Crossing Africa and the Sahara by Truck

[Music] [Music] let me introduce ourselves we were all in our early 20s and we're colleagues at a travelens Aeronautics facility in England this is the simple galley with a couple of Primus stoves from London we took the ferry across the English Channel and spent time in Paris obtaining visas we drove through central France into Spain which was not a bit like we expected the terrain and primitive animal powered agriculture were a real surprise in this part of Europe [Music] in fact Spain was more likely imagine North Africa to be and vice-versa we were never very confident of our chances of completing this ambitious journey so seeing Morocco through binoculars across the Straits of Gibraltar we said well at least we saw Africa [Music] when we cross the border into Gibraltar it seemed very odd to see the British flag and policemen wearing pointy hats the Barbary macaques inhabit the rock and it is said that so long as they exist on Gibraltar it will remain under British rule we loaded the truck onto a ship called the Mons kelpy to carry us across the Straits at Tangier a fast moving cloud streamed downwind from the top of the rock but its leading edge dissolved as fast as its trailing edge formed so the cloud itself stayed in the same place like a banner flying in the wind [Music] when we arrived we said well at least we set foot in Africa Morocco was full of surprises too not least of which was the size of the road signs [Music] where we had expected to find desert we encountered huge mountains with running streams bordered by colorful oleanders [Music] here is Colin with a slab of cork from the bark of a cork tree [Music] the road snaked its way through the mountains with Peaks reaching as high as 13,000 feet [Music] [Applause] [Music] on the eve of crossing the Algerian border we found a quiet spot for a day of makin mend [Music] this is the Algerian border with the truck over an inspection pit the locals are fighting a vicious war for independence from France and we had to spend every night in the French army encampment during the mandatory curfew this is a fuel station kiosk next to a citrus grove [Music] or ran in Algiers were beautiful European style cities overlooking the Mediterranean Sea this is Algiers [Music] Birbal had made arrangements for us to take on fuel at their service stations all along our route [Music] after climbing the Atlas Mountains the truck had lost most of its power and we stopped in the cold and rainy town of JAL fur we removed the cylinder head and ground the exhaust valves for what turned out to be the first of five such occasions [Music] [Applause] we were now 3,000 feet above sea level and had reached the fringes of the great Sahara Desert only just over 8,000 miles to Cape Town this is La boîte founded in the 11th century its minaret prominent above the town [Music] we now felt safe enough to camp in the desert where the silence was total and absolute a complete absence of any sound el Kalia is an attractive and well watered oasis town [Music] [Music] the ruined kisara dates from the 10th century and provides a great vantage point from which to view this extensive oasis leaving el Galia we now headed deep into the heart of the Sahara [Music] billowing oceans of sand encroach from both sides over the road which was paved along this stretch these sands of the grand ERG around town and the grand ERG Occidental are continually on the move and yet have remained in the same area for hundreds of years [Music] next came the Tatem a plateau a flat stony area 200 miles wide tire pressures had to be continually adjusted as bone-jarring corrugations caused the tires to get very hot and expand well the chilly nighttime temperatures caused them to contract again any stationary vehicle is always checked by anyone passing to make sure that all is well our passage raised huge plumes of dust which penetrated the interior of the truck and covered everything we passed a couple of road junctions where we were told vehicles still managed to run into one another despite the openness of the terrain we checked in at Fort Mirabelle a remote French fort over which the tricolor flew [Music] under the immense bowl of the unencumbered desert sky glorious sunsets faded to a brilliant canopy of stars under which I slept at dawn we could see how abruptly the plateau came to an end without any warning and visible from only one hundred yards away [Music] all around was clear evidence of the plateau had once been much more extensive the next Oasis town was in Sala with a population of 43,000 [Music] mug buildings were crowded together as if seeking shelter from the encroaching sand [Music] the camel is the all-important ship of the desert we came across camel caravans hundreds of miles from the nearest settlements moving in seemingly slow motion with the Touareg leading the string walking alongside and seldom mounted by way of contrast purposeful military trucks swept across the landscape we followed a steep escarpment from many miles and came across the burnt-out remains of a military Jeep which we later learnt from its crew had caught fire and sprayed exploding ammunition in every direction the track referred to as the piste turned sharply into a cleft in the mountains this is the erect gorge a small square shape just below the letter A in Iraq is a military fort [Music] here the truck is entering the gorge [Music] the track follows a dried riverbed and the fault lies just around the bend beneath the castle like outcrop it is located at the foot of tall cliffs littered with falling rocks the size of houses [Music] [Music] we crossed the Tropic of Cancer and we're now officially in the tropics [Music] the desert lays bare the bones of the landscape [Music] this upended strata extended as far as the eye could see [Music] [Laughter] [Music] at the head of the gorge we found ourselves in an area where a surface of fine sand was dotted with natural rock sculptures set out as if for an art exhibition [Music] camels picked their way through the rugged terrain some looking as though they were in need of a good meal this basalt mountain that looks so close turned out to be 50 miles away [Music] when we finally reached it it looked as if the molten lava had just boiled out of the ground and solidified [Music] [Music] we now approach the regional center of tamanrasset situated at four and a half thousand feet above sea level at the base of the Hogar mountains it was a pleasant town with at that time the French military and administrators being much in evidence [Music] among them were local troops with their camels and colorful uniforms most of the buildings were constructed of mud while we were taking on fuel we were besieged by local Touareg people looking for a ride [Music] you made a side trip into the heart of the Hogar mountains which rise to over 9,000 feet [Music] we followed the rough track and climbed up to the hermitage of SE creme which was at seven thousand seven hundred feet there is open water in these mountains and there are even small fish in the pools we wondered how they got there because the water has no outlet and simply sinks into the sand when it descends from the mountains [Music] the track was stony and rough [Music] [Music] we continued our route south with a couple of passengers we picked up in tamanrasset the local costume is very practical and surprisingly comfortable for desert conditions we had overheating problems and installed a can to catch the water expel through the filler cap to control its flow we improvised the Schrader valve using a piece of wood and a length of hose the track led first through rocky terrain with occasional bushes we continued to come across camel caravans or even single individuals traveling across this vast and desolate region [Music] Oh one of our Arab passengers was called to hack module we all shared the same evening meal at the end of a long day of travel [Music] [Music] the endless desert stretched out to infinity in every direction and made us feel very insignificant in some areas small cans mark the route while in others it was clearly defined and well used producing a heavily corrugated surface which made for an uncomfortable ride in the vehicle like ours the surface was leveled by the crude but effective methods shown here further south we encountered soft sand which gripped the wheels and brought us to a standstill getting unstuck often involved digging and placing sand mats in front of the wheels [Music] this is the small erases of Inga's am just a few miles from the border with Nisha the sand had drifted almost to the top of the walls but the well inside them provided welcome water this is the border with Nisha [Music] [Music] once across the border the route was sometimes a matter of following tire tracks or watching out for marker posts this was long before the advent of GPS and it would not have been difficult to go astray you came across the skeleton of her vehicle which had made it no further its remains rust-free and nicely polished by the ever shifting sands for a while we traveled in company with the Land Rover and the Peugeot 403 also heading south the first signs that we were reaching the southern limits of the Sahara were clumps of dried grass [Music] and here the cracked surface was obvious evidence of heavy rain had fallen areas like this become completely impassable when wet we soon began to see real trees shortly followed by open savanna this semi-desert region is called the Sahel and it extends the full width of the African continent that the track was very rough [Music] you reach the town of Agadez with the prominent minaret of the grand mosque built in 1515 and restored in 1844 Agadez is an important regional center and this picture shows a variety of Sahara crossing vehicles in researching this documentary I learned that the roads to agadez were mined in 2009 following a touareg rebellion we encountered interesting rock formations we began to see more people [Music] the increased vegetation brought forth swarms of locusts which fill the sky with the whirring and rustling of their papery wings they were thick on the ground and capable of stripping the landscape bare of every blade of vegetation a flock of vultures descended out of nowhere to feast on roadkill [Music] soon we began to see people on foot from local villages [Music] enlarged herds of animals congregated around Wells the water was drawn up in a skin bucket by a sturdy ox written by a young boy [Music] the rough road conditions caused real upheaval inside the truck with gear tossed all around and covered in fine dust sucked in through a roof hatch which had abandoned ship we crossed into Nigeria and arrived in Carnot the second largest city with a population of three and a half million this is one of the gates to the old town with its close packed mud houses [Music] and by way of complete contrast a magnificent mosque [Music] we were now in sub-saharan Africa and the Arab influence gave way to Bantu people's Caulaincourt upon correspondence using the same typewriter he used to create documents required for border crossings with the confidence that we had made it thus far we exchanged haircuts and I painted the names of the places we had visited on the side of the truck this tiny car had come all the way from Holland via the Ivory Coast it seemed like we had come a long way but although we had driven four and a half thousand miles over the past two months we still had twenty thousand to go and the flavor of the trip was about to become very different as we made our way through the savanna and jungles of the vast African continent [Music] we had our first puncture the day after our spare wheel left from the back of the truck and vanished into the African bush before did small rivers and our progress was brought to a halt by a large one where there was no bridge no ferry and many people wore no clothes at all we had to belly crawl through the mud under the truck to attach the winch cable to extricate ourselves we encountered joyous groups of dancers along the roads [Music] [Applause] across large rivers on simple ferries built using multiple boats we came close to capsizing the truck when the edge of the road gave way local passers-by provided cheerful and enthusiastic assistance to get us out [Music] road conditions presented a variety of interesting challenges [Music] [Applause] [Music] not all passengers were enthusiastic about boarding the ferry this ferry took us across the Ubangi River from the Central African Republic to the Belgian Congo [Music] this bridge had to be shared with the railway [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we had left the Savannah behind and were now in deep impenetrable jungle as the darkness closed over us the night was shattered by a cacophony of terrifying sounds fit to wake her head [Laughter] the perpetrator of these alarming shrieks turned out to be a tree hire ex about the size of a small rabbit other unusual animals will the okapi a relative of the giraffe only discovered by science in the 20th century this strange animal has a tongue 14 inches long which can lick the top of its head we met a fellow Englishman who had been traveling on his own for eight months through the Congo we continued down the center of Africa along roads that often doubled as streams we saw many examples of unusual structures built by termites [Music] in the distance we caught a glimpse of the snowcat ruins or mountains also known as the mountains of the moon [Music] almost all the medical and educational facilities in the Congo were provided by missions such as this magnificent example the road climbed above the jungle to revealed extensive belgian run coffee plantations such as this one where we cross the equator he suddenly found ourselves looking down on the Western branch of the Great Rift Valley the scene that layered our feet was part of the Virunga National Park and through binoculars we could see that the valley floor was richly populated with huge herds of wild animals we stopped at Gomer and continued along the shores of Lake evil to Bukavu we awoke in the morning to see the nearing gongo volcano steaming gently in the dawn after leaving bukavu we came to a section that one-way road where an African at one end would beat an oil drum and if you received the OK from his colleague of the other that the road was clear he would open the barrier to let you proceed we stopped briefly in Albertville since renamed Kali me on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and spent Christmas and Boxing Day 1959 high above the lake in an isolated spot with a wonderful view major road construction created tough and perilous conditions especially when it rained we carry chains for use when conditions warrant the roads in this area were little more than rough tracks and very slippery [Music] trees were another hazard either as obstacles to hit or by toppling across the track a series of flimsy bridges will the next hazard here Colin is going through the motions of checking the rotting Timbers we took turns at the wheel while one guide of the driver and the other stood by ready to photograph that seemed like an almost inevitable catastrophe [Music] the termites in this area went into building immense mounds which towered over the truck at last the roads improved and after crossing the border into southern rhodesia now called Zimbabwe we encountered the twin strip system which meant driving down the center of the road and swerving to the left when meeting oncoming traffic at kit.we we stayed for several days for the couple we had known when working at de Havilland's here we were able to visit this huge opencast mine employing a mega excavator and ascend one kilometer into the bowels of the earth in one of the company's underground mines [Music] we continued on to the town of Livingston and the Magnificent Victoria Falls which the Africans call mocr tunia translated as the smoke that thunders the Falls are more than twice the height of those at Niagara Livingston is believed to be the first European to view the falls on November the 17th 1855 from here we went to Bulawayo our most southerly point we did not continue on into South Africa because our objective was to survey road conditions and the less developed parts of the continent our next stop was the capital city of Salisbury since renamed Harare I had lived here briefly two years earlier from here we continued north to Cairo where I had worked as a mica miner in an area known for growing tobacco [Music] we made a side trip to visit the still under construction Kariba Dam which spanned the mighty Zambezi River and crossed here into Northern Rhodesia since renamed Zambia we turn northeast Tanganyika and through the fields of sisal with its spear like leaves we had arrived in the coastal city of Mombasa in Kenya where I had been living before leaving to come on this trip Mombasa has a beautiful harbour perfect for sailing except for the occasional shark I renewed my contacts at the Yacht Club and with my friends on shore sadly wrecks had to leave us here and Colin and myself continued on passing the misty 20,000 foot high Mount Kilimanjaro on our way to Nairobi where we visited the game park [Music] [Music] [Laughter] the Buffalo is considered by many to be Africa's most dangerous animal we continued past the jagged peaks of Mount Kenya which I had previously climbed to over 16,000 feet weary crossed the equator at the town of nan Yuki six thousand three hundred feet above sea level here we visited my father for a few days before continuing our journey past Thompson's Falls [Music] [Music] [Applause] we climbed still higher past the Aberdare mountains and lake nakuru we more or less follow the line of the Equator reaching over 9,000 feet where the roads were cold rain-slicked and slippery our final crossing of the equator was in Uganda before we reached the Queen Elizabeth National Park and camped on the shores of Lake Edward where hippos browsed around the truck during the night [Music] from here we retraced our route through the Congo Central African Republic and Cameroon to Nigeria we had planned to take a different route across the Sahara Desert and visit Timbuktu but the car no post-office mislaid our permits we crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and went to Grenada where we visited the Alhambra Palace built by the Moors in the mid 14th century it is a unesco world heritage site [Music] this is the court of the Lions from here we went to Madrid this impressive building is the central post office we continued on into the pyrenees to the small state of Andorra we cross the port don valley era at 2400 meters into france and headed along the mediterranean coast to monaco and thence through the famous and bernhard pass into switzerland and finally across the english channel to the White Cliffs of Dover [Music] you

Channel: FlemingYachts

Views: 1,510,307

Rating: 4.8292832 out of 5

Keywords: Sahara Desert, Africa, Truck, Adventure

Id: PtG6niRiRXk

Length: 42min 53sec (2573 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 16 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/DivNut]

An interesting video i found on YouTube: This "video" documents a journey made across Africa and the Sahara Desert in 1959/60. It uses color slides shot during the journey and shows how images from the past can be given a new lease of life.

[u/Anongoatfa]

Wow.. what a trip. I was grinning ear to ear watching this. it is like a time capsule and a journey through Africa. I would think it would be quicker to do the journey now due to better infrastructure in some parts of the road. So is your family still in Kenya or Africa or you moved back after independence?

[u/Bar_Sinister]

This is lovely. A different time clearly, but still absolutely lovely. Great imagery, almost like sitting and listening to someone recounting their journey over a nice cup of tea.

[u/yes_i_abide]

what a magnificent continent we have

[u/KURTROLSON]

Nice!