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Overland Journal is Crossing the African Continent with the Ineos Grenadier · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overlaine Journal podcast. I am
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: your host Scott Brady, and for today's conversation with Matt Scott,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: we talk about our upcoming expedition across Africa. We have
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: been planning this trip for close to four years now
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and we are finally getting ready to leave. In fact,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I leave tomorrow morning to fly into Johannesburg and the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Innios Grenadier is going to arrive a few days later
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: at the port in Durban. So we've selected the Innios
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Grenadier to cross the continent of Africa. So please enjoy
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: my conversation with Matt Scott about our upcoming trans Africa
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: expedition and a special thanks to Rocky Talkies for their
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: support of this week's podcast. Rocky Talkies are backcountry radios
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: designed by a small team in Denver. The radios are
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: extremely rugged, easy to use and compact, weighing in just
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: under eight ounces. They have a range of one to
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: five miles in the mountains and up to twenty five
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: miles line of site. The batteries will last from three
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: to five days and you can recharge them easily via
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: USBC right in the vehicle. Our team uses Rocky talkies
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: and we also use them recently at the Overland Expo.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: The next Overland Expo, stop into our booth and say
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: hello and check out the radius for yourself. And as
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: a listener of the Overland Journal podcast, you can get
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: ten percent off a pair by going to Rockytalkie dot
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: com forward slash Overland Journal. Thanks again, Rocky Talking. All right, Matt,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: we're talking travel. We get to talk about travel, get
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: to talk about us traveling, which is exciting. So we're
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: getting ready to leave for Africa. So this is a
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: trip that I've been planning for four years and I've
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: been so excited to go. But I was just looking
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: for the right combination of timing and opportunities.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: It's been a little hints dropped here and there.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: There has been that's right, exactly. And my plan originally
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: was just to take a motorcycle and just go do it.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: And then this new car company, Anios comes into the
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: into the scene, and I'm thinking, wouldn't that be so
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: fun to take the new Grenadier and drive the length
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: of Africa in a brand new vehicle, because you know
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: why not? Exactly? There there's keys, the keys, that's right. Yeah,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: it's so funny because I leave tomorrow morning on the flight.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: The keys just arrived today, so now this is the
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: spare set of keys there. There's obviously a set of
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: keys with the with the car on the boat. The
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: vehicle arrives in Durban in the next couple of days
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: on a Wilhelmson ship, so it was shipped roll on
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: roll off because it's still totally stock. It's a totally
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: stocked vehicle, so they're able to ship it with all
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: the other new cars that go into South Africa. So
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: it's kind of an interesting thing, and it also made
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: the shipment very quick. It was only about three weeks
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: from from Europe to Durban. Yeah, the vehicle shows up
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: in the next couple of days. I fly out tomorrow
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: and I guess kind of just to give an overview
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: of what it is that we're doing, and Matt and
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: I are talking about how we're going to get him
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: over there for certain sections of it. But the goal
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: is to drive the long axis of Africa. I've been
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: so fortunate through the years to you know, have circumnavigated
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: the planet three times and I've technically crossed all seven continents,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: but we've never really focused on the seven continents because
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: I wanted to do the long axis of Africa, and
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: that's what we're about to do, is drive the length
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: of Africa. It is awesome. The thing that's crazy, though,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: is that even as of today, the day before that
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I leave, we do not know for sure which route
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: we're going to take because there's so much happening in Africa.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: There's so many dynamics, particularly in Sudan. Even in the
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: last twenty four hours, you have the Wagner Group. You
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: have this attempted coup in Russia, which is going to
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: most likely significantly new to the Wagner Group, and that's
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: the group that's putting all the pressure in Sudan right now.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: So there's this little proxy war going on between the
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: government which is supported by the United States and the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Wagner Group, which supports this private security force. Okay, so
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: it's The African continent is very dynamic, which is part
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: of the reason why.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: And the thing is that it changes all the time.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: By the time you reach it's like you can start
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: heading north, that's right, and by the time you reach
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: it's going to be like civil war. Oh yeah, that one.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I kind of agree with you, and I think
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: that that's going to be our plan, because I really
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: would love to go spend some time in Rwanda, and
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: I'm really looking forward to Tanzania. And you've been there.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I've never been to Tanzania.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I mean like I've been in the four Seasons in Tanzania.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but think serious. Yeah you saw the beautiful you know,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: the scenery and the wildlife and everything else, and fly
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: in for that part. Okay, done, let's make it happen.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: I really want to climb Kilimanjaro. Yeah, that's the east
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: coast route. That would be really cool. So I'm just
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: really looking forward to doing that. I just I really
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: love Kenya and southern Kenya and that whole zone. I've
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: always wanted to go to Ethiopia. So there's a couple options. Basically,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: we're looking at three different options. Cape Town to Cairo
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: is option number one. That's our third option.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: The other one would be Cape Town to Djibouti, which
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: gets us into the Sea of Aiden and it's it's
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: just as much of a continental crossing as anything else.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: And then ship the vehicle out of Djibouti or stage
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: it in that region for a bit until things cool
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: down to kind of cool.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: If you're going to do Djibouti to hop over to
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Saudi Arabia.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Yes, the problem is I can't take this vehicle into
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia because it's right hand drive. Maybe what we'll
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: do is we'll we'll get some motorcycles in Ethiopia or
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: ship them into Ethiopia.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Now what you do if you're going to south or
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: to Saudi Arabia as you call Lui, Yeah, that's right. Yeah,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: and he's in Riod, he's a listener and he'll hook.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Us up totally. But I was thinking, because there's a
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: ferry you can take basically to Jordan, and then you
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: ride the motorcycles through Jordan, I rat more than Iraq
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: and nice and into Turkey while the vehicles being shipped
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: up and you kind of wrap around and do the
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: whole thing. So there's so many options. And then of
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: course options C would be run the West coast of Africa,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: which has its own challenges. Right now, there's been a
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: lot of elections and there's a lot of contested elections.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: There's things that are happening, so it's pretty sporty. The
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: key thing here is that there's options. There is options.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: That's that's kind of fun. There is, And and we
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: have the vehicle for up to a year, so we
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: can a lot can change in that amount of time. Yeah.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: And the goal though, is just for us to be
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: able to see this beautiful place. And I've talked about
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: in the podcast a lot in the past that a
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: lot of my trips have been much faster than I
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: wanted them to be. This one won't be as slow
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: as I would like it to be, but it won't
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: be so fast.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: You're also going to be able to kind of, at
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: least from what I know, the plan is to kind
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: of break it down into section's fly back. You still
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: have a business to ryn, you still have a life.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: You know, there's plenty of places that you can leave
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: the vehicle. I like that concept because I think that
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: for someone there's more people who could do that than
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: just say I'm going to take a year off or
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: I'm going to say this like I'm going to go
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: over what it doesn't.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Have to be a three month period.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: You know, you can cover a lot of distance in
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Africa in a one month period. Leave the car for
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: a little bit. Now, obviously you're going to be spending
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: a lot of money on flights.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: I banked the air miles, so I've got the air
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: miles to spend. And I do find personally that I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: prefer to travel for about six to eight weeks and
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: then come back home. I love my family, I miss
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: my friends. I enjoy my team here, I enjoy working
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: with the team in the business, and there's a lot
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: of things that are going on. So I do find
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: that that tempo of travel for six to eight weeks,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: being in North America for six to eight weeks, and
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: then kind of you know, rinsewash, repeat kind of thing.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: So I like it.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: So the first section, obviously, so tomorrow you leave for Johannesburg,
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: I do. The vehicle gets shipped into the Durban, which
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: is for those who don't know, it's the main port
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: it is in South Africa. You know, I mean, I
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: guess there's getting a vehicle through all this stuff. We'll
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: take some time.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: It does, it does.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Where's the first place that Scotty is going to go?
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: It's so fun, but it's and it's a shocking coincidence
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: and it is literally just a coincidence. But the entire
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: XO team also, yeah, they fly tomorrow.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Oh okay too, Yeah, because Richard and Ashley are flying
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: tomorrow too.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: Hey, I didn't realize that.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: So it is just this, It is this wonderful, beautiful
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: coincidence that all of these people that I love, I mean,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Clay and Rachelle is going to be there, their family,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Richard and Ashley, Yeah, the boys are going this time.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: It is just going to be awesome. So I'm excited
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: to fly in. I mean, I think even doctor John
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Solberg is going to be there. So I'm excited to
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: fly and spend some time with them, you know, work
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: on getting some of the equipment set up that we
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: need to get set up. We've got to get some
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: vehicle preparation stuff done.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because you're going to have to outfit the entire
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: vehicle in South Africa essentially.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: That's correct, and this is an opportunity for us to
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: also show those that are listening and watching on YouTube
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: this podcast. We talk a lot about keeping vehicles simple,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: and that is exactly what we're doing with the Grenadier.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: We're fortunate that the Grenadier, and I should just preface
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: this before we even really get started talking about the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: car Inios is providing a vehicle just like they would
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: provide a test vehicle for me as a journalist, so
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: we're not being compensated by Ineos in any way to
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: use their vehicle. There are plenty of other manufacturers that
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: would have provided us a car as well, so this
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: is not a sponsorship by them. We are taking the
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: vehicle for a year. We're going to do something really
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: special with it. We believe that this platform has a
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: lot of promise. We think that it's going to be
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: very popular with our audience, so we want to show
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: can it do this kind of work or not?
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because this is what it's built for.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: It is literally built on purpose is their tagline for
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: things just like this. We were not being paid by Anios,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: which means that we can actually speak freely about our experience.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: We can share our experience with the vehicle. We can
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: also show how we modify it for the trip, which
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: fortunately it actually doesn't take much.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, I was going on and I was, you know, building,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: I have to men, I'm still on the fence whether
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: I'm going to pull the trigger on mine because I've
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: got plenty of cars. It would mean selling my beloved wagon.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: It's really fun having a twin Terboro VI eight in
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: a station wagon. So you know, I've gone through and
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: I've built a Grenadier so many times, and it's it's
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: really impressive, you know where historically, oh, I'm going to
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: have to modify the vehicle for a stork. I'm we
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: have to modify the vehicle for a wingch capable bumper.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Now there are other manufacturers Jeep that's doing that. I mean,
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: I think on the new AEV stuff with Chevy amc Ye, like,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: there's options out there for that, Bronco that kind of thing.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Factory dual battery systems definitely not. Fold down tables on
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: the rear door, definitely not. You know, there's a lot
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: of things that you would have to spend time, money
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: in energy doing that's correct kind of.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Done they are, and it is I've always liked to
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: describe it as kind of an amalgamation or a modern
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: the modern opportunity to have looked at all of the
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: great things about the seventy series land Cruiser, all of
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: the great things about the g Wagon, all of the
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: great and charming things about a Classic Defender, and you
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: kind of put those all together and you end up
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: with that vehicle. But it's in twenty twenty three Yeah,
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: we're looking at a brand new vehicle with all of
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: the modern safety features and then all of the learnings
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: that's happened over that period of time. When the G
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Wagon was first designed in the early seventies or late seventies,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I suppose that was a different time, and now that
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: same engineering group had the opportunity to design the equivalent.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: YEP, because the G Wagon's gone a totally different path
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: it has.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: I think they're awesome.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: They are awesome, but realistically they're like one hundred and
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: fifty grand these days.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: We can now get the professional pack, but it's a
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: twenty two or twenty seven thousand dollars option for a
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: roof wreck you know. Like that's where the Grenadier is
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: really really appealing, correct, And the Grenadier is less than
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: half of that price. Originally my goal was to get
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: a trial master, and there was actually one that was allocated.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: But they're like any new car company, in every car
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: company today, they're struggling with getting components, with the infrastructure
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: of getting chips, getting computers, getting motors out of BMW,
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: everything else. So it took some time to get the
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: vehicles available. But the cool thing is is that they
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: had the global media drive and so they were actually
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: able to pull a car that was low mile and
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: had been through all the entire all of the processes
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: and they were actually able to grab that vehicle for me.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: But that is a field Master.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: So the difference between a field Master and a trial
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: Master is this dual battery system, and the field Master
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: has well you can option the battery system on a
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: field Master, but this one that I have doesn't have that,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: which I'll talk about that in a second. Why that's
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: not a concern. But it has this beautiful leather interior,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: but I'm going to put Melville and Moon seat covers
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: on that so protect the leather and also it's going
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: to be a lot more comfortable in the heat of Africa.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: Looks more more fit for purpose for sure. And then
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: it doesn't have the dual battery system. But we've been
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: working with red Arc and we're going to install a
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: red Arc DC DC management system. We're going to put
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: in a small lithium I own battery and we'll be
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: able to get the vehicle prepared in South Africa for that.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: We're also going to go with the drawer system in
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: the back, which is going to give us the opportunity
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to organize, and I watch up a lot of out
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: of mind things. I think you're exactly right, Matt. So
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: that's one of my biggest concerns is I want to
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: be able to park the vehicle and the and the
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: windows are all clear, no tinted windows, which I love.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: So when people look inside the vehicle, they will not
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: see a bunch of stuff in there. It'll all be
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: under either in the drawer system or under the sleeping platform.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: And my plan is to sleep inside the truck for
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the most part, or maybe sleep on the roof rack
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: you know where the conditions, I guess you could do
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: a roof tent. I've considered it. There's some that are
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: actually coming out that are pretty good, like alu Cab.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: And I didn't know this until recently because I saw
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: it at the Overland Expo, but Alucab now has this.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: It's like one hundred pound roof tent. Interesting, it's maybe
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: even a little bit underneath that. Yeah, and it's it's
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: made out of aluminum. It's extremely low profile. You almost
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: can't tell that there's a roof tent on the vehicle.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: I'm still considering that as a possibility.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, my travels in Africa are not as
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: extensive as yours, and collectively there's people that have a
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: bajillion times more experience. But if you took the cost
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: of a roof tent, like let's say it's going to
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: cost you two grand, yeah, sure maybe in South Africa,
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: they are a little bit cheaper there.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: They made there. That's a lot of hotels and lodges.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: The key thing to remember is that you can't just
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: really pull over and camp everywhere in Africa because there's
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: things that will eat you.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true, you.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Know, or you don't want at a minimum, you don't
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: want monkeys and baboons messing with your tent while you're
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: sleeping and all this kind of stuff. A lot of
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: times you're paying for campsites anyways, because they have to
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: be kind of enclosed, and all of the trips we've
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: done there, which again not super extensive, but it was
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: like thirty dollars for a campsite. These aren't exact figures,
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: and then you could get a hotel generally at the
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: same place for fifty If you're doing that and you're
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: on a budget, that does make a difference, and.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: A special thanks to on X off Road for helping
• 15:58
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  Speaker 1: It's got a snap to trail tool where you can
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: just drop points where you want to go, and a
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: route automatically connects to the closest road or trail. You
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: can build, save and ad routes to folders and share
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: your entire trip with your buddies. You can find out
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: more information on on xmaps dot com. You can also
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: find their apps in the Apple Store or whatever other
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: device that you use. Thanks again, on X and I
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: hope to spend a lot of time remote, so I
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: do hope to be camping out in remote areas. We're
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: looking at the possibility of crossing the Kalahati. I mean,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: we're going to be camping along the beach in Mozambil.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: There's going to be a lot, a lot of opportunities
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: to camp, but I don't mind sleeping inside the vehicle.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: It's something that I did for the entire entirety of
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Expedition seven and it worked out.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: So with the drawer system that's going in the back,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: the seat folds yeah forward, and then you'll kind of
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: have a little platform.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: And correct and that'll give a couple different cubby areas
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: for the heavier items like tools and recovery gear in
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: the footwells of the rear passenger seats. The one challenge
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: with the Grenadier that I'm very aware of is the range.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: So it has a ninety liters fuel tank, so just
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: over twenty gallons, and with the fuel economy of the
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: gasoline motor because I can't use a diesel in Africa
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: because the diesel requires ultra soular diesel, so we have
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: to use a petrol. Which it's funny a lot of
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: people say, oh, you have to use diesel because of availability.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: That's totally wrong. Whoever made that? Whoever made that up?
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Is utterers don't run on diesel. That world runs on scooters.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: That's right exactly.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: So I mean when I crossed the Silk Road and
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: the Jymney, it was a gas motor, it was just
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: no big deal.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Kind of simpler these days, to be honest, like anything
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: that's meant for sale in a you know, well developed country,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: they have emissions regulations, and even and even these second
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: and third world countries now are starting to have emissions
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: regulations for new vehicles because they're not a they're not
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: a significant market in their own standing to have something
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: developed for them, so.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Or the manufacturer just can't develop a separate or a
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: high sulfur option. So the one real upside though of
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: the diesel is is that you get a lot more
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: range out of the same tank. So it's about a
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: thirty percent hit to range.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: So that's actually kind of interesting. Like I didn't realize
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: that they only had a ninety liter tank because like
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: a troop carrier or a lot of these these vehicles,
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: that's pretty standard to have two ninety leaders, that's correct.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: That's correct, like ninety leaders kind of being that standard
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: tank size, and a lot of these vehicles used by
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: NG and whatever.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Correct, Someone's going to come up with an aftermarket solution,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: and it will probably involve rerouting the exhaust in the
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: rear where that tank kind of plugs in where that
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: large exhaust is and then they'll make a smaller muffler
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: or some solution around that. But I do have a
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: way around it where I worked with Giant Loop and
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Giant Loop has these oh those bags that rollable fuel bags,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: so I have an extra twenty gallons.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: When you need it. That's RIGHTY don't need it. It's
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: the weight of a couple pairs of pants, correct, And
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: that's the huge difference. So those for those that are
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: listening that aren't aware, Giant Loop sells these fuel bladders. Again,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: they're not a sponsor of the trip. We're using these
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: things because of the right choice. They're the only choice
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: really for this application. So instead of me having a
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: bunch of fuel tanks or fuel cans on the roof,
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: which I don't want for center gravity, and I also
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: don't want them up there because branches, theft, all the
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: other things to consider, I can cape. I can strap
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: these fuel ladders to the roof rack for short periods
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: of time. But then after you use the fuel, you just.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: Roll them up.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you leave the you leave them out in the sun,
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: you leave the cap open, that's right. The vapor pretty
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: much all goes away, the smell goes away, and you
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: throw them.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Under a seat. That's great.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: That's how we were using them like we would use
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: them with prior when we still had the Gladiator and
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: we prior to putting the long range auxiliary tank. And
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: sure sometimes the gas station is just not open and
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: we just carry five gallons, and five gallons is if
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: you're in a situation where you have to be concerned
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: with making it to the next step eighty to one
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: hundred miles easy, that's right, you know.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: That's right, And it's it's again, there's scooters everywhere in Africa,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: so getting petrol is not a challenge. What it can
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: be a challenge is getting good quality fuel, which this
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: vehicle does require good quality fuel. So we're going to
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: do some pre filtering. We're going to try to bring
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: as much high quality fuel with us in the vehicle.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: But it's really nice to have these bags because when
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: they're not used, you roll them up and if you
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: are using them, you strap them to the roof rack
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: and you know, yeah, yeah, So it's really it's really
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: a clever solution that I'm really I'm really grateful for
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: the fact that we have that as an option. So
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: that's going to address the fuel range and then for
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: navigation we're using Garmen because one of the reasons that
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: we use Garment in Africa is because of Tracks for Africa.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: So tracks for Apps integrated. You can buy these micro
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: SD cards that have all the maps on there and
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: then it's something that Garman will draw from as a
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: base layer, and so we use Garmin devices all the time,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: but we use them primarily as as a way to
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: get a very reliable track. One of the issues that
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: we have with the apps on our phones is the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: track reliability. It's it's usually caused by this kind of
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: edge of service problem where the phone thinks that it
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: has sell coverage and it's trying to triangulate its position
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: from some coverage, but it doesn't really have cell coverage,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: and then you end up with this drop track. So
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: we always use Garman units to get this reliable track data.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: But in Africa, Garman is the best solution because we
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: can run Tracks for Africa as a base layer and
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: that shows all the backcountry routes, all the campsites, all
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: the things. Yeah, Tracks for Africa is great, super good.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah you used it and maybe.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: A yeah, yeah it's it's it's really good and you know,
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: I have to say that I do. Like personally, I
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: just use my phone some too lazy, it's all there.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: But the problem is is, like I've had a lot
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: of issues with you, whether it be Gaya on x Google,
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: like they all have some kind of offline option with Guya.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: The problem I have is I'll switch phones or I'll
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: switch this or whatever, and then I have to re
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: download everything. And sometimes those files they do get corrupted,
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: you know, for what reason, I don't know.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Or you just forget to download them.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of times it's probably me saying now
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: this app sucks, but it's probably you know, user error.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: You also have a little bit of redundancy, which is nice.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: The redundancy is critical, so I'll have other I'll use
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Gaya on my phone, but I'm also going to just
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: really rely on the garment and then have a backup
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: garment device that I can use because Tracks for Africa
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: is such a key component to see it's worst while
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: having it on your phone too. Yeah, for sure. I
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: actually like it on.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: My iPad because you can kind of go and plan
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: your next day and really know where you're going.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: But I just really like maps. Yeah, I know, like
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: it's so great. So that's what we're going to run
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: for navigation. I've been a longtime fan of the Ether stuff,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Ether apparel. Jonah and Palmer that run the company, their
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: total overlanders. They love travel, adventure motorcyclist. That's how I
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: met him, was just riding adventure motorcycles with them. So
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: we're going to be using some of their gear two,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: which I'm grateful for that.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: And I mean it's when I come down we can
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: be matching, matching, that's right. I have developed an Ether problem. Yeah,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: I know, well, because it's just super good stuff. I
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: use it for all my motorcycle gear too, So yeah,
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: it's it's just a it's a great brand. When I
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: get all the Scott Brady hand me down, that's awesome exactly.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: So the vehicle modifications are going to be very limited.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: We are we're considering going with a slightly taller tire,
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: but I'm actually part of me is like, I'm not
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: going to do it because it is if you buy
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: a high Lux in Africa, that's the size tire that
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: ends up on the truck.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Oh oh okay, So.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: And does it have Ko twos or some.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Ko twos already on it? Seventeen inch wheel. The high
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Lucks that come into the country are on seventeens. Here's
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: my only experience with the KO twos. I think that
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: they're really I've had them on a few vehicles.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: I think they're really great at limit handling, and they're
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: a good kind of compromise kind of for how Americans
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: use their use their vehicles. They chip chunk and chips
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: so terribly on gravel.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: I think the new ones are a little bit better
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: in my experience that they did compound. They changed the
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: compound and they improved the lug integrity at the shoulder.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: The previous generation KOs were they were really bad on chunking. Yeah.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: The newer one has a better has better lug integrity. Yeah.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: So I'd roasted a set of KO twos and one
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: trip pinted that one trip was like across Nevada and
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: it was maybe I had a heavy.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Foot, but no, they had a real issue with jumping.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I just wonder, you know, if you're going to
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: change anything. I don't know, Like, I don't want to
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: say that the KO twos won't do it. They obviously will.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think that the new version is better,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: but I am considering the possibility of changing to something
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: that has even more lug integrity and is also a
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: little bit taller. So a two fifty five eighty or seventeen,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: so that's a thirty three inch diameter.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: It's going to be like an obscure entire science. And
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: that's why I am because that's why it's on a highlux.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: I mean it's like finding whatever is on the rental highlexes, correct, right,
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: because that's going to be the tire.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Two sixty five, seventy or seventeen and they're everywhere. Yeah.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Again, when we transition from this kind of domestic overlanding
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: in the US to international, I'm just not really concerned
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: with tire size like that. That's some of the things
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: that people have been saying about the Grenadier when they
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: talk about it to me is.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: Oh, well, yeah, I should have had thirty fives or
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: should have had this.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, but I think you're actually missing the point,
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: totally missing. A thirty two inch tire is something that
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: you used to modify a vehicle to fit, Like correct,
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: you used to put a two inch lift on your
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: defender so you could put a thirty two maybe a
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: thirty three on there xj's came with what twenty eight
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: or twenty nine inch tires and thirty three is or
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: like a six inch lift or something you don't really
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: need it.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: And what are the other downsides of going with bigger tires.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: That's going to have even a greater impact to my
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: fuel range. So and then there's tire availability center gravity also.
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Be like really really practical getting into parking garages, sure,
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: you know, like like keeping a vehicle low, Like when
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: you leave the US, there's generally not as much space,
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: like we have a lot of open parking lots. Like sure,
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: anytime you go to a shopping center that I've been
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: to in Africa or wherever, there are structures, you know,
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: and being able to fit, being able to park at
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: a hotel, being able to park at an airport. Like
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: I'm not saying that that one inch is going to
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: be the difference.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: By the time.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it is, but by the time we talk about
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: not putting jerry kNs at a foot on top, that
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: really starts to make a difference.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: It does. And the closer that we keep our vehicles
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: to stock, the better and fuel range's And that's the
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: biggest reason why I'm hesitant about changing the tires. Fuel
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: range is the most important reason why I'm hesitant, and
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: then the next one would be availability of the tires.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: A two sixty five, seventy or seventeen is a very
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: ubiquitous tire throughout Africa. It's not as common as a
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: seven point five or sixteen, but that's changing because new
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: vehicles don't like it A split, right, A two hundred
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: series comes on to seventeen in Africa too now. So
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: it's it's just the reality of it.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: I like kind of how you're setting it up. It's
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: one I think for testing and seeing what the Grenadier
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: can do. Little you can kind of deviate from stock.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: I think is cool, you know, and I think it's
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: as cool to not have to spend the energy and
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: effort on it, you know, spend the energy and effort
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: on I know that you're gonna do the lithium battery
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: and that kind of stuff, which I think is really smart.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: Are you going to do a fridge? No fridge, I
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: don't ooh, I don't think I'm going to do a fridge.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: I just I just I know I can't go back.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: My new thing is that we'll.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: All do a really small one. I've considered like getting
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: the smallest demetic National lunar.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: And I'll throw that like for long road trips, I'll
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: throw that in the wagon. Sure, and it's really nice.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: It doesn't take up much space. It's maybe it's fourteen
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: or sixteen inches tall. Sure, it's it's not that big.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: But you're really just throwing you know, a sandwich in there,
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: and you know, a six pack of beer. And it's
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: maybe a more practical look. And i think it pulls
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: like seven five amps.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: They're really they're really low amp draw Yeah, A lot
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: of it's going to depend on how the like the packaging,
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: the drawer system and stuff works out. So the modifications
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: are going to be really limited. I'm going to go
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: with I'm actually going to use a Melville and moon
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: bedroll inside cool. I think it's just going to be
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: it's going to be great to apply a lot of
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: the things that we value around overlanding to such a
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: long trip. The big trips that we've done before these
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: were campaigns. These were like four year long epics, and
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: this is going to be something where I'm going at
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: a different pace. I'm really going to focus a lot
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: on the culture. I'm going to focus a lot on
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: the experiences to do it in minimally modified vehicles. Kind
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: of fun. Yeah, yeah, So we're getting ready. We're getting
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: ready for for Africa. We thank all of you so
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: much for listening and for learning along the way with us.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Matt and I continue to learn on a daily basis.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Even planning for this trip. I've learned so much and
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: it was exciting to get that DHL package with the
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: keys to the vehicle that's actually the Spaakee and all
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: of the paperwork is coming together. You'll be able to
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: follow along the journey on all of the social media accounts.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Of course, we'll have articles in Overland Journal, articles on
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Expedition Portal, so you can go to Expedition Portal on Instagram,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: Overland Journal on Instagram, or if you want to contact
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: me directly if you have any questions, or if you're
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: in Africa yourself and you'd like to meet up, or
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: if you live in a part of Africa that I
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: might be able to say hello to you along the way.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: It's always great to have friends on the ground, so
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: you can reach me directly at Scott dot a dot
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Brady on Instagram, you can reach out and I'd love
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: to connect with you. I've already had a bunch of
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: people reach out that live in Africa that we're going
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: to be able to meet and say hello to along
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: the way, which I think will be really fun. So yeah,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: we're getting ready to cross the continent of Africa and hopefully, Matt,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: the next podcast we do will be you and I
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: somewhere in the Kokoveld somewhere, I hope, so awesome. We
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: thank you all for listening and we'll talk to you
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: next time.