Yesterday we attempted a trial setup of our tent — something we absolutely need to get right before entering the Sahara. Because winter is still holding on tightly here, with snow on the ground and temperatures well below comfortable, we had to do the test indoors.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go well.

After almost an hour of trying to figure out how to tension correctly, we were frustrated, and pretty exhausted. The tent simply wouldn’t take shape and span the way it should. Not exactly the outcome we had hoped for.

The conclusion?

We’ll exchange the tent for a different model and try again next week — again under dry conditions. In the desert, we won’t have the luxury of spending an hour wrestling with a tent. It needs to go up quickly and reliably, every time.

Food options.

On Friday, we also tested a few food options for our desert provisions. We want meals that can be prepared quickly with nothing more than hot water. Surprisingly, the ones we tried tasted really good — a promising sign for long days on the road when cooking needs to be simple and efficient.

In the coming week, we’ll continue finishing the Discovery. The vehicle has just returned from inspection, everything looks good so far. We also took the opportunity to have the underbody protection for the Discovery installed, and it suits the vehicle very well :-).

Step by step, we’re moving forward and we can’t wait for the start of the Dresden-Dakar-Banjul rally.