tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:12:53 +00002 Monkeys. 1 car. 4,000 miles in 10 days. How hard can it be?http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)Blogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-6593814735915404240Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:27:00 +00002010-04-28T13:28:14.318+01:00 We couldn't sign off without a photo of the lovely trophy put together by trip organiser Clemo, and Splooge in what may be his final resting place in Tallinn (he's probably sitting on bricks already!).http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/we-did-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-5127727357965018173Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:09:00 +00002010-04-28T13:24:34.487+01:00At Helsinki port, being handed over to Rolf from Germany, for all of six hours. Splooge took an exception to being driven by a foreigner and spat his guts out no less than five minutes earlier. He was towed onto the ferry to Estonia! Happier times in Rovaniemi, Finland, being cleaned of snow by Jack and Sylvi, and getting a little boost from our trusty yellow battery pack. Amidst the mountains http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/bye-bye-splooge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-8577930904028755762Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:00:00 +00002010-04-26T16:00:37.298+01:00He may have been at the end of a tow rope, but Splooge has now been handed over to Estonia's only rehab charity. We're sure the tyres, stereo, battery etc will be worth something. So now all we have to worry about is drinking beer and flying home. Tallinn seems to be ideally designed for the former. Beer by the litre...http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/someone-elses-problem.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-7594929024585171587Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:54:00 +00002010-04-26T08:54:14.027+01:00Just a quick post to say we've landed in Talinn. Splooge made it too - well, sort of, but he's not going anywhere else. More laterhttp://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/landed-in-talinn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-213159505601976320Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:08:00 +00002010-04-28T13:23:33.950+01:00We've nearly done it - two nights ago we saw the sunset at Nordkapp, since then we've been driving through snowy Finland (after pretty much unbroken sunshine through Norway).Splooge should just about make it to Estonia. His little old battery doesn't like the cold and won't take a charge, so today we had to make an emergency replacement.We've got as far as Helsinki tonight and tomorrow it's just http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/all-way-up-and-down-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-2836278144184133763Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:07:00 +00002010-04-21T18:07:34.048+01:00 We've arrived in Tromso, capital city of the Norwegian Arctic, at the Thon Hotel Polar, which has lovely free internet access.Yesterday we crossed into the Arctic Circle, and it's quite chilly out, though toasty inside the car - Alex has a bit of a tan from all the sunshine.Splooge is running nicely, although his battery was a bit cold this morning and needed a jump from our friends the http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/snow-monkeys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-5420176195065368504Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:40:00 +00002010-04-18T19:40:23.079+01:00 Chugaboom - or Splooge to his friends - has made it to Oslo. He still sounds like the fastest lawnmower on the planet and we'll be making regular grease injections around the front wheels, but we're getting on. Anyway, here are two pictures - a lovely vista over the Swedish fjords (it was for me, you can have a view of Splooge's bum), and Sylvi with chief monkey Jack near the town of http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/scandi-scamps.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-8597459023666484409Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:34:00 +00002010-04-04T00:46:26.981+01:00Today's repair and maintenance session had mixed results - the oil and filter have been changed, but the offside CV boot is in a bad way.First up, Dad and I drained the oil and swapped out the oil filter, then replaced the old gunge with a mix of 5W40 and 15W40 that should be more suitable for the cold weather ahead. It certainly runs better with something more like oil running through the enginehttp://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-boots.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-6968390048678451841Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:59:00 +00002010-04-01T13:25:51.863+01:00 We've had the car for a couple of weeks now and it's a pretty decent runner with just 41,000 miles on the clock when I picked it up.The orange velour interior is a highlight - and Juan's amazing paint job!It's spent all of its life on the Isle of Man, so it must have gone around a fair few times! So far I've had to replace the main headlight unit, fitted winter tyres and a decent stereo (which http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/04/smooth-runner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-2961010874193972033Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:49:00 +00002010-02-27T12:31:39.309ZThe Monkey Runners are on the run again in 2010. This time we're joining the Northern Lights Challenge, from London to Talinn, via Amsterdam (oh yeah!), Copenhagen, Trondheim, Nordkapp (the most Northerly town in continental Europe), and Helsinki. So from bouncing across the desert we'll be skidding over snow-covered roads.We've been offered an (almost) fully functional 1981 Austin Allegro by http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-run-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-3406722294895329808Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:11:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:35.352ZTitch was auctioned a few days ago in Bamako for 500,000 Central African Francs - about £575. It all goes to local causes via the Rotary Club of Bamako.Not bad for a car which was destined for the scrapheap when we got him, and a lot more than we spent on getting him roadworthy.Meanwhile we've got to just under £1,800 for Water Aid - which will be more than £5,000 when Future and Arup have http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/02/titch-gets-500.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-4078158027896509161Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:12:00 +00002008-02-24T12:15:09.983ZYou can now follow the photos of our journey in Google Earth or, if you don't have the software installed, via Google Mapshttp://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/02/follow-our-photo-trail.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-4305267911069396741Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:41:00 +00002008-02-12T17:45:57.418ZLoading stuff onto Google Earth, I kept coming across something called Tracks4Africa. I finally had a look, and it's a group of (mostly) South African eco-tourists who are using Garmin GPS to create accurate maps of Africa for tourists. I'm not sure if my tracks will be any good, but it's another thing to remember if we do anything like this again - there are millions of miles of poorly-mapped http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/02/tracks4africa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-8792639763993561017Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:43:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:35.647Z Sometimes it pays to do a little homework... A couple of days ago I discovered that our Garmin Nuvi 770 had been quietly recording our progress every time it was turned on. Unfortunately, it wasn't turned on very much in the early days of our trip, because I couldn't get the cigarette lighter I'd fitted to work reliably, and we had to save power. That's not a big problem, because Garmin's maps http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/02/where-you-been.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-7081669471270526448Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:50:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:35.816ZIn a few hours we'll be heading for the airport, with a mixture of regret and relief. We've spent the last couple of days in the small-ish town of Segou at the Festival sur le Niger, getting under the skin of Mali in a new way. It shows how far we've come - literally and psychologically - that we thought nothing of driving over 100 miles upriver for a couple of nights.The Sofitel was very http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/02/segouand-were-coming-home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-7655631209111383908Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:12:00 +00002008-01-30T09:18:45.021ZWe've finally got the slideshow working with Picasa, and you should be able to click through for bigger versions of the images. It kicked both Flickr and Photoshop Album Starter Edition right out of the way. You can link to the album, and we'll start geotagging them in Google Earth soon. We've got loads of video, but for now it's mostly upside down, because it was filmed using our window mount. http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/slideshow.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-8619842264100626333Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:48:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:36.078ZWe made it to Bamako yesterday afternoon, where we've holed up in the very decent Sofitel, overlooking the River Niger, with the incredible West African Central Bank building to our west, and a delightful rubbish dump to the east. Getting into Bamako was the most insane driving experience so far, particularly after the quiet and mostly smooth road down through Mali from the bush camp (you'll be http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/day-19-bamako.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-496202642829369558Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:58:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:36.254ZThis afternoon we crossed out of the hellhole that is Mauritania into Mali, which is still hot, but somehow a lot more pleasant and laid back. Evening brought us to Nioro du Sahel, a small town with only one hotel that looked frankly awful, so we've decided to bush camp. With six cars we should be safe, but just in case, our coordinates are N 15deg 9'18.3" W 9deg 29'10.2", elevation 304m.We've http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/weve-made-it-to-mali.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-4804522017188589019Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:37:00 +00002008-01-23T22:38:39.367ZThe Mauritanian border turned out to be quite easy; it was getting out of Morrocco which turned out to be a terrible chore. The sandstorm wasn't a good start, but the border must be a punishment posting for the police, army and customs officers who staff it, so they're mostly bad-tempered, corrupt, or both. It took over an hour to officially leave Morrocco, and the struggle started with a http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/day-thirteen-off-road-and-loving-it.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-6348263559212756060Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:47:00 +00002008-01-22T23:58:27.883ZWe're now in Nouackchott, the northern frontier town of Mauritania, in a secure compound. Apparently the nearest police are the ones we paid 'extra' at the border, but it seems like a friendly place. We've had Titch raised a few inches at the front by a meatball mechanic for 50Euros and a set of garage overalls. We've also had to say goodbye to some luggage after taking on 40L of petrol in jerry http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/day-twelve-beyond-law.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-6036145356075928671Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:20:00 +00002008-01-20T22:24:39.983ZMonday, as I'm reliably informed the next day is called, will be a rest day for those of us who arrived in Dakhla today. We'll be giving our vehicles some TLC and off-road upgrades, then moving to a new camp on the mainland, shaving 80km from our hack down to Nouabidhou and the Mali border on Tuesday morning. On the menu for us is an examination of Titch's undercarriage, and probably a visit to http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/day-eleven-over-water.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-9168362095442522020Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:14:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:36.521ZAs you can see, we've now chalked up 3,250 miles, which is allegedly more than halfway to Bamako, but doesn't feel like it. After a Friday night in the very chilled-out little beach town of Mirleft, where the sat-link power ran out before I had time to add much, we headed down to Layounne, 'capital' of the disputed Western Sahara. It's allegedly the safest town in Morrocco because there are so http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/day-ten-south-to-dakhla.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-6406893895794670875Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:08:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:36.820ZHere we are, live from the Tizi-n-Test pass. It's all downhill to the Sahara now...http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/on-top-of-world.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-443347249530883479Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:41:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:37.195ZAfter a day of rest and sightseeing in mad Marrakech, we're off to Agadir for the coastal section of our odyssey - but with a twist.We'll be travelling via the scenic and very twisty Tizi-n-Test Pass through the Atlas Mts, topping out at just over 2,000ft. At least three other teams will be in the convoy, and while it's a mere 200km or so, today should be quite a day.If you're confused by the http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/day-eight-tizi-n-test-pass.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6353786804175345172.post-4902237694526218918Wed, 16 Jan 2008 07:05:00 +00002008-11-13T18:48:37.581ZThe routes have already changed a bit, so you'll have to use your imagination as they're a bugger to redraw! Today should be a nice walk around the medina in Fes, followed by a long slog to Marrakech. Might be staying somewhere else tonight as night-driving in Morrocco is interesting to say the least!Sunrise over Fes is very pretty but my hands aren't half cold! Fingerless gloves go on the http://monkeyrunners.blogspot.com/2008/01/day-six-fes-to-marrakech.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Monkey Runners)0