The Beagle, a 2008 Toyota LC on a drift across Africa, piloted by Jim (FitzRoy) and Ann Colleen.
The Beagle, a 2008 Toyota LC on a drift across Africa, piloted by Jim (FitzRoy) and Ann Colleen.
A burned out, rusted fuselage next to the taxiway. Vultures lurking on the tin roofs of the terminal. The air thin and wood-smoky. Welcome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the world’s third highest capital at 7,200 feet. Jim braved the restrooms. Before we could catch our breath, we were off again; Cape Town landing in six hours. From Addis to CPT, it’d be our last plane flight. Another good reason to take two years to do this trip – we don’t care to get on another plane for a long time.
The last (and only) time I was here was in 2011 when I accompanied a woman I’d only just met to assist her in driving her car from Addis to Nairobi. Too stupid to be scared, I had the time of my life. Another unrepeatable experience; the road from Moyale to Archers Post has been paved since then. Not that the tar will last forever, but chances are it won’t be like it was in 2011. Winding around the thick mud in a 1988 Isuzu bakkie, men helped us find a path around the lorries stuck axel-deep in the mud. They’d been there for days and we could only drive by. 
Short rains turned into long rains. The Omo valley was inaccessible and we made Archers Post and the Umojo Women’s camp with nothing but luck and my companion’s wild driving skills. We saw no white people for days. The desert was stunning and green as all getout. Can’t repeat this one, so it’s on to the next African experience, with Jim.
Central Arizona, middle of May. 800 miles south of here and you’d expect a little warm sunshine – but you’d be disappointed.
We were off to spend three days at the Overland Expo West, with a quick stop in Kanab, Utah, to drop off a cat (Stevie) and a dog (didn’t get his name) at the renowned Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. 
A remarkable place, Best Friends provides specialized care for creatures like Stevie. I grew fond of Stevie while volunteering so it was a real treat to see her off to a new shelter that could see to her needs.
Packing for this basic car camping trip was quick and dirty. I put all the stuff we needed in one container, and the stuff we didn’t need in another. And I told myself, don’t get these mixed up. Huh. Imagine our surprise when going to make coffee the first morning and finding everything BUT what we needed. Sure we could’ve restocked the kitchen (yuck, shopping) but where’s the fun in that? Those cardboard go-cups last a really long time and eating off the same paper plate every meal is possible. You scrape, and I’ll erase.
The Colorado River in Grand Canyon. April, 1989. 18 days, 16 people, four rafts, numerous kayaks. We put in at Lee’s Ferry and 225 river-miles later, took out at Diamond Creek. There is only one way to go on this drift and that’s downstream. Luck was with us. We had green water the entire trip. . . and no one drowned.
Looking back, the 1989 trip will never be duplicated – some of the rapids, the monster Crystal in particular, don’t even exist anymore. The Colorado river is subject to the whim of every air conditioner from Las Vegas to San Diego and with decades of low snow pack, the huge spring run-off is mostly a memory. For an exquisite experience into the river’s past, pick up The Emerald Mile, by former Outside Magazine editor Kevin Fedarko. Who knew that engineers screwed marine-grade plywood to the top of Glen Canyon Dam to hold back the biggest run-off surge ever seen? Imagining what could have happened if that particular workaround didn’t work is science fiction. A wondrous read.
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