- City
- Dexter
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- MI
For folks who don't know, for my day job, I run JPFreek Adventure Magazine - a free, digital Jeep magazine. I have been working with a guy named Dan Grec for almost three years now, he is currently roughly halfway through an effort to circumnavigate Africa in a "camperized" JKU. We covered the build of the current Jeep (and his failed attempt at putting a Mercedes diesel in his first JK to use that ended in disaster) and all of his travels from Easter Jeep Safari in 2015 to Namibia, where he is now.
He's a great writer and photographer and does stories for me in every issue, you can see the last one here: http://currentissue.jpfreek.com/publication/?i=439875&ver=html5&p=28
Well, since the first night that I talked with Dan about JPFreek being involved in covering his build and trip, we discussed the possibility of me flying somewhere along his route to ride with him for a while and then get dropped back at an airport.
Thrilled to say that we actually made that work out with the help of one of the industry partners on the build and I'm flying to Johannesburg via Amsterdam on the 28th, I get in on the 29th, ride with him until the 11th when I fly back out of Johannesburg through Amsterdam and back home on the 12th.
I've never been anywhere in Africa and I'm psyched out of my mind (and I will be more so when I finish getting the next issue out next week.)
I'll be living out of the Jeep with Dan, basically I asked to simply go along on whatever he would have been doing without me there. I believe we're going to go to Lesotho and some of the South African coast. I didn't ask to do anything specific and just left him in charge of the itinerary. We'll be wild camping as much as possible (which may not be a ton until we get out of central South Africa.)
He has a travel blog going at http://www.theroadchoseme.com, be warned, there's days of reading to be had to catch up if you get hooked. Worth it though (but read the JPFreek articles first of course
)
Can. Not. Wait. That said, Dan has gotten malaria twice (this last time was quite bad, check his last blog post), been subjected to countless military checkpoints and been shaken down for bribes (most all of which he's talked his way out of) a ton by random people with automatic weapons, some of which were official and some not. Neither of us expects the southern end of Africa to be that bad, though and certainly not South Africa. I did have to get a number of shots, I'm in the middle of the Typhoid vaccine pills now and I start an anti-malarial drug two days before I go through a week after I'm back (you can't be on it for months and months, which is why Dan can't take it being in Africa for two years, that's why he's gotten malaria.) I pray that stuff works and I'll be taking the most DEETy bug spray I can find.
As a tease, here's a couple of Dan's photos from recent JPFreek articles.
He's a great writer and photographer and does stories for me in every issue, you can see the last one here: http://currentissue.jpfreek.com/publication/?i=439875&ver=html5&p=28
Well, since the first night that I talked with Dan about JPFreek being involved in covering his build and trip, we discussed the possibility of me flying somewhere along his route to ride with him for a while and then get dropped back at an airport.
Thrilled to say that we actually made that work out with the help of one of the industry partners on the build and I'm flying to Johannesburg via Amsterdam on the 28th, I get in on the 29th, ride with him until the 11th when I fly back out of Johannesburg through Amsterdam and back home on the 12th.
I've never been anywhere in Africa and I'm psyched out of my mind (and I will be more so when I finish getting the next issue out next week.)
I'll be living out of the Jeep with Dan, basically I asked to simply go along on whatever he would have been doing without me there. I believe we're going to go to Lesotho and some of the South African coast. I didn't ask to do anything specific and just left him in charge of the itinerary. We'll be wild camping as much as possible (which may not be a ton until we get out of central South Africa.)
He has a travel blog going at http://www.theroadchoseme.com, be warned, there's days of reading to be had to catch up if you get hooked. Worth it though (but read the JPFreek articles first of course
)Can. Not. Wait. That said, Dan has gotten malaria twice (this last time was quite bad, check his last blog post), been subjected to countless military checkpoints and been shaken down for bribes (most all of which he's talked his way out of) a ton by random people with automatic weapons, some of which were official and some not. Neither of us expects the southern end of Africa to be that bad, though and certainly not South Africa. I did have to get a number of shots, I'm in the middle of the Typhoid vaccine pills now and I start an anti-malarial drug two days before I go through a week after I'm back (you can't be on it for months and months, which is why Dan can't take it being in Africa for two years, that's why he's gotten malaria.) I pray that stuff works and I'll be taking the most DEETy bug spray I can find.
As a tease, here's a couple of Dan's photos from recent JPFreek articles.
once in a lifetime. You can't take to many pictures 
Please keep us updated 
. And be safe, cautious, and watch your back.
Have a safe and fun trip.....and don't get sick.
