1:07:29
- Welcome to my last hurrah. I feel like I'm on a real adventure, but I'm also a little terrified. After experiencing several breakdowns, I've decided to embark on one last desert adventure on Expedition Sahara, my most challenging off-road trail through the Sahara to date. This whole place just feels so Mad Max, and it's about to give me a hell of a lot of memories. A massive three day sandstorm, 300 miles out in the desert, things falling apart pretty badly. And guess what? Yet another breakdown.
I can't believe this is happening again. And I just wanna say I apologize in advance for all the F-bombs in this video. There's a lot of them, no (beep) way. They're mostly bleeped out, but it's a pretty crazy ride. So thanks for your understanding. Odyssey, don't (beep) do this to me, and let's go. These are honestly very bad conditions to undertake a big, ambitious desert crossing. It's not a very auspicious day because there's a pretty vicious sandstorm out here right now.
You can't really see it because the camera kind of clears up the sand, but the wind has been blowing all day long, sending sand woo, in all directions. So visibility is pretty low. But aside from that, my truck just got out of a repair that I do not trust a one bit. My fridge isn't working, my inverter isn't working, my speedometer isn't working. There's a lot of things telling me that I should probably not do this right now, but there's a little voice inside that's telling me that if I don't try, I'm gonna regret it. So we're gonna go get ourselves some extra diesel and then we're gonna get going.
The plan is to spend the next three days driving 300 miles along the infamous Iron Ore train tracks. It's by far the most extreme off-road trail I will have driven on this entire expedition, only a couple of tiny settlements along the way, with the nearest tarmac being 150 miles away at the most remote point. (gentle music) (woman speaking in foreign language) All right. The plan for day one was to drive 50 miles towards a natural wonder that few people outside of Mauritania know about. (gentle music) All right, our first sighting of the rail tracks, these are the tracks that I'll be following
over the course of the next 300 miles along the route of the world's longest train. (person laughing) Which I took five years ago, and it was incredible. One of the best 24 hours of my life. My only job over the course of the next 300 miles is to follow these train tracks, stay to the south of them. Shouldn't be too hard not to get lost, but there's a lot of other challenges ahead, so I'm just not gonna jinx it. (person laughing) I'm gonna stop talking and start driving.
(upbeat music) This off-road trail is my last hurrah on this expedition. You may remember from the last episode that Odyssey's been having some gearbox issues, and I need to start thinking about heading home. But I need this last off-road adventure to feel like I've made the most out of this expedition. From the get go, I knew this wouldn't be an easy ending. As I drove into the desert, the sandstorm became more and more intense, dust completely covering the sky, and on many stretches, even wiping out all tire tracks, so I couldn't see if I was following any trail at all. Okay, we've hit soft sand and almost got stuck, but didn't. But yeah, this is very soft now.
We're gonna have to lose a bit of tire pressure, let out some air, and hopefully we can keep going. God, this wind is just insane, woo. (gentle music) (vehicle engine whirring) You can't be comfortable there. You know, you could go back inside the truck, right? The best way I can describe being in a sandstorm like this is that it feels like it's raining sand.
(person shouting) So it's coming from every single direction. It's coming from up above, from the sides. Ugh, it's getting everywhere. Honestly, I know why the people of the desert cover their hair traditionally, it's because if you don't, you get sand freaking everywhere. Get inside. Oh god, this is a little stressful, because of the wind, most of the old tracks have been covered up, so I can't really see where I'm going.
I can't see if I'm actually on an old set of tracks on an old trail, or if I'm just somewhere in the desert making my own trail, which obviously I don't wanna do because if I get stuck and I need help, I wanna be on a real trail so that there's at least a small chance that someone can find me. Note to self, don't venture into the desert when there's a sand storm. Oh my God, I cannot believe my luck. The train is here. (person gasping) The train is here. Holy shit. (gentle music)
Oh my God, that's so cool. Okay, I think it's high time that we found somewhere to camp for tonight. There is a giant monolith around here that I really wanna check out. It's called Ben Amera, and I can't see it. In fact, it's so huge, you should be able to see it from here. But because the sandstorm is so intense, you can't see anything, absolutely nothing. It's just white. It's like I've been dropped into a jar of milk. But I do believe that it's somewhere there, the monolith. So that's where we're gonna head, and hopefully tomorrow we'll actually be able to see it, all right.
(gentle music) Ben Amera is a pretty special place. It's a monolith. And in case you're not sure what that means, that's a giant, massive rock that can be the size of an entire mountain basically. Ben Amera is one of the largest monoliths in the entire world, and it's actually taller than Australia's famous Uluru. What, where are we? We're sleeping under the monolith, what? (upbeat music)
If all you wanna do is be alone in the desert, in nature, in a Four by Four, Mauritania. There's like oasis here. There's mountains, there's desert, very underrated gem of a country, and everybody's so nice. People are genuinely really, really sweet, really kind. So welcoming and helpful. Well, the fridge is broken and this is the moment where I pat myself on the shoulder for having the incredible foresight. 'Cause you know, Vyork eats raw meat. And up until now I've just been putting it in the freezer, which has been amazing because I could, you know, bring like a supply of a week's worth of Vyork's food in the freezer, maybe more. But now that it doesn't work,
I can use a backup food that I brought. So this is just some air dried food. It's like a nicer, healthier version of kibble that Vyork will gobble up as well. And I have just enough to last us a couple of weeks. Perfect for the way back. You wanna show the nice people some tricks? Yeah. Good boy. (upbeat music) Yeah, good boy. (person sighing) Why don't you work, can a brand make a stove like this, a camping stove that is actually high quality? Can a brand do that, is that possible?
I feel like that would be fabulous. So I don't have to sit here and hold down the leather with my thumb for the entirety of the cooking process. You know, at this point in the trip, some things are just not quite there anymore. Things are breaking down, falling apart. But you know, one thing that is still absolutely incredible, and I cannot get over this Mauritanian bread. So you know the country Mauritania was a French colony for many years. And we do not like colonies. We do not approve of colonies, obviously. But one of the legacies that the French have left behind, aside from the language, is the incredible bread
that you can find in Mauritania. So whenever I pass by at a village, I buy bread. And this, it's just soft on the inside, crispy on the outside. It's so freaking delicious. I could eat it every single day of my life. So today we're dipping. (person grunting) So good. It's so delicious, did you have a good dinner? Did you have a good food? Did you have some good food?
Okay, we are both fed. I am clothed in my PJs and almost ready to go to bed, but I wanna tell you guys about why I have to get back home so soon, why I can't just extend my trip here. I've got something very exciting to get back to. Ah, it has something to do with this, which is my book, "The Wilder Way". And I have to get back because I'll be doing a book tour around my memoir, which I'm so excited about. So I'll be doing events in the UK and I'll be doing events in the US. There's a lot of stories in this book that never made it to YouTube and never will. It feels very vulnerable to share it with the world. But yeah, it's coming out very, very soon. So I need to get back
to welcome it into the world, The Wilder way. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. (person kissing) Good morning. Maybe not so good morning because I feel like utter crap, making my morning coffee, still the same technique applies. The stove hasn't fixed itself magically overnight, unfortunately. And last night was pretty horrific. A car came by at 2:00 AM, at 2:00 AM, I don't know who the hell it was. I'm gonna have to assume that it was a military car. We are very close to the western Sahara border and I guess doing their rounds.
Anyway, that woke me up 'cause Vyork started barking and then after that, I just wasn't able to fall asleep because the wind was so incredibly intense and loud and just shook the entire car and the tent all night long. So I slept for three hours last night and four hours the night before also because of the wind. So I feel like a wreck. (person sighing) I just need to make my coffee, do you see that? Do you hear that, the whole car is still freaking shaking because of that wind. The sandstorm is still here and it has not subsided.
I feel like it's getting worse. Oh, come on, you freaking thing. Ugh, I hate this. I got sand in my eye, oh, come on. Can this stove at least fucking work? 'Cause I really need my coffee right now in order to (beep) function. It's like the wind gets in through every fricking hole and blows out my fire every time. Yeah, no sleep and no coffee makes a dull girl. (gentle music)
Feeling a little urgh. Like I don't really know what's going on. I haven't really woken up yet. Not the best state to be doing a very challenging off-road trail through sand, deep sand, deep soft sand, where you really need to be super focused. But I don't really have another choice at this point. On day two, I plan to drive about 150 miles west across the sand, passing a single settlement on route. (gentle music) (machine whirring) Ah, no! (beep) wind. Things have been going wrong for a little while. I can normally handle stress pretty well, but in order to do so, I really need good sleep. So with the wind keeping me up half the night,
the last two nights, I think the anxieties are starting to get to me. And even though I really want to do this last adventure, I am definitely feeling nervous about the truck and anxious about making it all the way home. It's just a lot of emotions right now. (gentle music) I'm starting to appreciate what the luxury it is to be able to see the road in front of you. Once you stop seeing the road in front of you, driving becomes an exercise in feeling out the world around you and really hoping that you don't crash into something that is 10 meters in front of you but you can't see it.
(person laughing) This is what my world looks like right now. This is very cool. I feel like I'm on a real adventure, but I'm also a little terrified. I think Vyork is a little bit bored of this relatively monotonous landscape. And yeah, it does look pretty monotonous. There isn't that much to see per se. I know I'm kind of trying to make light of the situation, but we are in the Sahara and this is a pretty serious place to get lost. And the way to avoid getting lost on this track specifically is to always keep the train tracks in your line of sight.
'Cause this is the kind of place where you cannot afford to make any mistakes. And we stuck, not badly, just a little stuck. And the only reason why I'm stuck is because I was in third gear where I really should have been in second gear. So I kind of lost momentum, and this is us right now. If you remember Zane from the previous episode, the mechanic from, he told me something very important. He told me that everyone gets stuck. It's completely normal to get stuck. The big question is, can you recover yourself?
Can you get unstuck, can you get yourself out? First method I'm gonna try is to deflate my tires. In case you're unfamiliar with what this does, deflating your tires basically increases the surface of the tire that is in contact with the ground because the tires kind of go like, they kind of flat themselves out. So how that works is basically, imagine that you're walking on snow and you are walking on snow with your shoes and you keep sinking into the snow 'cause it's so soft. But if you put on snow shoes, you increase the surface area that's in contact with the snow and therefore you get a lot more traction and stability.
It's the same principle here. Okay, we've got it. (gentle music) That afternoon, I drove through one of the two tiny settlements that lay along the route. These are basically service stops for the train. And I don't think anyone actually lives there permanently. It's a pretty surreal looking place. And then, would you believe it? Just a few minutes outside of the settlement, I noticed that Odyssey started losing power. Oh shit, I think we're in trouble.
It doesn't wanna switch on. Do you know how (beep) lucky I am? I was just passing by that little settlement. I don't really know what it is, but there's some buildings there and a little shop. There were some cars there and I just, the car, it just stopped. I was trying to give it some power and it just stopped. It wouldn't. Jesus (beep) Christ, what is going on? Oh my God, this is like the worst. This is probably the worst place for a breakdown in the entire world. On the off chance that this is just a small, that this is just a small issue.
Oh my god, no (beep) way. I can't be broken down here. It's just no (beep) way. (vehicle engine whirring) No (beep) way. No, no, no, no. (tense music) Just try and start her again. Jesus (beep) Christ, Odyssey, don't (beep) do this to me. (vehicle engine whirring) Nope, she just cuts out.
(beep) Okay, calm down, the truck broke down near the only (beep) settlement that there is around here on this whole (beep) stretch of desert. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go there and I'm gonna ask if there's a mechanic there and hopefully I'll get her fixed. (tense music) I can't believe this is happening again. It took me a few minutes to reach the settlement and straight away I approached a guy who was loading something onto his pickup.
I asked him for help and he told me to get inside and said we would drive to my car together. He seemed nice enough and I didn't really have a choice, so I went with him. (tense music) - [Speaker] Problem. And there is a mechanic who is driving a land rover. (wind blowing) Just my fucking luck. (gentle music) I dunno what it is about mechanics in the tiniest villages in the Sahara, but they seem to be a regular fixture.
Good for me. This mechanic, bless his heart, tried to jolt Odyssey awake, but to no avail. (vehicle engine whirring) And she does not spring to life. This is some serious desert magic, desert mechanic magic. (vehicle engine whirring) Now we've got three guys working on Odyssey. And then the newly arrived third guy took a bottle of perfume out of his Hilux and sprayed Odyssey with it.
They sprayed some perfume on Odyssey. (vehicle engine whirring) So basically some wires aren't properly connected because of the sandstorm and the sand getting in. (vehicle engine whirring) Wow, (beep) unbelievable. By using this perfume, they managed to clean out the wires enough so that they connected again. How amazing. This is insane, I can't believe my (beep) luck.
This is what we call travel magic. It's honestly freaking unbelievable. I couldn't make this up. Odyssey could have broken down at any point over the last 24 hours and she chose to break down in a village. Not just any village, the only village I have seen on the way, the only one. There's been nothing else. Yep, this is the second time this has happened on the same expedition. A couple of weeks ago, Odyssey broke down in the desert also in a village. And there was also a mechanic there. I've always said that Odyssey does break down, that she always does so in the right location.
Odyssey, I love you. But please can you keep your shit together for the next few days, 'cause there ain't more mechanics where we're going. So please be a good girl, do this for me. (gentle music) (vehicle engine whirring) Can you guys spot the desert highway? So you can see the green bushes and the vegetation on either side, right? And then in the middle there's this kind of empty corridor where there's no vegetation at all, which tells you
that a lot of cars have passed through this way and nothing grows here anymore. This is where you drive. (gentle music) Home, sweet home. Well, having survived today, I believe I deserve a beer. A non-alcoholic, warm beer. In fact, it's a malt drink. It's not even, not even a non-alcoholic beer, but it'll do. (gentle music)
Ah, I put the water. Oh God, I think there might be a problem with the hose or something. Everything is breaking. I think I need to admit to myself that I'm finally ready to go home. I feel like this expedition has become more about managing Odyssey's next breakdown than about exploring and you know, being curious and adventuring. Like I don't have that curious mindset anymore. I have an anxious mindset now where I am trying to like think ahead to the next breakdown, the next thing that's gonna go wrong. And I know that things always go wrong on expeditions, but in every single episode,
something has broken down with Odyssey. And that's not why I'm out here. I'm not here to keep fixing my car. I'm here to like to explore and to be curious and to see new places, meet new people. Sure, I guess if your car breaks down, that's one way to meet people. But you know what, this is not what I want out of an expedition. So yeah, perhaps it's the universe or Odyssey letting me know that we are done and that we should go home. Yeah, yeah, if you wanna get back from the bush, get a Toyota. But if you wanna make content, get a Land Rover Defender.
No, but seriously, I do not wanna see any snarky comments about the Toyota Land Cruiser or Toyotas in general in the comments section. Especially because I own a Toyota Land Cruiser that has been at the mechanics workshop all winter with its own set of issues. Every car breaks down, it's not just this one. So no snarky comments about Toyotas being better, thank you very much. At least she's a conversation starter, okay?
(gentle music) Ooh, yes, please. Canned peaches. Ah, divine. What a treat. Oh yeah, I'm gonna eat the whole can. (gentle music) The next morning, water was on my mind. I still had enough backup water to last me a while, but I was really keen to fill up.
Day three was to be my last day on the trail with about 100 miles left until the tarmac road. What a way to start your day. Welcome to yet another God forsaken settlement in the middle of the Sahara. This place feels like an absolute ghost town. It's completely silent aside from the howling of the wind. The sandstorm continues, by the way. Anyway, I've come out here and I've stopped here because there's water here.
What you see there, that kind of balloon like container on the ground, that is a water container. And I am in luck to have found it. Something is off with my water. I dunno if it poured out by accident or what, but it just doesn't flow. And that's an issue 'cause we're in the desert. I do have backup water. I have a backup container of about 10 liters or 15 liters. But I just wanna make sure that, you know, if we do get stranded or something, that I'm not without water. So that's what we're gonna do now.
I'm assuming that there is no generator to make this work, 'cause I guess they don't rely on power out here to get things like this working. So a force of gravity. Oh yep, force of gravity it is. Now, how am I supposed to put it in my container? It is gonna be fun. Nope. (person laughing) Okay. Instead of filling my main tank, I'm just gonna make sure that my Jerry cans are completely full and that my water bottles are completely full. And then that means I should have about 25 liters of water, which should be enough.
(gentle music) (insects chirping) This whole place just feels so Mad Max, I wonder this is what the future for all of humanity. (gentle music) At this point, the conditions have become so bad that I can barely see 10 meters ahead of me. There is just so much sand and dust all over everywhere that I can't see any tracks anymore.
I'm just kind of trying to feel my way across the desert, trying to stay more or less in a straight line, just heading west. But yeah, I can't see anything here. Oh my God, this is a serious lesson in navigation. (gentle music) (vehicle engine whirring) Do you see this? It's been like this for days now. It's basically impossible to even stand around outside in this sandstorm because the sand just gets in your eyes, in your ears, in your mouth, in your nose.
Everything is just freaking covered with sand. It's like impossible to exist out here. I think it's honestly time to get outta here. I'm gonna go back to the truck because even Vyork doesn't wanna go outside, like this was supposed to be a little potty break. He got out for about 30 seconds, did his thing, and then got right back inside the truck. 'Cause this is just, it's horrific.
Hey buddy. You wanna go home, you wanna get outta here? It's too much, huh? I know it's too much, shall we go? Yeah, you wanna go? Oh boo, that's a good boy. Okay, we're gonna go. (gentle music) I feel like I could have made it to the nearest gas station on what I have left in the tank, which is pretty incredible that I made it all this way in the sand on just one single tank. But I have all this extra diesel, so.
(gentle music) Check out this look, fit check, fit check, I see. (person laughing) (gentle music) And just like that, it's done, are back on tarmac. This was some of the hardest driving I've ever done in my entire life. Very drained right now. I think I need to just find a spot to camp and go back home. (person sighing) (gentle music) (vehicle engine whirring)
