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DRC – Road Tripping Through Mud!
Tomorrow we start our trip to Kinshasa, we were denied visas to Angola so had to find another way to get to Kinshasa, road transport, boat, plane were all no goes so we have to take the route from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa, a route I had researched and decided was too long and the roads too bad to make it even option. The Angola curve ball means we need to try it or the trip stalls to a grinding halt. We drove on Sunday from Windhoek and stayed in Rundu, the next day drove through the Caprivi to Livingston, and Tuesday made our way to Lusaka. I decided to not…
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Namibia
Namibia – Country 20. A stop at the amazing Fish River Canyon. I love driving through Namibia, miles of stark beautiful nothing, but when you reach your destinations it is spectacular! A great night camping out in the open under the stars – special memories!
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Madagascar
Madagascar – country 19. I’ve always wanted to visit Madagascar, sadly on this trip, we only got to see around Antananarivo, but I must say, I wasn’t disappointed. It is an amazing town ( you get to see it in detail due to the traffic..!). Many of the buildings are so cute right out of a fairytale. The views from around town are incredible. The people we met were so friendly. I really like this country, I’m coming back to explore it in detail, there are many awesome places I have to visit here one day!!
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Reunion
Reunion – Country 18. Reunion, very French (hardly any English speakers), with some weird ways! Reunion’s live Volcano erupted 10 days before we arrived (to see a lava flow is now on my bucket list). We drove to the middle of the island through the most incredible valley, 400 hairpin turns (not for the fainthearted!). Reunion really is a beautiful island. Checked out the Vanilla scene (smells divine). Swam a bit, but not much as Reunion has a HUGE shark problem, they even warn you not to swim when you are coming into land!!! Experienced some amazing hospitality (my head still hurts…). And, most nights we got to…
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Mauritius
Mauritius, country 17! It had been a while since we had hit the beach, Mauritius offered us the perfect opportunity to get a little wet and feed the fish!
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Botswana
Botswana, country 16 A ferry crossing from Zambia into a very green and wet Botswana. The roads in Chobe/Moremi were flooded, stretches of very little dry road and lots of water – what fun I love a puddle or two… Camping in Savuti
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Zambia
We visited Vic Fall from the Zimbabwe side, then took the long way round via Sudan to get to the Zambian side (no one told me there was a bridge…). We were a little hot so decided to go for a swim (best swim ever and the water is warm!)
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Burundi
First time in Burundi (love it when I can say that!), what a lush, beautiful, hilly country, with great main roads (didn’t expect that!). The cyclist in Burundi are the fittest I have ever come across. Steep heavy loads, no gears. They do grab the odd right where possible The past 2 days we have been treated to private tribal and drum dances (like to think we are special, but really not a lot of tourists here …). A trip to a team plantation A bit of bunder bashing with the cars through the Parc de la Ruvubu (loved that). Became a Queen with my King Lassie by my side! Off…
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Rwanda
Just got back from seeing the gorillas in the Volcano NP in Rwanda, what an amazing, exhausting experience!!!
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Malawi
Due to a few problems happening in Mozambique, we were unable to host any functions in this country. So we just used the Tete corridor in Mozambique to drive from Harare to Monkey Bay in Malawi. We spent a great night in Tete at an amazing restaurant on the river, it was one I had been to on a previous visit and wanted to take the guys as the food is amazing. Watching the sunset over the river is really beautiful. Arriving at the Malawi border today I was ready for the usual onslaught of harassment that accompanies every border crossing. It was there waiting for us, but there was also people waving today’s…
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Zimbabwe
We had to wait a few days in Johannesburg for our carnets (customs passports for the cars) to be ready. I had been on tender hooks the last couple of weeks as without these documents border posts can become a bit of a hassle and we didn’t have time for too much of that, so couldn’t leave without them! Even though we had started the journey and were on the road having already driven through South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. I couldn’t bring myself to believe that the trip was really going to happen. It was such a big project, and I was given the task to lead it, make…
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Swaziland
Driving from Lesotho to Swaziland we were able to have Breakfast in Lesotho – Lunch in South Africa -Dinner in Swaziland. Which felt quite cool, the guys wanted to know if we could go to Mozambique for dinner, I told them they would have to walk… This border crossing was an easy and quick one! Things had started to fall into place, and we were able to base ourselves in one place which for the week which made things a lot easier for us and enabled us to catch our breath and for me to sort out all my boxes with my “office” equipment in so I could actually work…
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Lesotho
The Drive from Cape Town to Bloemfontein was no problem, a stay overnight in the Southern Sun hotel and an early start the next morning to Lesotho. Are first border post took a lot longer than necessary as we were trying to be too formal with all the paperwork, which delayed us at customs – first lesson learnt – keep it simple! Being our first country from South Africa, everyone was trying to find their feet and finalise last minute things. The team were all new to each other, two of which I had only met a couple of days before our departure. We were all learning each other’s ways,…
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South Africa – The Start!
Well! We are ready, I think, who knows… Months of planning, a hiccup or two along the way (2 of the cars were stolen!) and it’s time to go and start our journey to London! At the send-off function in Johannesburg. I’m standing on stage while we are introduced to the DHL customers and staff, it is all a bit surreal. I am going to lead a team driving through Africa! A travel dream for years, and now it was a reality, with lots of responsibility and a good chance of not succeeding, due to its scale and timelines! A country (45 of them) a week, and in each one, I had…
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African Preparations
For this trip, I have spent a lot of time thinking and researching. There are so many different things I need to buy, do, arrange and prepare for. As this isn’t just a social drive through Africa, but a corporate one. We have to organise functions for 100’s of people each week in a different city, host rugby and eye clinics, visits schools as well as take in all the sights and deal with whatever the continent has to throw at us. This means I need to make sure we are overland ready and we have all the necessary things we might need for the clinics and functions, that can’t…
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Lots to Buy!
Today blew my mind a bit, I started to shop for everything I need on the trip, as I was piling things into the trolley the enormity of the trip hit me. I’m not just shopping for me and a nice little 2 week holiday, I am kitting out 3 Landrovers and catering for 10 people, not just food items but everything that we will need to be self-sufficient for a year! I, of course, won’t buy food for a year, we will buy fresh along the way, but bought things like spices, mustard, those type of things you miss when you can’t get them. All the other items, tents,…
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It’s Dangerous Out There!
You hear the news of bad things happening all over Africa, the kidnappings and bombs, Boko Haram activities, Ebola virus getting out of hand in areas you will be visiting. mentally your step falters, one-half of the brain says don’t go, don’t be an idiot the other half, what an adventure! I have always been a bit warped like that… Travelling around for so many years on my own, I have encountered some scary situations, all avoidable if I had not gone. But by not going, I would have missed some of the greatest experiences of my life. My coping mechanism 9 out of 10 times ( the 1% you…
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African Adventure
The start of my African Adventure is drawing closer and closer, with a speed that is quite frightening! 7 weeks until I leave South Africa for an adventure up one side, down, around and up Africa again ending in the UK. Not a conventional route in the least, but one that will take in as many countries (42)in Sub-Saharan Africa as possible starting from Cape Town. The purpose of the trip is to introduce rugby to the Continent, meet great people and showcase what Africa has to offer. This mad trip is for DHL, who luckily for us, has offices in every African country we will visit – nice to…
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The Start of a New African Project!
My next African trip looks like it goes to be an EPIC one! DHL would like me to visit as many countries as possible in Sub-Saharan Africa to promote rugby – by car! They are keen for me to start in August 4 months away! That is such a short space of time to plan a trip like this and get all the parties on board. So with my brief to drive from Cape Town to London visiting as many countries as possible in Sub-Saharan Africa I started working on routes and came up with about 50 different options until I settled on one (and that route still changed along the…
