120 days, Goodbye Europe, Hello Africa - New adventures on a new continent……

Countries visited – Spain & Morocco

Miles travelled – 2365

Sunny days – 26

Coldest night – 13’C at the start of the High Atlas Mountains

Warmest days – 44’C on the desert piste on the edge of the Sahara / Algeria

Highest mountain pass travelled – 9479 ft on a mountain track in the High Atlas Mountains

Cheapest fuel – £0.58/l in Morocco

Best food tasted – the syrupy pastries we tasted in the Chefchaouen medina for breaking the fast

Worst meal – Meal at restaurant in Fez medina……subsequently made all in the group ill

Best wild camp – in the desert….amazingly quiet and even better star gazing

Most useful things – a small spray bottle to spray our faces in the desert for some cool relief, sarongs (multi-use as a skirt, towel, ‘blanket’, sunshade etc.) and our hammocks which double as a 3rd or 4th seat around the camp fire

Least useful things – the ignorant/selfish teenage Spanish boys that kept us awake till 5am in Tarifa

LOWLIGHTS…

1) Visiting Gibraltar to do some admin/banking. A very bizarre place stuck in a 1983 time warp. The thing that is saddening is that it is next to a very poor Spanish town that has crumbling roads and a lot of visible poverty.

2) The legacy of plastic pollution in Morocco as well as the smell of burning refuse. Added to this was seeing the devastation that erosion and flash flooding have on people struggling to make ends meet.

3) Seeing the direct impact of the wrong type of tourism….the type of tourism where people have clearly driven through villages and given handouts like masses of pens, stickers, paper, clothes, toiletries etc. It does leave a bit of a sour taste when you get mobbed by people who just want things from you.

HIGHLIGHTS…

1) Visiting the Alhambra in Granada. This is one fine place to spend a day with hundreds of years of history, art, gardens, architecture, monarchy and religion to marvel over.

2) ‘Hotboxing’ aka one of us sitting in the back of the Landy whilst having our friend Chad travelling with us for a few days….really fab having had Chad spend this time with us….we miss you!!

3) Throwing ourselves into Moroccan life whilst staying in Chefchaouen during part of Ramadan. This little town has an amazing little Medina with most walls painted in amazing blue hues. The buzziest part of the day started about an hour before fast broke and it was fab seeing everybody getting ready by collecting food from the communal bake house, collecting water, buying fruit and all the hustle and bustle around this.

4) Spending 3 days in the desert. Hot and dusty but wow!! All the different landscapes were amazing.

5) Having children run up to us merely to say hello, smile (the biggest smiles ever) and wave. It was an absolute pleasure seeing this in very rural areas. More heartening was when we had whole families greeting us and welcoming us to their village.

6) We slept in our first proper bed since Holland!!! We stayed in a little hotel on day 114 and it was quite strange being in a room instead of the roof tent.

7) Visiting the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. We would recommend this to everybody!!! Really interesting  and it’s one of the few mosque’s that non-Muslims may visit and it’s the third largest one in the world (St Peters in Rome easily fits inside)

RANDOM FACTS…

1) Nick and I got ‘remarried’ with our new €1 wooden wedding rings in Tarifa, Spain

2) I got seasick for the very first time ever on the ferry over to Africa!!

3) We have got better at not being too messy whilst doing oil changes on Dassie. Finding a cardboard box can do wonders at being tidy.

4) Wherever we stopped to wild camp in Morocco regardless of how far away you think you are from villagers we always had two boys come to see us. Some arrived on foot, by donkey or by motorbike. They usually have something to sell too like some goats milk, the strangest thing we were offered was a lizard on a leash!

Nick & Vicki
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010/11
www.langebaan-sunset.com

Just some of the books we found useful on the trip

       

90 days, mountains, vultures & offroad tracks……

Countries & Principalities visited – France, Andorra & Spain

Miles travelled – 2066

Sunny days – 27

Coldest night – 7’C in the Spanish Pyrenees

Warmest days – 38’C in the Spanish Pyrenees

Highest mountain pass travelled – 7477 ft track from Llessui in the Pyrennes

Cheapest fuel - €0.93/litre in Andorra

Best meal – Roast chicken & potatoes, thank you Mrs B J

Weirdest place we wild camped – ghost ski resort in the Pyrenees

Most useful things – our warm clothes  whilst we were in the mountains,  the road atlas & guide for Spain that Fiona & Colin gave us, thank you.

Least useful things – big rectangular plastic storage box…it actually took up too much space so we gave it away & our auxillary battery that died a death.

LOWLIGHTS…

1) We thought €35 was a lot to be charged for camping but we were yet to be surprised when we got to the Costa Bravo……€55 a night for two people is outrageous! We compounded our shock by trying to sleep in the cab of Dassie which resulted in stiff necks and driving into the mountains at 2am…..we slept very well in a forest car park after this!

2) Nick losing his wedding band….I don’t think it is in the Land Rover but there could be a lucky gypsy in The Camargue that had his day made finding a platinum ring!

HIGHLIGHTS…

1) Spending a great afternoon sailing and swimming with friends.

2) Finding a fabulous campsite in France with a secret beach for snorkelling.

3) Doing some super 4x4 tracks high in the mountains in Andorra & Spain., we spent most of our nights wild camping in the mountains too.

4) Vulture spotting in the Pyrenees.

2) Walking the length of the ancient aqueduct in Segovia and visiting the Mosque/Cathedral in Cordoba.

RANDOM FACTS…

1) A lady always finds a way to do some shopping…….as some of you will know, Nick occasionally enjoys the occasional cigarette. Although I don’t mind this entirely, I did mind the fact that the cigarette money was coming from our daily/weekly budget. So a compromise deal was reached….I get the value of the cigarettes in a little kitty to spend on whatever I like J

2) We treated ourselves to our first gift and we bought ourselves a snorkel and mask each. We have already spent some great hours swimming and spotting different fish.

3) Spanish road signs can sometimes be a bit sparse (missing, stolen or possibly removed purposefully) so if in doubt drive on a bit further and you will inevitably find another sign to point you in the right direction.

4) The library in Toledo’s Alcazar is really fabulous. A great place to unwind for a little while, they sometimes have some photographic/art exhibitions as well as free wifi.

5) We have helped numerous people in a spot of bother, which started during the 60+ days. Two of these incidents happened at one campsite, different people, different days but one thing in common….as the owner of the campsite said, ”Problemo camping platz number 10!!” We have helped to put smiles on people’s faces and allowed some to go to bed with full tummies.

Nick & Vicki
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010/11
www.langebaan-sunset.com

We used Lonely Planet Guides in Europe

        

Smugglers Tracks, Lost & Not Found (Yet)

Hoal Hola!!  Well, we have hit Day 80 and done nearly 10,000 Kms. The last week has been spent in the wilds of Spain and Andorra, getting away from tarmac and on to more remote rocky, dusty tracks.

The landy has had a good work out on steep, single track roads, most of which are remote and above 6000 feet+. Many of them have been (still are) used as smugglers routes from Spain to France and Andorra. The scenery has been amazing and we have done quite a few wild camps – one of which was at a spooky (no longer used) ski resort.

We have also seen some pretty amazing wildlife, including a family of Wild Boar (that’s what happens when you decide to drive at 2am) and a group of Vultures, not sure what the technical term is for a grouping of vultures is.....Anyone??

The good thing about getting away from the crowds is you meet local people and sample real local food.

The diet has now changed from Expresso and Ice Cream, to Rioja and Chorizo. The landscape has also changed from the rocky coast of the Med to the high, arid Iberian plateau.

Since the “salt incident” Nick has also had to admit that he has lost his wedding ring! We think (well, he thinks) it may well be in the bowels of the Landy some where.

Time will tell, but we hope it will turn up (sorry Vicks!!) Meanwhile Nick has been dispatched to the local plumbing shop to buy a pipe olive until such time "he" can "find" the original.

Nick & Vicki
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010/11
www.langebaan-sunset.com

We really enjoyed exploring the mountains

 

60 days, hot weather, mosquitoes & cold showers….

Well, we are well on our way to being totally acclimatised to the much warmer weather that we have experienced over the last few weeks. We are quite pleased that we have spent this time in Europe, as it may have been a shock to the system going straight to Africa without feeling a bit of heat.

I know that I mentioned how quickly time flies by in my last 30 day report but it just makes us think of how much or how little one can do in their spare time and learn to appreciate all the time we have…..so what happened in the last 30 days….

Countries & Principalities visited – Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Monaco & France
Miles Travelled – 1411
Sunny days – 28
Coldest night – the 2nd night in the Dolomites at 2’C
Warmest days – we had two days at 42’C in Sienna & Pisa but have averaged around 35’C for the remainder of the time
Most expensive place to pop to the loo – Venice @ €1.50 a visit!
Most used things out of first aid kit – Anthisan & Antihistamines
Most useful things – the FRIDGE, silk sleeping bag liners, Lidl supermarkets (only for their aircon, good respite breaks from the heat!) & the Land Rovers aircon unit aka the two flaps in front of the dash although you know its warm when Nick asks if you have accidentally turned the heating on!
Least useful things – our warm clothes, aluminium ‘kitchen’ table & our British road atlas

LOWLIGHTS…
1) Being bitten by the most vicious mosquitoes in the Delta region in the North of Italy
2) A campsite wanted to charge us €35 to camp for the night and that didn’t even include electricity!
3) Getting a stale loaf of bread when having ordered a fresh loaf for the morning
4) The fridge is too far away from the back door… I won’t say anymore as Nick has previously written up on the “How Hot You Feel Index”

HIGHLIGHTS…
1) Discovering a campsite that lets you use bicycles for free, great for exploring
2) Hearing a gaggle of older Italian men exclaim “Mamma Mia” during several world cup games
3) Meeting some Alpine cows that were curious enough to want to sniff my shoulder bag…I really like cows for those that don’t know.
4) Meeting new people and the absolute generosity of the people that we have met. We have been given guides, maps, hints & tips on where to go and even been lent books to look at, thank you to everybody who has made our day on these occasions.
5) Visiting Venice, Perugia, Castelluccio, Rome, Sienna, Pisa and some fantastic beaches along the way.
6) Setting up a trampoline, cleaning a pool and making crystals with the boys was great fun whilst staying with good friends in France

RANDOM FACTS…
1) Having cold showers was the way forward for us when it started to get warmer and sometimes was so needed just to relieve the itch from our mozzie bites.
2) We set a new time record on the Monaco F1 circuit…… Dassie definitely managed to make it round in the longest time…and then we got stuck in a traffic jam of Ferrari’s that were doing a London to St Tropez rally….surely we should have taken priority as we were travelling further but unfortunately Dassie just didn’t look spangly & shiny enough.
3) I was awoken by Nick in the middle of the night in Italy, in my sleepy state I thought he said that there was a ‘wild lady’ pulling at our rubbish bag that was attached to Dassie. After much waiting and watching in silence I was quite confused when we saw something on four legs trotting away when I was expecting a hunched over forest lady to walk away. What Nick had actually said was that he thought there was a wild dog but it actually turned out to be a wild pig! Africa will be exciting at this rate.

Nick & Vicki
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010/11
www.langebaan-sunset.com

France & Italy were spectacular !!

     

Salt!

Hi folks, well we are slowly creeping around the Med and have been enjoying some great sites and sounds and also some exotic cooking! 

The Camargue - Salt pans and Hippies

We were staying in the Camargue Region of France that is kind of like the Everglades in Florida. They grow rice and its famous for its salt pans, horses and bulls.  The main beach front is miles long and its free to camp and people live there all year, so if you don't mind nudists, hippys and travelers you are quids in.

We had been having a few issues with the fridge battery supply that meant we needed to use up some nice cured ham we had purchased.  Nick decided to cut up the ham and make a Spag Bol, with the "Bol" being made of tiny and not so tiny bits of the ham.  All seemed to be going well and so we made a "mega" amount of the Bol for the next few days. 

Perfect Spag Bol

Vicki did mention in passing that the meal might be a "bit" salty and the first batch we ate was not in want of any supplementary grains.  All was well.  However the next day we had another batch and the Bol had taken on a mild "sea water" taste.  OK with plenty of water and a bit of salt is good in a hot climate we thought (Nick noted that the Spag to Bol ratio on Vicki's plate had some how "dramatically" shifted in favour of the Spag) .  However, by the 3rd day, the Bol salt levels could only be described as having reached "danger" and could not be eaten.

To add salt to the wound (sorry about the salt theme) the Bol decided to leak out of its box and coupled to the smell of the nearby salt pans**, we decided that we had had enough of of our friend Sodium Chloride.  We pushed onwards to Spain but the whole incident brought back some "happy" memories of Nick's first (and last) gammon Xmas dinner....... the one where he "some how" forgot to boil the ham before putting it in the oven to roast ......  Matt & Jess we apologise again!

** BTW - the smell of a salt pan at 35'C is almost "retch inducing"

Nick & Vicki
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010/11
www.langebaan-sunset.com

Southern France is a great place to explore