Journey with no boundaries
Magazine | Summer/Fall 2022
Tunisia built on a dam. Here you can enjoy Caribbean-like beaches with crystal clear water and colorful traditional towns.
Full of surprises Tunis alkhadra is Arabic for Tunisia, the green one. It points out the general misconception to think of this country as a desert. Tunisia is located in North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea between Algeria and Libya. It can be easily reached with a ferry from several ports in Italy. The north is fertile and green with a Mediterranean climate, this is also where one can visit Cap Engela which is the northernmost point of the African continent. Heading south from here on, you can visit several ancient Roman sites, from entire cities overlooking fertile plains to one of the largest Roman amphitheaters in the world. Traveling along the coast, you can reach Djerba Island, which is connected to the mainland with either a small ferry or a paved road
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As you enter the arid south of the country, there are other places of interest. If you are a Star Wars fan, you can visit several films locations of the successful film saga. Further south the world’s largest hot desert begins. Before we enter the Sahara Desert, we restock in a dusty town called Douz. 800 liters (211 gallons) of diesel, 450 liters (118 gallons) of water and food supplies from the local market. With our waypoints marked in offline maps, we head out into the vast desert. The asphalt ends just after the town, and from there we follow a gravel track; a few hours later we find ourselves in front of a seemingly endless dune field. Time to lower the tire pressure from 6bar (87psi) to 3bar (43psi). We have traveled through deserts before, but every desert is different. The sand dunes in Tunisia are relatively short in distance and height, and they are
also quite hard-packed so we didn’t even need the low range or the diff locks for most of the time. Just before the sunset, we reach Mt Tembain, our first destination. A few wild camels wander past us while we are eating dinner. Our plan was to cross the desert from Mt Tembain to the northeast, basically toward the coast. But on the third day, the wind started to blow and grew into an intolerable sandstorm. While driving we could no longer see the terrain, so we decided to park and assess the situation. Not having any phone signal, we had no way of knowing how the storm will develop or how long it will last. As it grew stronger, the best option we had was to return to Douz and seek shelter until the storm subsided. A few days later we are able to complete our route and spend a few days on the coast before boarding the ferry back to Europe, with our heads full of memories and Sahara sand in every gap of the truck.
Mike, Andrea and Aimée the dog 4extremes 4extremes
UCKGHA5Jpc-se8gqU7w2u0Xg www.4-xtremes.ch Email: info@4-extremes.ch
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Overlanding Crossover Adventurers
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We are a veteran family with homegrown values, living the life of adventure and running a social media presence known as “The Rugged Outdoorsmen.”Wehavethreesons that are now grown and out on their own adventures, and Mike, our youngest outdoorsman at 11 years old. We love to explore new places that are off the beaten path, primarily in the rugged Southwest. We use back country by-ways and dirt roads traveling deep into our national monuments, preserves, national forests and other public use lands. I’d say that we are part-time overlanders, traveling to lesser-known places where we’re free to roam, with few restrictions. Our objective is to set up camp in these places, so we can freelance hike and explore where few have gone, on the paths we create. Freelance hiking is the practice of exploring the wild where there are no trails, and in doing this, having navigational skills is a requirement. Exploring these places has allowed us to immerse ourselves into the wild and experience all the outdoors has to offer. With that being said, we also enjoy
visitingplacesofhistoricalsignifica as well as our state and national parks around the country. As with many other overlanders and outdoorsmen, our passion is not limited to just one activity, we also kayak, paddleboard, rock climb, rappel, and go whitewater rafting. We trek across the country to the East Coast for six weeks every summer, where we stay at Camp Riverview, our rusticfishingcampinthemountainsof upstate New York. Our camp is off-thegrid and nestled on 11 acres along the banks of the AuSable River, a premier troutfishingandkayakingwaterwayin the Adirondack Mountains. This journey from Nevada to Camp Riverview is filledwithexplorationaswenavigate across the country. The summer in the mountainsisspentontheriverfishin and enjoying watersports. We schedule frequent day trips from camp to explore the surrounding mountains and places ofhistoricalsignificance.InearlyAugus we begin our journey back across the continent to our basecamp in Southern Nevada. We’ve been overlanding for many years now and traveled with several different vehicles. Jeeps are our favoriteandwenowownourfifth,a Wrangler Unlimited. We’ve tented and
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Overlanding with Kids, in the ‘70s “Mummy?WhereisDaddy?” “Daddy is studying; he is studying hisAfricamaps.” Yes, my father spent hours studying his next itinerary across the Sahara Desert almost every night. In the 70s, there was no Google for searching, no socials for networking, and only big companies could afford or know how to use a single computer. The search was in libraries and bookshops, and few of them had information about overlanding in Africa. Networking was word of mouth between
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passionates, who somehow got a name and a phone number to get in touch.
new bride, my mother, a city lady, from Turin in Italy to Southern Morocco: 4,000mi in total, about 1,500mi dirt Maps were paper maps only, and roads, on a red Alfa Romeo Giulietta since it was impossible to zoom in, their Spider! He could even get a speed scale was essential. For example, it was ticket on a dirt road by a Moroccan prettyeasytofindtheMichelinMappoliceman of who measured his speed Western and Northern Africa; however, with a chronometer. Just simple physics: it was one single sheet covering an area speed = distance/time. I remember him wider than 4,000 miles! telling me he broke the cup of the oil reservoir and repaired it with a piece of My father went to Paris, where wood that was still in place at the end of heknewhewouldfind2:0, 1scale his journey. ratio (1cm = 200m) paper maps and the precious aerial photos that the French His Africa addiction kept pulling shot in the areas when those were their him to overland Sahara for 40-60 days colonies. In our family home in Italy, each winter until 1992. However, after I still keep his big orange folder with thisfirstcrazyadventure,herealized maps and aerial photos, his opisometer the Giulietta was not the proper vehicle for estimating distances and fuel for this kind of overland trip and bought consumption on the paper maps, his the iconic vehicle for the African compass, and his tire pressure gauge. deserts: a Land Rover series IIA. Other overlandvehiclescameafterthisfirs His intense passion for Africa one: in the 70s, two other Land Rovers started in 1962, after seeing the movie series III, in the 80s, Toyotas FJ45 “LaurenceofArabia,”anepichistorical pickups, then a FIAT OM 75 big truck. dramafilmshotintheJordandesert. Inamedit“Maciste,”anItalianmovie One year later, in 1963, he drove his character of the 10s, a Hercules-like
the time of the day, the compass, the mountains, and the dunes around us. In the late 70s, we have to remember that GPS was still an unknown subject. Then, he tracked on the map an off-road itinerary across oued (dry riverbeds), canyons, and dunes that eventually would lead us to a little village signed on his map, hopefully in 3 or 4 days.
Daddymanagedaquickbriefing: “I’mprettyconfidentonthisitinerary However, we don’t know each other, so feel free to choose. Nevertheless, if we stay together, we have chances of supporting each other on the trails and sharing food, water, and fuel in the next fewdays.However,it’syourchoice.” Of course, there was no choice, and everyone was on board. It was almost figurecharacterizedbyhisenormous three hours, the itinerary made a close sunset, so we camped, and around the strength. But, unfortunately, Maciste loop: it was a dead-end! Our friends campfire,westartedtalkingwithour was too big and heavy, affecting the fuel Orazio and Teresina were traveling with new travel mates. Onboard the Land consumption. The fuel range is critical us on their blue Toyota FJ45; however, Rover: Pierre and Christine, a Belgian when you have to cover hundreds of after a few minutes at the dead-end, couple and an Australian hitchhiker miles in the middle of nowhere with just a green Land Rover arrived, and soon traveling across the globe with a $1 daily a few unreliable gas stations. So, in the after, a Peugeot 104! So we all followed budget. On Peugeot 104, there was 90s, his last overland truck was a pickup the“wrong”trail. a Swiss couple. I remember her John Toyota Land Cruiser FJ75 with a roofLennon-style little round glasses and his top tent. On top of that, we were all too jeans overalls on a dusty t-shirt whose short in fuel to drive back on the same color was similar-white just under the My daddy was my hero, and while itineraryandreachthe“closest” suspenders. gas I was always happy and excited to help station. We didn’t see any other vehicle him customize the vehicles, handle the in the last two days, so it was very Onthefirstdayofouroff-roadand camping gear, and pack stuff and food unlikely someone could rescue us off-track itinerary, we drove on soft in the storage compartments, I kept before we exhausted our drinking water. sand, dry pans, and rocky paths, which asking: “Daddy, when shall I come to What could we do? were very challenging for the Peugeot Africawithyou?”Atthattime,traveling 104 that was being towed almost all the to Africa required many vaccinations, Daddy opened his big orange folder time. In the afternoon, Daddy saw far and clean water and fresh food were and started studying the maps looking away, under the umbrella acacia trees, not always available or reliable since for our approximate position based on a group of Tuareg. He stopped Maciste we had no fridge. In addition, I was a bronchitis kid, so my parents were a bit concerned about my compelling request. However, a daddy can’t say no to his only daughter for too long, and, extending my winter-break/Christmas holidays, I started overlanding. Memoriesofthosetravelsarefixed in my brain even after 45 years. This is one of them. We were driving on a sandy and bumpy dirt road in Niger, and as often it happens,wetookasecondary,“parallel” trail to avoid the worst of the potholes. Unfortunately, after driving for two or
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