The adventure - an intro

It’s finally time! I am about to leave on a 3-month road trip from Nairobi to Cape Town and back and am very excited to have family and friends join me along the way. I hope to keep a record of the highlights of the journey on this blog for those interested to hear about it. Hope you enjoy it!

The itineraryThe plan is ambitious - drive over 15,000 kilometers through 8 countries in 14 weeks. To add to the challenge, I will be picking up and dropping off companions along the way, which leaves less room for error than usual for a trip like this. Fingers crossed, it will hopefully work out!

As currently planned, I will be stopping at most of the top highlights in southern Africa, including:
- Lake Malawi
- South Luangwa National Park, Zambia (known for its leopards)
- Victoria Falls
- Etosha National Park, Namibia
- Namib Desert
- Cape Town
- The “Garden Route” (along South Africa’s coast)
- Drakensberg Mountains, including Lesotho
- Kruger National Park, South Africa
- Mozambique Island
- Quirimbas National Park, Mozambique

The journey
So far the trip has elicited one of two types of responses: either “that’s amazing - I’ve been wanting to do something like that for years!” or “ok, but why not just fly there?” So to clarify, the objective is not just to make it from Point A to Point B but rather to explore what promises to be a beautiful, diverse and welcoming part of the world. And hopefully doing the trip by car will make for a more immersive experience, be it through asking for directions to the nearest petrol station or drawing on local “bush mechanic” expertise to fix a blown radiator...

The carFor those with a mechanical bent, I will be driving a 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser 105-series fitted with a 4.2L 1HZ diesel engine. Experienced hands tell me this is a workhorse which shouldn’t cause major issues on the trip. I certainly hope that is true but expect that, like any 18-year-old, my companion may throw a fit or two on occasion. Hopefully it won’t be anything a YouTube tutorial and some local knowledge can’t fix...

The car is equipped with a number of additions to make the the trip more comfortable, like a rooftop tent, an awning, and a fridge. I am hugely indebted to my good friend Saagar in Nairobi, who masterminded the setup and spent countless hours building it into my home for the next 3 months. Big thanks also to his wife Nejal who put up with us during this time :)

This blog
At most, I hope that this blog will shatter some misconceptions about travelling in this region (e.g., “isn’t it super unsafe?”) and inspire people to come see it for themselves. But at a minimum it will serve as a personal chronicle of the experience and a place to distill some key impressions for future reference.

Also, for those planning a future trip anywhere along my route, I hope some of the practical details will be helpful. Please feel free to contact me in case of any questions.

See you on the road!