Custom Wrangler Makes Two-Year Trek Across Africa
JK-Forum member documents 80,000-mile trek you have to see to believe.
JK builds and epic journeys are nothing new at JK-Forum. But when we ran across forum member Grecy (or Dan, as he’s known to the rest of the world) and his special 2011 Wrangler Unlimited, we were more than a little intrigued. Partly because of his extensive build. And partly because he intended to take it on a two-year journey across Africa.
Now, Dan is no stranger to Jeeps or long trips. After all, he’s already driven a TJ 40,000 miles from northern Alaska to southern Argentina. But this trip, encompassing a full 80,000 miles, was a bit more ambitious. Thankfully, he’s documenting the entire thing in this thread for the world to see. And be jealous of.
His companion, of course, is a JK that’s been carefully and thoughtfully built especially for the journey. Obviously, it has to be able to navigate rugged terrain. So he went with a Rubicon model and added a 2.5″ AEV lift with geometry correction brackets. AEV also supplied the bumpers, tire carrier, and high lift mount.
Steel Mopar 17″ wheels are wrapped in 34″ BF Goodrich KO2s, and a host of Rigid lighting components light up the safari at night. A host of tools, including a Warn Zeon winch, Hi-Lift Extreme Jack, and bow saw aim to keep Dan from getting stranded. Finally, he needed to ensure his Jeep was as livable as it was capable. So Dan installed an Ursa Minor Vehicles J30 popup camper and some custom cabinets in the rear. Not to mention a slew of other goodies he fully documented over on his personal blog.
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Wisely, Dan got in a little time locally before he headed abroad to see how his newly built Wrangler Unlimited would handle rough terrain.
“I ran part of Hell’s Revenge yesterday, it was unreal. Went into the Escalator, did trail work with great people from Tread Lightly then turned around and came back out. I was told my Jeep would have gone right through, doing all the drive arounds obviously. AEV 2.5″, stock Rubicon 32″ tires, Jeep didn’t scrape once. I’m extremely happy to have gotten the Rubicon now, the crawl speed of low range 1st gear is impressive.”
Before long, Dan (and his Jeep) made their way to the other side of the world.
“12,000 miles through the USA, Canada, Belgium, France and Spain has been an amazing preamble. Now it’s time for AFRICA.”
Dan spent a little bit of time tooling around town. Then the real fun and the real challenges began.
“I’m moving through Morocco. I spent time at the ruins of Volubilis, and then the Fes Market. Now I’m heading up into the Atlas Mountains. I’m absolutely loving Morocco so far! It’s Sahara time!”
Obviously, a trip like this isn’t just fraught with your traditional types of danger. “I have just driven through an active minefield from Morocco/The Western Sahara into Mauritania,” Dan notes. “Definitely my most intense day behind the wheel of a vehicle – much more than The Death Road in Bolivia.” Thankfully, he made it out OK. “I have driven into African country #3, Senegal! And without a Carnet De Passage too, something many people have said is impossible.”
Dan made it through Senegal before the trip started to cost him a little money. “I have driven into Gambia, country #4. After hours of arguing, I ended up paying my first bribe, unfortunately.” But overall, his spirits remained high. “Mauritania has been perfectly fine. I have met quite a few people lately that spent a month + roaming the whole country and had great experiences. The vibe has been good – people here are extremely friendly and welcoming.”
He just kept chugging along, with no real issues. “I have driven into African country #5, Guinea-Bissau. Amazingly, the bribery games are identical to my one-day crossing of Honduras a few years back.”
Then “Guinea, African country number 6! I’m excited to see mountains right off the bat. This is going to be great! I’m exploring the North of Guinea and absolutely loving it. Small jungle tracks that lead to massive waterfalls are becoming my favorite thing!”
Of course, the beautiful scenery would eventually have to come to an end. “The West African mud pits have begun! This is a highway in Guinea in the North from Koundára to Labé. National Route something something. The Chinese were building a section of it, this is a bit they hadn’t got to yet.
The trucks had been stuck there for days, I walked right through it.”
Unfortunately, the terrain isn’t the only thing Dan has to worry about, of course. “Obviously I’m keeping up to date on the safety situation in Mali, and talking to lots and lots of people about the reality on the ground. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go North to the Doggone Country due to all the fighting there, the Mali military will actually stop me if I even try.”
Since then, Dan’s adventures have included everything from wild animals to traversing log bridges. You can (and should) follow along with every minute of his epic journey here. After all, it’s a trip that has really only just begun!
