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Here in the Western Sahara semi-autonomous, free administered territory UN controlled Moroccan owned rebel occupied landmine danger zone surf resort area of the globe, it is really difficult to really tell what is going on.  No one really claims this as a country, many people occupy it, laws contradict themselves and roads are actually pretty good here, which would lead you to believe that it is well run.  The problem is that it is hard for us to really tell who is running this show.

All of the 8 checkpoints we went through on our way from Boudjour to Dahkla, a span of only 500kms, were managed by soldiers wearing Moroccan uniforms.  These men were all very nice and quite friendly, but regularly over the 4-5 hours of time we spent during that day stopped at checkpoints, I wondered how “independent” these checkpoints are.  Sometimes we would simply be waived through, other times stopped for as long as 45 minutes.  We tried everything from being short with the men to making friends, but overall nothing seemed to really expedite the stops.  Since nothing is computerized and many of the checkpoints don’t even have power it is hard to see how this makes anything more secure.  We were told recently that they have the checkpoints to make sure that you arrive at the next one.  It you do not arrive at the next one, they will search for you as many people have had problematic run-ins with the land mines here.  The problem is that I cannot see any search party being sent out, considering that a lot of people pull off to the side of the road to camp here, just like we did the first day.  Obviously you would be late arriving to the next checkpoint if you camped for two or three days between them.

Everything is handwritten, nothing is organized, and if these checkpoints are for security, it is hard to see why they waive so many other people by while spending so much time with us.  After talking to some of the locals here in Dahkla, we think we have a solution, if we have photocopies of our passports they will take those and send us on our way.  I will keep my fingers crossed that this works.  The other thing we learned is that being too friendly with the guards will only make your stay longer.  These guys are working 100s of kms away from anything in the middle of nowhere, so a little entertainment from the TWBR crew is just what they need to break up their day.

So at the end of the day, 3 Polaroids, 2 t-shirts, a Toyota gorilla, and a pack of cigarettes later we made it through one checkpoint in around an hour instead of a half an hour.  We learned our lesson, even if you speak French, you don’t at the checkpoints.  Even if you have t-shirts and jokes to tell, you don’t at checkpoints. It was a fun experience and we all had a good time, but from here on out, we are sorry to say, “Border guards, we cannot be friends with all of you.”

Oh and one more thing, thanks to the guard at the second to last stop at 10pm for giving us some fried fish as a gift at checkpoint #7.  We liked checkpoint 7:).

For this picture, the extra hour was well worth it. Please note some sort of weapon tucked behind the picture of the king.

8 times in one day…maybe a little excessive?

30 more minutes of my life down the drain, checkpoint #6.

Well, we are in the thick of it now. The thick, blowing sand of the Western Sahara Desert. In fact, we are actually in a UN administered territory called Western Sahara. (The Moroccans like to claim it as their southern province and the rebel POLISARIO Front refers to the land as the “free zone.”) Whatever you want to call it, politics aside, it is definitely the desert. It is strange that a place so empty and so seemingly void of life can spark so much interest and arouse so much curiosity in people. On the surface, it does not seem like the desert has much to offer, but nothing can be farther from the truth, and when it comes to things to offer, the Sahara has a full plate to chose from.

Driving through Western Sahara is a bit odd. Obviously there are not too many people living here as daytime temperatures soar well above 40 degrees and plummet to next to nothing after the sun goes down, but signs of people seem to be everywhere. Signs of life come in the form of ramshackle tents distributed quite randomly amongst the rocks and sand dunes. Sings of life come in the form of blown-out tires scattered along the side of the lone road that meanders its way south to Mauritania… there are other tracks further inland, but the risk for exploration is high as landmines have been buried all over the place. Unfortunately, signs of life here in this part of the desert also come in the form of trash which seems to accumulate everywhere. Although the plastic bag may be practical, when you see “plastic bag bushes” hundreds of miles from any form of civilization it makes you wonder if they are really beneficial at all.

Navigating the trash and hopefully the landmines

Signs of non-human life are even more evident in the desert. Snakes and critters of all types reside here and although they are extremely difficult to spot due to both their camouflage and calculated movements, their tracks can been seen throughout the sand. Underground rivers wind their way through the dunes, completely hidden from view and the only indication that there is water around is the occasional patch of green grass or the even less frequent oasis. No mirages just yet.

Desert Oasis

Mark scouts out a shipwreck we spotted from the road

It is a bit cliche, but camels are also part of the desert and the Sahara is no exception. I am not sure if they are completely wild, but camels here freely graze wherever they chose and sometimes that tends to be in the middle of the road. When you come to a place like the Sahara, you hope that you can catch a glimpse of a camel outside of a typical tourist attraction. For us, this glimpse started in the form of concrete structures which gave way to road signs alerting you to their presence to finally seeing live camels roaming about the desert plains in giant herds. I have to admit, camels are a strange breed of animal. There is nothing quite like a camel and there is no other animal I am aware of that communicates by using what sounds like deep, prolonged belching. In any regard, seeing the silhouette of a camel herd grazing against the backdrop of a setting sun in the Sahara desert is up there with one of the coolest things I have seen in my life.

First sign of camels in the desert

Second sign, literally, of camels in the desert

Almost hitting camels in the desert

We have only been in the desert for a few days and the peace and tranquility that you find here can sometimes blind you to the fact that although beautiful in countless ways, the desert can also be a very dangerous and inhospitable place. So far, the desert has been good to us and we can only hope that the trend continues because we still have a long way to drive before the sands of the Sahara start to give way to the lush vegetation of equatorial Africa.

Have you ever done something that was completely unnecessary and totally necessary at the same time? Instances like these can only really be understood in retrospect, but I suppose that is how one might define some of the most memorable experiences in a lifetime. After recently crossing the straights of Gibraltar and officially starting what may prove to be the most intense part of the whole expedition, Morocco has proven to be a place full of color and excitement. The markets, touts, ancient cities and delicious food are enough to keep you occupied for months here and the citizens of this country, although intense at times, are always helping to make each moment more interesting than you planned it to be.

In Fes, the city that Lonely Planet notes at the “Soul of Morocco”, the first impression of walking through the narrow streets of the Medina is something reminiscent of an Indiana Jones like epic, searching for a lost antiquity or mythic scroll that has the answers to all of your questions about life. These narrow streets are far to slender to accommodate a smart car in places, let alone two oversized American trucks. As the Medina’s narrow streets begin widen closer to the city walls, the locals take it upon themselves to fill this extra space with vegetables, car parts, coffee makers, and tons of other goods in a winding loop of a marketplace. Here, although the streets are considerably wider than the streets in the center, they are by no means a thoroughfare to get from one side of the Medina to the other.

The first night that we spent in Fes, we were led to a hotel near the bottom of the Medina by a tout. We were tired when we arrived, so the first night we stayed at the hotel the tout had delivered us to, even though it was booked for the rest of the weekend. The next morning the owner offered to take us to another area of town where we could find another hotel. This was the necessary part of the day. Tasks like these are the makings of a normal day, getting the things done that need to get accomplished that day.

The twist that made this more than just a transfer from one hotel to another was the ingenious idea of our friendly hotel owner to have us take the not so direct route. This route was actually so indirect that it caused us to go in a complete circle from a point we had already passed on the way to the other part of town. Looking back on this incredible experience, it now seems hard to decide whether the necessary part of this incredible day was moving to the new hotel or driving on this longcut. Have a look at this clip and decide for yourself, and then at some point give this a try…

 

 Fes Markets [1:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (603)

Here at The World by Road, we have many different ways of saving money. From the full service kitchen we can setup out of the back of the truck or even sometimes bring with us into the hotel room for late night snacks to the faring we are working on to increase gas mileage, we have many ways to cuts costs across the board. The floorspace in hotel rooms many times is a sea of foam pads and sleeping bags filled with crew members and in some cases like our latest room in Agadir, Morocco, a 4 little bears setup keeps the four of us just an arms reach away all night long in our $22 per night room. We eat local food and sometimes just don’t eat at all. Coca Cola has enough calories to count as a meal, right?

At the end of the day we are still struggling for money and sometimes it is nice to treat ourselves to a top notch hotel to break up the monotony of our streamlined budgeting techniques. At place like the Hyatt or the Hilton, everything is taken care of, and there is something to be said for that. All of the backpackers and self-proclaimed hardcore travelers out there are probably scoffing as they read this, but from time to time it is nice to check into a hotel and when we ask the question of where we can park the cars the immediate answer is, “Where would you like the valet to park them, sir?” The truth is that I prefer to camp over staying in a hotel at all, but in a city where there are security concerns about the cars, a ton of work to do and enough grime caking everything you own to raise concerns with the local health department, a couple of nights on the other side of the tracks is welcome.

Since the beginning of the trip we have been honing our skills on getting everything discounted or free when possible. In Casablanca we may have gotten a little too confident in our skills of persuasion when we approached the Hyatt in the center of downtown with the grandiose idea of getting accommodation for the entire crew at a moments notice, but hey, how do you get better if you do not try for bigger fish?

 

 How not to get a free hotel [1:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (533)

Since entering Europe we received quite the welcome from the local media outlets. In Bergen, Norway we were featured on the front page of the main newspaper in town. In London I was interviewed by the Guardian, and as we were told by a friend in London, it is one of the most respected newspapers in the UK. We were also featured by one of the top 4×4 magazines in the France. Marc, the writer for the magazine also helped us with the recent repairs on the Tundra and is planning a 11 page spread in the magazine in the next couple of months. Marc Mellet was introduced to us by our friend Chenzorig in Mongolia. Chenzorig helped us install the new shocks on the trucks back when we were in Mongolia. He told us about Marc and his trip to Kamchatka peninsula in Siberia during the heart of winter. Chinzo helped Marc to install many of the new heaters and components that allowed him to drive his car there in such temperatures.

As we approached Paris, Steve Bouey started contacting Marc to see if we could get some help with the damage to our trucks. We figured that Marc would just be a nice guy and hook us up with a shop, but things turned out quite differently when we arrived. Not only did Marc help us with the trucks, we are being featured in the magazine and quite good friends with Marc after our time in Paris. He even let the crew sleep on the floor at his house. To top things off, when we took photos of the trucks for the magazine, Marc talked with the Police and we parked the trucks on the Arc de Triumph for photos (this is one of the craziest intersections on the planet, for those of you that have not seen it in person).

For whatever reason, we continue to find the right people. People like Marc and Chinzorig, others like Thomas or Carlos who run hostels in Barcelona and Munich, and the countless other people around the world that go out of their way to help us out are what keep our operation from getting stopped in its tracks, literally. As we drive down tollways crossing numerous borders in a week, we tend to accumulate a myriad of different currencies. Often we get to a toll booth and do not have enough of the local currency, but over and over the toll booth operators call their supervisors to either use our credit cards, take the other currency, or in some cases take multiple different currencies to come up with enough money to get us on our way. Hostels and hotels continue to give us discounts and in some cases, like at the Easy Palace hostel in Munich, we were even given free beer for one whole night along with beer tasting lessons. Often it is hard for me to understand why so many people take it upon themselves to make sure that The World by Road succeeds. Over and over when it seems that we have hit a barrier, a smiling face, a phone call or an email come through to prove that there is always a way to a solution.

Since we started the trip one of our biggest hurdles has been video. Although we film every day, with all of the trials of the road and technical difficulties we have obviously been far behind on our original plan to have more regular video up. Much like all of the other problems encountered since our exit from the comforts of home, this problem has also worked itself out. Brook Silva Braga is the latest addition to the crew here and his background is just what we have needed to take the load off my back managing the expedition and editing video. Since he has been here we have already managed to put together two different video shorts. So how did we find Brook? It is a long story, but when I was planning for the expedition the trailer for his documentary, A Map for Saturday, was referred to me by a friend. I thought it looked great and wrote a blog about it. A day later Brook contacted me…”Good luck on your trip, hopefully I’ll be back on the road sometime soon, maybe our paths will cross.” Our paths did cross again as he interviewed us in the Czech Republic for his site, The InterviewPoint. As a bit of a joke I poked Brook saying that he should join the expedition in Africa. I never really thought he would join, but only a month or so after the interview, Brook is now here in person.

It really is amazing how all of this works out. Each day brings us new challenges and difficulties, but each day also brings us miracles, for lack of a better word. In Tim Cahill’s book “Road Fever” he states, “This would not be possible without the help of all of the great people along the way.” I read that book very early on in this adventure and every day that statement rings true more and more everyday.

Below I have listed some links to the the articles and media I have mentioned above:

Brook sent me a copy of his movie when we first met, it is worth a watch. You can purchase a copy of it on Brook’s site - http://www.amapforsaturday.com/contact.html. It also is airing on MTV and some other stations worldwide, check out his site to see the latest times.

The InterviewPoint Interview
http://www.theinterviewpoint.com/ITP/Interviews/1E468135-B7D5-4CB0-87B2-47B8E74C8E6C.html

The Guardian Article - http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=505&catID=8

Interview in Bergen, Norway - Click here

Tim Cahills Book