The plan and much about getting organised

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Part 1: The plan…

After working with Africa for the last two years it just came to me that I just did not know Africa at all, despite working 2 months on site between South Africa and Nigeria. I never was attracted by Africa before spending a bit of time there, which prompted the plan: Go to Africa, discover something new! This is why and how but this is just the first leg of many travels scheduled for the next 2 or 3 years…

A couple of months ago I stumbled on those overland expedition companies websites and was immediately taken and considered doing a 52 week all around Africa expedition, nothing too extreme. Then I realised that a whole year spent on the road was perhaps a bit excessive and that one 3 month segment was enough: Kenya to South Africa, via all the game reserves and wonders of the great African rift.

The plan came into place quickly following an invite to kite in Oman with my friend john resident of Dubai. This coupled with the target of kiting Cape Town for a couple of months during the summer gave me the perfect excuse to set it all up! Emirates promote flexibility with their plane tickets, as long as you return to the original departure point, you may arrive and depart from different towns for not much more.

On the 7th of September I will depart from Gatwick to Dubai to meet John and we will hit the road to Oman and find some wind and waves for the next 10 days. Then onto Nairobi on the 17th to meet my truckmates from Absolute Africa … departure on the 18th of September and arrival in Cape Town scheduled for the 27th of November (10 weeks) where I plan to stay and kite for quite sometime, find a small job for the summer.

As of now there are no real plans past November and my return ticket can be changed so I am not certain when I will exactly comeback or what I will do apart from kiting in South Africa. The plan came into shape quite unexpectedly and I almost find it surprising, after all for the last two years I pictured myself in Australia for that period but all so smoothly I’ll end up miles away… something to do with fate? Who knows?

Part 2: …much about getting organised:

All trips for extended periods of time need to be organised but this one is a bit special as the main component is a truck expedition with camping in the middle of the wild areas of southern Africa (try to fins a supermarket there!) and also because I will be carrying all my kiteboarding gear… A mere 20kgs… out of 30kg + hand luggage generously tolerated by Emirates (better than most carriers, no size limit) on the flight.

The kiteboarding equipment first (non-kiters, this is the real boring part…) I have left my 15M Griffin 2008 in Greece as the bladder was gone and I thought it could not be repaired… it’s been repaired since and the Kefalos Dutchies like it so much that they are taking it home! I suspect it was sarcasm. I had only my 10M Royal ERA 2008 and realised that the spots visited required a smaller kite like a 6M to get me near the 45 knots.

Enters my new baby: The Ozone Instinct 6m XC light which ticked all the right boxes: Lightweight, Well built, good control bar (to be used for both kites), No one-pump system, full repair kit and yes the kite is a good fly. I had the chance to test the 10M in Greece and was well impressed by everything (I would bought the 10M as well if I did not really love my Royal so much) including its price. I look forward using the 6M mainly in some of the spots visited.

The spots visited in the next 6 months will include some dream destination and explain my quiver choice: 6M and 10M to go with my 153cm x 53cm Spleene. Oman, Namibia and South Africa are 6M well known spots with wind about 30 to 50 knots with waves. Zanzibar will be more 10M low end terrain around 20 knots. I intend to use the twintip to progress as a polyvalent tool then sell or trade for a surf board once in Cape Town, space being the key.

So, what apart from kiting am I going to stuff my board bag with? Well I learned lately that black and blue is a no-no in Africa: Tsetse fly is attracted by those colours! Bright colors are not recommended and therefore pastel olive or beige is the way to go, that means one thing: Hunting shops! Got some dirty looks going to some with my long hairs, I guess some thought I was a lost hippie coming to protest against hunting?

One other thing that needs to be considered is that I will be camping 70 days straight or so… so got a micro everything: pillow, towel, first aid kit, sleeping bag… It’s quite impressive these days as the whole camping set accessories is a mere 3kgs or so, mosquito repellent included. Malaria is a real issue there and repelling mosquitoes a must, even the clothing was bought with this unique purpose in mind, very fashionable… not.

So here I am, waiting for the 7th of September for the adventure to begin and I will try to update this blog accordingly with less dull entries (I insist: try) if it feels like there is something to share. For the first time in a year I feel like looking forward to things and I am ready to keep my eyes and mind open and welcome new experiences. It’s been tough but freedom is here and time is premium. All the best!

Ben. Almost out there:

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Below you'll find the map and complete itinerary followed by the truck and the link will take you to the webpage of this expedition:

More info on Absolute Africa

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Comments

[Myriam]

YES!
Can't wait !! even though will only share 25 days of that trip, it's just going to be awesome! :))

[Lucas]

Hey Ben !
Hi ! Nice to have some news from you ! (As you can expect, I'm not the kind of person to stay in contact !) I'm gonna enjoy following your african trip, and I seriously hope we will meet after you return, and speak about what we've become during this long fucking no news time ! For me I'm stil in the Rhone-alpes region, travelling between Lyon and Annecy, near Belley (that's not so impressive as travelling to africa !). So I think we will be able to share a pinth of beer soon. Enjoy your trip, make us dreaming of africa ! Best Wishes, Lucas.