The Bivouac

[c.vestal]

I need to start researching options for mobile phone & a data contract for Argentina. I will mostly be in BA & Mar Del Plata. Anyone have knowledge on this?

- Hoping to find a pay as you go.
- Can get a world phone here.
- Would be nice to have something I can tether to my laptop like I do here.

[Bluebull2007]

Tether to your laptop? not likely

Your best bet is just to rely in the internet in the hotel room and you should be able to pick up a pay-as-you-go at the airport on arrival. Bring your phone anyway, maybe you can get just the card. Im going there next weekend and can check if you like.

Neil

[Bluebull2007]

Looks like the Dakar going back to north Africa remains off the table for the time being:


Mali kidnap: wife devastated
November 28 2011 at 07:41am
By SHAIN GERMANER

Comment on this story


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INLSA

Photo: Steve Lawrence

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Search continues for kidnapped South African
SA man abducted in Mali
German killed; Dutch, South African, Swede seized
Motorcycling across Africa was going to be his last epic trip. He was ready to settle down, start a family, and take over his father’s business. It was just one last adventure – another item to strike off the bucket list.

But days after arriving in Mali last week, the South African man, 37, was taken captive with two friends at gunpoint in the capital Timbuktu.

The man’s family have not heard anything from the him in the two days since reports of the attack.

His wife arrived in Gauteng on Sunday. “She’s putting on a brave face – we all are – but she’s devastated,” said the man’s distraught father.

The family have been advised by hostage negotiators not to reveal the man’s name, for his own safety.

The International Relations Department was waiting for news from Mali’s government and the South African embassy on the captives’ whereabouts.

The man’s father said on Sunday he had last spoken to his son on Thursday, the night before the kidnapping.

After years of living in England, the man was making his way across Africa to South Africa.

Travelling south from Timbuktu, he was due home in a few weeks.

He was travelling with two friends – one Dutch and the other Swedish.

Speaking on Skype on Thursday, the man told his father civil unrest in Timbuktu was “getting out of hand”, and it was time for the group to leave Mali as soon as possible.

But less than 24 hours later, the man and his two friends were reported missing, after an incident near their campsite that left another German national dead.

Associated Press reported that the travellers were at a Timbuktu restaurant when a group of gunmen burst in, taking four tourists and killing the German when he refused to climb into their truck. “They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said the man’s father.

The identities of three of the kidnapped men are known to the authorities, but because of the sensitive nature of the incident, have not been revealed. No personal details on the fourth tourist have emerged.

Canadian tourist Julie-Ann Leblond said she met the South African, a Swede and a Dutch couple in Mali. They invited her to join them as they headed to Timbuktu. But she took ill and stayed behind in Bamako.

“I was never so happy to get a cold,” said Leblond, 25, from Quebec City.

Despite having ransomed dozens of tourists visiting Mali since 2003, the al-Qaeda branch in the country has not claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. Mali, which borders Algeria, established democracy in 1992, and has had to deal with cross-border banditry and terrorism that have involved numerous kidnappings.

Department of International Relations spokesman Clayson Monyela said it remained unclear who kidnapped the men and why.

The man’s father said the family had been briefed by top SAPS hostage negotiators and told to maintain “a low profile” as too much information in the public domain could jeopardise the case.

The families of the Swedish and Dutch men had reportedly been contacted regarding ransoms. “But we haven’t heard a thing. We were told it could be up to three months before we’re contacted. It may be to put us under pressure, said the father.

International Relations had been working to get information on the man’s whereabouts, Monyela said. - The Star (south Africa)

[MEGO]

Originally Posted by Deadly99

The first edition of the Dakar Challenge, organised on the recent Pharaons Rally, was won by Edouard Boulanger. At the age of 32 years, he has grabbed the opportunity to take part for free in his first Dakar.


By entering the Pharaons Rally, Edouard Boulanger was preparing to close the door on a period of his life, a period he spent in the world of rally-raids, to be precise. However, the years spent preparing routes in this discipline proved to be particularly profitable when he climbed on to his Aprilia bike. On completion of the first special, the French ex-pat living in Italy was already in the lead of the Dakar Challenge, a competition reserved for amateurs, with the reward for the winner of a place on the Dakar. “I've always been in good shape, but I never imagined that I could win, because I don't ride that much. I don't even have a bike at home,” exclaims Edouard, who nonetheless was still able to rely on some not inconsiderable assets. Several times junior French and world champion in rowing in his youth, this enthusiast of endurance events of all types is especially skilled in navigation: “It's true that reading a road-book doesn't hold any secrets for me and it's one of my major strong points. It helps me plough my own furrow without worrying about the others, which makes it a lot less stressful and allows me to concentrate fully on riding. What's more, I'm careful to ride at 80% of my capacity, to make sure I always have something in reserve”.


This method worked perfectly, because in the end Edouard finished 5th on the Pharaons Rally, easily winning the Dakar Challenge. “Following a first attempt in 2005, it's the first time I've finished a rally and, lo and behold, I've managed to pick up my first victory!” says the rider who also won the “twin-cylinders” category. Despite the potential he displayed in Egypt, he is not letting himself get carried away with setting goals for the forthcoming Dakar: “For me, the main thing is that one of my childhood dreams is going to come true: I've been dreaming about the Dakar for 25 years! So it would be absurd to put the pressure of a grabbing a high-placed finish on my shoulders”.

About DUDD...
I think he his a very strong and fast desert rider. We both race Pharaons 2005 and I remember how he was fast!!!
He could be in the 50th overall (or better...), hoping Aprilia will help him, giving a good bike and a good assistance.

Come one, DUDD, race as you know.

[ZequeArgentina]

Originally Posted by c.vestal

I need to start researching options for mobile phone & a data contract for Argentina. I will mostly be in BA & Mar Del Plata. Anyone have knowledge on this?

- Hoping to find a pay as you go.
- Can get a world phone here.
- Would be nice to have something I can tether to my laptop like I do here.

You cna esaily get a phone with pre-paid cards (for recharging, you can buy them anywhere like supermarkets, post offices, gas stations, etc), or just a SIM card to use in our phone. That would be the best, only concern is of your actual phone is blocked by your service provider in the US.

[c.vestal]

That would be great, Thanks!

Originally Posted by Bluebull2007

Tether to your laptop? not likely

Your best bet is just to rely in the internet in the hotel room and you should be able to pick up a pay-as-you-go at the airport on arrival. Bring your phone anyway, maybe you can get just the card. Im going there next weekend and can check if you like.

Neil

[beechum1]

Originally Posted by c.vestal

I need to start researching options for mobile phone & a data contract for Argentina. I will mostly be in BA & Mar Del Plata. Anyone have knowledge on this?

- Hoping to find a pay as you go.
- Can get a world phone here.
- Would be nice to have something I can tether to my laptop like I do here.

I have a Tmobile Optimus that I unlocked and rooted and use in MX. I don't need to tether, but the apps are there.

[c.vestal]

Originally Posted by beechum1

I have a Tmobile Optimus that I unlocked and rooted and use in MX. I don't need to tether, but the apps are there.

Yeah, if I can find an Android device, I can get the apps to tether.
I started my research on just buying a phone outright and rooting. That is last resort. I am really looking forward to what Neil finds.

[beechum1]

Originally Posted by c.vestal

Yeah, if I can find an Android device, I can get the apps to tether.
I started my research on just buying a phone outright and rooting. That is last resort. I am really looking forward to what Neil finds.

I got mine off craigslist for 25$.

[c.vestal]

Go Ned!!

Neduro to Dakar from Four Nine Films on Vimeo.

[Robb Mc]

Originally Posted by c.vestal

Yeah, if I can find an Android device, I can get the apps to tether.
I started my research on just buying a phone outright and rooting. That is last resort. I am really looking forward to what Neil finds.

A couple years ago I brought an unlocked iphone OG, and bought a SIM card for it. I never could get the SIM card to work for phone, but it gave me internet for about a week before it stopped.

Best bet for phone internet is your US based phone (non-Verizon) and buy an international data plan.. I will be doing that again.. For AT&T it's $100 for 275mb. Of course if you want to tether to laptop you'll use that up quick.

[BC61]

Originally Posted by Robb McElroy

Best bet for phone internet is your US based phone (non-Verizon) and buy an international data plan..

will a verizon i phone work on wifi?

[Robb Mc]

Originally Posted by BC61

will a verizon i phone work on wifi?

The ASO doesn't (or didn't in past years) have any wifi. Why? Got me.

They do have an "internet cafe" in the bivouac each night with computers.

[Bluebull2007]

FYI Robb et al: In Peru I think you will only get 3G coverage in Arequipa and maybe Nasca, and in Lima as well, but not in Pisco. In all cities this coverage is IMHO patchy. You should be able to organize a local prepaid pretty easily on crossing the border or in any of the bigger towns.

[Bluebull2007]

Originally Posted by c.vestal

Go Ned!!

Neduro to Dakar from Four Nine Films on Vimeo.

Outstanding video!!

Go Ned!