Watch a new 1800 mile safari as it unfolds!

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 22 Jan 2006 Posts: 19

Hmm lets see:
Somewhere in Algeria where there is still some fighting going on.
"Gorges d'Arak" the area between Tamarrasset and Insalah should apparently only be travelled with a military convoy.

The Gaza strip: Kinda open from Egypt, plus you could say you have money that the EU gave the authorities, or you could pose as a bible researcher (they are sometimes in that area). Hard to get a visa though.

The all time Classic: Mogadishu in Somalia, where some extremist warlords have gained the upper hand (or somewhere nearby). Unsafe pretty much everywhere.

Yemen: Saada and the Provinces Marib, Shabwa and Abyan. And in the south of the country there are quite a few unmarked minefields Twisted Evil

Lybia: South of the country is pretty unsafe, and if you tell the guy to say the code phrase (swearword on the local big honcho in arabic, if desired i can pm it) then he will go to jail for quite a while. Oh yeah and bringing Alcohol is also forbidden.

Ethiopia and Djibouti also come to mind.

Oh the possibilities...

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:58 pm

Quote:

Ethiopia and Djibouti also come to mind.

Worth choosing Djibouti just so you could bait as 'Sheik Djibouti' (with apologies to Frank Zappa) Laughing

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 88

YeaWhatever wrote:

I will shelf the Valley of the Kings idea for now. That sounded cool at first but if it is that easy to get to, what's the fun in that?

Not quite. They'll have to spend money to get there, and since this is a touristy place, prices arent that low. Then they'll have to buy a ticket to the valley. And as a frosting on the cake... The rendevouz will have to be in one of the tombs, which in fact are quite deep and not so easy to descend into and then get out. I mean it's a nice workout. I did that.

So I urge you to reconsider the valley of the kings. Tell them you left the key under that lid of the sacrophagus and they'll have to climb under it to get it (I did that, too, a bit scary).

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:50 pm

loadings travel guide
-how about death valley? lads could wander around there for months and not even be sure if hes in the right place.
-falkland islands?
-alaska?
-sunken ship 90 nautical miles south west of lagos ?
-northern sweden?
these are probably going to be tough ones but im sure youre capable.

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:53 pm

Or there's Qurna, originally built by tomb robbers. It's not too far away. And there's also a Qurna in Iraq, which could lead to an interesting mix-up... Twisted Evil

The last tomb I was in was in Giza. First I had to pay baksheesh to get in, then climb down a spiral metal staircase, probably Victorian, for about 10 minutes. The tomb was dark and very claustrophobic. Bloody fantastic stuff!!

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:53 pm

@loading...
While it would be loads of fun to see a lad running around in Alaska, it is pretty unlikely to ever happen. For now, I am just sticking with Africa, and places that are far away but not impossible to get to.

Right now, I am really loving thud419's idea of Kitum Cave on Mount Elgon which may be the birth-place of Ebola.

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 7:55 pm

^^
i just liked the idea of a pith hat with fur lining.

Master Baiter Joined: 22 Dec 2005 Posts: 211

I�ve always thought that making a lad to travel to Tanzania and getting him to climb Mt Kilimanjaro (the tallest mountain in Africa) would be a great safari idea, if it could be pulled off. I've climbed it before and it's not exactly the most pleasant experience in the world!

The best part would be that not only would the lad have to get to Tanzania, but he'd also have to fork over the cash for a visa, documents, and travel expenses. Not to mention that you can't climb the mountain without paying a hefty price. It takes an absolute minimum of five days to climb, and due to the short time period and lack of acclimatization he�d most definitely suffer some effects of altitude sickness . Just tell the mugu that you buried some cash on Uhuru Peak and all he has to do is climb up there and excavate it. But it�ll be moved if he takes too long to get to it.

I�ll bet that five days later, you'd have a very sore, tired, penniless, and pissed-off lad on your hands! Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 4012

Yeah, but the problem is that Kilimanjaro, although tough, is basically a simple walk up. I think the lads should do something more serious. Smile

What about Mount Kenya - which is also pretty high?

Quote:

The main summits are the twins Batian and Nelion, and these can only be reached by means of technical climbing via a variety of rock or ice routes.

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150259/mount-kenya.html

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:17 pm

Gondar in Ethiopia. No landlines to speak of, popular enough destination that he would buy that there are scientists there, or architectural historians, and there should be a reasonable selection of ways to get there:

Quote:

The city of Gondar, Ethiopia, is located in Ethiopia, 500 kilometers north of Addis Ababa, 35 kilometers from Lake Tana, and in the foothills of the Simien mountains. The city itself dates to the 17th century AD, when it was part was part of the Abyssinian empire, a capital city founded in 1634 by Emperor Fasilidas. The site is known most especially for its numerous beautiful castles with architecture derived in part from medieval Spanish and Portuguese traditions. Gondar is now a tourist hot-spot, called "the Camelot of Africa."

Lots of great castle ruins for him to photograph and prove his attendence, and with all the confusion between the names you could end up waiting to meet him at Menelik the 12th's castle while he is waiting at Menelik the 8th's! Special added safari bonus: 13 actual months of sunshine, and a major street kid/crime problem.

What more could you want in a destination for a lad?

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 88

OK, last time I heard, when people were fleeing Chernobyl, the local mafia boss left a trunk full of USD in his apartment (I know the address).

Now, since I' a bedridden survivor, and can't travel myself, maybe my African friends can help me get at least part of the cash. I don't speak much English either.
Twisted Evil

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 12:20 am

I think I have it.. A little historical project.

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"
Stanley and his expedition approach the village of Ujiji on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. He describes the scene:

"We push on rapidly. We halt at a little brook, then ascend the long slope of a naked ridge, the very last of the myriads we have crossed. We arrive at the summit, travel across, and arrive at its western rim, and Ujiji is below us, embowered in the palms, only five hundred yards from us! At this grand moment we do not think of the hundreds of miles we have marched, of the hundreds of hills that we have ascended and descended, of the many forests we have traversed, of the jungles and thickets that annoyed us, of the fervid salt plains that blistered our feet, of the hot suns that scorched us, nor the dangers and difficulties now happily surmounted. Our hearts and our feelings are with our eyes, as we peer into the palms and try to make out in which hut or house lives the white man with the gray beard we heard about on the Malagarazi.
We are now about three hundred yards from the village of Ujiji, and the crowds are dense about me. Suddenly I hear a voice on my right say, 'Good morning, sir!'

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/ujiji.htm

Perhaps Shiver could solicit carving and painting from this site. Laughing

*** BANNED *** Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 32

Tell him that you are 10 kilometers north of the Goma airport and cross your fingers.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 29

the rare okapi (a giraffe/zebra like animal has just been found again in the DR of Congo) WWF scientists will be all over the area

Quote:

Conservationists say they have found conclusive proof of the existence of a rare giraffe-like creature in the wild in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Experts from the conservation group WWF say they came across 17 okapi tracks in the Virunga National Park.

Despite its zebra-like markings, the okapi is related to the giraffe.

The region in the eastern DRC has been battered by years of conflict. The last time the shy forest-dwelling creature was spotted in the park was in 1959.

"We rely completely on tracks, on footprints, on dung, on signs of browsing to identify where the animals have been," WWF's Peter Stephenson said.

"But we did find 17 different tracks of okapis which suggest there are a few animals there - we can't put precise numbers on it. But for us, the exciting thing is that they're there at all," Mr Stephenson said.

War and poaching

This discovery has prompted much excitement, says the BBC's east Africa correspondent Karen Allen.

Congolese conservationists have been working hard to try preserve the dense forests which are the okapis' home, but a bloody civil war has made this hard. Many wildlife species have seen a dramatic fall in numbers as a result of poaching.

The rediscovery of the Okapi ahead of elections in DRC next month signals fresh hope that - against the odds - sustainable development to preserve forests and local communities is paying off, says our correspondent.

The okapi usually grows to about 2.5m (8 ft 2 in) long and is about 2m (6ft 6in) high at the shoulder.

The animal's last redoubt until now was thought to be in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the eastern DR Congo.

A few okapis are kept at zoos around the world.

As its central Africa it shouldn't be too far from West Africa to put them off completely.

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 8:33 am

Luke Skywalkers Tatouin home at Sidi Drris in Tunisia .... amazing place to visit!

Did anyone say Congo? Great for wildlife/conservation of all kinds.

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:22 am

I'd pick Gondar because no matter how many times I read it I see Gonad - but maybe that's just me.

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

I read it as Gondor, but maybe that's just me. Mount Nelion also has a Lord of The Rings sound to it.

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 1:31 pm

No major updates to report. Our lad just likes to have lots of little reassurances that everything is OK. He keeps asking stupid little questions to fill in the blanks in his head. I will be calling him again early Monday morning just as one final reassurance before the chump gets on the plane for the 1700 mile flight to Uganda.

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 2:02 pm

@YW:
A discrepancy!! I hope he doesn't catch it, and if he does, that you'll be able to explain it. In the first email you posted you told him that an American computer company had donated the money, and in one of the last ones you said that it was the Ford Motor Company. I just wanted to point that out to you in case 50 other people haven't, and so you can prepare yourself if he notices it.
Waiting for next week!

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 4:05 pm

Good catch! Sometimes I lose track of my own lies. There are lots to remember. I'll certainly work around it if he questions it. Thanks for the heads up.

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 4:39 pm

@YW - Simply another outstanding piece of work! bow_down

Has Mutual of Omaha contacted you yet for their new show - "Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Safari"? Laughing

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 7:08 pm

It's a simple multiple corporate sponsorship deal... in fact if your lad can provide you with a set of hubcaps from a Ford product- you can probaby get him an extra $5,000 in cash for himself.

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 9:25 pm

well when you get $740000 from a computer company, its easy to forget that you got an aditional $10000 from ford. it all kinda meshs together ya know? Wink

cant see him looking through old emails though, hes blinded by dollar signs.

Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:41 pm

YeaWhatever wrote:

For the lad to dig up the money, he is going to have to have a GPS locator.

Or a compass and some really bad... er I mean good directions. (ie) "Go 10km due east, you will come to a clearing, you can't miss it. then turn due north and go 2km, etc... Twisted Evil

As for other ultra-safari locations, I hear the weather in Somalia is quite nice this time of year and with no central government, the lads wont have to deal with those pesky officials Wink

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 6

waneking wrote:

the rare okapi (a giraffe/zebra like animal has just been found again in the DR of Congo) WWF scientists will be all over the area

Quote:

Conservationists say they have found conclusive proof of the existence of a rare giraffe-like creature in the wild in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Experts from the conservation group WWF say they came across 17 okapi tracks in the Virunga National Park.

Despite its zebra-like markings, the okapi is related to the giraffe.

The region in the eastern DRC has been battered by years of conflict. The last time the shy forest-dwelling creature was spotted in the park was in 1959.

"We rely completely on tracks, on footprints, on dung, on signs of browsing to identify where the animals have been," WWF's Peter Stephenson said.

"But we did find 17 different tracks of okapis which suggest there are a few animals there - we can't put precise numbers on it. But for us, the exciting thing is that they're there at all," Mr Stephenson said.

War and poaching

This discovery has prompted much excitement, says the BBC's east Africa correspondent Karen Allen.

Congolese conservationists have been working hard to try preserve the dense forests which are the okapis' home, but a bloody civil war has made this hard. Many wildlife species have seen a dramatic fall in numbers as a result of poaching.

The rediscovery of the Okapi ahead of elections in DRC next month signals fresh hope that - against the odds - sustainable development to preserve forests and local communities is paying off, says our correspondent.

The okapi usually grows to about 2.5m (8 ft 2 in) long and is about 2m (6ft 6in) high at the shoulder.

The animal's last redoubt until now was thought to be in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the eastern DR Congo.

A few okapis are kept at zoos around the world.

As its central Africa it shouldn't be too far from West Africa to put them off completely.

there were some of these at Chester Zoo the other day Smile

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