I sent this last blog post from a wind-up computer attached to a camel's hind leg...!
Sorry for the delays.
Raymond and I are now safely returned from our amazing expedition across Algeria.
Photographs will follow.
Keep tuned in for news... Kitmax

TEFEDEST

 

We drove across the desert and arrived at theTefedest mountains, a traditional Touareg stronghold.

 

The range is dominated by Mt Garet and we camped at the foot of the mountain.

Next day we visited a lone pinnacle of rock far across the sands and discovered a charming canyon where we spent half the day. The pinnacle soared above the flat valley floor and the walls of the canyon were sprinkled with huge boulders. Little fox paw-prints scurrying about told of much nocturnal activity.

 

The Tefedest range is quite small, very remote and proved to be our guide's homeland. In the afternoon he took us on an amazing journey, up a wadi which got smaller and steeper and more barren.

 

It was a very difficult drive indeed and I was beginning to wonder for our guide's sanity, when the mountain opened up into a small valley with a few reed houses and, surprisingly, a green and verdant plantation.

 

"My garden" announced Mohammed, proudly, and there, fed by a year-long water source, was a verdant garden with figs, dates, herbs, greenery and plants . It was an extraordinary sight in this most barren of all mountain passes.

 

We left in the evening and returned to the plain and were passed by three racing camels in full colours, all of them known to our guide. They joined us later for tea around the campfire.

 

At dawn an old camel drover turned up in camp - I should have guessed, Mohammed's father. It was a great privilege to be among so many traditional Touareg and to share with them a glimpse of their unique and secretive lifestyle.

 

We arrived back at In-Salah after a most colourful, rewarding and fulfilling trip. We were greeted by our agent's family and had a traditional goat and couscous stew, seated on the floor in considerable discomfort and eating with our right hands.  Delicious!

 

We are now wending our way back to Europe. It is a long way...

 

Towns are about 500 miles apart down here, and we have a few towns to reach on our way back to Tunis and the ferry Mediterranee

 

Photographs will be posted on the website after I get home in December.

A lot has happened since our last blog. We had a good journey to Tamanrasset, bouncing down the Assekrem mountain was slightly easier than bouncing up it.

We collected our escort back-up car and set out for the weirdly eroded rocks of Targrera. The back-up car was leaking fuel all the way and we sent it back with our guide for repair.

We spent a happy 24 hours exploring a remote desert canyon . At night we were surrounded by jackals, their plaintive calls wafting across the starlit plain at the foot of our canyon.

The car arrived back a day later and then broke down again, and then had a succession of problems after which I voted it unusable.

We dumped it in the desert and drove back to Tamanrasset. To give our agent his due, backed up by a couple of satellite calls to Switzerland (the Euro liaison team), a replacement car arrived and our trip continued.

We had now lost 4 days and had to cancel our trip to Djanet and Mount Tazat:

However, all clouds have a silver lining and we then proceeded to have an unscheduled tour of some of the finest desert scenery North of Djanet and across the Amadror plain.

On the way we passed 150 or more camels at a watering hole. They were being saddled up by a team of cameleers. The camels snort and roar, grunt and bellow, generally in good humour as the workers saddle up loads of water and feed for the journey ahead. A very colorful scene, traditional desert life unchanged for centuries.

We reached the saltpans at Tissemt which was an important trading site. The salt was loaded onto camels and then taken to far-away Niger and traded for grain.

 

The night was very cold and we were now over 9,000ft altitude.  Oxygen was in short supply too and we felt quite breathless after exertion.

Raymond and I pitched our tents on a rough patch or gravel. I cooked a dinner of vac-packed veal with spuds and onions from In-Salah.

 

I awoke at dawn and set out to climb to the summit, 1,000 ft above us, to visit the Hermitage of Père Foucould.

 

It was the incomparable Foucould, a Viscompte in his own right, a cavalry officer and latterly a committed hermit, who settled on this magnificent site to devote his life to prayer and meditation... and also to write a dictionary of the Tuaregs entire Tamashek language.

 

I puffed my way up the precipitous incline and reached, almost an hour later, the summit. The view is spectacular, unparalleled and showed a skyline bedecked with unworldly red-rock pinnacles, each one catching their first light of a new day.

 

The Hermitage, built in 1910 is a small stone rectangle harbouring a tiny chapel. A stone altar is perched on three natural stone columns. A simple cross hangs on the end wall, and prayer mats are gazelle skins.

 

Each of the two to three hermits lives alone in crude rocky shelters, and come together for communal prayer in the chapel.

 

20 years ago I met one of the hermits and he gave me his last cup of coffee. I vowed then that I would return one day to replenish his small stock.  So it was with the greatest pleasure that I found the Padre hermit, reminded him of our meeting and presented him with coffee, sugar, milk and... two slices of Lyn's cake. He was thrilled and we chatted happily. He looked hardly a day older.  Clearly a lift of hi-altitude abstention beckons - but who...

The random pistes on the upper plains converge into a single snaking trail which wound it's way across the rising terrain.   Here and there flash floods had swept away whole sections of the trail.  Circuitous routes beckoned and the Land Rover bounced stoically across boulders, shale and steep inclines.

 

After 3 hours we had achieved 30km, not much above walking speed. After a brief stop we continued, we still had 45km and 4,000 feet to go. The trail got steeper and the landscape gave way to pinnacled ramparts enclosing secluded valleys, their entrance blocked by tumbled rocks the size of houses.

 

We left the piste and drove up a steep narrow wadi to cross a saddle between two towering pinnacles - it was a hair raising ascent as first one wheel lost grip on the slippery river bed and then another.   Beside was a 100 ft drop and we had already passed one wrecked car in a ravine far below.

 

The wadi could now be called more accurately a dry waterfall and had to be approached with carefully planned momentum and maximum traction. We made it, just and stopped on the saddle to admire the scenery.   Great pointed monoliths of fluted red rock thrust skywards and gave the landscape a quite surreal appearance.

 

We arrived at Assekrem late, watched the setting sun spotlighting first one great towering pinnacle and then another.

We drove to In-Amguel where we left the Tamanrasset road and struck east for the mountains. The piste wandered across fertile wadis separating rocky plains, and all the time rising.

We reached the little village of Hirafok, little changed since my last visit here 20 years ago. I recognised the tea house in the village centre, and those inquisitive kids must be the offspring of the inquisitive kids I met all that time ago.

We passed several groups of donkeys, strong animals and well marked in grey and black outline - quite unlike the working donkeys we saw in the towns.

We camped in a soft sandy wadi. The night was cold and Mohammed lit a fire, with a single match, and we sat around it toasting our toes.

We arrived at In-Salah early enough to spend a relaxed morning shopping for vegetables, dates and other supplies for our journey south.

 

We met our guide, a tall welcoming Touareg called Mohammed.  His wide winning smile augured well and his desert knowledge is unsurpassed.

 

Next morning his chief, M Haffoui appeared. A distinguished man, carrying dignity and style, a great welcome and good language skills.

 

We left with Mohammed to drive the long route south. The road was well marked but badly deteriorated in parts.  We reached Arag gorge, a tortuous and spectacular land fall and the scene of many battles in days past. We stopped to refuel and then pulled off into the desert to make camp for the night.  We nestled into a hollow of the dunes and cooked up canned chicken accompanied by In-Salah vegetables.

 

Raymond arrived at Tunis airport safe and sound. We left for the Algerian border next day. We crossed into Algeria and we had a long drive south and we reached In-Salah one day early.

Testing

I am looking forward to hearing all about your adventures on your latest expedition

and will be poised over my computer ready to post your blogs.

Norma - Cumbria

Fingers Poised

I am poised over my keyboard waiting to get Kit's tales of his next adventure to post on to the blogsite.

Watch this space!

Norma

Travel information October 2007

Kit Constable-Maxwell and Raymond Bird are now in countdown for their departure to Algeria at the end of October.

Days are spent checking lists, packing and modifying the Land Rover, and organising guides, visa, local permits.

   

Dunes are calling...
Kit Constable Maxwell and Raymond Bird will leave for Algeria at the end of October.
Our destination this time is the Hoggar Mountains, in the far south of Algeria near the Niger border. They will be travelling in Kit's trusty Land Rover.

We shall visit old forts and battle sites to review the history of this strange and compelling land. We shall meet Touareg tribesmen, the masters of the desert, and travel with them to visit unexplored corners of this uninhabited terrain.

Lecture on October 12th 2007
A lecture honouring the Long Range Desert Group's desert raid on Murzuq in 1940/41 was given in Hampshire on October 2007.
It was well received and over 70 guests attended.

Desert Lecture at VSC, London,
on 26th April - comments...

What a splendid evening last Thursday & thank you for a most engaging illustrated talk of your exploits.The historical content was just right & very helpful. Brian Stevens

This really was an excellent and most professional presentation - and a great social event as well! Thank you so much for what was in every way a really memorable and highly enjoyable occasion - accompanied by excellent script, performers, photos, and musical accompaniment! Robert

Just to say how much we enjoyed and were impressed by your presentation yesterday. A great success and clearly enjoyed by your audience. Adrian Thornton

Hi there - just to say what a really excellent evening that was. Many, many congratulations on realising the whole event. I know what a huge amount of energy went into it all (the trip itself notwithstanding!) You managed to convey the more poetic and mysterious side of the desert experience along with the more factual elements and the fun aspect of the actual trip. Very entertaining! The venue was excellent as well. I think people were blown away! Simon

We were really awestruck by the magnitude of the journey you undertook and the beauty of the landscape that unfolded from your magnificent photography. Thank you for bringing a magical journey to us! Love Laura Plumbley

I really enjoyed your show and I thought the photography was fantastic, particularly the light and shade on the sand dunes. Best of luck Anthony Hopkinson

What a great evening and fascinating lecture, I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Many, many congratulations - I really felt I was there and the planning and organization must have been quite something. I would have been constantly worried about getting stuck in the sand ! Thank you for giving us such a wonderfully interesting lecture - brilliantly put together and presented. Much love Lavinia x


Dear Kit - What a 'tour de force'! We all loved every minute of it and well done for putting it all together - Love Penny & Derek

Wonderful evening - you put it together so beautifully and with such élan - Virginia and Peter

A great feat, modestly recounted by its inspirer, and a treat to listen to, as well as providing reassurance to any over-sixties who may be wondering what the next decade may bring! Benedict

Little did I know... what you had in mind! Your slide show was much more than that - your still photographs had a life of their own, moved as they were by the music and the emotional drama of the planning, the courage to set off into the vast desert with only the supplies on your roof, the surprising archaeological discoveries, and of course, reaching your goal! Thanks for treating your friends to a marvellous evening. Love, Alice

I greatly enjoyed your talk yesterday evening. Many thanks and well done. Best wishes Patrick Baty

Monday 23rd October 2006

We reached Derj in the late afternoon, well on schedule. We continued to Ghadames where we visited the old town. 15,000 people lived in this rabbit-warren edifice which was served with a sizeable well-fed irrigation system. It supported many gardens and date palms, all of which supplied a living for the occupants.
We dropped off Mamdu, our desert-skilled Touareg guide who had accompanied us for the whole route. His knowledge of sand, dunes, and desert terrain was unfathomable. We camped on soft dunes. Tomorrow we drive north and in a few days will reach Tunisia. A few days later we will take the Mediterranean crossing to Europe.
This will be my last post by satellite telephone and in a week or two I will put photographs on my main web site http://www.kitmax.com/
This has been a tremendously successful expedition and many thanks go to the army of suppliers, advisers, and well-wishers who supported us on our trip.
Thank you for all your many kind messages of support. They will all be answered in due course.

Sunday 22nd October 2006

Fast drive across the great expanse of sand, the edge of the Awbari Sand Sea. Dried out lake beds glistening with salt deposits.
Followed a trail and ascended a very steep escarpment adjacent to a gas pipeline. At the top was a stony plateau which went on, it seems, forever.It was rough driving and tough on the tyres and I sustained two punctures just before we camped. I carried two spare wheels so I was able to change them both.

Saturday 21st October 2006

We fuelled up the cars for a long desert crossing over 800 km of rock and sand skirting round the edge of the Awbari Sand Sea. We allowed 25% extra fuel and 5 days supply of water.
We made good time on the road, and it was very hot and I used the air conditioning in the last town.
We entered the sand sea at 4pm and encountered several herds of camel with their drivers, returning to camp in the setting sun against the background of wind sculpted dunes. A scene unchanged for centuries.
Memories are made of this………..
A sudden deep hole caused a sickening crunch as the Discovery’s well-laden suspension hit the bump-stop hard, the jolt also broke the fixing on my roof rack. Crispin and I repaired it later with bolts, nuts, clamps, ingenuity and imagination. We followed a beautiful sand track to an outcrop of small palms and scattered bushes and dust.
Camped in a shallow sand recession bordering the Sand Sea.

Friday 20th October 2006

Gabran Lake
After the excitement of yesterday’s arrival at Murzuq our camp site at Camp Africa nearby was both welcome and timely and we spent the rest of the day washing our clothes, refitting and repacking for the journey ahead.
We left camp and drove up to some mountainous dunes using every ounce of power and traction available.
This is a steep, soft and difficult drive and after a few sandy extractions we were high on the dune plateau.
We stopped on a ridge and far below was a picture book oasis, Lake Gabran. The water was a deep blue, all fringed with rushes and palm trees and completely surrounded on all sides by huge sand dunes.
This is one of several lakes in this area isolated by time and accessibility.
We then visited the 2000-year-old Garamantes town at Germa and camped in the dunes later.

We thank the many supporting messages we have received on this blog-site. Each of them is precious. On our return in early November photographs will be added to the main web-site at www.kitmax.com so please stay in contact.

Thursday 19th October 2006

MURZUQ RETAKEN

Suddenly we reached Murzuq…….. We made a triumphant entry in our imposing desert-dressed Land Rovers, singing 'Rule Britannia' and 'Land of Hope and Glory'.
The locals could only gasp in amazement. We rounded the corner and there stood the old Fort just as it did when the LRDG arrived all those years ago. It was a grand desert building, complete with guard room, inner courtyard and crenellated ramparts.
It stood on a slight rise overlooking the town.
This was our journey’s end, just as it was the LRDG’s primary goal. It fell to Captain Michael Crichton-Stuart and the Guards Patrol to capture the Fort, while Major Pat Clayton raced off to the adjacent air field simultaneously to disable the aeroplanes, bombs, arms and fuel depot.
I had planned this day for 5 years and now it was here. We drove into the spacious courtyard with a mixture of joy and reserve; the joy of achieving our travellers dream and reserve that our expedition was almost over.
We lined up the three Land Rovers in front of the main entrance, posed for photographs, shook hands and celebrated our great journey.
We remembered absent friends of the LRDG and saluted the memory of those brave desert pioneers before moving off to the old airfield. Here we found a bullet-scarred hangar inhabited by wild dogs. Afterwards we returned to the Fort.
What a great achievement that LRDG raid had been, over a thousand miles behind enemy lines, 30 trucks navigated over the most inhospitable terrain on the planet.
Now 55 years later, we had re-run the journey. We used the time-proved Land Rovers to meet the challenge together with modern satellite navigation equipment.

Wednesday 18th October 2006

Across the huge sand plain part of Murzuq Sand Sea. The Land Rovers could be seen shimmering in their own mirage. With no clear boundary the horizon was lost in a distance haze where land meets the sky. Arrived at Tmissa, re-fuelled and turned West for the final run to Murzuq.
We camped in another picture book dune valley and we all sang Lili Marlene after a candle lit dinner.

DESERT BRIGANDS

We were now three weeks into our desert dash and looking much like a troop of brigands. Richard has a big brindled beard, Crispin and Simon have one too. Nick looks like the chief brigand in his Touareg head-dress, and my hair has not seen a brush since day one.

Tuesday 17th October 2006

We arrived early and returned to the volcano for dawn pictures. Very beautiful. Back to camp site at 0900 for vehicle maintenance.
We left camp at 1400 hrs for a long uncomfortable drive west. Turned off the main piste eventually and camped in a wide plain dotted with patches of soft sand, bordered with white lime stone.
Highlight of the day was to discover the wreck of a Ford Truck of the sort used by the LRDG. Who knows now, so long ago, what story it could tell.

ROUTINE

I sleep with my tent door open and awake before dawn. I then pack up the tent, go down to the Land Rover, fill up the kettle and fire up the burner.
Raymond joins me and we take our place on our desert chairs – each next to a storage box which doubles as a dining table.
Richard is next to get up, always chirpy, followed by Chris who appears out of his swagman’s sleeping tube and Simon from his 5-star camp bed. Nick appears at the first hint of breakfast. There is a rustle from the floor and Mamdu, our memorable Touareg guide emerges from under a ground sheet.
We breakfast on coffee and strong tea with paté and crispbread for Raymond and jam for me.
After breakfast, Raymond holds a briefing with the others on the day’s itinerary and we discuss special challenges, recommended tyre pressures and rendezvous points.
We then carry out maintenance checks, pack up and move off around 0830 hours. The Discovery with navigator (Raymond) and Touareg guide (Mamdu) will lead, with the two Defenders in second and third in order.
At 11.00 we stop for elevenses and at 13.00 we stop for a two- hour break.
I take out two jerry-cans and stand them in the sand, then I install the 'Kitmax twin-top tuckbox', open both lids and remove - mugs, tea, sugar, kettle, crockery, cutlery and soup, and all accessories for lunch.
Then I assemble the large door-mounted parasol and we set out our chairs and storage boxes…… and prepare a lunch of soup, mackerel fillets, mayonnaise and local bread where available.
Between 5pm and 6pm we find a camp site. This may be on a dune or under a group of palm trees or tucked in a maze of tamarisk mounds. Sometimes our camp is just a speck on a great boundless plain.
We set up our tent and unpack our cars. We light a fire and prepare for dinner. Out comes the 'Kitmax twin-top tuckbox' again and tonight we will have dehydrated soya mince with local peppers, carrots and onions, bought in local markets en route.

Monday 16th October 2006

Drove down our dune corridor and came to the great dry lake. The shore was covered with mussel, oyster and clam shells - an extraordinary feature in this waterless desert.
We found, after some searching, the well preserved wreck of a 1930’s bi-plane which had crashed here. We took photos and examined every piece with interest.
Long and difficult drive on blackened sand to the volcanos at Waw Namus. This is an amazing sight, lost in a vast crack of soft black sand is the volcanic crater, about 2km wide . We stopped and looked down at the great central core surrounded by three shimmering lakes bordered with lush green vegetation.
The temperature has soared to 104.6 degrees F ( over 40 deg C) and both cars and passengers are feeling the strain. We camped later by sandy dunes in the cool of the evening.

Sunday 15th October 2006

We practiced dune-driving skills before leaving camp and drove to Tsaibo, a small outpost town. We replenished fuel and water. This is our first supply since leaving Jagbub - five days and a thousand kilometers away. Difficult sandy drive out of the town and off across the plain.

We reached the dune corridor, in the Kalansho sea . We found a picturesque dune site and camped for the night. Silence, space and eternity.

Team Profiles
We have integrated well as a strong and competent group, to celebrate the LRDG’s historic raid on Murzuq in 1941.

Richard Noble – a master planner who will be seen with notebook and calculator logging food, fuel and water stock, checking supplies and plotting GPS fixes. Richard finds the Landrover pace quite slow compared with his other car……….Well, as a 633 mph Land speed record holder he would, wouldn’t he?
He is also the team’s self-appointed dishwasher which says much for his style of management.

Nick Robinson – a driver of good, bad and amazing classic cars. A quick learner, skilled driver and a fund of information and facts. In charge of medical supplies and first aid skills for the group.

Raymond Bird - reliable, amiable, and a great navigator. Fuelled by industrial strength tea and accomplished map reading skills he is the group’s senior member and it’s strongest asset.

Crispin Clay – confident driver, and warm personality, backed by good mechanical skills entrusted with sourcing all self-recovery equipment, vehicle maintenance and equipment storage.

Simon Montford – lively, active and much motivated. He is learning Arabic from our Touareg guide, playing Arabic poker with our gendarmes. He may be seen bronzing himself on top of a moving Land Rover, or conducting film interviews en route.

Kit Constable Maxwell – solid research and planning skills derived from countless desert travels, many of them alone. Lifelong Land Rover user, ex Scots Guards and French Para’s. Historical adviser to the group on LRDG skills, deployment and achievement.

Saturday 14th October 2006

We drove west across the plain following the route of the LRDG after they left Big Cairn.
Big Cairn was used as a survey point by Major Clayton in the 1930’s. In this otherwise featureless desert it was a good location for LRDG’s fuel dump on the 1941 Murzuq raid. It must be one of the most historical stone Cairns in the Sahara. Many LRDG and SAS units rendezvous-ed here and it was a powerful experience to tread the ground of history.
We saluted brother soldiers and played the wartime favourite 'Lily Marlene' on the radio.
The plain ended and we encountered the southern reaches of the Kalansho Sand Sea. In the jumble of cross-directional dunes interspersed with stony outcrops it was a difficult drive.
Our speed varied between 50 mph and 15mph depending on terrain. We drove along a smooth crest of long whale-backed dunes and made good progress until the next stony area.
We crossed the Kufhra road in late afternoon, the first sign of inhabitation for 1000 km. Clumps of tamarisk trees announced the watered area of Bir Zeigen where we camped. Water lies a few feet below the surface here and can be accessed by digging a shallow hole and waiting briefly.

Friday 13th Oct 2006

BIG CAIRN
We left camp early and drove into progressively worsening sand. We made some amazing Dune descents and crossed some picturesque desert. By mid morning we were driving down a dune corridor, flanked by great dunes on either side. Many times we broke through the crust and sank up to the wheel arches in powder soft sand. By noon we left the reaches of the sand tree and set off across a flat plain and cruised across the unmarked border into Egypt. This was the final run for our primary destination Big Cairn.
We arrived at lunch time and basked in the memory of this historic place. We all felt chuffed, three thousand miles from UK. We lined up Land Rovers for a photograph and later we left to drive west. We camped in a great flat sandy plain just near the crash site of ‘Lady be Good’ a war time US liberator aircraft

Thursday 12th October 2006

Memorable storms with bright red halo rising over the dunes. This is real desert, a land beyond time, an unbounded void reaching from horizon to horizon. We breakfast on paté, jam and crispbread with coffee or tea.
We drive out of our camping valley and rattle off across the stony plateau. Soon the terrain turns increasingly sandy and we started negotiating dunes and soft sand. We dropped our tyre pressures to increase flotation. We passed some picturesque rock formation, artistically eroded by wind, sun and time. We reached Bir Salama an abandoned pumping station and continued south eastwards. The temperature is now 95 degrees Farenheit
We climbed many long ridges and descended some alarmingly steep dunes. In the afternoon we hit a large area of soft sand and frequently had all three cars stuck at once. We used straps, towropes and sand ladders boards and old fashioned push and shove.
By evening we were all much fatigued and ready to stop. We found a wonderful site in the dunes and built a fire. At nightfall everyone sang happy birthday to Kit and I was presented with one of the groups last Mars bars.

Wednesday 11th Oct 2006

Drove to Tobruk. A nice harbour, sparkling in the morning sun. We visited, by mistake, the German War memorial, a very fine fort built on a high bluff. Then we left for the long drive to Jagbub where we topped up with full containers of fuel and water. We were now heavily laden, I was carrying 300 litres of fuel and a hundred litres of water.
We turned off into the desert and found an old abandoned piste. We had to climb a sandy ridge to gain the plateau, and we all got stuck at different places. Sand ladders were used for the first time and we were soon free. At dusk we descended into a picturesque valley with soft sandy patches and eroded rocky outcrops for windbreak. Perfect for camping and here we spent the night.

Tuesday 10th October 2006
Long driving day. We woke at 6 o'clock and left camp at 8 o'clock. We are now in a flat barren desert inhabited by the odd family of camels. We reached El Adem finally and camped in a welcoming desert wadi.

Monday 9th October 2006
We drive all day. Camp at Ben Jawad on the sea-shore. Very nice camp site, but windy and too rough to swim.

Sunday 8th October 2006
Sabratha ruins revealed unparallelled craftsmanship and we walked down paved streets enjoying temples, forums, squares of splendid theatre. The site borders the sea and the waves lapped gently.
We drove on to Tripoli passing the pretty harbour and continued to Leptis Magna. The size and scale of this important Roman site is amazing as is the quality of stone and marble carved into decorative features, capitals and plinths. More on the web site later. We camped for the night under sun-baked palms.

Saturday 7th October 2006
We cleared Tunisia customs in record time (about 2 hours) and Richard recovered his walkie-talkie set. We entered no-man's-land and were greeted by a tall welcoming Touareg with a broad smile, clutching our Visas.
We fitted our new Libyan number plates and set off for Sabratha. We reached the historic Roman ruins and set up camp by the car park.
Many camping skills were learnt, new equipment unleashed from factory wrappings, and everything was going well when we were hit by a sudden rain squall. We all got wet and it was a good christening.

Friday 6th October 2006
Arrived in Tunis and docked at 11 o'clock to be greeted by shouts, waves, officialdom, beaurocracy, gendarmes and douanes giving conflicting instructions. Self-appointed fixers argued amongst themselves and gesticulated wildly. Welcome to North Africa!
Richard was directed into the residents channel and had his walkie-talkie impounded. Very irritating and time consuming, but not serious as we got them back later. We left the dock 2 hours late and drove right through Tunisia. In the small southern villages Chilli beans were hung out to dry - a colourful red adornment to the simple white buildings.
We arrived at Matmata which has been home to Troglodite communities for centuries. We booked into the Troglodite Hotel El Barbar and were shown to a cave - albeit one with white marble floors and four posters.

Thursday 5th October 2006
We arrived at Marseille and board ship for the 22 hour crossing to Tunis. Comfortable berth and good ship. We assembled at tea time for a drivers briefing. Kit explained the intricacies of Dune driving, Raymond explained the route and the itinerary and Nick briefed on first aid.

Wednesday 4th October 2006
We are off to Libya at last. Raymond Bird and Kit are in a well-loaded Land Rover Discovery. We had a 10 hour drive to Aix where we met up with two Land Rover Defenders. Richard Noble and Nick Robinson are in one. Crispin Clay and Simon Montford are in the other. Richard's brother, Andrew, came to bid us farewell and brought us a case of wine for the journey.

Journey through history, the Kalansho Sand Sea.
This satellite picture shows our route. Tobruk, Libya, is on the coast near the Egyptian border which is shown in Yellow. From here we drive to El Jaghbub, home of the Senoussi people, and then continue south into the Kalansho Sand Sea.
We expect to travel over 1,000km before reaching any supplies. We will be well stocked with extra fuel and water.
We are heading for the darker area where we locate the only feature, Big Cairn.
From here we turn west and head for Zeigen Wells where we replenish our water supplies. 

We are making the final preparations for our departure on Wednesday 3rd October. The group of two Land Rover Defenders and one Land Rover Discovery will rendezvous at Aix en Provence.
We will spend the night in the comforts of a chambre d’hôte before booking onto the Marseilles to Tunis ferry next day.
This will be the first night of our trip to North Africa. Further news to follow.

The preparations are now well advanced for the Murzuq Raid 2006.
Departure date is set for October 3rd from UK
Raymond Bird will travel toFrance on October 1st

Norma

Norma is going to post news items on this Blog-site while Kit and friends are in Sahara in October 2006

This is the Arch of Septimus Severus in Leptis Magna, Libya taken by Alicia in April 06. 

Kitmax and friends plan to re-run an LRDG desert raid of the 1940's. The map in the previous post refers. Background notes about the LRDG are as follows:
LRDG Notes (trawled from multiple sources)

Ralph A. Bagnold (1896-1990) had an innate curiosity and inventiveness as a young boy that was encouraged by his father, a British Army Royal Engineer. Young Bagnold followed a family tradition when, after completing a war-shortened training program in 1915, he became an officer in the British Army Royal Engineers. He spent three years in the deadly trenches in France, after which he utilized a special military educational leave program to study engineering at Cambridge University, receiving an honours degree in 1921 and returning to active duty with the army.

1916 - Australian Light Car Patrol reaches Dakhla
The British Light Car Patrols are formed to patrol the north western desert frontier of Egypt against the Senoussi threat. The Australian Light Car Patrol hoists the British flag in Dakhla on 18th December 1916, and conducts several surveying patrols to the south & west of Dakhla till June 1917. (The pass 60 kms to the south of Dakhla along the Darb el Terfawi is named 'Australia Pass'). In 1917 Siwa is captured from the Senoussi by an armoured car division making the crossing across the desert from the Mediterranean coast to Siwa in a surprise attack.
The birth of the LRPs.
“Much of the information concerning the LCP comes from : The Other Desert War, by John W. Gordon”
Ralph Bagnold and other familiar names to the LRDG (Pat Clayton, Bill Kennedy Shaw, Guy Prendergast, to name a few) had been avid desert explorers between the wars and had spent numerous hours of their free time and personal money building on the methods learned by the LCP in getting around the desert. Bagnold had made major improvements on the Sun Compass, and managed to cross the Great sand Sea on several occasions using Ford Model A trucks. A feat considered impossible by just about every desert explorer!
Before the outbreak of the war in 1939 Bagnold proposed that the British Army form a long range patrolling unit to spy on its neighbours to the west. His proposal was roundly dismissed as being diplomatically unsound as well as physically impossible. Most of the British senior staff felt it was impossible to operate motor vehicles through the uncharted desert. They all seemed to feel their was no need or no feasible way to accurately chart the desert. Furthermore it was felt that any long range reconnaissance could be accomplished with aircraft.
Field Marshall Archibald Wavell was in command of the Middle East. He was aware of Bagnold's past desert explorations and has Bagnold assigned to the 7th Armoured Division(Desert Rats). Bagnold did not pitch his idea for long range patrols right away. In time, he began to propose such plans with his immediate commander. While his immediate commander was keen on the idea, higher commanders were not. Eventually however, Bagnold went around the chain of command and with some help got his proposal in Wavell's hands. The proposal was met with enthusiasm and a short deadline of six weeks to get the unit operational. Bagnold was transferred to Wavell's headquarters. The unit was called the "Long Range Patrols" or Long Range Patrol Units.
Bagnold was given a free hand to call for volunteers and decided early on to look for more robust "colonial forces" that were coming into the theatre, assuming they would be more self reliant than British Units. His first choice were Australians, assuming the arid outback region would have made them acclimated to a region like the Sahara. Unfortunately the Australian Divisional commander did not want his men be led by a British Officer. The New Zealanders were approached next. Their commander, Lt. Gen Bernard Freyberg had won the Victory Cross in WWI and was a colleague of Wavell. Within a few days Bagnold had his volunteers and they were considered the best that the Division had to offer.
The initial patrol was led by Pat Clayton, one of Bagnold's friends. What they found was a demoralized army in no hurry to fight. The information proved accurate and was instrumental in the campaign that followed. Wavell realized he was in no immediate danger and informed London that 2RTR and 7RTR could take a longer safer passage to Egypt instead of being rushed through hostile waters.
A New Name and New Patrols.
With the success of the initial patrol and some following raiding missions, Wavell immediately authorized the doubling of size of the LRP and the unit took on its new name, the Long Range Desert Group, LRDG. Unfortunately the New Zealand division could not spare more men and Bagnold actually had to give a few of the originals back to the division!
Bagnold was forced to look else where and that elsewhere was once again newly arriving divisions. Among those arriving were the Coldstream Guards and Scots Guards, two of the Britain's finest division, and numerous Yeomanry units.
Yeomanry were mounted territorial or reserve units. Bagnold realized that the various backgrounds of the professional and the part time, and the colonial may not be a good mix so instead of integrating the new men into the New Zealand patrols he organized two new patrols "G" for Guards and "Y" for Yeomanry.
The Guards 'G' patrol were on the 1940-1941 Murzuq raid, under command of Capt Michael Crichton-Stuart (Scots Guards).
The Yeomany 'Y' patrol would have been recruited later that year, 1941.
"W" patrol was gone but the New Zealanders still had "R" and "T" patrol. The letters coming from Maori words used on their vehicles. Later another patrol would be raised from the southern area of the colony of Rhodesia and this patrol would take the letter "S" for south.

This map shows the routes taken by the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) during their daring raid on Murzuq in 1940 - 1941 

This was our first campsite after leaving the Oasis of Dhakla in the Western Desert, Egypt.














The shape is typical of the crescent configuration of a Barchan dune.

Kitmax, photographed by fellow climber Bernhardt, on our two day climb to the summit of Mt Uweinat.
This desert-encircled mountain is 2,000m high and lies in one of the driest and most barren areas of the world.
It is a remote granite massif lying on the very apex of Egypt's South Western border.
It is surrounded by the Selima sand flats, a boundless, lifeless desert encircled by shimmering horizons.
From the summit I could peer down into Libya, Egypt and Sudan.
This was one of very few ascents made on this isolated landform. It was first climbed by the desert explorer Ralph Bagnold in the 1930's.
For a full and colourful tale of our climb, click here:
http://www.kitmax.com/kit12travels_11_gilf-upuweinat.htm

I have been travelling in Libya . This picture was taken in the Akakus Mountains. The rocks behind host Neolithic art dating to 4oooBC 

Kitmax attending the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The car is a Jaguar XK120.
The hat is a TRILBY which defines the era of the car... 1950's 

Tibetan girl on 17,800ft pass