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...a journey of a life time through ibn batuta's africa |
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africa is the sweet smell of earth, the ambling mountain ranges, the paradisical beaches, the testaments of civilization, the kaleidoscope of colours, the multitude of animal species and above all africa is its wonderful people.
in order to experience all this, you need to be completely open minded, patience, without excess baggage (mind set, vanity, colonial mentality etc..)and above all you need to have that passion for travel and adventure - i mean lots of it.
whatever your length of your journey is, there seven (7) main aspects of travelling that you need to consider. these are :
1. information known risks, political situation, weather forecasts, road conditions, border crossings, ferry crossings, visa requirements, vaccinations, currency and exchange rates, banks (atms and cash withdrawal facilities), fuel stations, local customs and traditions, points of interest, local events, emergency airports, embassies and consulates locations and contact numbers and others.
2. communication consider the following to take with you (if you can afford) :international roaming mobile phones, satellite phone (eg. thuraya), walkie talkies (in some countries these are illegal!), web sites (with blogs etc.)
3. water and food purification tablets for water, although we manage to find bottled water in most cities. do not trust the bottled water in villages..purify it first with the tablets. you need to carry a minimum supply of food, this can be either dry (including some rice/pasta), tinned (beans, sardines) and ideally we found the 1-minute noodles excellent. plan to buy fresh products as you travel, always try to eat fruits vegetables which you can peel. great energy boosters are sugar cane and bananas.
4. shelter and clothing try to camp at selected camp sites, however, this may not be possible at times, but all precautions should be taken to have a safe night. it is ok to splurge now and then at a decent hotel! crossing africa from north to south (or vice versa) will cross different climatic conditions, your clothing should be geared for that, hence at minimum, you should have something to keep you warm and dry and also light breathable clothing when you are hiking or out and abouts. a good pair of hiking boots is also definitely recommended.
5. navigation you need to have some experience in map reading and navigational skills. gps are the wonderful new gadgets through which you can plan and plot your route. it can also be useful to log your travels and help you to get to a predefined place (if you know the location). we used the michelin maps and the garmin V gps.
6. vehicle and recovery gear you must have full recovery gear for your vehicle - no short cuts to this. you must also should have tried and tested these several times over before you take them on the trip (eg. if you have a winch, you need to know how to operate it safely). the most important recovery equipment we found to be useful was the hi lift jack.
7. off road driving skills you must be familiar with your vehicle on its operation off road. all the gadgets in your vehicle need to be tested before you start on your journey !
you need to have minimum of 3 months of inhibited travel on a specific route, and you can add to these as much as you can. but if you do not have the enough days (like we did) then you need to plan thoroughly, in order to maximize the time and avoid unnecessary delays (such as camp/hotel bookings. with the distances we wanted to cover with the activities planned for each country, the 46 days was on the short side, at times we were pushing it.
as per money, it costed us about $50 per person per day -
that included everything. our accommodation was a combination of camping,
staying in cheap hotels and splurging out here and there in resorts. the
biggest expense was ofcourse the petrol. using public transport, bicycle etc
may bring down this figure dramatically. I have met people who survive on $1
per day.
being in good health always means that you tend to enjoy more of the places etc.. but there are times when you just cannot help it. access to medical centers was available in most towns and cities, though expensive, but in remote areas it would be difficult. taking precautions as eating cooked foods from places which are busy is always a good idea. trying to avoid the mosquito bites was the biggest challenge.
whatever people say, the sudanese and ethiopian visas must be obtained before departures for these countries. border crossings is where your patience is most needed, practice that smile and have lots of free cigarettes and lighter in your pocket (even if you don't smoke !!)- distribute it freely to the right people !!!. as we progressed from saudi arabia down, the border crossings became easier. we were caught in a scam at suakin in sudan, and were at the customs for nearly 8 hrs. lesson well learnt. ensure that you do not arrive at the ethiopian border from sudan during lunch...they are closed for nearly 2 hours! and also at the other end at moyale they are not open until 8.00 am (and the kenyans are polite enough to wait for the ethiopians!) but the ethiopians are particular and efficient. we had no problems whatsoever in the rest of the countries. botswana & south africa operate a joint customs treaty, hence getting into south africa was a breeze. before you get into zambia, you must stick the reflectors (white in front, red at back) otherwise you may have to cough up at the next checkpoint. in tanzania we were politely stopped by a traffic policeman, immaculately dressed in the starched whites and asked innocently for lunch money ! and we were also fined for speeding in the ngorongoro national park by the traffic police welding very doggy looking radar guns! finally beware of irritant money exchangers at borders - always have money ready ! the main document recognized for the vehicle was the carnet - the passport for the vehicle. no one asked for registration card or any other documents (though we had all these). bottom line, you must have the carnet !
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