It's Open Season on our Africa Trip for next year!!!

[Scotty]

Hi All

As some of you may know, my wife and I are taking the next year "off" to travel. At least 7 months will be spent overlanding through Africa in our Hilux :D , maybe more. Current plans involve going up the East coast all the way to Tanzania, throwing a U-turn through Uganda and heading south to Zambia, Malawi, Zim, Bots then NW to Angola and back home via Namibia.

We want your suggestions!!!

So many people have said to us " You must go to XYZ"

So if any of you have gone to any magical places, special campsites, adventure activities etc, etc - please let us know.

Thanks!
Scotty

[Harold]

My plans as well except I had not included the loop to Uganda, instead I intend doing more exploring round lake Victoria and western Zambia.

[teepee]

we are doing much the same as well - a round trip from cape town via nam, bot, zam, mal, moz, rsa

we "only" have 4-5 months though... Eric on 4xforum gave a great reply to me earlier, have a look http://www.4xforum.co.za/portal/new4xfo ... .php?t=676

the diving in moz is particularly important to me.

other must sees/do's for me are: zambezi rafting, dunes of nam, the ok. delta, chobe etc.

of camps, flatdogs in zambia sounds amazing, and we are def. stopping by there.

[Scotty]

My plans as well except I had not included the loop to Uganda, instead I intend doing more exploring round lake Victoria and western Zambia.

Hey Harold - please post any details if you have them. When do you leave and for how long??

we are doing much the same as well - a round trip from cape town via nam, bot, zam, mal, moz, rsa

we "only" have 4-5 months though... Eric on 4xforum gave a great reply to me earlier, have a look http://www.4xforum.co.za/portal/new4xfo ... .php?t=676

the diving in moz is particularly important to me.

other must sees/do's for me are: zambezi rafting, dunes of nam, the ok. delta, chobe etc.

of camps, flatdogs in zambia sounds amazing, and we are def. stopping by there.

Brilliant - thanks for the tips. When are you leaving? Maybe we'll see you at Flatdogs!?

[Niel]

other must sees/do's for me are: zambezi rafting

We did the Zambezi in high tide and as the guides predicted, flipped in rapid 16 B. The Zambezi is a GRADE RIVER 5 WITH GRADE 5 RAPIDS :D :D

Suggestion for Nam:

I always wanted to river raft the Kunene (your raft is guaranteed to get hit a crock or two),
I am an animal lover and will definitely recommend Etsosha (but they have become very expensive now)
Sesriem/Sossusvlei is a must (Sesriem became very expensive as well)
Swakop is our favourite town in Nam - lots to do in and around (quad biking in the desert, dune boarding and use to have paragliding...........lots of beer - visit the Hansa factory as well)
Still want to go to Kunene region and search for the desert elephants
Kaudom nature reserve close to the delta and the Caprivi)
Waterberg Plato outside Otjiwarongo (nice accommodation and a sanctuary for endangered animals).
Fish River Canyon (would like to hike it again)

The Namibian Tourism use to have a booking office in Cape Town but I have not use them for some time now. Not sure they are still in the Standard Bank building on the Fore Shore.

See links for Nam I always found helpfull:
http://www.namibiatourism.com.na/
http://www.namibia-travel.net/
http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/namibia/hub.aspx

[Knersus]

Scotty jy is baie bevooreg om die trip te kan doen ek is baie jaloers. Geniet dit

[teepee]

thanks for the nam advice niel - i am actually a bit worried about the rafting bit, flipped a couple of times i honduras last summer, and had a couple of really scary moments there. normally i don't mind flipping over, but that was a bit too intense

scotty - we are leaving around july and then heading home to europe end of november like. we are also considering doing some volunteer work along the way, so we have no real scedule yet...

[Harold]

Scotty:
My plan is to have no fixed plan - when we go we will take each day as it comes.
I am hoping to go next year, however work is beginning to interfere with my life, also a 3 or 4 month trip means more planning for the home scene than for travelling.

[astam]

Hi Scotty,

I have driven extensively in Uganda and travelled on foot (mainly) from Cape Town to Kenya and back via Bots, Zambia,Tanzania, Malawi and Moz. If you can include Uganda, you must. It's wonderful hilux country, and the nature/people are not bad either :) As my work involved research in numerous game and nature reserves in Uganda i was lucky enough to travel frequently between them and have a wealth of info for you if you want it. feel free to PM me

[AHobson]

Hi All,

I have a question please:

How does one take 3/4/5/6/7/8 months (whatever) off to go travelling Africa? It has been a life long dream of mine to start here in SA and just drive North/East and West.. Then only South Again after reaching the Roof of Africa.

Silly question but how does one afford it? Like Harold said, work keeps interupting my life...

Thanks

[Niel]

We did the Zambezi in high tide and as the guides predicted, flipped in rapid 16 B. The Zambezi is a GRADE RIVER 5 WITH GRADE 5 RAPIDS

This was in Zim not in Nam. The Zambesi is fairly flat as it runs past the Caprivi.

[Harold]

COST OF A TRIP
Assume a 100 day trip; 19500 km, if done today it would probably cost between R55000 and R60000 for two.

[Scotty]

Scotty jy is baie bevooreg om die trip te kan doen ek is baie jaloers. Geniet dit

Knersus, ek stem met jou - Ons is bevooreg. En dank se aan die wonderlike WWW sal dit sommer voel asof julle saam met ons reis.

Scotty:
My plan is to have no fixed plan - when we go we will take each day as it comes.

Harold that is a great plan!! We hope to also not be too tied down on our trip.
Hi Scotty,

I have driven extensively in Uganda and travelled on foot (mainly) from Cape Town to Kenya and back via Bots, Zambia,Tanzania, Malawi and Moz. If you can include Uganda, you must. It's wonderful hilux country, and the nature/people are not bad either :) As my work involved research in numerous game and nature reserves in Uganda i was lucky enough to travel frequently between them and have a wealth of info for you if you want it. feel free to PM me

That is a kind offer boet - I gladly accept. I'm sending you a PM in 5 mins.

Silly question but how does one afford it? Like Harold said, work keeps interupting my life...

Eish.....that is the million dollar question!!

On a daily basis we wonder if we can afford it!! Then we just keep on thinking how great it will be and we carry on!!

Since deciding to do this trip we have actually found stacks of other couples/ groups who are doing a lenghty trip like this. In fact I am following a number of people around right now!! I'll post some links later....

The short answer is that everyones circumstances are different. In our case it took us about 2 years to decide what we wanted to do...work overseas?....work and travel?.....work and study etc, etc, etc.

Once we decided, we started planning and saving. Also, we are both still young, no kids,no dogs and so tying up life this side might be easier for us than for some others. Quitting our jobs was a big step, but we had to break some eggs to make this big Africa omlette next year. Quitting is the only way to stop the interfering We both finish up in early December.

If anyone wants to hire me when I get back, please PM me and I'll forward you a CV in Jan 2009 :D

[Niel]

Scotty, you are a brave man but as you said it is just the 2 of you and that is the best time to do a trip like this. You will look back one day on this trip and say that it was all worth it. You will always find another job and life will go on.... someone once told me that "opportunities are like a bold man: once he passed you, you can't grab it (by the hair) and pull it back" So just go for it and take the forum with you on your travels. Good luck. :D :D

[teepee]

@ahobson - it is a very good question, and one that i am asked almost every time i mention our plans to anyone.

for us the thing is:

we dont have kids
are 30/32 years old
have only been working for four years (so we are not completely settled yet)
work really hard and thus make decent money
my girlfriend has almost 4 months of overtime saved up
we put aside whatever we can in terms of bonusses etc.
have a great belief in following our dreams, and this is one of the biggest ones!

but it is a big decision, which makes it even more interesting. we will have about 125k saved up each when leaving, plus about the same in cash for the hilux.

I can hardly wait....

[Scotty]

Hi Guys!! Jambo from Arusha, Tanzania.

Apologies for being so scarce, but things got hectic in CT before we left and we've been having the time of our lives ever since!

If you want to follow our basic progress then you are welcome to join our facebook group: Scotty and Lau's strong adventure.

We have been on the road for just over 3 months and have done 12000km. We spent a month each in SA, Moz and Malawi and will now spend about 3 weeks each in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, before headig back to Zim?, Zambia, Bots, Angola (can only get a 5-day transit visa at this stage) and Namibia.

We did loads of work on the Hilux before we left and I still plan to post some photos and let you know what we did before we left.

In summary...the Hilux has been an absolute champion. We have been on plenty of tar, but also through crazy mud, potholes, sand, washed out dirt roads etc and we have driven through with almost no problems. Hilux's rule.

Glad to see the forum is still on the go and that you're all still rubgy crazy!!

Later
Scotty

[Harold]

Glad to hear it is going well. Sure envy you, but I'm on track for next year, unfortunatly only for three months.
What did you have done to your Hilux?

SAFE TRAVELS

[Family_Dog]

Hi Scotty,

Good to hear from you again! Happy to hear you're having the time of your lives and look forward to a nicely detailed trip report upon your safe return.

It's great to hear that the Hilux is performing so admirably! I guess you will never dream of selling this car upon your return, it's become such a part of your lives right now.

I'm also interested in hearing about all the mods you've done, I do know about some of them but will patiently await your return to read about everything.

Safe travels!


-F_D

[ToyX4]

Hi Scotty

Glad to hear you're enjoying your trip safely thus far.

A word of caution though- Maybe you should skip Zimbabwe this time. Dunno if you're listening to the news sometimes, but after the elections, still without concrete results, it looks as if it is a bit unstable there. Looks like Bob Mugabe will not take defeat lightly. For your own safety, you should consider this.
But this is my opinion.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your trip. I'm so jealous :!:

[Niel]

Hi Scotty

Glad to hear all is well and enjoy :D

[Scotty]

Hi everyone!!

Just a quick one to say that Laura and I are safely and soundly back in Cape Town. We are slowly getting back to our 'normal' lives, but it is great to be home.

There are lots of stories to tell. Two things I promise to do will be to post some info/photos of some of the additions/ modifications we did before we left - some of these worked really well on the trip. My clever wife has also nearly completed a spreadsheet of every campsite/ place we stayed at, including comments and costs. Once this is ready we'll happily e-mail it to any of you.

In short though, we did 28 000km in the Hilux, 8 countries(not incl. RSA and Zansibar) in 7 months and 1 day. The Hilux cranked first time every time with almost no troubles to speak of and put many 'younger' vehicles on the road to shame !!(Ours is a 1987). The Hilux was a real champion and was a brilliant home for the whole trip.

Will be in touch again soon
Scotty

[ThysdJ]

Welcome back Scotty!! Glad to hear you guys enjoyed it and made it back in 1 piece. It must have been an awesome experience.. one day when i am big i also want to do this.. Please share with us?

[ToyX4]

Welcome back Scotty.

Can't wait for the pic's and reading about your experiences!

[Family_Dog]

Hi Scotty, welcome home! Glad to hear your 'lux carried you through safely!

Please post a full report in the "Trips & Trails" section as soon as you've settled down again :)


-F_D

[Dadz Toy BFI]

Welcome Home Guys :!: :!:

Thanks for the PM, really looking forward to having you guys on a WC Trail soon and hearing your Stories from Deepest Darkest...

Welcome back, the City phobia will soon pass (honest) :roll: :roll:

R. E. S. P. E. C. T.

Rich

[Scooter]

Welcome back guys !

Glad all is well and that the Hilux lived up to the name we all carry so high.

Look forward to all the stories and photos. :D

[Niel]

Welcome back Scotty can wait to see the pics ..... :D