can also be an advantage.
19:05
Speaker 3: Like in our case right now, common bandits would possibly
19:13
Speaker 3: be a little bit scared of a group of military
19:16
Speaker 3: looking papers because they don't know if there's armed soldiers
19:19
Speaker 3: inside or whatso they would rather stay away. On the contrary,
19:23
Speaker 3: when we go into the terrorist area, so military could
19:26
Speaker 3: be a bit of an issue. But again because they
19:31
Speaker 3: take on terrorist.
19:34
Speaker 4: These days, take hostages quite often, maybe it's not that
19:40
Speaker 4: an advantage.
19:40
Speaker 3: You didn't really have anything like it, very much like
19:47
Speaker 3: the cold perfectly with Africa. We made one black hut.
19:51
Speaker 3: There was one one friend of mine who wanted a
19:53
Speaker 3: map black one which made but we don't want to
19:57
Speaker 3: use that in Africa. You know, you know I agree.
20:01
Speaker 1: Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for your time. We
20:04
Speaker 1: really appreciate the insights. I know that these trucks have
20:06
Speaker 1: become extremely popular, not only in North America but around
20:10
Speaker 1: the world. And I applaud you both for putting together
20:13
Speaker 1: such an amazing vehicle.
20:14
Speaker 5: Thank you.
20:16
Speaker 1: With us. Yeah, I love Yeah. And a special thanks
20:21
Speaker 1: to one of this week's sponsors, Rumpel Blankets. Rumpell started
20:26
Speaker 1: literally in the back of a van. Their story is interesting.
20:30
Speaker 1: They were on a surf and ski trip through California
20:32
Speaker 1: and the founders of Rumpel were sleeping in a van
20:35
Speaker 1: several miles up a dirt road near a secret hot springs.
20:39
Speaker 1: It woke up the next morning in sub zero temperatures
20:41
Speaker 1: in a car that wouldn't start. They were outside of
20:44
Speaker 1: cell reception and confronted with the real possibility of a
20:47
Speaker 1: long walk into town, so instead they decided to bundle
20:50
Speaker 1: up in their sleeping bags and drink whiskey while they
20:53
Speaker 1: waited for someone else. To show up and that turned
20:56
Speaker 1: into hours and the conversation extended on to the subject
20:59
Speaker 1: of bedding and they came up with Rumpel blankets. Their
21:02
Speaker 1: most popular product is the original Puffy blanket. It is
21:06
Speaker 1: their flagship product and it's available in a one person,
21:09
Speaker 1: a two person, and a junior size. I have used
21:11
Speaker 1: the two person for many years. I keep it as
21:14
Speaker 1: part of my kit that lives in the vehicle just
21:18
Speaker 1: in case I run into a situation similar to what
21:20
Speaker 1: they did where I'm stranded and need some additional warmth
21:23
Speaker 1: and insulation. It's also really useful for around the camp
21:26
Speaker 1: campfire when you want that little bit of extra comfort.
21:29
Speaker 1: I'll also use it when sleeping in the vehicle, and
21:31
Speaker 1: then they are just the right size or a roof
21:34
Speaker 1: tent as well. So these are really high quality blankets
21:37
Speaker 1: that are weather resistant. They're made from recycled materials, they're washable,
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Speaker 1: and they have very durable fabrics and construction, which makes
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21:48
Speaker 1: next blanket. And I'm here again with Alex Beckeria and
21:54
Speaker 1: Stanley Yellman, and we're going to talk about these gentlemen's
21:57
Speaker 1: experience traveling around the world. If you can, in just
22:01
Speaker 1: a few seconds, film and just kind of give us
22:04
Speaker 1: where you've traveled. I know that you guys have traveled
22:07
Speaker 1: extens extensively around the globe glow, but I think it'll
22:10
Speaker 1: be good for the listener and the viewer to get
22:13
Speaker 1: an idea where you guys have been. Tell me some
22:16
Speaker 1: of the places you guys have traveled.
22:17
Speaker 5: Wow, I've traveled out most of South America, Central America
22:24
Speaker 5: up to Alaska and then through India and Australia and Africa,
22:32
Speaker 5: extensively in Africa and.
22:34
Speaker 4: What you Alex are more or less similar destinations, well
22:39
Speaker 4: somewhere together, huh, A bit more Asia may be, but
22:45
Speaker 4: definitely my favorite place is this continent.
22:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, by far.
22:50
Speaker 1: And you've also spent some time traveling in the Middle East,
22:52
Speaker 1: including extensively in Iran.
22:55
Speaker 4: Yes, in Iran that's more for business than for pleasure,
23:00
Speaker 4: but it's a nice country, interesting as well as other
23:05
Speaker 4: Middle Least destinations Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India or some other
23:15
Speaker 4: countries in the area. It's more complicated to travel in
23:22
Speaker 4: those areas. But also it's also got his interesting size.
23:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, you bet so. Between the three of us, We've
23:29
Speaker 1: got the seven continents pretty well covered, and I think
23:32
Speaker 1: it'd be fun to talk about what you guys have
23:34
Speaker 1: learned in your travels, those little tidbits. So I'm going
23:37
Speaker 1: to prompt you guys with some questions about some different
23:40
Speaker 1: things and how you guys tend to solve it. One
23:43
Speaker 1: of the things that we oftentimes get questions on is
23:46
Speaker 1: how do you handle border crossings very calmly.
23:51
Speaker 5: Time, You've got to take time, don't get excited. Sometimes
23:56
Speaker 5: you can be in a border for four or five hours.
23:58
Speaker 5: Sometimes you can be there for a day. All just
24:01
Speaker 5: depends where it is. But it's got to keep calm,
24:04
Speaker 5: to nicely to the people and work your way through
24:06
Speaker 5: it somehow.
24:08
Speaker 4: And how about you out is generally quite impatient person
24:12
Speaker 4: becomes the most patient person when it is a matter
24:16
Speaker 4: of border crossing. Yes, it's as usual with kindness, respect, patience.
24:24
Speaker 1: And you always find a way.
24:27
Speaker 4: We never ever had a problem.
24:29
Speaker 1: And I've noticed crossing a few borders with you guys now,
24:33
Speaker 1: is that you guys employ a lot of humor, and
24:35
Speaker 1: in fact a lot of humor, so much so more
24:38
Speaker 1: than I would normally use it a border, but it
24:40
Speaker 1: really works in Africa I mean, you're very sweet to
24:43
Speaker 1: the people, and you're you joke around and and you
24:47
Speaker 1: you make light of the situation. And I've noticed that
24:50
Speaker 1: they come, almost all of them, just they completely change
24:53
Speaker 1: their their view. Yeah, their attitude towards you and towards
24:57
Speaker 1: us as a group. Of course, the one and Uganda
25:01
Speaker 1: doing the Carnes no matter how we joked with him,
25:04
Speaker 1: he didn't, he didn't. Yeah, in the end he probably relaxed,
25:08
Speaker 1: came around. That was really that was really fun to see. Now,
25:12
Speaker 1: And how do you guys also deal with your documents?
25:16
Speaker 1: Have you guys found good ways to manage your documents?
25:19
Speaker 1: Do you guys carry copies of your documents with you?
25:22
Speaker 5: And well, we keep copies on our phones so if
25:25
Speaker 5: you really have to show something, if we lose a document,
25:27
Speaker 5: but I don't think we've ever lost the possiblet or anything.
25:29
Speaker 2: We've never lost a document.
25:31
Speaker 1: And you guys are obviously dealing with carnes for three
25:34
Speaker 1: different vehicles, so you've got to keep track of the carnes.
25:38
Speaker 1: You got to keep track of obviously the passports and
25:40
Speaker 1: the visas that are required.
25:41
Speaker 2: That's all Kan and the visa is and Kan and
25:45
Speaker 2: possible what.
25:47
Speaker 4: Happens actually on the smaller boarder is often that the
25:49
Speaker 4: people don't know how to handle a car. They probably
25:53
Speaker 4: show one they know barely know what it is, or
25:55
Speaker 4: you have to teach them. You need to stamp here,
25:58
Speaker 4: take a section off, but sure less if you help them,
26:04
Speaker 4: they manage them.
26:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, and what else have you guys found as far
26:09
Speaker 1: as adapting to the local cultures? Have you do you
26:13
Speaker 1: guys do just do some research ahead of time? Or
26:15
Speaker 1: how do you make sure that you don't offend your
26:19
Speaker 1: hosts that you're visiting? And what do you guys normally
26:22
Speaker 1: do for research on that before you go into various contries.
26:25
Speaker 5: I don't think we really do research on it if
26:27
Speaker 5: we don't speak the languages. But I think with the
26:29
Speaker 5: kindness and shaking of hands and smile, I think that's
26:32
Speaker 5: really really good to do.
26:33
Speaker 4: It's common sense. And you know, just just be aware
26:37
Speaker 4: that there might be a different culture, a different way
26:39
Speaker 4: of thinking, and it's fine. But the basic rules of
26:43
Speaker 4: humanity apply to all human beings, you know, that's true.
26:48
Speaker 4: Difference is very small, very minor, and they understand that
26:51
Speaker 4: you are different. Also, if you don't insist, you know,
26:54
Speaker 4: they will.
26:55
Speaker 3: It's okay.
26:56
Speaker 1: Yeah. I noticed when we went from Uganda back into
27:00
Speaker 1: Kenya and we encountered the militia the way that you
27:05
Speaker 1: guys interacted with them. You very quickly attempted to calm
27:09
Speaker 1: the situation down. Every able bodied man in the village
27:12
Speaker 1: was there with a weapon, including bows and arrows, so
27:15
Speaker 1: it could have easily gone the other direction. And I
27:19
Speaker 1: know oftentimes travelers are fearful of those kinds of situations.
27:23
Speaker 1: How do you guys normally deal with that kind of tension?
27:26
Speaker 5: In that particular incident when we were there, actually felt
27:29
Speaker 5: no tension at all, because what you could realize is
27:32
Speaker 5: as I saw the people coming to all there was
27:35
Speaker 5: like the chief who was there, and they normally.
27:38
Speaker 2: Don't start a problem. Yeah, that's the way I find
27:41
Speaker 2: it anyway.
27:41
Speaker 5: And if the old guys there, then you normally don't
27:45
Speaker 5: have a problem. To go and shake his hand first,
27:48
Speaker 5: go to that that's way of doing things, and just
27:51
Speaker 5: bring yourself, you know, don't be the big deal. Yeah,
27:55
Speaker 5: be very humble and asked us. I think the first
27:57
Speaker 5: thing I asked us for was some water.
28:00
Speaker 3: I gave them.
28:00
Speaker 4: I feel the water, and I gave it to them
28:02
Speaker 4: to start because one man came on, came on for sure.
28:05
Speaker 1: Yeah.
28:06
Speaker 4: Then the others followed and there some more of them,
28:09
Speaker 4: and then we talking there. We asked them to say
28:12
Speaker 4: that almost nobody comes through that road. They said the
28:16
Speaker 4: current year perhaps, yeah, and then and then they wanted
28:19
Speaker 4: to know why and what and how many vehicles and okay.
28:23
Speaker 1: No, it seems like you guys are really nice to you.
28:25
Speaker 4: Guys were also I think you also did your portional thing,
28:28
Speaker 4: so it's altogether worked well.
28:31
Speaker 1: We didn't have no. I thought it was I thought
28:33
Speaker 1: it was great because I mean, obviously, when you're dealing
28:35
Speaker 1: with a heavily armed group of people in a very
28:38
Speaker 1: remote area, if you try to run, or if you tried,
28:42
Speaker 1: if you don't, or if you show that you're very
28:44
Speaker 1: afraid or you're very aggressive.
28:45
Speaker 2: You've got to show confidence, show confidence.
28:47
Speaker 1: But then you.
28:50
Speaker 5: Know they there and you're not fearful of them anyway.
28:53
Speaker 5: But I could see that, you know, if they really
28:56
Speaker 5: wanted to hold you up, then they would have held
28:58
Speaker 5: you up.
29:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, So what have you guys found? You guys have
29:04
Speaker 1: shipped vehicles around the world too, have you guys? Do
29:08
Speaker 1: you guys have a preference so you tend to use
29:09
Speaker 1: containers or roll on, roll off, or we.
29:12
Speaker 5: Prefer to use containers definitely. But when in the early
29:15
Speaker 5: days we had the unimogs, would do them in a
29:18
Speaker 5: rorow because you couldn't put them in containers.
29:21
Speaker 2: But that was always problems because you couldn't.
29:22
Speaker 5: Drive them on yourselves, and they didn't just disconnect the
29:24
Speaker 5: batteries properly and that type of thing.
29:27
Speaker 2: But otherwise it wasn't bad.
29:28
Speaker 1: And I noticed with these, with these particular vehicles, you
29:32
Speaker 1: guys really like to travel with every vehicle being the same,
29:36
Speaker 1: and that certainly makes a lot of sense with regards
29:38
Speaker 1: to spares and tools and supplies.
29:41
Speaker 5: We try and carry most things we think we might
29:44
Speaker 5: have a problem, you know. So for instance, we'd carry
29:47
Speaker 5: a starter motor was a twenty four volts. You won't
29:50
Speaker 5: find another one in a hurry from this particular glend
29:53
Speaker 5: of organs. And we carry you know, fair amount of
29:56
Speaker 5: space shock absorbers. We all this take and to spare wheels,
30:00
Speaker 5: feel pumped all the things, suspend belts and gets whooped
30:06
Speaker 5: up somewhere, lots and lots of bolts. Sure as a
30:08
Speaker 5: full of that's about it.
30:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, I noticed. I mean, obviously these vehicles have been
30:13
Speaker 1: used extensively throughout Africa, all the way from Algeria and
30:17
Speaker 1: Morocco in the north down to South Africa and everywhere
30:21
Speaker 1: in between just about and they're starting to show a
30:24
Speaker 1: little bit of age. But it seems like you guys
30:26
Speaker 1: have a lot of confidence in the platform. And I
30:29
Speaker 1: also noticed that you guys. One of the things that
30:31
Speaker 1: I've taken away from this trip is if you guys
30:34
Speaker 1: hear anything different or if you feel anything different, you
30:38
Speaker 1: stop and you check it completely correct.
30:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, we try and fix the problem before we turn
30:44
Speaker 5: into a serious snow ghost problem.
30:46
Speaker 2: And we've normally found.
30:48
Speaker 5: That we've managed to keep them going electronically. They've played difficult,
30:53
Speaker 5: they really are.
30:54
Speaker 2: It's stupid. Little things go wrong and you have to
30:56
Speaker 2: fix some do Yeah.
30:58
Speaker 1: I noticed that, You know, we had a pretty wide
31:01
Speaker 1: range of issues with the vehicles we had, but none
31:05
Speaker 1: of them very serious, right, But we had a wide
31:08
Speaker 1: range a few shock absorbers that need to be replaced.
31:11
Speaker 1: You know, these are heavy vehicles, right And if you
31:14
Speaker 1: found what have you found kind of in general with
31:16
Speaker 1: these vehicles that you've needed to pay more attention to
31:19
Speaker 1: or or has it really just been across the.
31:21
Speaker 5: Board originally when they were Euro five. We had them
31:25
Speaker 5: brought down to Euro four. There were there were euro
31:28
Speaker 5: four to start with, and we broke them down to Euro.
31:30
Speaker 4: Three for the use here in.
31:33
Speaker 5: Africa temporarily. And as Alex said, and with that scenario,
31:38
Speaker 5: that problems went away. We had a lot of turbo
31:40
Speaker 5: problems in the beginning with a bad fuel in a
31:44
Speaker 5: bad field.
31:45
Speaker 1: Because it needed the ultra low sulfur diesel, which you
31:48
Speaker 1: shouldn't get. Yeah, and what are what are some of
31:52
Speaker 1: the things Stanley, that you found in all of your
31:54
Speaker 1: years of modifying vehicles? What would you what do you
31:57
Speaker 1: think are some of the most important things that people
31:59
Speaker 1: need to do to their truck when they first let's
32:01
Speaker 1: say they buy a new Land Cruiser or they buy
32:04
Speaker 1: a new glanda Ogen. What are you what do you
32:06
Speaker 1: think is kind of your top five things that you
32:08
Speaker 1: recommend that they that they look at modifying on the
32:11
Speaker 1: vehicle for long distance drive.
32:13
Speaker 2: My experience over the years now is done putty by
32:15
Speaker 2: any They keep it as stock standard as possible.
32:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, maybe you can do something with springs and a
32:21
Speaker 5: little bit of shock absorbers here and there, but I
32:24
Speaker 5: think that's about it, and just good tires trying to
32:27
Speaker 5: get to sixteen instrooms with lots of flirtation on the tires,
32:30
Speaker 5: with biggest, bigger walls on the tires, and I think
32:34
Speaker 5: that that's basically it.
32:36
Speaker 1: And I noticed that you guys started off with the
32:38
Speaker 1: Hutchinson wheels on the dew wagons and then you've since
32:42
Speaker 1: removed them. Alex, what was what did you guys experience
32:44
Speaker 1: with issues on that.
32:46
Speaker 4: We didn't really experience particular issues in the beginning. We
32:50
Speaker 4: were more in the North African campus, much more desert,
32:54
Speaker 4: lengthy sand, so the need of reducing the tire pressure
32:59
Speaker 4: was bigger and so that's why we started off. But
33:02
Speaker 4: there is also these advantages. There is a lot of
33:06
Speaker 4: weight and sprung weight. The fitting of tires is not
33:11
Speaker 4: as simple as one would think, despite the spit dreams,
33:16
Speaker 4: and so we recently for this part of the trip,
33:19
Speaker 4: we thought let's go more simple. And also because this
33:23
Speaker 4: can be a tire can be fitted by in any shop,
33:26
Speaker 4: by any place, with any.
33:27
Speaker 3: While the other one was a more complicated thing.
33:32
Speaker 1: We still have them well the next care's.
33:36
Speaker 4: Trip, and.
33:41
Speaker 3: It's mainly a weight made a weight thing.
33:44
Speaker 1: Another thing I noticed as well is that you guys
33:47
Speaker 1: do a lot of your own cooking, and you make
33:51
Speaker 1: sure that you take the time to cook meals, good
33:53
Speaker 1: healthy meals with plenty of calories and and so that
33:57
Speaker 1: you stay strong as a traveler. What did you guys
34:00
Speaker 1: always do that if you always half the funny is cooking. Yeah,
34:03
Speaker 1: half the travel is cooking. You know, we don't cook
34:06
Speaker 1: ancy always, but you take with some meat. We have
34:09
Speaker 1: a deep freeze, and we have a fridge, and we
34:12
Speaker 1: like colber and cold water and drinks, and we like
34:16
Speaker 1: some nice food. And Alex brings magic food from Italy. Yeah,
34:20
Speaker 1: and we've got salami, and we've got ham, and we've
34:23
Speaker 1: got persons and we travel very comfortably with that stuff,
34:26
Speaker 1: couplutons of Russian So in case we really get stuck
34:29
Speaker 1: somewhere for quite a while, we've got.
34:31
Speaker 3: All us a surplus of food. Sure.
34:35
Speaker 1: Yeah. And I and I noticed for me, oftentimes I
34:39
Speaker 1: like to eat where the locals eat, but I always
34:42
Speaker 1: I oftentimes get sick. And you guys mentioned that you
34:45
Speaker 1: hardly ever get sick on your trips because you're managing
34:48
Speaker 1: your own food.
34:48
Speaker 5: Well, we'll buy vegetables and stuff on the way, okay,
34:51
Speaker 5: and or fruit and then you just make sure we
34:54
Speaker 5: clean it freely copper and yeah, make sure you know
34:57
Speaker 5: if you eat in the local places, got to watch.
35:01
Speaker 3: Because of the water.
35:02
Speaker 1: Yeah.
35:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's also the meter, so.
35:05
Speaker 1: You don't know.
35:06
Speaker 5: We don't we bring We normally bring meat from home
35:09
Speaker 5: more ware, but you know, chumdering meat in or find
35:12
Speaker 5: it reput but where Yeah.
35:16
Speaker 4: And usually we vacuum pack it and sure corrections to
35:21
Speaker 4: day so we defrost whatever we need.
35:28
Speaker 1: And and alex on on these particular g wagons. How
35:31
Speaker 1: do you guys manage water? How much water do you
35:34
Speaker 1: have on board? Do you tend to want to filter
35:36
Speaker 1: it before it comes in or do you filter it
35:38
Speaker 1: if one tank gets tainted?
35:40
Speaker 4: Do you know what we normally do is we have
35:43
Speaker 4: ninety five liters of water each track.
35:47
Speaker 1: That's only for that.
35:48
Speaker 4: It's a cooking water and washing water, showering water, and
35:52
Speaker 4: then for drinking we have bottles which are easier to
35:55
Speaker 4: keep to store, keeps cold.
35:57
Speaker 2: In the fridge and so on. But if we find
35:59
Speaker 2: fresh water, very good water.
36:01
Speaker 5: But for instance, he we get some good water that
36:03
Speaker 5: you can drink, how would take that water and we
36:07
Speaker 5: fill the tanks.
36:08
Speaker 2: And then we can use that and full bottles with
36:11
Speaker 2: water and.
36:11
Speaker 6: Put them back in the coach.
36:12
Speaker 4: Or what happens otherwise is we try and empty one
36:16
Speaker 4: truck first the good water, and then we fill that
36:19
Speaker 4: truck with the shower water.
36:21
Speaker 2: There can be anywhere.
36:22
Speaker 4: Shower from the river or whatever, and we use it
36:24
Speaker 4: just for that purpose, and we keep running the drinking
36:27
Speaker 4: water or cooking water from the other vehicles.
36:31
Speaker 1: And I noticed Alex that you guys had some tablets
36:34
Speaker 1: or some liquid that you would put in you use
36:37
Speaker 1: just standard bleach or what do you typically use to
36:39
Speaker 1: drink trink the tank?
36:40
Speaker 4: It's a German product?
36:43
Speaker 5: Would I use Moltons stuff is used for kids for
36:46
Speaker 5: washing the bottles? Okay, the water doesn't taste great, but.
36:50
Speaker 1: It works, but it gets all the bad guys to.
36:53
Speaker 2: Coffee that we have in the morning. Anyway, we would yeah.
36:57
Speaker 1: Sure, And it's funny. What do you guys normally do
37:01
Speaker 1: have you found that works well for the clothing that
37:04
Speaker 1: you wear? Do you just tend to wear whatever is
37:06
Speaker 1: most comfortable or do you do you have a brand
37:08
Speaker 1: or a particular type of clothing you like to wear
37:11
Speaker 1: when you're in the bush?
37:12
Speaker 5: Our normally T shirts or ship like this, just that
37:16
Speaker 5: the latter colors are better for the cety fliers in Africa.
37:19
Speaker 2: Top of colors to attach you.
37:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that was a good, a good piece of
37:23
Speaker 1: advice you gave me. I showed up, I showed up
37:25
Speaker 1: with these nice travel shirts. But they're all dark colored.
37:28
Speaker 1: And you said, Scott, that's not gonna work and there
37:31
Speaker 1: and I said, well it's pretty thick, and you said,
37:33
Speaker 1: they'll go right through it.
37:36
Speaker 2: You know that.
37:37
Speaker 1: And those are the little things that that we all
37:40
Speaker 1: learn as we travel, right, we pick up these these
37:42
Speaker 1: little pieces of advice that that make travel a little
37:45
Speaker 1: bit better.
37:46
Speaker 4: Yes, generally we travel comfortably.
37:49
Speaker 1: We shot it or something.
37:51
Speaker 4: Also you like to give the impression that we have tourists, sure,
37:55
Speaker 4: which this helps. And then it's useless, so easy hat
38:01
Speaker 4: to wash everything. And then of course we keep also
38:03
Speaker 4: a set of longer pans and long sleeve shirts, shirts and.
38:12
Speaker 1: Things.
38:12
Speaker 2: We wear those those in the evening to.
38:14
Speaker 1: Actually keep sources or the local governor invites you over
38:18
Speaker 1: for dinner or whatever.
38:19
Speaker 3: We haven't had that problem.
38:23
Speaker 1: Good. Now, what do you guys normally do for navigation?
38:28
Speaker 1: That's another thing here in Africa? Would you tend to Africa?
38:32
Speaker 1: Thanks for Africa?
38:33
Speaker 2: Generally?
38:34
Speaker 5: Quite a few roads that we go on we're not
38:36
Speaker 5: on the tracks, and then we submit them back and
38:38
Speaker 5: hopefully I think they only publish after they've got three or.
38:41
Speaker 2: Four tracks in the same place before they're published.
38:45
Speaker 5: And but basically we use that to try and find
38:48
Speaker 5: some maps and stuff in between, and then just work
38:52
Speaker 5: our way through and ask locals and go and find roads.
38:55
Speaker 5: If we've never been before. We look on Google Earth.
38:59
Speaker 5: Google maps works very well. There's lots of they're not
39:02
Speaker 5: real checks. The checks are there, but the roads that
39:05
Speaker 5: they show are not real roads. They've just been placed
39:07
Speaker 5: off off Google is oh sure, because nobody's actually driven
39:12
Speaker 5: those and submitted those as.
39:14
Speaker 2: Proper, proper tracks, as proper coordinates on I think you
39:18
Speaker 2: saw when we drove on it.
39:19
Speaker 5: We had I had a check and that check from
39:22
Speaker 5: Google it didn't quite match the exact.
39:25
Speaker 2: Road that we were on, sometimes a couple of hundred
39:27
Speaker 2: meters out.
39:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, I noticed you guys used a broad spectrum of
39:31
Speaker 1: resources for that. Tracks for Africa on the Garmin GPS units,
39:37
Speaker 1: and then I think a couple of us had tracks
39:39
Speaker 1: for Africa also on the tablets and the phones. Have
39:42
Speaker 1: you used you're using anything different, Alex, Are you using
39:45
Speaker 1: other tools, just the tracks for Africa, and then there
39:49
Speaker 1: was a few times we talked to locals just to
39:51
Speaker 1: clarify show which is the business rude or that one
39:54
Speaker 1: is better. I think it was early in Uganda that
39:56
Speaker 1: we found that there was a road that looked like
39:59
Speaker 1: it would go through in the locals said no, that
40:00
Speaker 1: the road's not a good road to take. So and
40:03
Speaker 1: I also noticed that you guys spent the time talking
40:05
Speaker 1: to locals to get an idea about security if this
40:08
Speaker 1: was there were places where they said it's not really
40:11
Speaker 1: safe to go here, but if you go this way,
40:12
Speaker 1: it's okay this.
40:13
Speaker 2: Way or that way, and you know this place has
40:15
Speaker 2: been good and it's more traffic.
40:17
Speaker 4: That also changes in time. You know, it may be
40:20
Speaker 4: so at the specific time, and three months later there's
40:23
Speaker 4: a different scenario.
40:24
Speaker 1: With a different so it can get better or worse.
40:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can only find out a lot particular feeling.
40:30
Speaker 2: Is the more remote, the safe it is.
40:32
Speaker 1: And yeah, we certainly noticed that time and this particular trip.
40:36
Speaker 1: And I have to compliment you Stanley. We drove some
40:39
Speaker 1: wonderful roads. I mean a couple of them. When you're
40:42
Speaker 1: in low range and going over rocks and boulders and
40:46
Speaker 1: beautiful and there was nobody there. We didn't see another
40:48
Speaker 1: vehicle when we traveled from Uganda in the Kenya, and
40:51
Speaker 1: then when we went down towards Lake Burringo from I
40:56
Speaker 1: think it was Loki Char from that region, we didn't
41:00
Speaker 1: see another traveler. We saw some locals, but but now
41:02
Speaker 1: you didn't see another traveler the entire time. Brian and
41:06
Speaker 1: I were talking about that that during the entire trip
41:09
Speaker 1: we didn't see another overlander the entire time because we
41:13
Speaker 1: were so remote. Well, so that that was a real pleasure.
41:17
Speaker 5: We've never I've never been two thousands of mount areas
41:19
Speaker 5: that we went to this time in a Kundus group beautiful.
41:24
Speaker 1: So, Stanley, if you were going to give a short
41:28
Speaker 1: summary piece of advice to someone who wants to get
41:31
Speaker 1: into traveling in Africa, they've maybe not traveled that much,
41:35
Speaker 1: what would be the advice that you would give, maybe
41:37
Speaker 1: a young couple in their early twenties that want to
41:40
Speaker 1: go travel. What would you tell them to encourage them
41:42
Speaker 1: to travel?
41:43
Speaker 5: I would say, start in the areas where there are
41:45
Speaker 5: more people that you learn a little bit, and always
41:47
Speaker 5: try and travel with more than one do. Try and
41:50
Speaker 5: traveling a group, find another group to join up with.
41:53
Speaker 5: Two or three vehicles is the best way to travel, you.
41:56
Speaker 2: Know, gun maker.
41:58
Speaker 5: I mean I think the maximum not want to travel
42:01
Speaker 5: with the one does this type of things is maybe
42:03
Speaker 5: powerful for.
42:05
Speaker 6: Others becomes unruly to keep awaking.
42:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, so somewhere between two and three and four and five. Yeah. Perfect.
42:13
Speaker 2: In the early years we traveled in a single vehicle,
42:15
Speaker 2: I traveled a lot.
42:16
Speaker 1: To the single vehicle, it's not easy. Yeah lost you are.
42:21
Speaker 2: Today it's a GPS and the satellite turn it's a
42:23
Speaker 2: lot easier. But in the whole times it was nothing.
42:26
Speaker 1: Was a compass of a lot more difficult, more difficult.
42:30
Speaker 1: And Alex, if you were going to give some advice
42:32
Speaker 1: to a new a young couple in Switzerland that we're
42:36
Speaker 1: getting ready to prepare a vehicle and travel around the world,
42:40
Speaker 1: what would you tell.
42:40
Speaker 4: Them that you are quite adventurous anyway, they do travel plenty.
42:46
Speaker 4: I would say the same. I think that travel in
42:49
Speaker 4: a group is.
42:49
Speaker 2: All some more fun because group is the right one.
42:53
Speaker 1: Certainly say something was wrong.
42:57
Speaker 3: Nothing.
43:01
Speaker 1: I think there is a lotu see.
43:05
Speaker 3: In the world, and one life is not enough.
43:11
Speaker 1: Oh that's great advice. Yeah, we certainly all do need
43:14
Speaker 1: to get out and see as much of this world
43:16
Speaker 1: as possible. Well, gentlemen, I can't thank you both enough
43:19
Speaker 1: for the time. It's been a great learning experience for me.
43:22
Speaker 1: Traveling with both of you, it was an inspiring trip.
43:26
Speaker 1: We saw some beautiful places here in Africa, and I
43:29
Speaker 1: would recommend to everyone watching and listening UH to come
43:33
Speaker 1: and see Uganda, and come and see Kenya. Beautiful people
43:37
Speaker 1: and wonderful countries.