Lone Wolf Transglobal Expedition 2007

"An experienced team of fellow adventurers plan to undertake an overland Expedition from the UK. Travelling through Europe, Africa, South America, Central America, South East and Central Asia, eventually heading home Westwards through Europe. The intended route will travel through 40 countries.

The vehicle that will be used to undertakle this mammoth task is a specially built Land Rover Defender Wolf XD, it is one of 6 made especially for the cancelled Land Rover Global Expedition, and has been further modified for this route.

The purpose of the Expedition is simple. To visit as many countries as possible along the way, altering the route to suit political climates, and circumstance. In each country the intention is to sample and document as many cultural and interesting experiences as possible, communicating these via the website. The team also intend to take on some of the worlds greatest attractions. To visit temples like Ankor Wat, Hike in Nepal, Live with Tribes in the Jungles of Asia and South America, Camel trekking in India, Diving with Sharks around the world and so much more. Their experiences will be filmed by a camera crew to be produced into a documentary film. Pictures and journals can be viewed on the website. The Expedition start date to leave the UK is 1st January 2007. Our Charity Partners are Medecins Sans Frontieres and Project Aware."

Check out the website to sponsor the expedition or to check progress so far - www.lonewolftransglobal.com

Daniel
Expedition Leader

After a month on the road, and a few days off it, the team are in central Iran. Highlights so far have been going into the bear caves in Chiscau, travelling through Romania and seeing Vlad the Impaler's castle. Our first day in Istanbul, driving to Goreme through the salt lakes. The underground city in the sword valley. Hot air balooning over the sword valley, filling the wolf's fuel tanks for $3 - thats 300litres for $2.70!!! Organising a brilliant impromptu party in Iran, not to mention waking up practically every morning to find the cooking oil frozen, and the diesel frozen in the tanks.

The team are now well on their way, and expect to move on to Pakistan in the next 2-3 weeks, having now settled into the way of living.

The wolf has been coping really well with all the terrain and conditions its been expected to drive over, which given some of the pictures I've been sent, is pretty impressive.

The UN decals were getting a lot of negative attention from the Iranian authorities, so the team decided to remove these, and try to get a replacement in Pakistan.

Here are a few of the amazing pictures sent back by Dan, and the journals will be updated soon, though as Daniel said himself, "we are doing so much now that it is really hard to get this bloody thing filled in! I am way behind, and everyday just gets busier and more amazing!"

I am sorry for attaching SO many pictures, but you may agree, they are simply amazing!


Lone Wolf

Nice photos, but ffs, how many blooming GPSs do the guys need?? Look forward to seeing more stuff

nomadafrik said:

Nice photos, but ffs, how many blooming GPSs do the guys need?? Look forward to seeing more stuff

Click to expand...

Just the two GPS units, they display different things, one shows the road maps, and one shows the topo maps, there is also the redundancy of having two. Which was useful in Germany, when one decided it didn't know what the hell was going on with the autobahn!!

You can read the journals on the website: January 2007


Lone Wolf

Fantastic Pictures!! Looks like you're having a great time.

This expedition appears to have ground to a halt or am I wrong. Lots of information of meal menus but not much substance since April.

Sorry for not updating you all on the progress of the Lone Wolf Expedition. We haven't ground to a halt, and the expedition is currently in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Dan's journals take a long time to write, and unfortunately, his laptop died (on which all the journals are written) at the beginning of May, we have now fixed it, but it set us back about 3 weeks. Another reason for the lack of updates, is that Dan hasn't been able to get an e-mail out for the last 2 weeks, and in the last week, our website editing program has thrown a tantrum, and will not let us edit the site, we think this is due to the website hosting service.

Sorry to dissapoint everyone who has been checking our site regularly, in the next week, I will resume the normal service, and if I can get everything working, I will be bringing some new features to the website. And when I get more time, will be able to post some information on these forums.

We have been very busy in the last few weeks at home, as we have been preparing for the Central America leg of the expedition. Amy, Oliver and I will be joining Dan, from Los Angeles to Panama, and next week, we get turned into pin cuisions, (maybe some photos of that for the site). We are also arranging for the wolf to be shipped from Vietnam next month.

If you need proof that the expedition is still alive and well, Dan ran into the Thai Land Rover club last week, and here is what they had to say about him. LINK




Many Thanks



Nick Moylan

How did you get satnav maps for the asian and middle eastern countries?

How did you find getting that many visa's sorted?

quattro said:

How did you get satnav maps for the asian and middle eastern countries?

How did you find getting that many visa's sorted?

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this right now, but Daniel has 'map source'. This gives him a basic map of the world, but it gets a bit thin on the details outside of Europe and US. Map Source does allow third party map makers to create their own maps for use on the Garmin, and while these are very expensive in this country, Daniel has been able to find locals who have the local maps for their own satnavs, which they have been happy for him to download.

I did find somewhere, that there was a mapping software that allowed you to literally scan a paper map onto your computer, and then use this on the satnav, by identifying the gridlines and references. Alas, we never used this, but in my opinion this is a very adaptable system for use even with hand drawn maps.

Visas have not been a problem, we got the visas for Iran and Pakistan in the UK, and all subsequent visas have been obtained at the borders. In reterospect, the visa for Pakistan was quite unneccesary, as there was still a free-for-all at the border to get it validated, and they ended up giving Dan another one! As for Iran, we used an agency to help us out, they were very helpful, but quite expensive. Turkey is easy to get a visa for, but the Norwegian visa cost 50 euros, the English visa cost 20 euros, and the Irish visa only cost 10 euros.

In South East Asia, crossing borders is now almost as easy as crossing borders in Europe, (particularly if you speak the language, or have a translator with you, though this is not neccesary). It is simply a case of going to the border crossing and obtaining the visa for a fee.

Hopefully, Central America and Africa should be the same, but of course, I will be happy to let you know! I will confirm all this with Daniel, but this is my impression based upon what he has said to me before.




Many Thanks,


Nick Moylan

I'm planning a trip to Mongolia going via the 'Stans and coming back via Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and then into Northern Africa and then back up into Europe.

Does every country allow me to obtain a visa at the border?

What sat-nav unit could you recommend?

Have they encountered any major problems in any particular country?

It's good that you guys are doing this trek as it should make it easier to obtain information for me!

We are using two Garmin Quest units, and as I said, Garmin are very good, but makes are every bit as good. Just make sure you get one with the ability to load new maps onto. Our GPS had a complete meltdown when we went into Germany (fixed shortly afterwards), I don't think it was quite ready for the density of the roads. Also, when Dan first drove in Malaysia, it was just an island outline with KL as a dot in the middle!

I think every country would allow you a visa on the border, if you give enough time, but I would reccomend consulting the country's embassy before you leave, and usually, pay a visit to an embassy for the destination country before you get there, as there is often a longer waiting time for visas (eg. 10 days for India!)

I don't know how much preparation you have done already, and in particular, looking at carnets, I have heard from many people that carnets can be obtained much more cheaply from other European countries. If you are going through Egypt, the import duty is 500%, and Pakistan and Iran is 400%. When getting a Carnet, only base it on the car, not on any modifications... ours was on a 10 year old land rover van.. so much cheaper than it could have been!




Hope this helps, and good luck with your preparations,


Nick

I already have TomTom so European navigation is easy, I just need to buy another unit with uploadable maps then as TomTom do not make a map for the countries I am going too.

I will write to as many embassys as I can and ask them what is the best thing to do to enter the country, I had no idea a visa could take up to 10 days at the border, I don't want to waste 10 days at a border!!

I have done a quick google search for carnets and am not entirely certain I understand it, every site seems to explain it written in confusing lawyer-esque type language, could you give me a brief run down of what they do and why do I want/need one? I don't understand how high import duties will affect me as I am not importing the vehicle as I am only "passing through".

As far as preperations go, I still have a lot to go I am only at the stage of planning and working stuff out now. I don't even have a vehicle for the job. Although I do have some experience with going on road trips. I have driven around every EU country with the exception of Portugal and Iceland (Iceland is in the Eu... right?) I drove to the most Northern point in Europe in February this year when it was minus 38*c in a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 I also drove around Romania so I know a little about **** roads but nothing quite as bad as some of the countries I shall be going to.

On average how long does it take to obtain a visa at a border? Is days common or is India a one off thing?

Thanks,

James

quattro said:

I have done a quick google search for carnets and am not entirely certain I understand it, every site seems to explain it written in confusing lawyer-esque type language, could you give me a brief run down of what they do and why do I want/need one? I don't understand how high import duties will affect me as I am not importing the vehicle as I am only "passing through".

On average how long does it take to obtain a visa at a border? Is days common or is India a one off thing?

Click to expand...

I think crossing a border is usually a case of hours rather than days, but there is a possibility of the visa itself taking several days, usually in a main city in the country before, we arrange the visa, and then return having explored the local area.

Here is my explanation of the carnet, sorry if this confuses you more, if it does, I will try my best to explain it better:

When you take something into a country, you are importing it, and the local customs, (rather pessimistically) assume you will sell it at a huge profit. They will then make you pay them the import duty, when you leave the country, you then reclaim this money, which can take several days. It does mean that you are travelling with a huge amount of cash on you, and makes you quite vulnerable.

A carnet is an agreement between yourself and countries which accept it, that you will not sell your vehicle in their country. You then need to have access to the money in the UK, should the local customs need to take it. When you enter a country, instead of taking vast sums of money off you, they stamp the document, and then stamp it again when you leave, once you return to the UK, you send this document back to the RAC (or whoever you got it with if you use a foreign motoring ass'n) and they will verify that the vehicle is back in the UK, and return the money to you.

The money you have bonded is kept in one of three ways, either the 1) bank guarantees you for the money, (like getting a bank loan agreed, but not taking out the loan- they usually charge you for this, but not much), 2) you have the money in an account with the motoring association, which is the cheapest option, but not many people have up to 5 times the value of their vehicle sitting in their bank account! 3) you take out an insurance policy which is quite expensive, but much easier to get than the other two. The premium covers you if you cannot export your vehicle from the country, and then pays the import duty, usually comes to about 10% of the carnet value, (if 500%, then 50% of the value of your vehicle)

I hope this answers your question, I know it's not particularly brief, but my fiancee is a solicitor, so I know how bad it gets!



Nick