OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
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The last few months I’ve been slaving away in the office earning money for the next trip, Take On Asia. And in the evenings I’ve been slaving away on the laptop finishing the book on my earlier trip, Take On Africa. Finally, 10 months after typing the first sentence, the book Desert Snow is ready to print. 160,000 words have…
I had thought that since Spring is just round the corner (although I’m not so sure having looked at the forecast for this weekend), I should finally write up about the winter bike ride in northern Scandinavia… (Feel free to skip the writing and go straight to the end where there’s a short video Shane put together) Into The Cold……
GEAR You can see the list of gear I took on the Equipment List page here. I’m no expert, but here’s a list of things I learned and did. Duct tape is your friend – tape up any exposed metal that you will be touching regularly. Metal sucks the warmth from your hands! Things like pan handles, flasks, mugs, shovel…
Still no real blog post, but do not worry – Here are some more photos from the 3-weeks of biking and camping in northern Sweden, Finland and Norway… Hopefully they speak for themselves. If you haven’t seen the photos of the beautiful landscapes we biked through that I posted last week, they’re here.…
What I Wore / Worked for Me: Cycling: 0 to -10C: Underwear – sports/quick-dry bra and pants Bottoms – lightweight baselayer and paramo aspira waterproof trousers Top – lightweight baselayer and paramo velez adventure light smock Hands – Silk liners and pogies from Dogwood Designs Feet – coolmax liner sock + plastic bag + thick wool sock + Seeland Pac…
Until I get chance to write a proper blog post about the trip, here’s a taster with some of my favourite views from the 3 week bike ride from Kiruna in Sweden to Tromso in Norway. Enjoy….…
So I’m getting rather excited and with just the occasional fit of doubt, which may be more aptly described as ‘bricking it’. In only 15 more days I shall be landing in Kiruna in the far north of Sweden to meet up with Shane for a 3 week cycle ride, taking an indirect route, to Tromso in Norway. Just another…
Having spent the day in the Peak District, we drove across to Wales. Lars was keen to bag a peak, so it had to be Snowdon. We had an easier time finding a campsite in the dark and even chanced upon a pub serving cheap curry, which sounded (and tasted) far better than the noodles we had. The next frosty…
The last ten days Lars Bengtsson has been visiting. We made a whistlestop tour round the south of England and Wales. The first few days were particularly beautiful, if somewhat on the chilly side, but that didn’t stop us. The benefit of having the car was we could go camping, luxury style – duvet included. It’s 4 years since I’ve…
On my bookshelf at home are some old photo albums, from the days when cameras came with film and you got prints of your images. Today I took a look at one of them – It was of a two week ‘family’ holiday without the parents (so that’s me and my sister) to Andalucia in Spain. And stuck in with…
I had a vague plan to write a regular blog while I was in the UK, but alas, time is flying by and it’s one of the many things I have failed to do. I blame the book-writing. Really there is nothing to blame but me. The book-writing started well. I kept up my 10,000 words a week target until…
When is a Brooks saddle buggered? My saddle caused me so much pain towards the end of my last trip I thought it was finally time for a new one. It did me well for many miles. It was a Brooks B17 Ladies saddle. This time I’ve gone for the Imperial version with the cut-out with the hope it’ll relieve…
Still one of my favourite parts for biking, was the three weeks we spent cycling from Guinea Bissau’s capital to Kindia in the south of Guinea on my ride through West Africa. The majority of the 1,000km (ish) was off-road. Guinea Bissau was wide orange dust tracks and narrow single-track paths through overgrown grass and [...]…
With only a couple of weeks left until the end of this trip, where I fly out of Cancun, Mexico, I wanted just one more mini-adventure. And it would be in Belize. I had read on Cass Gilbert’s blog of an off-road route he had taken through northern Belize. Having missed the fun dirt-track biking [...]…
This weekend, I am knuckling down to update some of the missing posts, and filling in the gaps of my recent travels… Click on the following links to see what I’ve been up to…or down to in certain cases…!! “Leaving Lima and the Ride to Huaraz…” The “Pasto Ruri Glacier…” “Houston…!! It’s us again…!! My Birthday Ride…!!” “Huanchaco and Chan…
…And so we survived our first day and night on the river. But who knows what the new day will bring… It brought crocodiles. The day started calmly. The early morning hovering mist had dispersed and a blue sky emerged. All was still except for the few birds that had missed the dawn chorus. A [...]…
It was a good feeling to be reunited with the bike. No more at the mercy of rickety buses and well worn backpacker routes. Even cycling across Tegucigalpa was ok. Except we got lost. But then we were shown the way by a father and daughter in a large 4×4. The last day in the Honduran capital was also the…
So there we are, a-floating down the river. Calm water through a tunnel of trees. Walls of silence through which nothing passes. Just a white-noise buzzing in the background of crickets clickety-clicking. The thick deep green forest close around you. The channel of blue sky like a pathway and the river carrying you unabated on your journey. There is only…
The packrafting trip began long before we reached the put-in point on the Rio Bocay. Crowded chicken buses from Somoto to Esteli and on to Jinotega. The inevitable sit-and-wait at bus stations. A hive if activity. If you enjoy people-watching, there is no better place than a central American, small town, bus station. People buy, sell, eat, sit, get on,…
El Salvador is a small country, and we were not there long. Of course, I have stories to tell… of drunk teenager thieves and trying to wake a deaf and dumb man in the dark of night. Of beautiful views of perfect cone volcanoes and shimmering lakes. Of off-road biking through the rural north, where foreigners are unusual and war-wary…
The road from Palenque to Frontera Corozal, the border town on the Rio Usimacinta, was lovely. Few hills, just gentle rises and falls. With hills to our right and savannah-like fields on our left in the valley. Some cattle grazed among the thick grass and scatterred trees. At the end of the day, we camped [...]…
After a somewhat mundane cycle through most of the Mexico mainland, life on the road has livened up a little. The Chiapas region has it’s own identity, no doubt influenced by the Zapatistas and their desire for autonomy. And then of course there is Guatemala and El Salvador. Countries in their own right, ever since [...]…
What is Kony 2012? Many people have heard of Joseph Kony, the notorious leader of the equally infamous LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) rebel group d Uganda. Many will know of the atrocities committed by them and their use of child soldiers. But there are many more who have not heard of him. Until now. Invisible [...]…
Rio Dulce, the town, lies unsurprisingly on the Rio Dulce. Sweet River. The town used to be called Fronteras in the days before the bridge across the river was built. Then, the only way to continue your journey would be to take a boat across. Now, it’s easier to go by road. As a consequence [...]…
As promised, some photos from the ruins of Palenque and Tikal… In the heart of the Chiapas lowlands of Mexico lies Palenque. Dating back as far as 100BC, it flourished in the 7th century before it’s downfall in 800AD. It has been well excavated and this medium-sized site makes for a lovely way to spend [...]…
The plan was simple. Take a rucksack with supplies for a couple of nights and packraft down the Rio Dulce to Livingston on the Caribbean coast. But not everything always goes according to plan. We didn’t foresee strong winds. And once the winds picked up so that progress was barely 100m in half an hour [...]…
From Oaxaca and then San Cristobal de las Casas we cycled on to Palenque, further into the heart of the Chiapas region. And after a few days rest, including a look round the Mayan ruins of Palenque, we took the road to the Guatemalan border at Frontera Corozal. A lancha (wooden boat with outboard motor) [...]…
For breakfast we suceed in ordering a meal that doesn’t include tortillas or eggs or beans. Chicken and chips did very nicely. Hungrily digging in, we are sat on plastic chairs at a plastic table in a sparse room with fridges for drinks lining one side and a small sink at the end. The only [...]…
Oaxaca is adorned with colourful colonial buildings and exquisite ornate churches. And it’s streets are full of life and atmosphere. Shoe shiners and paper stalls, burger bars and taco stands. A boy selling sweets, a lady selling flowers. Buskers, brass bands and protest banners. Cafe’s and bars. Museums and markets. This is a town full [...]…
There’s plenty going on in Oaxaca’s streets. Photos from a Sunday stroll through the city centre……