uk -south africa
 

as i newby to overland travel im plannning a trip from uk to south africa in april 2004...it appears that the easiest route is the east route through egypt sudan ethiopia etc. Given that i am not an experienced sand traveller is there a slightly more interesting route that will get me into kenya..say algeria lybia etc..advice please

Hi
May be trying the western route (Atlantic route then head west through Sud and Chad) in March/April and I also live in Cov so give me a bell: 07876 457831.

enzo

If you want a serious sand crossing,
go via the west coast and then head east through lake Chad into Sudan, if the border is open.
Whats not interesting about the east route?
There are plenty of challenging off-roading opportunites through Tunisia,Libya,Egypt,Sudan,Ethiopia etc

To get an idea check out my website at: www.catchthepig.co.uk

Geoff

Hi Jeff,
In October 2000 I did the western route from London to Capetown, and the eastern route back to London. (5 months and 7 days) You can find my book about the trip in the "Books" section of this site, "Africa Against the Clock on a Motorcycle."

Four of us are getting ready to depart in a few days from the UK headed for south africa in two 4x4s. We would prefer to take the eastern route, through niger-chad-sudan-ethiopia-kenya. However, the latest information I have (mostly from this site) is that the chad-sudan border is closed. If this is the case we will try to follow other intrepid travelers who have gone down the west coast through cameroon-Gabon-Congo-DRC-Angola-Namibia. We don't really have much to go on as far as safety, availability of visas, etc. Our we website is www.africaoverland.org, and we'll be keeping it as up to date as possible.

Good luck, and happy travels!

Be prepared to spend a lot of time waiting on visa interviews for the lower western countries. Congo,Angola etc.
A few of the lads who got cut off last year when the border closed between Chad and Sudan spent quite a few weeks waiting and hoping for the best.
In fact 2 of them ended up flying their bikes out to Kenya.

hi,

a frined of mine and I are planning to do hull to south africa overland down the east side, on scooters, in july. We are currently fingding a few problems in the sudan/ethiopia area. any exchange of info would be great to make both journeys mutually beneficial. I'm also from coventry!

good luck

Sudan - Ethiopia is pretty straight forward and very enjoyable. The desert cross in the north of Sudan is slightly challenging but should be fine. The Ethiopian people can be fairly forward but again nothing major. Given the conflict in western Sudan doesn't look like its ending quickly, if you move away from the East coast route, then you will probably only have the alternative of the west coast. This is going to be significantly harder and more remote.

Am jumping in a defender 110 on May4th to travel the east route from Uk to South Africa entering via tunisia, libya, egypt etc...work in Cov, live in Leamington Spa! drop us an email to meet up...i'm also new to this type of travelling...v exciting!

great would love to chat soonest..jeff_watts1@hotmail.com...we could have a beer

one to adrian here.

as i have posted previously a friend of mine and I are intending to do the same leaving june 1st.

How do you intend to get into tunisia? is there a ferry from italy that takes 4x4's?

any help would be much appreciated.

M

Hi2SA:
SNCM ferry Marseilles to Tunisia
SNCM ferry Genoa to Tunisia
both take roughly 20 hours.
DO a search on the net and you will find all relevant info.

going down the west is not tooooooo complicated, congo and gabon visas from cameroon, all in one day, and angola from libraville, gabon, in 3 or 4 days.congo/angola crossing is trickiest but if you go the right way not bad.

Hi
I am currently in Ghana looking for people to carry on down the west coast with to South Africa. I will be hear at least to the end of the month, maybe longer. So if you are in the area fancy travelling together or just meeting for a beer. My mobile is (0)244 084677
David

PS If you are interested in my trip so far (UK to SA) m website is www.walkabout2408.com

Ive just arrived in Egypt coming from CT via the Eastern route and in a weeks time im going back again. All countries including North Kenya (Lake Turkana) and Sudan were fine. Sudan of course not so fine in darfur area, but Gallabat to Khartoum and on to Wadi Halfa is cool. North Sudan can be as easy or tough as you you want, when you leave the road it gets very challenging. Ive not been on west route, but i can definately recommend East.

Ill be (i really really hope) in Khartoum in 2 weeks time so anybody give me a shout if youre in the area.