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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



Trans Sahara Routes.

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Old 12 Feb 2008
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Originally Posted by Chris Scott View Post
I've yet to meet any but do people smugglers drive around in 'technicals'?
No, they are just plain sand coloured HJ 75 (or 78?) pickups, the kind you regularly see on the roads in Libya (and also used by the Libyan police/military). Of course changing them to a 'technical' takes only a few bolts and some welding skill...
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Old 12 Feb 2008
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Originally Posted by andrasz View Post
Of course changing them to a 'technical' takes only a few bolts and some welding skill...
A bit off topic, but here're some interesting article elaborating on the role of Toyota technicals during the Libya - Chad conflict in 1984:

The Great Toyota War - TIME

BTW, There is even a computer game called "Chad vs Libya: Toyota_Wars".

And here's what is required to turn a LC pickup into a 'technical':
http://tinyurl.com/3drbod
Not quite sure how a Land Rover Discovery would fit into this role, though.
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Old 14 Feb 2008
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getting technical
Never even head of the word in this use until an email last week and then another mention in the Sunday papers in a feature on Somali (the homeland of 'technicals').
According to Wiki, origin comes from when Red Cross etc where repeatedly held up by bandits in machine gun jeeps. Back at HQ they claimed 'technical expenses'.

Ch
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Old 14 Feb 2008
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I wouldn't trust Wiki...
... but this sounds good enough for me. From now I'm claiming technical expenses for everything.
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Old 3 Apr 2008
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News from the Gilf
Hello All,

Just back from a trip to Uweinat and the Gilf, can confirm everything is pretty normal, all the rumors about restrictions, closed areas, etc. are simply untrue. The only change, which does suggest an element of nervousness from the side of the authorities, is that our escorting officer was called every day (sometimes twice) on the Thuraya, which now every operator must have. It is getting quite busy down there, we met two other groups at Uweinat while there.

One noticeable change is that the Sudanese trading trucks (the 'taxi sudani') started using the route down the western Gilf then passing down east of Uweinat, bypassing Uweinat completely. I have no information, but I suspect the route via western Uweinat to the Darfur is now closed, and the trucks do the run from Dongola via Selima to Kufra pretty much along the route of the old WWII convoys (sometime using the same tracks, which they are deepening into ever worse ruts). We saw a single truck passing way out of Wadi Sora, but I was told that sometimes as many as 3-4 pass in a single day. Certainly the desert is full of fresh tracks, mainly of the huge six-wheelers. Whether this is with or without the tacit agreement of the egyptian authorities is anybody's guess.
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