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- In today's episode, I embark on my first long distance off-road trail in the Mauritanian Sahara. (speaks in foreign language) But somewhere between getting lost in the dunes, that road is impossible and navigating endless dried out river beds and outta the adventure already, Jesus Christ, I not only get stuck, but also experience a breakdown and odyssey will not stop. Oh my God, not only am I stuck in really deep sand, I'm also broken down, (intense music) looking double whammy of misadventure.
This leg of expedition Sahara feels like I've just entered the next level of the adventure game. And to think it all started so calmly, I came here last night, not really out of choice, but kind of out of necessity, ended up sleeping in some kind of Mauritarian quarry, and there have been these big trucks passing by all night and all morning. So you may wonder how I ended up here. I mean, Mauritania is one of the least densely populated countries on earth. There's plenty of empty spaces, that's what you'd think. But yesterday, I had to go into the capital city, no act shot, which is absolute madness.
I got to pick up my drone for Mauritania. Yes, I'm so excited to have a drone again. And by the time I was done with all of my errands in the city, it was getting late. It was the afternoon, and then when you exit the city, there's just little like shanty towns and then these industrial areas. But it was getting so late. We'd been in the car for like seven hours and I was like, now we gotta stop. So this is where we stopped. Travel isn't always scenic and epic, and aesthetic, that just rhymed amazing.
Sometimes it's just a random quarry in the middle of nowhere in Mauritania. (gentle music) Mauritania is just fascinating. It's almost twice the size of California, four times the size of the UK, but it has less than 2000 miles of paved roads. Today, I'm gonna drive around 200 of those miles before turning off onto a little known off-road track where I'm gonna spend the next three days dwelling in the desert.
One thing that we normally take for granted about home is the availability of fuel. You know, you can definitely count on there being some kind of fuel station pretty much anywhere within like a 20 mile radius. And you never think that the gas station might not have any gas available. But in Mauritania, that's exactly what happens. A lot of the time, there are fuel shortages across the entire country. So I'm gonna go to this gas station hoping that they have diesel, and lucky me, they did. One of my rules on any expedition is to keep my tank as full as possible and fuel up whenever I hit the half full mark.
Just good practice in case the next gas station doesn't have diesel. Okay, one more errand I need to run. I gotta get some groceries for the next leg of the journey. (gentle music) Okay, here we go. (speaks in foreign language) - (speaks in foreign language) - Ah, okay. (soft music) Oh, this looks really good. These little chili peppers. They look pretty killer. I'm gonna grab a couple. (laughs softly) I thought Vielmaik appreciate a little fish for dinner.
Buffet. Wait, okay. Yes. Okay, so apparently I can get bread somewhere there. (both speaker speaks in foreign language) When? Ah, okay. (speaks in foreign language) Okay. Here we got some bread. (speaks in foreign language) Mauritanian bread is so incredibly delicious. I'm really excited about this. (laughs happily) I'm gonna grab some eggs as well. (gentle music) This is my last grocery shop for the next three days, possibly more.
Once I'm off the tarmac in a few moments, I'll have to be completely self-sufficient. (soft music) Mauritania is a very interesting place to drive in as one of the least densely populated countries on earth. There really isn't that much infrastructure or that many paved roads. The number that really drives it home for me is, if you think about it, there's 13 people per square mile living here in Mauritania. 13 people per square mile. In the United States, it's more like almost 100 people per square mile. In the UK, it's like over 700 people per square mile. So yeah, it's pretty out there Mauritania, (laughs happily)
and I'm just about to venture into all that emptiness because I've just turned off the tarmac road and we're back on dirt baby. (laughs and shouts loudly) Yes! (gentle music) Wherever I may be in the world. As soon as my tires leave the tarmac, I feel like I've entered some kind of magical kingdom where normal rules don't apply. Where you may not be able to go very fast, but you can go anywhere. Every her that's wet dream, a fantasy world where you'd be forgiven for not being up-to-date on the latest news. And when nobody can find you for a poor parallel parking job. In short, these trails lead you through a land of freedom.
(gentle music) Okay, whoa, the is so dusty. Oh my God. (laughs happily) I think we're here. I think this is it for today. What a spot. (gentle music) Not bad for a day of driving. You're not gonna find this spot marked on Google Maps or even on an overlanding or camping app. Just one of those places that you have to find with your own set of tires. Thank the goddess that places like this still exist.
(gentle music) Look what I picked up on the way here. Yet another memento mori from this journey. This is a camel skull. I love collecting animal skulls. A few years back, I would've thought myself creepy for saying that, but honestly, nowadays, they just remind me of how precious life is. If you've been watching this channel for a while, then you may remember that Vilk has a dust-mite allergy, which requires him to take monthly injections. Now obviously, he can't take the injections at his regular vets right now because we're in Africa. So I got a syringe with one-monthly dose of his medicine,
his anti-allergy medicine, and I'm supposed to inject it into him right now. I have been stressing over this for the last month. (laughs happily) Honestly, but it's gotta be done. I think he's gonna absolutely hate me for doing this. Hey buddy, come here. Yeah, you're gonna hate me for doing this, right? Yeah. Can you go middle? (gentle music) Wait, wait. (gentle music)
Yes, free. (paging loudly) Oh my God, he didn't even wink. He didn't blink. He didn't burn an eyelid. I don't think he even felt it. (upbeat music) Good boy. A month's worth of anxiety and in the end it was nothing to worry about. It's funny how we all allow ourselves to spiral sometimes. Fretting over tiny little things as if they were life-changing matters. I think part of the reason why I love these remote, rugged places is because they always give me a sense of perspective. In the grand scheme of things,
we're all just like these tiny grains of sand, barely visible in the grandeur of the dunes. Plus, we're only here for a brief flash of life. Somehow that knowledge makes me feel very much at peace. (cooking and frying loudly) (gentle music) This is one of the peppers that I bought at the store today, and I am very curious to see how spicy it is. It looks very spicy.
I mean, it looks like the devil, doesn't it? (laughs softly) Hmm. Oh yeah. That's pretty spicy. (gentle music) Another creative concoction. Just some veggies fried up. That's it. Delicious. (soft music) Good boy. (soft music) (shout the door loudly) (soft music)
I think that getting in bed after a long and difficult day must be one of the most incredible feelings in the entire world. Anyhow, that I take this opportunity to remind you guys that my memoir, "The Wilder Way" is coming out very soon. This is a pretty special book because in this book, I tell you so many stories that have never made it onto YouTube or social media because they were too crazy, too sensitive, too vulnerable to really share with an online audience. But I felt like writing a book, I could be a lot more intimate and vulnerable with you. So there's stories in there about some of the crazy things
that have happened over the last nine years of my life, including how I got here in the first place, and the darkness that drove me to leave a perfectly good life behind to embark on a journey into the unknown. (laughs softly) So it's a book about really overcoming so many different challenges and ultimately also a book about seeking freedom and your own purpose in life. And I think in today's world, those are really, really important things for us to seek out. So yeah, "The Wilder Way" comes out on the 7th of May in the UK and on the 2nd of June in the US. And I will be doing book tours in both of those countries, which I'm so excited about.
Probably the thing I'm looking forward to the most this year. It would mean the world to me if you got your pre-order of this book of "The Wilder Way." Because pre-orders go a really long way towards helping books get on like bestseller lists. Imagine if "The Wilder Way" got on like the New York Times bestseller list. That would be so incredibly cool. Can we make it happen anyway? (laughs loudly) Anyway, yes. Links in the description box and I just genuinely hope that you guys enjoy "The Wilder Way" once it comes out.
Okay, I'm gonna go to bed now. Great day, everyone. (laughs softly) Good night. Good morning. Hi, booboo! (softly music) (breathe deeply) Welcome to another beautiful day in the Sahara. (soft music) (stretching loudly) (soft music)
At this point in the day, I still have no idea that in just a few hours, I'll be stuck and broken down in the middle of nowhere. You know what they say? Ignorance is bliss. Enjoy it while it lasts. (gentle music) I do find it a little scary driving on sand because I never really took any lessons or didn't really, never really had to teacher anyone to teach me how to drive in sand.
Everything I know about driving in sand is literally, literally comes from YouTube tutorials, YouTube tutorials and experience, which I don't have that much of. (laughs softly) So I'm just doing my best trying to keep straight and calm. Trying not to force anything. Just keeping a bit of momentum going. A little section here that looks a bit shoddy, I'm gonna go scout it out 'cause I don't, just don't know what's hiding around the corner.
Okay, you see all of this. So these are tire tracks all the way around here. Some of them go up on the dune, so of them go to the side and I just wanna make sure that I'm going the right way. Oh yeah, I think I can just follow these ones because every time you turn on sand, you lose momentum and the more momentum you lose, the more likely you are to stop altogether. And if you stop, then you need to start again. And that's when problems can begin. So I'd rather just get out of the car and rec key the route just to make sure I'm not doing anything silly. I'm out here on my own.
No one to pull me out if I do get stuck. So I just need to be extra careful. (loud sound of engine) Low range. Let's go. (soft music) I had very little information about this route, aside from some out of date GPX drags. I knew that it led across dunes, slandy plateaus, riverbeds and rocky mountains. But exactly how those landscapes looked, remained a mystery until I saw them for myself. You know, we live in a world governed by so many rules and I figure it's nice to have a little bit of unpredictable energy in your life.
Hope I can make it to the top. (soft music) Woo hoo! Jesus Christ. Ooh, bumpy. Some bumps coming ahead. Woo. Let's go. Let's go, Odyssey. You can do this. Well, I might be outta luck because this actually is a pretty deep, (suspenseful music) deep pit. Oh my God. Yeah. I mean this is, this is horrendous. It looks like if I went in here, I could definitely flip sideways. We are not doing that.
I'm just gonna have to go back the way that we came from. Okay, I see people, there's a car by a tree here. I'm just gonna go up to them and ask them for directions 'cause there must be a different way outta here that I just don't know. (speaks in foreign language) No. (both speaks in foreign language) (laughs happily) (both speaks in foreign language) This way? Okay, so this family confirmed what I already knew, which is that road is impossible. (laughs jokingly) When I told them I went there, they laughed, (laughs softly) (speaks in foreign language) which means big problem, but they did tell me that there is
a different route that goes down there. Can I just say, I absolutely love the fact that I feel like I'm in some survival game out here conquering dunes and battling the elements. Well, this local Mauritanian family is just having a little casual picnic under a tree right here in the middle of nowhere. Okay, I think this is the new route. It looks like there's a lot of fresh tracks on it, which is great because there weren't really any fresh tracks on the other route. So this gives me a lot of confidence.
Always rely on local knowledge, you guys, and if there are locals around that you can ask for directions or advice, do it. Well, I was about to heed my own advice because just as I was approaching the first village in about 100 kilometers, I got stuck. Oh, Jesus Christ. I was just driving through a village and I literally got stuck. This is the most embarrassing thing in the world.
Hello? Okay, first thing we're gonna do is air down those tires even more. Oh, this is really the last thing I needed today. Pretty much immediately I got an audience, a bunch of boys from the village came running to watch the spectacle. Oh my gosh. Wow. (speaks in foreign language) Look at that. Amazing. Homemade recovery boards. (both speaks in foreign language) Okay, we've air down three tires.
One more to go. Okay? - Which way? (speaks in foreign language) - The boys clearly thought me incapable of recovering myself. So they offered to get Odyssey out. Unfortunately, she stalled and then she wouldn't start again. This is really a bad moment for the truck not to start, but I think I may know what the issue could be. The problem is that I need to get under the car. (gentle music) (speaks in foreign language) Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. (soft music) Sometimes, the connector on the start of solenoid falls out, just a couple of little connectors
that lose contact with each other. I just have to clean them and reset them and that normally gets Odyssey started again. (speaks in foreign language) Let's try. (speaks in foreign language) I really hope it starts. (gentle music) No. Oh my God, that didn't work. Not a good place to be stuck. (dramatic music) If I'm honestly shaking, I'm that stressed out. But yeah, I guess at least I'm near a village and there's people who are trying to help and it's very kind of them that are, that they are trying to help.
So I'm really grateful for that. (gentle music) Frankly, I had an unbelievable amount of good luck. Odyssey could have decided to break down literally anywhere. But she chose to break down in the only village for 100 kilometers around, and that village happened to have a mechanic living there. I just hope that he knew what he was doing. There were glimmers of hope, (starting revving loudly) but nothing he did was properly reviving her. So the guys brought small wires, they brought big wires from the village that were just playing around with wires, hoping that one of these procedures works.
These are the moments of travel that really test you. And it's in moments like this that you have to choose to focus on the positives. You may be broken down alone somewhere in the Sahara. Sure. But there are people that genuinely trying to help you and make you feel welcome and help you get going again, this is typical Mauritania. (loud sound of car trying to start) (speaks in foreign language) The ignition won't work. So the mechanic showed me how to hot wire my own car to get her started.
Yahoo! Well, we still need to get her out of the sand. (loud sound of chattering in foreign language) (both speaks in foreign language) This way? - No. - Okay. (speaks in foreign language) Holy shit. I am literally done. (laughs softly) What on earth has just happened? I am an utter disbelief that I broke down first of all, but that I broke down in the middle of a village. I could have gotten stuck and broken down 50 miles ago, five miles ago. But no, it had to happen right in the middle of a village
where there was a mechanic no less who came right away and managed to fix the issue. What on earth? (gentle music) Those who know? Call it travel magic. It's the serendipitous series of events that unfolds when you decide to trust fully in the journey. When you finally choose to believe that the journey is sacred, inherently good and magical. (gentle music) I really wish I could have a very cold beer right now, but this is a country where the Sharia law is in full swing and there ain't no liquor for 1000 miles around.
(laughs softly) (gentle music) The closest thing I have to a beer is a melon milk drink. I have no clue what this is, but I'm gonna drink it. I'm not gonna wait for it to defrost. I'm just gonna eat it as an ice cream. (soft music) (chewing loudly) It's just a little bit weird. Note to self, just stick to Fanta. (soft music)
I absolutely shattered. Shattered emotionally and physically. But I've said it before and I'll say it again. Yes, Odyssey does break down. She's a land rover, but she always knows where to break down. She always chooses her places to break down wisely. She has never let me down in that regard. Today, she could have broken down five miles before the village, five miles after the village. She could have broken down tonight or this morning. But instead, she chose to break down in the middle of like the only village that I passed by today.
A village with a mechanic, (laughs softly) can you fucking believe this? I can't believe this. I could not make it up. That's 'cause you're a good friend. It's 'cause you're a good friend. I know you have your needs. I know you can't be perfect all the time, but I really appreciate you Odyssey. You are a good friend. (soft music)
It may look like just any other morning in the desert, but I am quietly mustering up the courage to hot wire my own car. Apparently, it's the only way to get Odyssey started now, and I'm just hoping I don't get electrocuted or burn down the engine. In the meantime, there's one other thing that broke on the truck and that is these clips that hold the roof conversion down and that kind of clip it to the body of the truck. So both of these have snapped, which I mean it's not a huge deal, but it does mean that every time I'm on a bumpy track and it's, you know, I'm kind of bouncing along the force
of the roof beating down on the body of the car is just a little bit higher because there is nothing to kind of keep it together. Okay, now onto the fun part of the morning, which is hot wiring my own car to get it started. Okay, breathe. First, key in the ignition and turn it to position number one. (cheerful music) And now gonna be a criminal. (revving engine loudly) (cheerful music) This is gonna give me an anxiety attack every single time
I have to start the car. This is not good for my nerves, huh! (gentle music) Well, I suppose if going off into the desert was easy, everyone would do it right? And the reason why it's a magical kingdom is because so few choose to come here. ♪ All is well ♪ ♪ There's nothing new to take ♪ ♪ There's no escape ♪ ♪ No begging ♪ (soft music) ♪ You'll be okay ♪ ♪ You're better of this way ♪ ♪ It's in a bag ♪ ♪ Locked inside ♪ At this point, I'm still driving my long desert trail, but this trail doesn't end with this episode because just as I thought I had paid off my mechanical karma debt, the universe decided it needed another repayment. But more on that in the next episode.
See you next week. ♪ Golden Bear ♪ ♪ The sound of my this way ♪ ♪ Possessing me ♪ ♪ Caressing me ♪ (soft music)
