Where does one even start when planning a dream expedition?

 

When one has to take in nostalgic factors like revisiting places you last went to with your family over 25 years ago; playing the Namibia winter vs summer game and a travel companion terrified of a chill factor below 18’C (she is from Malawi to be fair); the reality of borders closing without notice and being far from home should we get stranded; gaining access to covid tests in remote places and having to still be connected to the outside world, as much as possible, as we were both technically still working on this expedition. There is a lot to consider! Add to this two people who had only just met, a car that does not have the word Toyota in front of it, a string of people who we had to convince that we weren’t crazy to be doing this together, a strict budget to stick to and, did I mention, a 3 month time-frame to plan and prepare for a 3 to 4 month trip!

 

Fortunately for us, we had more than one ace up our dust-covered overlanding sleeve. My work allowed me to have a good grasp of all the areas we were going to visit; Paul and Jo Marsh, who added the mechanical and technical backing, were enviable people to have on speed dial during an overlanding expedition, as well as all their first-hand expertise on tap; Stacey, who possesses the planning acumen of a molecular scientist, and an army of friends and family ready to field our myriad of questions and concerns, mostly pertaining to our sanity at what we were trying to take on.

 

I spy with my little eye 24 rusty bolts that needs replacing.

 

To safely and happily navigate it through an overlanding expedition of this magnitude there were a couple of key things to get organized before departure day, which we aptly selected as the 4th of July – Independence Day in the United States (as well as for us!). This included but was not limited to:

  • A rough plan on the where, when and how long (a big benefit of overlanding during COVID times was not needing to prebook any accommodation even in peak season!)
  • What paperwork was required for both us and the car. Along with this was arming ourselves with information in terms of the various countries border crossing protocols, COVID regulations as well as testing stations and turnaround times
  • Compiling a list of equipment and gear which we did not have and would need for any and all eventualities, including a thorough medical aid kit (which was needed a few times, but mostly due to my own stupidty!)
  • A base level of mechanical and medical training
  • Doing research on all locations in order to compile a budget for the trip. This included pre-gathering information on park fees and various levies, accommodation costs, mileage between destinations and fuel costs in each country, a daily food and sundry allowance plus factoring in any emergency costs such as services, a new tyre or two and other parts susceptible to some wear and tear, and not forgetting a small kitty for some spoils along the way

 

Thanks to Google sheets and two seriously over-eager travellers, the planning documents and to-do lists started to take shape one rapid row and column at a time! Shopping and car work was done on the weekends; planning and research was done late into the week nights; packing, unpacking and repacking was done almost daily, mostly due to the fact that we never thought it was perfect enough! The trip was finally starting to take shape.

 

 

Apart from the characters already mentioned who played a huge part in our trip as well as the ‘too numerous to mention by name’, there was also one more entity that proved invaluable in helping us with the last of our planning for this expedition and that was Johann and his incredible team at Tracks4Africa. These are people who truly live their brand! The information provided by Johann, along with their books, to which we constantly referred, as well as their very detailed maps, meant we knew where we were going and what to expect. This was to prove especially useful in some rather far-flung and remote places in Zambia.

 

With things taking shape and D-Day looming large, the pressure started to mount. The combined expert advice from Paul and Jo Marsh, Johann and his Tracks4Africa team, along with some thorough planning and amazing support from friends and family thrown into the mix, we made it to 3 July with 99% of the boxes ticked but with a car still needing to be packed.

 

Aware we had  been running on adrenaline for most of the week, with little sleep and a drive up the N7 to Namibia the next day, we decided to rather opt for an early night and to pack the car at first light, in order to do our last checks before heading North into unchartered territories and the many memories we were going to soon make.

 

In the next installment, join us we take you through our two week expedition of Southern Namibia.

 

For any of you wishing to take a journey through Africa, whether it be 2 week, 2 months or 2 years and not sure where to begin – please be sure to contact us and let us help you fulfill this dream journey of yours!

 

Ready to hit the open road.