Africa all the way round!

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Hi Gee,
Just re-visiting this site after nearly 9 years absence to find your thread. Brings back many memories as we spent 6 years on the road in Africa from 2005-2012. (Ben Boo Africa) Much Kudos for doing North/West Africa especially with your dog, can just imagine the hassles at the borders. I see your last post is in Namibia Kaokland, if you are still there then try the drive over Van Zyl's pass from Otjihende to the Marrienflus, great off road experience but not for the faint hearted. Safe travels Peter
 
benbooafrica said:
Hi Gee,
Just re-visiting this site after nearly 9 years absence to find your thread. Brings back many memories as we spent 6 years on the road in Africa from 2005-2012. (Ben Boo Africa) Much Kudos for doing North/West Africa especially with your dog, can just imagine the hassles at the borders. I see your last post is in Namibia Kaokland, if you are still there then try the drive over Van Zyl's pass from Otjihende to the Marrienflus, great off road experience but not for the faint hearted. Safe travels Peter
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Hi Peter,

Thanks for your message!
Enjoying a relaxed few months in Namibia, before traveling up the East coast back to Holland.

Cheers,

Gee
 
Moose is dead, but Solitaire is bustling. The character of the old fuel station is perhaps best preserved by the car wrecks.

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If you want to experience the real Africa (whatever that may be), don’t go to Namibia. If you want to see the “big five” you may be lucky in the somewhat overrated Etosha Park, but many East African countries are a better bet. If you want to collect “under the Christmas tree” stories of what it’s like to drive for days on moonscape-like pistes, navigate mandeep waterholes, getting stuck in the mud, camp in a village being watched by 30 children, or the barefaced hassle of military and police with AK-47’s and a phrasebook limited to “Give me some money!”, Namibia is not your choice destination.

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Just had a read through your blog - some beautiful photos, what a brilliant adventure you're having!! Very jealous, i loved Africa :D
 
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Africa's southernmost point

“You cannot enter South-Africa with your dog.”
Even with a formal exit permit from the Namibian state vet, I dreaded the border with South Africa. They don’t allow the importation of pets accross land borders, only at Cape Town or Jo’Burg airport, where they have the appropriate quarantine facilities.
The lady behind the “Agriculture” desk at the border studies my papers, scrutinizes every syllable.
“Did you cross Angola?”, she wants to know.
“Yes, I did.” There’s no sense in denying it, with an Angolan visa in my passport.
“Then you can’t cross the border with your dog. You have to fly in to Cape Town or Johannesburg.”
“But I have an exit permit from the Namibian state vet, allowing me to enter SA.”
“Yes, but he should have told you that you can only import your dog in Cape Town or Jo’Burg airport.”

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The catch of the day - Lake Malwi

With sweat on my forehead I wake up in the middle of the night. I dreamt that I was in Zambia without a visa. Oh well, dreams, you know. In the morning I check my passport, just to make sure. No visa. I check my other passport. Same result: I am illegally in an African country!

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All animals are equal, bur some animals are more equal than others.

Trigger-happy with a lasergun
I’m driving through southern Tanzania, and it’s pretty relaxed. Apart from the odd unexpected pothole to keep you alert, the road is reasonable to good. There’s a speed limit of 50 for the villages, and there are signs, speed bumps, speed humps and speed rubbles to remind you. And too many policemen and –women with laserguns to enforce it. I know that speeding – even with 1 km - will cost you. So I stay well below 50 untill I reach the end of a village, when a policeman stops me waving with his toy gun. With a big “Gotcha!” smile he shows me the 63 on the small screen.

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Does this justify aggressive behaviour?

The dreaded Moyale road, northern Kenya
After nearly two weeks in Nairobi I am glad to be on the road again. To get from Kenia to Ethiopia there are two possible routes. The Lake Turkana one is more scenic, desolate, and longer; the Moyale road is busier, less scenic, shorter, and has a reputation of tribal conflicts. A man from Isiolo (the beginning of the road) tells me I need to report to the police in Isiolo, and they will form a convoy to escort to Moyale. I don't feel like driving with an escort so set off on my own.

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Bushcamp near pyramids of Meroe, Sudan

Just your ordinary border crossing.
I leave the Ethiopian highlands and descend into a completely different world. Of course there’s the heat: Sudan must be one of the hottest countries on the continent. After the cool breeze of the mountains the heat hits you like the flames of purgatory. Under these climatic conditions a border crossing had better be a showcase of efficiency, polite officers diligently#stamping whatever you present to them, waiting (if any) in comfortable AC rooms, and parking facilities under shady mango trees. After elaborately studying my papers the Ethiopian customs official walks to the car and wants to examine the car inside and out.
“What’s in this box?”
“Food, drinks, stuff like that.”
“And this one?”
“Dirty underwear and smelly socks.”
“Where chassis number?”
“It’s on the carnet you’re holding in your hands.”
“Chassis number on car?” The car is one big muddy mess after the roads near Gonder.
“It’s somewhere under a thick layer of mud. If you want to inspect it, be my guest.” He leaves it at that. Well, all in all the two stamps on the Ethiopian side took just over one hour. Not bad, but there’s room for improvement.

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Unloading from a truck in Dongola, Sudan

Major breakdown
I wish I could just turn around and head back to Dongola, but the car won’t move. There’s a loud rattle somewhere down under. I call Mazar, my fixer in Halfa, and he talks to “the men” of the border post. They can fix the car for 200 EP (22 euro). After an hour’s work – they have removed the front propshaft – I try to drive away in 1st gear: nothing. And the rattle is still there. They think it’s the transferbox. (Thank you very much “Dirty Harry”, the socalled mechanic from Windhoek. He has a businesscard saying: Harry, for all your Land Rover problems. – How appropriate!)

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Thimba enjoying the early morning sun in the desert near Wadi Halfa, Sudan

The sound of breaking glass
The Immigrations and Customs building is located in an old part of Alexandria. Narrow streets, numerous food stalls selling palatable snacks, the smell of a vibrant city. The man from Alltrans, the shipping agency, advises me to stay "close to him". In the middle of the road a large group of people surrounds two armed trucks, yelling and scolding. They are transporting prisoners from this neighbourhood, and their families and friends are blocking the road. On the roofs of the trucks policemen brandish their automatic weapons. There are no windows but small hatches like in cattle trucks. We accelerate our pace and find the immigrations around the corner. We climb the stairs, navigating our way around people sitting and lying on the floor, begging, smoking, eating, some with children, others sleeping on a blanket. The cacophony of voices increases as we get nearer the immigration desks. I see people everywhere, in front of and behind the desks, and it's impossible to determine who's an official and who's not. Too many men and women packed together in a stuffy place, shoving, pushing, poking, elbowing, shouting. My fixer guides me to a small room behind the row of desks and I take a seat directly opposite two officials. And wait, and wait a bit more, amidst a turbulent crowd that's becoming more and more aggressive. A policeman in a white uniform knocks an unwilling customer out of the room right in from of me. Then there's a power cut. Someone with a tea tray stumbles over my feet and spills hot tea and broken glass all over me.

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I am proud to announce that the ebook of my
Travels with Thimba is now available on

Travels with Thimba​


120 pages of adventurous ups and downs, loaded with high-res photographs,
professional layout, and aimed at armchair escapists, would-be overlanders and other Land Rover fanatics!

Happy travels!

Gee

Here are some screenshots to inspire you:

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I finally managed to put together a short video of the first part of the journey. Most of it was shot in Morocco, the Guineas, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Congo.
The part with the mud and water is the "highway" from the coast to the capital in Congo Brazzaville. Sort of the M1.
The overturned truck is blocking a similar main road. With the aid of two guides I managed a bypass. The descent was so steep that I had to ask two - at the time - fellow travellers to hang on to the back of my car to prevent it from tipping over. The voice over is Steven, an experienced (motorbike) world traveller, who had the most scary moments in his career ("It's f***ing mental!"). He told me afterwards that he thought of jumping off, but I'm glad he didn't!
I consider myself an experienced off roader, but this was exceptional. It doesn't really show how steep it is in the video. It's remarkable how focussed you are in moments like this. But after the descent I got out of the car tears flowed.

It's a quick and dirty sort of video, no fancy editing, but it gives an impression of this part of the overlanding trip in this magnificent part of Africa!



Happy travels,

Gee
 
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