Overlanding

There are basically three ways to travel overland around Africa on at least some sort of budget: hire or buy a 4x4 with camping equipment; go by local transport and stay at backpackers; or book yourself on an overland truck. An overland truck is basically a lorry with a custom built rig comprising of luggage, food and equipment lockers, and bus seats (for between 20 and 30 people) on a high deck – it is effectively a very rugged bus.

When we booked our two tours from Australia we had no idea as to the size of the market – a dozen major firms (Kumuka, Nomads, Acacia, Geckos, Africa Travel Co (ATC) etc.) run the Cape Town/Jo'burg to Nairobi route in both directions at least once a week. So, together with the smaller operators, there must be a few hundred overland trucks operating in Southern and East Africa. All the trucks tend to do the same routes, and use the same campsites, which means you'll usually be joined by another two or three trucks on any given night, and at Snake Park in Arusha, we were one of eleven trucks parked in a neat line.
















From the comfort of Perth, we had no concept of how difficult it would be to drive from Jo'burg to Nairobi, and perhaps fell victim to the ridiculous stereotype of Africa as a dark continent, full of machete wielding maniacs who will hack to death any Mzungu they come across. After 10 weeks in which time we successfully drove ourselves around Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland, Africa's stereotype had been blown away, and we were regretting being so cowardly in the first place. That said, driving round Africa is not like driving down to Cornwall, you do have to have your wits about you, but it's not overly dangerous. We also recognise these four countries are comparably safe and well governed, and it does get more challenging as you go north. In addition, it's good idea to have some field repair skills so you can at least get the car to limp on to a garage if stranded somewhere remote.














The overland tours are advertised as being “expeditions”, which in reality just means that you'll be expected to put up your own tent, and pitch in with the cooking and cleaning. I'm sure that for some people they do feel like a real adventure, but for anyone who has done a fair bit of independent travel, or indeed anyone who is independently minded, you might as well be on any other bus tour where you have no control whatsoever, and feel a great disconnect from your surroundings. Whilst the pre-tour briefing correctly emphasises you get as much out of the tour as you put in, the reality is that the schedule is often so tight that there is little time to branch out on your own.

We only have direct experience of Kumuka (and then only one crew), but we did meet up with various other trucks along the way. Apparently different firms target their advertising differently leading to different crowds on various trucks – all ATC trucks seemed to be full (which for them means up to 30 clients) of a youngish crowd, while Kumuka seemed to pull in a lot of Australians, and one Acacia truck had half a dozen hungover girls throwing up over the sides of the truck on the first day of their tour. On our truck we had an Aussie who waxed lyrical about the Contiki tour he'd done of Europe a few years earlier (Contiki tours, apparently, start with everyone having to state their name and favourite sexual position – they are squarely aimed at the under 21s who fancy non-stop drinking and the chance of some drunken sex, while being driven around Europe/New Zealand/Australia). He was clearly disappointed that this would not be repeated in Africa.

On the flip side some people take the whole “expedition” thing a bit too much to heart – they follow the “rules” laid out in the introduction talk to the letter, and regard anyone who shows the slightest inclination of independent thought or action as a dissident and a danger to the mission. The normal rules of decorum between people, who are essentially strangers, seem to go out the window, as people feel they can shout at someone for putting the butter in the “wrong” place or demand to know if someone has washed their hands. From a sociological point of view this is all very interesting, and behaviour like this has been observed in prison and the Big Brother house.
















To hire a 4x4 in South Africa costs a minimum of 1000 rand (~£85) a day. So by the time you've factored in the fuel (~£50 a day) and one way fee (~£200-£500), a 30 day Jo'burg to Nairobi trip will set you back ~£4500, and that's before you're bought any food, paid camping or entered a national park. By comparison Kumuka charge £1350 plus a local payment of $450 which covers food and camping (the Australian authorities have now banned the local payment, as it disguises the true cost of the trip). As this also included park entry, there is a considerable saving versus hiring your own vehicle (unless you're packing five people into it). Buying your own vehicle could potentially work out cheaper than hiring, but you are left with the risk of not being able to sell it at the end, and the hassle, and potential cost, at borders would be much greater. Of course the cheapest (and perhaps the most adventurous) way to do it would be to take local transport. However, you'd have to leave much more time for this, some places would be very difficult to get to, and you'd still have to pay for safaris in the national parks.
















We in no way wish to disparage the crew or some great and open minded folk that travelled with us over the six weeks, and our experience could have been very different with an alternative crew (for the worse) or travelling companions. However, we would never join an overland truck again. We may, in the future, buy a Land Cruiser in London and drive it all the way around Africa, but that's a different story.