Errors, Corrections and Clarifications to Sahara Overland II
Important information in red

Some corrections appear in v2.2 in the shops from late 2007

  February 2011

p.43-206 - Many readers bought Sahara Overland for the general material about vehicle choice and preparation. This is now covered in my Overlanders Handbook 2011 in even greater detail over nearly 300 pages.

p.319 - GPS on the meridian. I'm told that the WGS84 Meridian is actually 102.5m west of the Greenwich meridian, so in fact the pictured GPSs were pretty close

p.324 - GPS for anything anywhere. Try http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp or this one. But I hear both are unreliable (for the reasons stated in the book) compared to real waypoints. Wayhoo does not seem to respond anymore.

p.325 - Maps. You'll always find the latest on Saharan maps here.

p.329 - Michelin 741 is £5 - 6 euros), not 3 euros. Latest edition reviewed here.

p.363 - Abdelrazik was caught and extradited by Libya to Algeria in November 2004. Aftert that nothing was heard ogf him while kidnapping in the Sahara grew into a big business.

p.399 - Algeria has now joined Libya as a country that takes the pillage of stone age artefacts very seriously. Five Germans were imprisoned and fined huge amounts in November 2004. Be care even with trivial items - this even includes sand!

p.418 - Morocco. Tangiers port is no drama now I hear. Official guys with numbered badges help you out and access onto the motorway or into town is straightforward. I also used Nador recently - again no drama. New Tangiers Med port as well as port maps are here plus updated Moroccan immigration details here.

p.427 - Morocco Routes - all checked or re-run in 2008.
Route M1 Still there.
Route M2 Still there.
Route M3 All sealed but still a nice drive.
Route M4 All sealed bar the last few kms. A good short cut over the eastern Sarhro.
Route M5 New start at N30°53.4' W5°52.0' 3.5km out of Tinerhir. A few auberges at the pass.
Route M6 Still there but with many auberges on the way. It's even on Google Earth!
Route M7 Still there but head south if you can for a smoother run.
Route M8 Looked due for a sealing in 2004 but hasn't happened yet. Right now a wide gravel track runs to the aerodrome, 8kms out of town at N30°16.453'  W5°53.657' and from there it's business as usual as far as KM79 or so from where it's been graded and widened
Route M9 All sealed but another great drive.
Route M10 Same as above.
Route M11 Still a great route and as confusing as ever up top.
Route M12 Still there. Possible direct start at N28°04.3' W10°52.8' a few kms north of Mseid.
Route M13 Still there.

Atlantic Route - all sealed to Dakar and beyond bar a few kms in No Man's Land.

In case you haven't got the message yet, my new Morocco Overland book expands greatly on all the above routes

p.434 - Morocco; Route M5: Suggested duration - motorbikes can do this route easily in half a day.
KM0, last line: "towards a gravel plain and THE VILLAGE VISIBLE IN the hills beyond".
There's a restaurant in Iknioun (KM54) at N31 10.3' W05 40.4' and a cafe/auberge at the top of Tizi n Tazazert (KM70) at N31 07.3' W05 46.3'.

p.439 Waypoint 121 (239) should read 121 (118).

p.440 Route M6; KM 215 (24). A tarmac road now runs from Rissani to Taouz via Merzouga.

p.457 Waypoint 99 (286) should read 99 (288). It's a wonder someone wasn't killed.

p.458 Morocco, Route M13. I'm told the waypoint for KM322 is wrong and I suspect it should be N27 04.0'

p.464 - Route R1 Guerguerat - Nouakchott: When doing the R1 route, at KM13 instead of driving south on the road, just cross it straight and head SSE on the clearest track. You will reach the relocated Mauritanian border post about 4km later.

p.467 Waypoint 137, long; should probably read 16° 19.6' (not ... 09.6').

p.467 Waypoint 220 (273) should be 220 (263).

p.468 - Route R2 Nouadhibou - Atar: Rewritten and available to download here, including the correction of two repeated waypoints at KM360 and 394 which slipped into the 2007 v2.2 reprint.

p.473 Waypoint 33 (67) should read 33 (63).

p.483 - Route R10 - The waypoints from KM32 to KM202 should all read W12 (not W11, as written)

p.483 Waypoint 325 (50) should read 325 (70).

p. 484. Richard K had this to say of Route R11: the waypoints (same as in SO?) are somewhat off, especially on some sections between Tidjikja and Tichit. ... we ended up straight-lining out of the ambiguities. Horrible in the grass, I can see someone getting in trouble here. There are very clear tracks between Tichitt and Oualata these days - no issues and lovely riding/driving. Apart from the passes and wells [the way]points are again a little off.

p.486 Waypoint 399 (401) should read 399 (406).

p.517 - Route A10 - New tarmac to In Guezzam now begins around N 20°40' (May 2006) - may well reach Tam in a year or two (Feb '09 - ain't happened yet! 100km to go i am told). Assamaka GPS should be N19° 20.2' E 05 46.3'

p.525 - firm sand plains

p.531 - Left edge of map - the road west to 'Bordj', etc, is the one below Djanet off to the left, not the one as shown.

p.592 - Agadez to Bilma, KM85. GPS point for Tourayet should probably be 8° 43.3’, but it isn't on most maps.

p.601 - New route description from El Gatrun to Madama. (pdf download).

p.630 - The massif of Jebel Uweinat mountain in the bottom left quarter of the map is not depicted.

p.638 - The Lama-Monod Pass (approx. N23 57.7' E 25 21.5') is just about drivable in both directions, but don't count on it with a heavy diesel (photo Werner Lenz, petrol Synchro).

p.651 - Decimal degree converter - left column should read N00° 00' 00"

David Lambeth Rally & Overland has moved to Boston, Lincolnshire. His phone number is: 0044 (0) 1205 871 945.