Godlykepower Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'm busy planning (and saving!) for my lifelong dream of driving to Cape Town from London, and trying to convince the girlfriend to come with me. I cant believe I didn't think of it before, but the Darien Gap thread has inspired me to ask around on here, to see if anyone is able to come along with me....sort of in a loose convoy? SWMBO is convinced there is strength in numbers (I agree) but I have resigned myself to the fact that, its not every day you get people who are able to undertake this sort of thing, so am prepared to just have one vehicle do it, meeting up with whoever, whenever, in Africa. One way or another, I'm doing it...probably next summer.....hopefully with the missus, but alone if I have to.......but I thought I might see if anyone else from here would be interested. Come on.....almost all of us think about doing something grand, dont we? Lets do it!!! Sod the jobs and commitments, let's live a little. Add life to our days, not days to our lives. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'm busy planning (and saving!) for my lifelong dream of driving to Cape Town from London, and trying to convince the girlfriend to come with me.I cant believe I didn't think of it before, but the Darien Gap thread has inspired me to ask around on here, to see if anyone is able to come along with me....sort of in a loose convoy? SWMBO is convinced there is strength in numbers (I agree) but I have resigned myself to the fact that, its not every day you get people who are able to undertake this sort of thing, so am prepared to just have one vehicle do it, meeting up with whoever, whenever, in Africa. One way or another, I'm doing it...probably next summer.....hopefully with the missus, but alone if I have to.......but I thought I might see if anyone else from here would be interested. Come on.....almost all of us think about doing something grand, dont we? Lets do it!!! Sod the jobs and commitments, let's live a little. Add life to our days, not days to our lives. Martin Cool I'd love to do something like this Are you planning it all yourself or going with a Hero type organisation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Planning the whole thing myself. I have done quite a lot of travelling, mainly backpacking trips that have lasted several months. Only done one "expedition" which was vehicle based (UK to Central Italy through the Alps) and I found then that travel planning is travel planning, it doesn't matter if its with a backpack or Land Rover. I admit that to go to Cape Town is one of the daddy's of ALL expeditions, but I still insist that I do all the groundwork myself.....I'm not paying someone to plan things for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Sod the jobs and commitments, let's live a little. Add life to our days, not days to our lives.Martin would love to, but i've got a mortgage and quite fancy having a house to live in when i return Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WALFY Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I can't believe you're letting something so trivial get in the way Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 but i've got a mortgage and quite fancy having a house to live in when i return Rent your house out for 6 months! Have someone pay your mortgage for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I can't believe you're letting something so trivial get in the way Jamie Fair play I have to admire you, good luck with the trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Rent your house out for 6 months! Have someone pay your mortgage for you! I think the GF would moan about me renting the house out with her still in it!! LOL!!! i've only got to drive salisbury and she's complaing her back hurts etc etc.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soutie Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My wife and I did this trip in 2003. My advice is go for it. It was my life long dream. a former girl friend told me to stop talking about it and do something. So I bought my 110. After changing girl friend and turning the new one into the handbrake we did the trip in 2003. We started off as three vehicles and then split up as time allowed us. My wife and I did solo from Ethopia to Capetown - up to Nam and then back to Capetown. Have a look at our website. It contins our diary and advice on how we prepared. http://www.jepps-overland.co.uk/ Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 I'm busy planning (and saving!) for my lifelong dream of driving to Cape Town from London, and trying to convince the girlfriend to come with me.I cant believe I didn't think of it before, but the Darien Gap thread has inspired me to ask around on here, to see if anyone is able to come along with me....sort of in a loose convoy? SWMBO is convinced there is strength in numbers (I agree) but I have resigned myself to the fact that, its not every day you get people who are able to undertake this sort of thing, so am prepared to just have one vehicle do it, meeting up with whoever, whenever, in Africa. One way or another, I'm doing it...probably next summer.....hopefully with the missus, but alone if I have to.......but I thought I might see if anyone else from here would be interested. Come on.....almost all of us think about doing something grand, dont we? Lets do it!!! Sod the jobs and commitments, let's live a little. Add life to our days, not days to our lives. Martin I took 7 months offf and drove around Australia . Had the time of my life , Did not regret a single min of it. Would do it again at the drop of a hat. As you say do it and do it while you can Ali Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 http://www.jepps-overland.co.uk/ I have seen this site before I think, in doing my research.....awesome stuff! Thats roughly the route I was planning, with the exception of omitting Libya (cant be bothered with the amount of red-tape involved there) and getting the ferry from southern Italy straight to Egypt. I fully agree with the "Just do it" attitude....I have been putting it off for long enough now, so I AM going to Just do it. My mum (who lives in South Africa, where I grew up) was very, very supportive of this idea; passed away 2 weeks ago, and I have just got back from SA seeing my Dad, and having a lot of time to think about life, and the meaning thereof.....and I feel even more of a need to do this now. Peter, I may end up picking yours brains quite a bit!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My mum (who lives in South Africa, where I grew up) was very, very supportive of this idea; passed away 2 weeks ago, and I have just got back from SA seeing my Dad, and having a lot of time to think about life, and the meaning thereof.....and I feel even more of a need to do this now. My dad told me to drive around Aus as when we moved here we would not be in the rat race. He also told me that sod the money as you can earn the money back but you will never get the time back again . At this point we were going to do half of Aus . But a week after this chat with my dad he was killed in a road accident. So that changed my attitued to life and we did the whole of Aus and spent all our money which we had saved. And my dad was dead right . My wie is having our first child in August so along time before we will be able to do it again Ali Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 My dad told me to drive around Aus as when we moved here we would not be in the rat race. He also told me that sod the money as you can earn the money back but you will never get the time back again . At this point we were going to do half of Aus . But a week after this chat with my dad he was killed in a road accident. So that changed my attitued to life and we did the whole of Aus and spent all our money which we had saved. And my dad was dead right . My wie is having our first child in August so along time before we will be able to do it again Ali Geez Ali, I think you can relate to where I'm coming from then? It takes the passing away of a parent to make you realise that we have to live our dreams. I wish you & your wife all the very best with your baby. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revor Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 A Good friend of mine did this a few years back... http://www.africaoverland.org/index.htm I'm currently building a truck just like his to do the Canning Stock Route with him in OZ in 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reads90 Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 A Good friend of mine did this a few years back...http://www.africaoverland.org/index.htm I'm currently building a truck just like his to do the Canning Stock Route with him in OZ in 2010 Nice track just make sure you have very big fuel tanks No fuel at all along that track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Re the Canning, in the main travelling months its almost like a motorway these days. Its normal to arrange for fuel to be dumped in drums at one of the wells I think its 23 IIRC RACWA do a good map just for the Canning There are a few outfits that do Tag a long trips for the Canning Defenders , discos , dont usually have fuel range probs HTSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WALFY Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 My dad told me to drive around Aus as when we moved here we would not be in the rat race. He also told me that sod the money as you can earn the money back but you will never get the time back again . At this point we were going to do half of Aus . But a week after this chat with my dad he was killed in a road accident. So that changed my attitued to life and we did the whole of Aus and spent all our money which we had saved. And my dad was dead right . My wie is having our first child in August so along time before we will be able to do it again Ali Ali Not wanting to belittle anything you have done but it is sad that it takes a family tragedy to make us do stuff. I think that the vast majority of the populus here and in Aus are the same. Like you said you only had plans to do 1/2 of Aus. Then after your Dad passed away you bit the bullet and did the whole 9 yards. If that hadn't happened would you of tried so hard for the family or would you of saved to do the other 1/2. A question that you'll never be able to answer honestly. I think that you are in a lucky position to be in Aus and that you have seen a bit of the country. How many ex pats move there ad just see the 150 mile radius of where they live. I wish that I could get that sort of time off work to do the trip you did but it's never going to happen, well it will in 3 yrs when I retire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diff Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Hi Martin, This sort of dream is one that you can make a reality. I had always enjoyed TV programs like 'Daktari' when I was a child, and when I was a student, the one thing I wanted to do was travel overland through Africa. There was no internet then, and meeting like minded people was not exactly easy! My mother suggested I look in the travel sections of some of the national papers. Eventually I found a personal ad from a guy about my age who wanted to do something similar. He lived in Macclesfield (I lived near Basingstoke). We got on well, and for the best part of a year I used to work by week as a car valet, then get the train to Macclesfield every weekend to make plans, work on recruiting two more people, and rebuild the dilapidated 1971 series 3 109 safari that had been rescued from the scrap yard. The resulting trip in 1983 was a fantastic adventure which led to many more. Nowadays, the Internet enables you to do so much research and gather so much up to date information that there is no need to be heading off into the 'Unknown' as we did. The adventure is still there, but now there are fewer reasons not to do it. I have vivid memories from all my trips and adventures and would whole heartedly recommend you follow your dream. A few words of advice: Work out every detail of what you think it is going to cost such as ferries, fuel, visas, food, carnet de passage, game park entrance fees, flights home, insurance (which you may have to accept may be useless or non existent in some places). Don't forget you need to have a plan of what to do with the vehicle when you get it to South Africa. It will probably cost nearly £1500 to have it shipped back to UK in a container. Selling it at the other end is possible, but can be very time consuming, very difficult/impossible due to the paperwork. Once you have worked out all the costs, you need to add at least 50% for the unexpected things that crop up! Once you have worked out what it is going to cost 'on the ground' you will have some idea of how much money you can afford to spend on your vehicle. It is very tempting to go mad and spend a fortune on 'accessorising/ preparing' your vehicle. Don't forget: 1. The priority is to achieve the goal of driving from London to Capetown. 2. A bog standard Land Rover is perfectly capable of doing the trip. 3. The more money you spend on 'accessories', the less money you have for the trip. 4. The more you take, the more you have to loose. 5. The more you take, the heavier the vehicle, therefore the more strain it is under. 6. The vehicle is a means of getting there, so reliability/ease of maintenance is a priority over performance and comfort, though adequate performance and comfort is relevant. Don't get me wrong I am not against all the 'accessories', they can certainly make the trip more comfortable, but be realistic over your choices and how much they cost. If you can afford whatever, then great! Many people planning a vehicle based trip spend money on the vehicle first, then find that they can't actually do the 'trip of a lifetime' because they can't afford it! Your experience in planning backpacking trips will stand you in very good stead for this sort of thing. Be bold! But accept the fact that it WILL be expensive. I have had to give up work a few times in order to fulfil some of my dreams. It is quite a challenge to come back to unemployment after a major trip, and that is just one of the big decisions that only you can make. It isn't right for everyone and may depend as much on personal circumstances as it does on financial ones. A bit of inspiration for you if needed: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopi...&hl=algeria Some very useful sites amongst many others: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ http://www.africa-overland.net/ A long overland trip isn't the only way to have adventure though. As a 'responsible' family man now, I have to make do with shorter adventures. This year I shall be taking the family to South Africa, hiring a fully equipped Land Rover and spending 3 weeks driving through Botswana, up to Zambia and back to South Africa. Good luck with whatever your adventure turns out to be! Regards, Diff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blippie Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I've only got to drive salisbury and she's complaing her back hurts etc etc.... Strange how their backs never hurt when they get to drive, is it? I've really enjoyed reading this thread, especially the angle that Diff has put on it. "Preparation is eveything but that doesn't mean you have to have prepare everything." Some friends of ours have an expedition vehicle whcih was used for a big trip. The coment from the travellers on their return was, "We NOW have a vehicle that is capable of doing the trip." i.e. by the end of the trip they knew what they wanted and the vehicle was maintained and repaired to suited those needs. Cheers Blippie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpk Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Hi there To echo the general sentiment here, go for it. After years of wishing, dreaming,planning etc I spent 4 months in Southern Africa last year. My only regret is not spending more time there and also not doing the whole north to south thing. Oh well, something to look forward to. You'll find the links posted by Diff very useful. This forum is also extremely helpful, I'll certainly be happy to help out with any advice and lessons learnt. Enjoy! JP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Strange how their backs never hurt when they get to drive, is it?Cheers Blippie Yeah, true isn't it? anyway, i'm sure an engel fridge in place of the passenger seat (full of cold beer and red bull) would be far more useful! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Good afternoon Martin. Go for it. I'm sorry I can't join you but we arrived back from Namibia yesterday morning. The Defender is following. We met two Dutch guys at the Roof of Africa on monday afternoon that had driven down the West side. Problems were mentioneds about Chad other places were not named but they'd had problems with authoritive people. The roads in Angola are still very bad. Now the Carnet de Passage. It seems they are now only issued for one year. You can check that. Road tax. I had my UK road tax checked for vadility at two border crossings Namibia/South Africa. In one case by both sides...I think somebody has realised that some people are taking untaxed vehicles over there. You could have a look at the diary of our trip at http://www.landroveraddict.com/smf/index.php?topic=364099.0 Also some of the preparation work at http://www.landroveraddict.com/smf/index.php?topic=358612.0 If you would like any more information from me them send me a PM and I will let you have a phone number if that would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlykepower Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Guys, thanks so much for the support & encouragement. Diff, I really appreciate your in-depth reply! I have had this dream for so long now that I'm pretty much covered on all bases....I am well aware of the ease of which one can get swept away in buying "stuff" that will end up being useless/unused. When I say I am preparing the vehicle, I mean in getting in a position mechanically to strengthen my chances of success. I constantly have people trying to sell me winches & the like, as I am assured I WILL need one. I may not have years of Land Rover experience like some learned members on here, but I wasn't born yesterday! I know when someone is trying to milk me of my hard earned money! I know almost exactly what needs to be done, and if there is any doubt, I will ask around on here. Diff, might I also add, if you are back in South Africa this year, I very strongly can recommend that you divert down to the Drakensberg mountains. If you have never been before, they will just blow you away! Of ALL the places I have been to in the world, these mountains are the most beautiful place I have EVER seen. With regards to coming back to unemployment.....I am VERY fortunate to work for Costa Coffee, part of the Whitbread group, and they encourage people taking career breaks. With my track record, I could easily take a year off and come straight back to my career. MMGEMINI, I truly hope you had a wonderful time? Namibia is such a wonderful country, isnt it. Walfy, I'm not sure if I agree with you that it is "sad" that it takes a family tragedy to get you to do this sort of thing....I think a family member passing away reminds us that our time is limited and it INSPIRES us to go out there and do something that we were once quite happy to just dream about? I have a great big sticker on the back of the Defender. It says "One Life. Live it". Lots of us have this sticker. We see the sticker everyday...... ......but it took my mums passing away to really read the sticker. Thanks to one and all again. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WALFY Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Walfy, I'm not sure if I agree with you that it is "sad" that it takes a family tragedy to get you to do this sort of thing....I think a family member passing away reminds us that our time is limited and it INSPIRES us to go out there and do something that we were once quite happy to just dream about?Martin Martin Perhaps my use of the English language wasn't as good as it could of been there. How you have just summed it up was what I was trying to say all be it in a blunter way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 MartinWe did three countries. Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. Plans were changed a few times because of the rains. We expected rain but not like we got. It's been a funny year over there. 19,??? kms in six months. I for one can't wait to go back mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.