To RIM with an old land rover

[armadillo]

thank you for the idea about taller tires,

I accidentally meet a rally pilot and he just gave me 6 used Pirelli scorpion competition 215-85-16. They were used two Dakars a-go by a local team. The pilot told me, since they are kevlar reinforced, they can go down to 1/2 a kilo.
The S2 is taller now but I wonder if the rally tires are too heavy for the vulnerable Land rover bearings and shafts.

best regards.

[Yves]

>The S2 is taller now but I wonder if the rally tires are too heavy for the vulnerable Land rover bearings and shafts.

Don't worry. 215/85R16 corresponds to 7.00R16. The bearings are more than strong enough on series Land Rovers.

The shafts are not so week (the Rover 10 spline shafts on the rear were a little bit weak for unsensible drivers). I never broke one on my SIIa 109. But I allways would care the rear spares with me because failure could be caused by an overload long ago.

[armadillo]

Many thanks Yves,

Just about to leave, I try to rebuild the Solex and I brake the long spray part. Here, no mechanic familiar with this Solex, no parts available. So I got to go with the unpopular Weber carb.
I guess I'll meet somebody in the Sahara who can fix the Solex, then put it back in the 2.28.

Since the mentioned inconvenience " vapor lock" I visited the local scrap and got a small electric pump, so the gas will not get so hot in the Weber. I guess I just use the electric pump instead of the engine one.

The pro pilot also lend me a 170 liters aluminum tank, which I fitted in the already small rear part of the swb S2. plus the jerrys + the under driver tank I may have enough gas to open my own gas station.
Can I just hook up the big tank to thesmall electric pump to the carb ?

Again the smell of petrol in my clothes, like long a-go in my Ducati days. A neat glass of whiskey will do with the petrol smell.

thanks you all again !

[armadillo]

accident

[armadillo]

sorry;

we had an accident off piste bet Nouadi and Nouak; both my companions hurted; now LR in Nouak and two of us in hosp in Dakar; we got here with kind of ambulance; so rosso was easy

anybody knows for a long term parking in Nouakchot or how to ship LR back to europe from there;

trip was just great; then we relalex and then **** up;

clinique casahous; dakar 8215436

[javierCarrion]

Hi !!!

Long-term-Parking a car in RIM involves 2 different issues.

1st is to find secure parking for the car itself. Pls note that as your passavant runs out .. not many people will be willing to keep a car in their parking (as that would lead to serious issues with the douanne)

2nd is to "discharge" the car details in your passport , so you can leave the country , ... that often involves paying the import duty for the car (in RIM is only around 100 euros) .Pls make sure that you know and understand all the process required to re-write the car details in your passport back , when you return . As far as I know there's no easy (legal) way to do that.

I did It, though ,in Nouadibou (as I SMSd you yeasterday) . In camping Baie Levrier , The manager Ali kept my landy for around 5 months. He managed to clear my car details from my passport , and -upon my return- managed to get them back in my passport , along a new 30 days passavant. (I mean He did that legally , via douanne offices , etc) . I endd up paying 300 euros for all the paperwork , duties ,and parking fees .

If you can afford that , and bring your car to Nouaddibou then , that's as best as It gets .. From NDB you can fly home via "Las Canarias" for around 130 Euros .. every other day. From Las canarias to mainlandSpain is around 30-50 Euros in Iberia/Spanair/Halcon.


BE VERY WARY OF LEAVING THE CAR SOMEWHERE ELSE ... as in RIM .. they will try for every way to get your car from you . -Without being offensive-

Its a country of car-related-scams , and a Series Landy is well sought after target.

Remember that -once the passavant expires- that car is illegally in RIM .. therefore It can (WILL) be confistated by anyone related to the douanne business. But they won't tell you that before hand ......


Id go for Camping Levrier .. or try in other Country.

////////////////////option #2

Sukuta Long Term Car Park ,

That's in Gambia , but is surprisingly near Dakar (only 250 km) . Easiest of the border crossings... and then you can leave the car in a propper-long term car park at Camping Sukuta. Its german-managed ,properly watched parking. They will do also all the paperwork for you (extensions of LaiizePasse , etc) . Really professional people.

Its MUCH cheaper (It was around 30 Euros/Month) and -in Gambia- you can leave the car and fly home , as they dont' mind nor they write off details in your passport.

Also .. .in Gambia you can SHIP your car back home , either in a RO-RO or inside a container (very expensive). I was quoted really reasonably by "Pablo Shipping Company " www.pabloShipping.com . I am quite sure he can find a solution for your problem (be Shipping the car from Banjul[Gambia] or from Dakar, where Hes' got a sort of agent)

. I am not sure ITs possible to ship back from MAuritania .. probbably not at all.


Good Luck Luis and hope your mate gets better soon. Sure things looks much more promissing after a few days. Meanwhile , Try to enjoy Dakar.. Its got lots of places to see/ things to do . Really interesting City.

Javier

[armadillo]

Thank you brother !

That,s great information.
Not easy to enjoy Dakar,at this time,my mate is in bed with badly broken femur. I thank,s God we made it to Nouakchott since I was the only not hurt but had not idea how the gps works. The other pal was repatriated to his country after getting to NKCHTT, so I guess I gotta do the parking thing solo, where ever it happens.

Fascinating merciless Black Africa is a great place to be after mistic deathly Sahara

Al.la Akbar

again,many thanks !

[armadillo]

My pal is slowly getting better after a 6 hour operation, 3 bags of African blood, and great care in Casahous Clinic, Dakar. Soon he,ll fly back home. In case of an accident in Senegal or even RIM, That,s a good clinic to go, great professionals and comfortable ambulances and not expensive. Owner is French so food is quite good. Too bad we gotta go.

Following Javier idea I may drive back to Nouadibou (or to Gambia )to leave the land rover in a long term parking.

If is there anybody who goes to any of those two destinations soon I,d like to join. I,m in Dakar and my LR is in Nouakchott.

Lluis and Chez, Casahous Clinic, room 9, Dakar, Tel +221 8215436/8424524

[javierCarrion]

Hi Lluis !!! Great to hear your doing well.

Regarding leaving your car over there...

All depends on for how long you wish to leave your car over there.

Nouadibou (Camping Levrier ) seems OK for a few months. Somehow pricey (300 Eur including Douannes "fees" ) but efficient .. and more convenient , as you got your landy still in RIM
The problem I found was that ALI was constantly inventing problems / issues /laws/etc.. ... to force me to sell him my car..while I was in Spain , but at the end of the day .. I got my car back .. and in perfect condition.


However ... in Gambia you can leave your car propperly , in a German ruled camping , with fixed prices , no surprises later ,trustworthy people , and somehow more secure and with less "Mauritanian TRicks" .

You can fly home from Banjul (That's Gambia for 225 Euros to Las Palmas/Madrid Every Trhuday -Jueves-) with Spanair A340 / MD88 -ask in Senegambia Hotel desk for "Club Vacaciones"

Alternatively you can fly las Palmas from Nouadibou for 47.000 UM (around 130 EUR) 3 days a Week with Air Mauritania -B737

If you intend to leave the car more than a couple months I d definitely go for Sukuta's parking in Gambia.


HAve a nice day

Javier

[This message has been edited by javierCarrion (edited 27 August 2005).]

[armadillo]

Javier, thanks a lot.

Mr Baba, head of Rosso border, no way did let me get in-to Senegal, unless I paid too much for a company til Gambia. I was alone, in no hurry, with plenty of time for unsuccessful negotiations. So I went back to RIM, which I missed so much anyway. Then I meet some Mauritanians in a HDJ 80 who did think we were crazy for going off piste with an old LR, but since our accident, (they said) was in Nouakchott news, they wanted to put together an small desert trip in the behalf of my -by then back in their respective countries- wounded companions. So I did spend my last three days with those local desert lovers, driving and camping in their families land (or sand) It was a great goodbye.
At the end I left the S2 at a house of an Spaniard who lives at Nouakchott.
Pipi Lankous used to say : " if you leave something behind it's because you gotta go back."

After this experience i can say:
- Sahara Overland was an almost essential source of information. Thanks Mr Scott and company !
- A home made shadow over the vehicle really makes a difference. It keeps it much cooler.
- The already used 750's kevlar reinforced pneumatics were great. Ask your local rally team for used pneumatics.
- Extra H.D. electric fan was essential to keep the vehicle working fine. At least during this August - September.
- An old Land Rover, if previously carefully checked, can slowly and quite safely go to the same places than a modern 4x4 with a fraction of the money.

Thank you all for your help an advice !

[Sbraz]

Hello,
I hope you and your friend are ok after the accident.
I have a Land Rover Series III and I'm planning a trip to Mauri and Mali.
I understand your Series II is equiped with parabolic springs from Rocky Mountain. As I'm planning to upgrade the springs of my SIII I would like to know your oppinion about those springs.
Best Regards
S Braz

[armadillo]

S Braz, thank you for asking. My friend is not yet able to walk and is slowly recovering, amazingly, itching to go back to the Sahara. God is merciful with the fools.

We did upgrade the springs cause people with LR Santana experience told us they get broken under very heavy loads in hard conditions. We chose RM couse they got good reputation and they were as cheap as the local Santana paras. The RM performed very nice, very comfortable under heavy load, about 900 kilos.
We even helped many Mauros to get unstuck or carry their stuff to the local market.

The main "inconvenience" was the low power of the engine, which i later learned, some people solve adding 2 or 3 psi of propane to the mix (in case of Diesel). Therefore more power and more economy. I'll try to get more info about it.

good luck !

[armadillo]

Hi !

We plan to go back to Rim. Fly from Spain to Nkchtt, get the vehicle ready, which is still there after the accident, and drive towards the interior.

Anybody knows alternative routes to Tidjikja and Tichit from Nkchtt avoiding Atar ?

This time we shall get travel insurance.

Thanks

[armadillo]

Thanks, José Brito for your help ! We appreciate it very much, beautiful.

[armadillo]

We are back from RIM, we visited, among otrer places Tidjikja, Tichitt, Rachid, Chingetti ( from south dunes)

We got quite confused bet Tidjikja and Chingetti because a little printing error in Sahara Overland II, and had no idea about updating data web page. Probably it'd be a good idea to include a separate paper in the book with the right way point --or points if necessary --

The 1962 land rover had no major problems, just: alternator failure, two broken spring bolts, overheating, massive petrol drinking. We were 3 people, total 950 kilos cargo (inc us)

Only petrol available at: Nktt, Atar Chingueti Nouadibou. Other places (Aleg, Tidjikja Tichitt etc..) at black market after long discussions about price, which was bet 350 and 400, sometimes mixed with diesel, (which by the way improves lubrication)

Some nomads told us that a Series LR is not exactly a vehicle but a mix of that with a camel, needing care an attention on the way

Thanks all for your help, information, maps, way points, experience. Horizons Unlimited has been very helpful. It was a wonderful trip.