S S
new original springs were found.
UN,
...lots of it, as the families head into Africa for what turns out to be the final leg of their journey together
AFTER THE boat crossing from
Jordan we hit the immigration
control centre of Egypt. This is an
array of small kiosks – you pass
each of them, collecting a stamp
on a bit of paper.
Once you have picked your final
stamp, you are given your number
plates and passports. This
procedure can last up to eight
hours, but for us, with four kids in
the heat of the day, it took two.
We could not believe it, but were
happy all the same. Our first long
stay destination was to be Ras
Mohammed in the southernmost
tip of Sinai. We had heard of an
overland camp that was literally
on the beach, secluded from the
masses of tourists that hit Sharm
el Sheik every day.
48 March 2009 LAND ROVER monthly
S
the Valley of the Kings before our Below left: Reef at Ras
EA AND
On arrival we drove right on to
by the beach, less than ten metres
Richard Poskitt from the shore and our own reef.
We were in no rush to leave and
stayed for two weeks, just enjoying
the quiet and the marvel of sea life
that was at our doorstep.
an accident leads to luxury
The second accident of our trip
occurred while we were visiting
Sharm, when Luka hit his teeth
while playing at a playground. At
first sight it looked bad, but when
Main: Dust road in we arrived at the dentist the full
Sudan. scale was given to us.
Bottom left: Happy He had, in fact, smashed off
mechanics in Cairo. a bit of the jaw bone and had to
Bottom right: Camel have stitches and the jaw glued
ride at the foot of the
Great Pyramid.
back in place. Thankfully our
insurance company covered
the evening. It had taken all
AND
this and also organised further
checkups in Cairo. Since Luka
could not go camping due
to infection risks we booked
ourselves in a hotel for a couple
of luxury, all-inclusive nights.
All our batteries recharged,
we headed for Cairo, a driver’s
nightmare and also the most
pushy place on our route so far. A
major check-up for the vehicles
was needed in Cairo and the 110
needed the clutch changed – as
well as new springs again.
The Britpart HD springs, put on
just before leaving, had not been
up to the challenge of our weight.
We were directed to a garage
that dealt with Land Rovers and,
sure enough, the clutch was
changed with no real hassle and
We replaced the original shocks
with the spare OME ones that we
did not have time to be added
in Sweden; it was like a new
vehicle. The 130, on the other
hand, had a replacement vacuum
pump and a complete service.
We visited the usual tourist
traps and headed for the white
desert, west of the Nile, on our
way to Luxor. This route gave
more freedom, as no convoys
are needed.
It had taken all day to load the barge full of Feta
cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and two Land Rovers.
It was one big floating Land Rover salad
To drive directly into the desert
of pure white, sculpture-like
formations with an orange dust of
sand was just alien. We actually
arrived after dark and drove
around, guided by the GPS,
looking for the camp that was
supposed to exist. After a while
we came to our senses and just
stopped, set up the tent, put the
kids to bed and had a glass of
wine, enjoying the silence.
In the morning we hit the road
to Luxor so that we could visit
boat to Sudan. We had very little
information on this boat but knew
it was expensive and going to be
tough with kids.
When we arrived in Luxor we
bumped into an English family
we had met in the Sudanese
Embassy in Cairo. We had a
pleasant evening and discovered
that we should catch the
compulsory convoy between
Luxor and Aswan directly in the
morning and get into Aswan to
organise the ferry – so no valley
this time. The Landies were to be
on a separate boat so we needed
time to get all the paperwork
sorted.
After a morning with a Mr.
Abuda, our Mr Fix-it in Aswan, we
had all our tickets and were very
much poorer. We had checked
into a hotel so as to get to the
boat on time.
This really was a
miscalculation on our behalf,
as the ferry finally left at six in
Mohammed. day to load the barge full of
Below right: Great Feta cheese, lettuce, tomatoes,
formations in the White olives, and two Land Rovers. It
desert. was one big floating salad.
We waved goodbye to our cars
and boarded the ferry. There had
been a lack of first class tickets
so we had one first class room
to share.
To describe first class is to
describe a room the size of eight
square metres, with a bunk bed
and a table that detached itself
from the wall the moment you
put a glass of liquid on. It did,
however, have an AC and this
was its up point.
cramped, but cosy
Two children and one adult in
the top bunk bed, two more
children and another adult in the
bottom one and two adults on
the floor – it was cosy, to say the
least. The rest of the passengers
huddled up to whatever flat
shaded surface of the boat they
could find. It was going to be a
long night.
We had been in touch with one
of our sponsors, Info 24,
who had supplied the Iridium
Tracking system. He had 4
LAND ROVER monthly March 2009 49
4 agreed to SMS us the status
of the Land Rovers as he
received it.
Every four hours we had the
coordinates, the direction, and
the speed sent by SMS. This was
stress relieving, as it was the first
time we had left the cars.
Arriving in Sudan we were
greeted by our Sudanese agent.
50 March 2009 LAND ROVER monthly
Above left: The biggest
sand pit in the world.
Above right: Washing
He made everything very smooth
and took us out of the building
having completed our paperwork
the 110 at Karen Camp to an array of taxis.
in Nairobi. Every single one of the taxis
was elaborately decorated, all
had bumps and scratches and
all were Series Land Rovers. We
were ushered into one to go to
the hotel to stay until the vehicles
arrived the next day.
Sudan, dust and frustration
Wadi Halfa is a dusty town
with character that must be
experienced. The fish in the
restaurants dotted around are
fresh – and still happen to look
like burnt kippers.
In the morning we had the SMS
telling us that the Landies had
arrived in port. We grabbed a
Landy Taxi and went to the port.
Our whole day was spent
waiting and watching all of the
salad being taken off the boat.
The vehicles had to come off last.
Just as the sun was setting
and the Ramadan breakfast was
about to start we drove off the
boat. We did not get far, as the
customs office had closed.
We had to spend another night.
Irritated, we went back to the
hotel and watched a DVD on the
computer, sweating.
On the road through the Nubian
Desert we had picked up a local
who we had met on the boat – he
invited us to stay in his village. He
had been in Egypt for three years
trying to better his life.
He had saved only enough
for the ferry home and was
disappointed with his time in
Egypt. He had, however, taken a
number of English classes and
was now in full swing.
We arrived in the village to a big
welcome. We sat with his family
and enjoyed a local Nubian meal.
After a walk around the village
we headed for Khartoum. This was
a long day. It took us through roads
that really did not exist, along rail
tracks and through the desert.
It was on this long, 14-hour
day we had both ACs break and
overheating on the shocks. Arriving
in Khartoum late, we just crashed.
All we needed to do was to
have our Ethiopian visas stamped
and we could leave. We all
agreed that we wanted to move
on from the Middle East and into
real Africa. We were getting tired
of all the hassle and wanted to
get to the coast again – we also
were a bit tired of similar foods
and longed for Indian Ocean
seafood and Kenyan Tusker beer.
beautiful Ethiopia
The border crossing to Ethiopia is
very easy to miss. In fact, we did,
and were told to reverse back
and park up. After very little time
we entered a lush, green and very
fertile Ethiopia.
As we drove to Lake Tama
we had wonderful views and
the people took a distance to
us. The tarmac roads were also
welcomed. We enjoyed a few
days in a hotel to watch a festival
before heading down to Kenya.
We all agreed that Ethiopia
Above left: The worst
road in Africa.
Above Right: Our
was one of the most beautiful
countries we had visited but we
wanted to get on and further
German friends we met south. After a brief stop in Addis
in Ethiopia. to pick up cash and provisions,
Below: Mountain road we headed for what was
in Ethiopia. supposed to be a nice spot on
the lake, where we could swim,
relax and enjoy the scenery.
On our arrival we met a German
couple, with a well kitted-out 110,
who run an education centre in
Moshi, Tanzania. We promised
we would meet up and after
swapping various GPS points we
did our usual ritual of comparing
Land Rovers.
From our discussion with
the Germans we headed for a
Norwegian missionary place
as our last port of call in
Ethiopia. This place, we had
been told, was supposed to 4
LAND ROVER monthly March 2009 51
4 be a little bit of Scandinavia
in Africa.
Sure enough, it was like
being in Northern Sweden. The
missionaries that run it were
not used to overlanders and
welcomed us.
It was the first time in the whole
trip we had a house. The kids had
their own room to sleep in and we
had a living room and kitchen…
basic but, for us, luxury.
It was time to be neighbours
and not travel partners. The travel
stress had been building up with
the families and this was exactly
what we all needed.
Pia and Milan had met a
family that were looking for
sponsorship for their children to
52 March 2009 LAND ROVER monthly
Above Left: Crossing
the Equator in Kenya
Above right: Getting
go to school so they had spent
some time sorting out school
fees and agreed to cover the
stuck in... then stuck cost of schooling for the family’s
completely. children. It was wonderful to see
Below left: Monkeys what a difference it made on the
picking up the crumbs faces of the parents.
in Samburu, Kenya.
tackling the worst road
It was, however, time for us to
get into East African territory. The
day we headed for the border to
Kenya it was full monsoon rains,
terrible visibility and oddly cold.
The crossing was fast and we
had to change road sides for the
first time. Now the 110 had the
overtaking advantage.
Still, we now had what was
to be well known as the worst
road in Africa in front of us. Two
days and 450km of the worst
corrugations, mud, rain and rock
we have ever driven.
While bypassing a stuck truck,
the 130 slid off and also got
stuck. Out with the sand ladders
for the first time, a little digging
– and out it went.
We were still travelling with
the English family in their Land
Cruiser VX. They too had a
number of problems including
electrical and diff leaks. It really
was a long day.
Arriving in Samburu we decided
a safari was in order. This is one
of my favourite parks in Kenya
and has all the animals within its
varied landscape.
We camped at one of the camp
sites there and had our first
encounter with baboons in the
morning. Just after making the
packed lunch a group of them
came crashing through, one was
stealing bananas from the boot
of the 110 and the full stack of
sandwiches and a jar of jam was
quickly swiped from the rear of
the 130.
Chaotically we said our
goodbyes to the English family–
they were off to Nairobi – and we
went off for our morning drive
and down to the Equator line. We
had friends from Sweden who
were staying on Solio Ranch,
Nanyuki, right on the Equator;
this was to be our stop-over
before Nairobi.
Tired and hungry for good
food we arrived at our friends.
One week of fantastic food
indulgence, good company and
the clear view of Mt Kenya from
the open fireplace was heaven.
the best family 4x4xfar
Pia’s parents were arriving in
Nairobi for a few weeks vacation
so we had to run. During their
stay we split for a while, as Lina
and I had found some interesting
options to move to Kenya – so we
wanted to stick around to look
more into it.
The Poznics visited the coast
to enjoy the heat and white
sands, as well as seeing the
Above left: Out she
comes.
Above right: Baboons
Masai Mara. The Poskits visited
schools, had numerous work-
related meetings and started to
block the way. set up the new life that would
Below: Tall pedestrians start after the trip had finished.
in Nakuru National While in Nairobi we were
Park, Kenya. introduced to the workshop
manager for Land Rover Kenya
and many of the other staff working
there including Martin Forster,
the CEO. He loved what we were
doing, proving the Land Rover is
the ‘best family 4x4xfar’.
The following days the cars
were given the full VIP service
and all parts that needed to be
changed were changed. Thank
you, Land Rover Kenya!
With the cars set perfect
4
for the last leg of the trip and
LAND ROVER monthly March 2009 53
4 Pia’s parents on their way
back to Sweden we split for
the trip through Tanzania.
We were to meet up in Malawi a
little while later.
We had all been looking
forward to seeing Kilimanjaro
again, as well as our old friends
in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania was
to be mainly transit to get to
Lilongwe as fast as possible to
meet Lina’s sister.
Dar es Salaam had changed
since we were there last – a quick
overnight catch up and a drive
around was enough. The Poskitts
headed for the Malawi border.
Due to the time stress to
Lilongwe we had to complete
another of our long drives. Arriving
on the Lake Malawi coast we met
up with old friends. We agreed that
they would catch up further south
and stay on the beach for a while
when Lina’s sister was there.
54 March 2009 LAND ROVER monthly
Top Left: Trying to spot
the Lion from the roof.
Top Right: Tuvale
Back in Europe, all the financial
crisis had not affected us and
we were happy with that... until,
and Oliver loving the one day, a call came through that
vantage spot from the the company renting the Poznics
roof. apartment in Stockholm had gone
Main: The Masai Mara bankrupt. Now we had to sort out
at sunset. a large mortgage payment cover,
Below left: Peaceful which was not fun.
Lake Malawi.
Below right: Ras the final days of adventure
Mohammed beach This stress got us all thinking
camp. about other problems that might
occur. Lina and I thought more
about our new life in Kenya.
Maybe it would be better to
return and finalise things before
our bank ran dry and time ran out
for our vacation.
Back and forth, we finally
decided to return to Kenya. For
us the trip was over.
Pia and Milan thought that it
would be fun to continue and
then perhaps further continue
to South America and around
the world. They would rent their
apartment again and continue.
That was it. We had a good last
day on the beach with the kids
and then an emotional evening
which was to be our last as
Adventure Family.
The adventure that had started
on February 15, 2008 truly was
an experience of a lifetime.
So many surprises, so many
interesting people and the ups
and downs of family life – we will
remember this year for the rest
of our lives.
We hope that our
adventure will inspire others
to do similar… it is not as hard
as it sounds, it is just different.
We wish Pia, Milan, Luka, and
Tanya all the best in their further
travels and look forward to
following them. LRM