I backpacked Africa Cape Town to Kigali a couple years ago, and I think the #1 issue you'll face is the roads are in terrible shape, even (especially?) major national highways. They are riddled with potholes and limit speeds often to like 30km/hour, and it's constant weaving around potholes for hours and hours. I did not see one nice bit of 'highway' in the dozen+ countries I was in outside South Africa, and I'm sure I traveled the major routes (ie capitol to capitol).
Yeah, I am not expecting an Autobahn that's for sure. For that reason I am going to be sure to have a LR with a lift kit and 2-3 spare tires as I cannot even imagine some of the roads I will have to drive over.
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"Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find, as quickly as possible, someone to worship."
This sounds like a surefire way to be murdered, robbed and raped.
All three hey? In what order? Becuase if they rape and rob me, AFTER they murder me I'd probably be cool with that.
Edit: Lol at Canada 02's post above!
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"Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find, as quickly as possible, someone to worship."
I may be confused about the meaning of the word leisure, but this seems completely unleisurely to me.
nah, most amazing time of my life (aside from zimbabwe and the dysentery). I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Yes their are places were I feared for my life - don't ever go out alone at night in Jo-berg; don't fall asleep on the train, use the mirrors at ATM machines. But Cape Town was amazing, Cape of Good Hope, Stellenbosch, Kreuger National Park, the Zambezi river and Vic Falls, the salt flats and the Kalahari in Botswana just to name a few places off the top of my head - Awesome!
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The main reason I have focused in on LR's is because of how cheap you can get them in England and how many shops in the London area that can do the mods.
Mod them with what? Missile launchers?
Just kidding. Sounds like a fun trip barring any robbery, rape or murder.
perhaps it is just me - but a budget of $20k to do all that seems light - but what do i know.
one place i'd suggest getting in contact with is the motor league (AAA) - perahsp they have some advice on route planning.
My budget assumes I will be able to recoup some of my intial expense of purchasing the vehicle upon completion of the trip. But that is obvoiusly a long way from a sure thing.
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"Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find, as quickly as possible, someone to worship."
good luck... Lol I thought your thread about you gf dumping you was funny enough. This totally tops that!
Thank you for the laugh.
That wasn't me dude, you're thinking of Bouw and Arrow maybe? And no, this is no joke. I will post pics when I get back to make sure you'll know it actually happened.
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"Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find, as quickly as possible, someone to worship."
Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
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I have done similar trips in central and south America. I used Hiluxes and a Mitsubishi. The Mitsubishi was totaled in a minor event, so I would go with the Toyota. In all circumstances that there were vehicle problems, the locals were very good at getting it running again, for a fee. The Americas are far different from Africa...I would not go on your trip.
I hate to bring this up but I was always nervous that something bad would happen to me and my family back in Canada would never find me. In fact, a few occasions were pretty grim. Nowadays there are all sorts of technology to keep track of you. I highly recommend getting the best technology available so that in the event of capture/hospitalization or even death your family will be able to find you.
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Are you planning on doing this solo? Also, are you or anyone in your party a mechanic? Honestly, this sounds like a recipe for disaster unless you are incredibly well-prepared. Maybe buy your vehicle in Marseilles and pay less for transport.
I have done similar trips in central and south America. I used Hiluxes and a Mitsubishi. The Mitsubishi was totaled in a minor event, so I would go with the Toyota. In all circumstances that there were vehicle problems, the locals were very good at getting it running again, for a fee. The Americas are far different from Africa...I would not go on your trip.
I hate to bring this up but I was always nervous that something bad would happen to me and my family back in Canada would never find me. In fact, a few occasions were pretty grim. Nowadays there are all sorts of technology to keep track of you. I highly recommend getting the best technology available so that in the event of capture/hospitalization or even death your family will be able to find you.
Thanks Naga, good tips. There are certainly going to be spots that get a bit iffy, but I have, in all my reading, never ever heard of any open violence, kidnapping or murder directed towards Canadians in Africa in the last few years. And to be quite frank, I am going to be peaceful and nice to everyone I meet, if that gets me killed then I guess that was just how I was meant to go!
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"Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find, as quickly as possible, someone to worship."
Are you planning on doing this solo? Also, are you or anyone in your party a mechanic? Honestly, this sounds like a recipe for disaster unless you are incredibly well-prepared. Maybe buy your vehicle in Marseilles and pay less for transport.
I commend the size of your balls however.
Maybe solo, maybe with 1-2 others but TBQH I doubt the others I am looking into this with will go through with it. And no, I am not a mechanic, far from it. I can do the basics (change a tire, timing belt, alternator..etc) but anything bigger I will need to find locals to help with repair. I am hoping with a good servicing in London and another good one in Cape Town I might get lucky and have no major issues...but that likely wont be the case!
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"Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than to find, as quickly as possible, someone to worship."
Obviously you'll need to have visas well lined up in advance for many of the countries. Places like Angola will only grant you a visa if you have a letter of invitation from someone within the country. South Africa and Namibia should be a breeze, north of there things will get much trickier.
Thanks Naga, good tips. There are certainly going to be spots that get a bit iffy, but I have, in all my reading, never ever heard of any open violence, kidnapping or murder directed towards Canadians in Africa in the last few years. And to be quite frank, I am going to be peaceful and nice to everyone I meet, if that gets me killed then I guess that was just how I was meant to go!
Being nice goes a long way, so does having a bit of knowledge of their history. I tried to be as informed as I could about their history, some compassion and awe of their country really helped. Pretty soon the locals want to know all about you and where you are from, I always described Canada and how "I wish Canada was more like this place".