Journey with no boundaries
Magazine | Spring 2022
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Self-Drive Safaris and Overland Adventures for Discerning Travelers Let us help you achieve your ultimate adventure dream At v-adventures, we believe there is a better way to live your adventures and the African dream. Based in the United States, v-adventures was founded by Valentina and Antonio with the desire and passion for overland and self-drive safaris in Africa. Having spent years exploring the gorgeous and little-known areas of Africa, we are pleased to offer you a customized experience and help you make your safari adventure the best vacation you have ever had. We have decided to stay focused on the areas we know the most and where you will discover the unique pleasure of traveling overland or enjoying a traditional wildlife safari: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.
Living in the USA, we are now expanding our adventure options to the Americas: the gorgeous off-the-beatenpath trails in the US and selected destinations in Baja Mexico, Atacama Chile, Bolivia, northern Argentina.
Travel with us, and we will make sure to exceed your expectations.
Your holidays are principal for us, and we know time is always a constraint. Together with our team and our selected partners are focused on providing you with personalized itineraries and the most reliable vehicles to ensure the type of experiences you work so hard to enjoy.
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Facebook: v.adventuresLLC Instagram: valentinav_adventures
LinkedIn: v-adventures-llc Website: v-adventures.com Subscribe to our Newsletter
We are proud and excited to know that we can help you discover extraordinary places and fully live oncein-lifetime experiences without worrying about logistics.
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Journey with no boundaries
Magazine | Spring 2022 Cooking
Overland Adventures Magazine
34 An Adventure Must Have: Tembo Tusk Skottle Grill -Angela Hinkley
Spring 2022
www.OverlandAdventuresMagazine.com
37 On-the-go snacks-Great for the road or your next Hike! -Carlin Frimmel
Featured 32
Baja-Christian Polanco
13 Off-Road Therapy for Wounded and Disabled Veterans -Eric Walton 12
The Story of Blue Line Overland-Mason Berry
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The Wild Wet West-Elizabeth Switten
International 16
Dirt Biking through Burma, Part Two-Johan de Villers
14 Overlanding on an Active Volcano-Andrea and Mike Kammermann 20
Overlanding with Wildlife-Valentina Vallinotto
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There and Back Again, Part Two- Thomas Filbrich
Kids’ Corner 6
It’s Never too Early to Adventure-Zoey Savatgy
Maintenance
Cover Photography: Andrea Kammermann, 4xtremes
MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to connect and inspire people from all around the world who have a common passion for adventure and overlanding. We will do so by publishing a magazine and hosting a website where we share informative, inspiring and fun content with existing and aspiring overland adventurers!
VISION STATEMENT
Our Vision is to help build an overland community across the globe where everyone’s perspective, knowledge and passion can be shared and valued.
CORE VALUES
It doesn’t matter what kind of rig you drive, or how much money you have spent building that perfect rig. We are all here for the same thing…. Adventure, a journey and maybe, just maybe, a destination! We want to give our passionate community a voice: whether you are a family making memories with your kiddos or are a group of friends enjoying a weekend together, or sharing an amazing trip with that special someone. We want to feature you! And let your journey expand our minds, help us learn something new… and soar into something amazing and life changing! We want our magazine to inspire the adventurous person in all of us, by:
30 What you Need to Know, When You’re on the Go -Scott Parker
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Being Inclusive
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Respecting everyone’s path and journey
Rig Builds
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Sharing knowledge and wisdom
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Encouraging everyone to Tread Lightly and be respectful of their environment
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Having fun!
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The Little Black Toyota-Michael Shaffer
Meet the Writers 8
Andrea and Mike Kammermann
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Scott Parker
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Valentina Vallinotto
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Editor In Chief: Mary Beth Ebnet
Art Director: Rich Johnson
Social Media Director: Jillian Perez
Writer: Scott Parker
Proofreader: Ellen Driscoll
Writer: Joey Slayton
Writer: A ndrea & Mike Kammermann
Writer: Valentina Vallinotto
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Overlanding on an Active Volcano Have you ever been woken up by the rumble of a volcanic eruption? That’s what happened to us as we were camping on Mount Etna in Sicily.
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We had been exploring the skirts of the volcano for days, going on extensive hikes to the craters of past eruptions and camping in different locations around the mountain. We had found a beautiful spot to camp under lush trees where we made a campfire to close out another day of hiking through the lava landscape. Around 2 a.m. I heard a loud rumble and as I looked out the window, I saw something glow behind the trees. Quickly I realized the volcano was erupting. I woke up Mike and we both got dressed in a hurry, got the camera gear ready and rushed to a place with an unobstructed view of the volcano. You might be thinking we’re crazy, we should have packed our things and left the mountain behind. But we didn’t feel afraid. Mt Etna is one of Europe’s most active volcanoes, and its eruptions aren’t infrequent, but it had been active for the last month so we were kind of expecting, or rather hoping, to witness an eruption. Fascinated, we watched the lava being catapulted into the air for a while, then we decided to go back to bed and set the alarm clock to sunrise. Luckily the volcano was still launching lava high into the air. What a show! We took
uncountable photos and just as the sun rose above the horizon, the eruption stopped, the mountain went quiet, as if nothing had happened. We still can’t believe our luck. We are so happy to have witnessed this and, in retrospect, that nothing happened. We did have quite a large distance between us and the crater but what really is a safe distance to a volcano? I mean, you never know how big the eruption is going to be and we did drive through lava fields with ruins of houses that had been destroyed by prior eruptions. (Some can be seen on photo nr 006) Experiences like this one reflect precisely why we love overlanding. Being able to camp in places without infrastructure for a longer period of time allows us to witness the raw force
of nature. Here’s a little tip if you’re overlanding with your four-legged friend: Dog boots are a great accessory. On short walks with Aimée, we had noticed that she was struggling on the sharp rocks. Luckily, we have little dog boots, which we originally bought for her to wear in hot sand or on ice. We put them on her paws and off she went, running around like a puppy.
Mike, Andrea and Aimée the dog 4extremes 4extremes
www.4-xtremes.ch Email: info@4-extremes.ch
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There and Back Again …
A Mystical Journey to the Land of Trolls PART 2
The story of Thomas Fibrich’s overloading journey through the magical areas of Scandinavia continues. Suddenly, out of nowhere, right in front of the North Cape tunnel entry, I recognized this lonely man who stopped me with his thumb up. It was already 7 p.m., and I wondered what was coming up now. After we introduced each other, my new friend Olaf from Germany asked if I would be so kind to give him safe passage through the 7km (4.3 mile) long tunnel that leads under the sea to the North Cape Island. Imagine, he was riding all the way up to that place only on his bicycle, having nothing more than a backpack and bottle of water with him - amazing. Together we rode to Honningsvag, the last settlement in that area, which gave Olaf the opportunity to dry his clothes and warm up in my car. It was raining outside and was very cold and windy, and I wondered about the physical abilities of that man. In Honningsvag I refueled my truck and got supplies from the local supermarket. Olaf and I said goodbye to each other and I decided to continue to the North Cape, another 30km (19 miles) ahead, starting at 9:30 p.m., which wasn’t that unusual there because shops are open during summertime until 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. Well, it didn’t get dark at all and midnight was as bright as lunchtime.
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The North Cape Museum was open until 12 a.m., and I entered it at 10 p.m. After having a look at everything, I tried to do a video call with a friend of mine. He asked me to do so because he wanted to know if it might be possible from there. It was and I reached him in Croatia on holiday, having dinner with his partner in a restaurant. I showed him the “Kong Olaf View” in our video call, and we wondered at how small our planet has become. After leaving the museum, it was time to explore the area for a camp site. Rain was hitting horizontally
and the temperature had fallen to 0 degrees. While looking around for a good spot, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Olaf again, fighting the hill with his bicycle, heading to the North Cape Museum. Guy just never seems to get tired or exhausted. The next day, right next to the North Cape, I spent my time making a drone video for my very special friend Lisa. I wanted to give her a little surprise for her birthday coming soon in a few days. This has become a kind of tradition to me. Every year, I try to prepare some little message, from one or more
special sites, all around Europe. It was supposed to be a much more relaxed travel than it was until then. The plan was to enjoy myself and not drive that much every day anymore. On my way back to the south, I will visit the Lofoten Peninsula; lots of people told me it is worth a visit. What can I say? People were not wrong - this place was magic! When I reached Lofoten Beach very late at night (but bright as an early afternoon), I decided to
have a bath in the Northern Sea, at 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit). Students of the nearby surfing school in their neoprene suits had to be wondering what this crazy man was doing in his shorts with shower gel in his hand, heading into the cold water and jumping in. A coffee at the same beach the very next morning was also an experience I will never forget. Whenever possible, I would open the roof-tent and sit at the backdoor entry of the tent, my feet resting on the top of my spare wheel. That way, I had a terrific view of the entire
environment, and I always enjoyed this so much. While I awoke and had my coffee, I realized that the journey was halfway done and I felt a little bit sorry about it. On the ferry, my loyal Hilux and I headed back to Bodø. This time, the sea was again very rough but I did not get seasick, at least not that much. Back at the geographical middle, in the country of Vikings and trolls, I explored and stayed at a couple of wonderful places, national parks and mountain sites. Being on my own, having time to reflect and enjoying amazing spots and the
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surrounding nature was the purpose of this adventure. For such reasons visiting Norway paid off in full. Every day a new wonder, every evening a new fantastic site for camping. I captured a thousand-plus different impressions in more than 1,200 photos and videos. In that area, I was looking for a safe place to make fire at the camp site, knowing this was allowed in Norway. At a lot of spots in that country, there was already a fireplace prepared from someone else who was using it at earlier times. Sometimes even firewood is still left, so that lighting a fire is not a difficult task. Usually, I do not start a campfire in countries in which I do not have a longer experience with camping or for the simple reason that it is too dangerous. For example, in Greece or in Portugal, there is every year big damage because of unsafe campfires. I don’t want to be responsible for people getting harmed or losing their property due to dangerous giant fires, like happened in 2018 in Portugal. But that evening, there was something to celebrate. It was the birthday of my beloved friend and I had sent the drone video I made at the North Cape to her that evening. That’s why I was in the mood to have a beer at a campfire to honor her birthday, while missing her a lot … by the way,
it is interesting to know that a beer at a Norwegian supermarket cost between six and eight dollars; this is quite a lot.
beach, where off-roading is allowed … and this time, I had almost the whole area just for me alone … Rømø Beach in Denmark.
The next days, I had my focus to visit another mystical place. It was called Trollstigen and already the trip to that site was an experience I would not have liked to miss. This road was mainly crafted by single manpower, without any big machines. The weather that day was simply a gift, rewarding me with impressions I didn’t experience in my life before. The view from the top of that rock was simply breathtaking, and I had to drive this curvy narrow street two times up and down, only to enjoy and keep a magical memory.
This journey opened a completely new perspective about northern Europe to me. Sure, I will be visiting also Finland and Sweden, as soon as the travel restrictions caused by COVID are reduced again.
Heading further to the south coast, knowing that soon I would have to take the ferry back to Denmark, I stopped one night in the middle of the woods on the top of a mountain. The next morning, I enjoyed my coffee at a waterfall so beautiful it made me want to stay forever. But the time had come, and I had to say goodbye to the country I never expected to be so spectacular but which exactly met my needs.
Understanding that being reduced to your very own and living with a minimum of resources is really something very wonderful and gives me feelings of happiness and satisfaction. It will not be only my passion; for the rest of my life, I will also try to live that way, every single day. The dream I have is to do such an adventure, all around the world one day. Stay free and explore this, our world, and enjoy this wonderful place we live!
Thomas Fibrich
On the way home, I remembered a place where I had lots of fun, and I decided to have a complete day full of fun and joy going nuts on the
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What You Need to Know When You Are on the Go I was taught a long time ago that traveling alone in the backcountry can be rewarding but also dangerous, but let’s face it; sometimes you just need or want to get away from everyone else. Should you decide to take off on your own, I’ve come up with a list of recovery equipment that you’ll want to carry with you. Some of this is dependent on how you have your vehicle set up, but this list provides you with the basics if you’re new to off-road travel. The first three items on my list are for people who are new to traveling off-road and it is assumed that they haven’t modified their vehicle yet or at least only have added a few things. • Air Compressor – while not technically recovery equipment, this little item can be a life-saver. If you are new to traveling off the beaten path, one of the quickest ways to get better traction and a more
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comfortable ride is to lose some air pressure. When we travel down paved roads, we want to decrease rolling resistance. This increases our miles per gallon, and we do that by inflating our tires to the recommended tire pressure, which is usually listed on the driver’s side door well. As we take air out of the tires, we increase the tires’ footprint, allowing for better traction; more contact equals better traction. Plus, at the end of the trip we need to air back up and having a portable or built-in air compressor can save you heartache instead of having to find a gas station that has a working air compressor. Driving on under-inflated tires on pavement can cause excessive wear and cause heat to build up in the tires, which is bad for tires. Of course, there is more to this topic than what I’ve mentioned here, but in short, it’s better for your tires and your vehicle’s suspension, which is better for you.
• Recovery Boards – this type of recovery gear is used to help you gain traction when none exists. Whether you’re stuck in mud, sand, snow or even in a rut, having a recovery board can help to provide you with the traction you need to get you moving. I would only caution that not all boards are equal and some use lesser quality materials. Everyone has their own preference, but the Maxtrax boards have been my go-to for years and have never failed me. Regardless of the brand you prefer, this piece of gear doesn’t require you to make any changes to the front of your vehicle, such as an aftermarket bumper and winch. • Shovel – a real shovel and not a little fold up shovel should be in everyone’s gear. This handy piece of equipment can help you to dig yourself out of ruts and clear sand, snow or mud from around your tire so you can decrease
rolling resistance, allowing you to keep moving down the trail. As I mentioned before, the first three items are for people who haven’t modified their vehicles yet, but that doesn’t mean you forget about them once you add things like a winch. There is brilliance in the basics and having those simple tools can cover many situations. When teaching a basic offroad recovery class, I try to impress on my students that sometimes the basics are all you need, such as letting a little more air out of the tires or using your recovery boards instead of pulling out your winch or hooking up a tow strap. These last two methods are more invasive, require more skill and come with a higher degree of risk. That being said, as you venture further and further away from civilization you will want to become more skilled in off-road driving and recovery, to learn the ins and outs of other types of recovery gear, and how to conduct a stuck assessment. Taking the steps to learn about how and when to use the equipment listed below can help to reduce risk so that you and your vehicle survive the endeavor. This next set of equipment is assuming you’ve now discovered the joy of overlanding and are looking to up your game so that you can safely recover yourself when the terrain gets a little tougher. I recommend a basic winch recovery bag, assuming you’ve decided to add a winch to your vehicle and you have accounted for the weight of your vehicle at adventure weight. Well, what does that mean? It’s the weight of your vehicle plus the weight of all passengers and gear. I would also mention if you normally pull a trailer on your adventures, adding that additional weight into your decision will help you avoid your gear breaking when you need it most. Like the recovery boards above, choosing the right gear can be hard, and everyone is making and selling recovery gear nowadays. When choosing the gear you want, I would suggest buying from a reputable manufacturer. Look for the working load limit and safe working load to see if it will handle your weight and much more, and ask if the products are pull-tested so that you know the
items you want are capable of working with your equipment. Knowing the safe working load limit will give you peace of mind knowing your gear won’t fail when you need it most. • Soft shackles – 2
Scott Parker I4WDTA Certified Instructor Federal Government Off-road Instructor Member of BOLD Overland 20+ years of off-road experience
• Hard shackles – 2
Scott Parker
• Tree saver – 1
explorationcaptured
• Static tow strap – 1
Exploration Captured
• Pulley block -1 (aka snatch block)
ETservicesconsulting.com
• Full grain leather gloves – 1 set
ET Services Consulting
All the gear listed above is a good starting point, and is not meant to be anything more than that. Having the listed equipment above, combined with the skills you can learn in a basic recovery class, can provide you with the tools necessary to handle most situations. Don’t forget that your brain is your most valuable asset. Try to keep calm and think through the situation, look for things that can cause the recovery to go bad, and you’ll almost always succeed. Having the right tools and training means you can have fun and it’s one less thing to worry about.
ET Services Consulting
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