Overlanding

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As you may or may not know, I am leaving Cape Town on April 16 to start an overland trip across southern and east Africa, and I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell you all about it and what I will be doing exactly, since I probably won't have email access for about 6 weeks.

Africa was a planning struggle for me, because I am not a fan of tours and I would always prefer to get around on local transportation, and see and do things and travel at my own pace. Yet I found Africa intimidating - it is so large, with so many countries, so many languages, so many cultures that I know so little about…. I had heard about overland tours as an option for budget travelers so I looked into it. It is basically all inclusive - including transport, accommodation, food, guides, national park fees….a large self sufficient truck that seats about 24 people, stores food, luggage, tents, and has lockers and safes and all such minor luxuries. It doesn’t include “optional” activities that I will do and that will factor in more cost, which is unfortunate, but they are things that you have to do when you are here, like a tour to the Serengeti, etc. It was a toss-up - it would certainly be the easiest way to see the things I planned to see, the easiest way to cross the borders, the cheapest or very similarly priced way to see the things I’m interested in, yet it has its drawbacks. It would move on a set schedule, whereas I might want to stay longer or shorter at certain places - there is noted lack of freedom in decision making. There is also a chance I would not get along with the others on the trip and have to be with them the whole time. Even if they are great, I will not be meeting many others, locals and foreigners together. I will be camping and will no doubt get tired of that. And so on. In the end I decided that it was just the easier way to go (especially as a female traveling alone) and would be a good way to get introduced to Africa.

The original plan was to do a 57-day trip with a company that was relatively cheap, but I learned that this company only goes north to south, and I am moving in a northerly direction. I then found several other companies, but these were much more expensive, so I decided to do a shorter trip of 42 days and hope for the best. (In retrospect, I don’t think hoping is an effective financial planning decision). Once it came time for the actual decision, I choose to go with a company for a 56-day adventure that included a visit to see the mountain gorillas and left April 2. Well, it turned out that this trip was full by the time I decided, throwing me into fretful decision making mode (aka my freaking out days in Cape Town). I ended up going with a 42-day camping tour from Cape Town, South Africa to Nairobi, Kenya with Nomad. This tour goes up South Africa through Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya. The following day, I begin a 14-day tour with Africa Travel Company that includes more of Kenya as well as Uganda and the mountain gorillas and ends back in Nairobi. The mountain gorilla viewing will either be in Uganda, Rwanda, or Congo, depending on where they are that day. It is a highly controlled and ecological viewing - with an hour viewing time allowed if you even find the gorillas after up to several hours of hiking, all for the bargain permit price of about $400. This was a struggle for me but it seems that they money is set high to keep it restricted and to protect the mountain gorillas, of which there are only several hundred left. And after my six week rotation working with the western lowland gorillas at the zoo, it would be particularly special to see gorillas in the wild.

I will send updates when I can, but at this point I’m just not sure what the access or connections will be like along the way. The web sites for the companies will have itineraries if you’re interested to see where I should be or what I’ll be doing. Here are some of the highlights - Fish River Canyon, Namib-Naukluft National Park, Etosha NP, Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls, Lake Malawi, Zanzibar, Serengeti/Ngorongoro Crater, Masai Mara Game Reserve, Great Rift Valley.

Here’s to hoping the next two months go well for everyone!

Feel free to check out the itineraries for these trips:
Nomad www.nomadtours.co.za 42 day Cape to Kenya camping tour
Africa Travel Co www.africatravelco.co.za 14 day Gorillas and Game Parks

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