July 2018 to November 2019
Overland Travel in Africa
The Nuts & Bolts — What we learned in our time in Africa
Not surprisingly, there are many issues to be considered in planning and then actually doing an overland trip in Africa. It is something that shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. There are real borders to be crossed, visas to be obtained, different currencies to deal with, changing insurance arrangements and many more. And these only include the paperwork side of things. We’ll deal with these first, and then go on to discuss things such as climate, road conditions and other vehicle related issues, as well as the need to accommodate changing political conditions. Some of this information we were able to learn before arrival in Africa, but the majority of it we learned through our own experience during our time there.
While our trip only covered southern Africa, where we can we’ll include general observations about other regions based on our reading of other travelers’ websites/blogs and talking to people, both locals and travelers, along the way.
Facts & Figures: First off, Africa is really big. It is the second largest continent after Asia, larger than all of North America combined, and more than three times larger than the United States. The attached map shows this by overlaying Africa with the maps of the US, all of Europe, China, India, Japan and Mexico. Looking at this map you will see that in wandering around in just southern Africa, we were exploring an area equivalent to all of the western United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Realizing this now, we better understand why it felt so big.
We spent sixteen months in Africa, and drove nearly 28,000 miles (42,000 kms) through a total of eight countries. We went as far north as northern Zambia-southern Tanzania and saw both the Atlantic Ocean on the west side and the Indian Ocean on the east. Starting out we had hoped to go further north, on to Kenya and maybe even Ethiopia, but this was not to be as we were turned around by more difficult road conditions than we were prepared for. Unlike some other travelers, we did not seriously contemplate driving north out of Africa and back into Europe. We have great admiration for those who have done this, either through West Africa or East Africa, but the stories of their difficulties settled the issue; the bureaucratic roadblocks alone were enough to make us decide against the idea.
Border Crossings & Visas: In southern Africa these are usually pretty straight forward. The five most southern countries (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini - formerly Swaziland) together make up the Southern African Customs Union. Within SACU there are no visa fees when crossing from one country to another. At the border, your passport will be stamped and you will be granted an automatic visa for the new country of up to 90 days, though sometimes it will be less. Visa length can generally be extended but you should inquire in advance about that. Outside of SACU, visa fees are charged by each country, but the visas can be obtained at the border. Visa fees for the countries we visited ranged between US $50 to $100 per person and in each case these fees had to be paid in USD. Smaller fees, generally a Road Tax or Carbon Tax, are charged both inside SACU and outside. Such fees range from $20 to $40 and again will in some cases need to be paid in USD.
In East and especially in West Africa, some countries require that you apply for your entry visa in advance, before arrival at the border. This can become a real problem for travelers who must wait in an earlier country for their visa to be approved for the next country. If you are planning overland travel in West Africa you will need to research the visa requirements for each country you want to visit.
Vehicle Insurance: Third party vehicle liability insurance within SACU is provided through a Road Fund, and no proof of insurance is required. Rental vehicles will include additional insurance cover as part of the rental fee. Travelers driving their own vehicles may want to purchase such cover for themselves, but this is optional. We did not purchase added insurance within SACU.
Once you leave the SACU countries, you will need to show proof of insurance for each country you enter. Insurance can be purchased at the border on a country by country basis, or through COMESA, which is a Common market arrangement for Eastern and Southern Africa. This insurance covers you in the twenty-one included countries of the group. If you will be traveling in more than two or three of these countries, the COMESA insurance is the way you will want to go. Any country you visit that is not covered by either SACU or COMESA insurance will require you to purchase a separate policy at the border.
In the countries we visited, looking at pricing, neither the individual policies nor the COMESA coverage was prohibitively expensive.
Money Matters - Currencies, Credit Cards, ATMs: Each of the eight countries we visited had its own currency, although three of them tied their individual currency to the South African Rand (ZAR) which was also accepted. These countries are Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). In other countries, dealing with each separate currency can be a challenge for the traveler. The exchange rates are in some cases vastly different, particularly when crossing borders when you are having to do the math between two different currencies rather than comparing one with your own home currency. Having to keep the figures straight between the country you are leaving, the one you are entering and the equivalent value of your home currency can be quite difficult. If you are a short-term visitor, particularly in well touristed areas, many local businesses will accept payment in USD, but you will pay a premium for this convenience; the exchange rates used will be to their advantage, not yours.
As noted above, you will need to carry an amount of US dollars with you in Africa. How much you need will depend largely on how many borders you plan to cross; as mentioned, visa fees and other costs will often need to be paid in USD. Zimbabwe, which we chose not to visit, goes back and forth between insisting on the use of their own currency and basically adopting the USD as their own. We carried a larger than normal supply of USD in anticipation of entering Zimbabwe, but in the end did not do so due to political unrest at the time.
Credit cards are widely honored in medium to larger towns and cities, and ATMs are almost always abundant. However, in smaller towns and rural areas cash may be required. Even in major cities, inconveniences like power outages or computer issues can make electronic options temporarily unusable, so do not assume that credit card facilities and ATMs will always be available. For fuel and other shopping we often needed to use cash, so you should always have enough cash (local currency) on hand to cover whatever purchase you are planning. Carrying more cash than you might normally choose to do can also be helpful should you encounter some difficulty such as a breakdown or, as happened to us, getting stuck and requiring help from locals or passersby.
Internet/Phone: Access was quite good all over southern Africa, using different SIM cards from different companies in each country. We use a wifi router device for internet access, but could have done the same with an unlocked phone. Coverage was generally excellent. We seldom use a phone when traveling, but did use our T-Mobile International Plan from the US on occasion, as we’d done in Europe. We did run into some problems in Africa when we belatedly learned that some of the countries we were traveling in are NOT included in the plan, so check your home plan carefully before relying on it.
Fuel Availability: We never had a problem finding fuel, though naturally the more remote an area is the more care you should take in not letting your tank get too low before finding fuel. Outside major cities, gasoline/petrol is generally only available in basic unleaded grade, not premium. Diesel fuel is normally 50ppm Low Sulfur Diesel in SACU countries, but likely to be 500ppm High Sulfur Diesel in other countries. 10/15ppm Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel can only occasionally be found in larger cities, but we saw it only in South Africa.
Owners of newer diesel engine vehicles contemplating travel in these countries should carefully research this issue. Our 2006 diesel can be used with any grade diesel fuel, but newer diesels may have problems. Fuel prices varied some, but were generally around US $4.00/gallon +/- 10% for both petrol and diesel.
Mail and Medications: After discussions with local folks and a bit of deliberation we decided to not have mail sent to us while we were in Africa. We get very little mail; almost all our financial issues are handled electronically, and there is little else, except our 90-day pill supplies. We’d been advised not to have our prescriptions forwarded to us, as the African mail is unreliable, so we simply had our forwarding service hold the mail for us until we returned.
This meant that our 90-day pill supplies did not get ordered. However, everywhere we have traveled internationally (Europe, South America, etc.) it has always been possible to arrange with a pharmacy to purchase supplies from them. We keep our original pill bottles, show them at the counter; and replacements are assembled for us, sometimes after a routine review by a physician. This, we might add, has always been done at much less cost to us than our insurance co-pays at home.
We’re pretty healthy people (disregarding the amount of excess baggage we carry around!), and didn’t need to see a doctor while in Africa. Kathy, however, needed to have a bit of dental work done and Rick joined in for a needed crown. We did this in South Africa; the work was excellent and, again, at a much lower cost than if done in the United States.
Camping Infrastructure: Overland travelers in Africa are strongly advised to avoid wild camping or boondocking. We did some, mostly in very out of the way places, but spent far more time in campgrounds than we usually do, wild camping on average only two nights per month. Safety is the reason given for this advice, both of the human and animal variety we believe. We regularly used the app iOverlander to find our nightly accommodation; sites were available in most areas and generally reasonable in cost. This app also shows wild camping spots that others have used and we made use of some of these. For budgeting purposes, our camping costs in Africa averaged about $400 US a month; least expensive was South Africa while most expensive were Botswana and Tanzania.
National Parks and Game Reserves: One of the main reasons we travel in Africa of course is to see animals in the wild. This is a major highlight of any trip and something we never tired of. Watching the game animals of Africa in their natural habitat is truly a life expanding experience and is not to be missed. Unfortunately, some countries place a very high price burden on independent travelers by making entry into their national parks, camping in the parks and bringing a personal vehicle into the parks very, very expensive. These countries, Tanzania and Botswana chief among those which we visited, have geared their tourism so much toward fly-in group safari tours that the independent traveler is often left out in the cold. In Botswana, for instance, to visit Chobe National Park or the Moremi Game Reserve, the two main game viewing areas into which you can drive, the cost is around $150 US per day for a couple in their own vehicle. This includes camping overnight, which is often a necessity, although sometimes you can save a bit of money by camping outside the park.
Tanzania is even worse, as the least expensive of their national parks will cost the independent overlanding couple $200 US per day; the Serengeti NP or the Ngorongoro Crater run twice that amount. Namibia is not as bad.
However, by far the best value in the area is South Africa because they offer an annual parks pass called a Wild Card. Much like such passes in other countries, this one covers the daily entrance, or conservation, fee so all you have to pay is the camping fee, which in South African parks is a reasonable $20-$25/site per night. The WC is good not only at national parks, but also several groups of regional or provincial parks. A total of more than eighty parks is included in the package. It is a really good value in that the cost of the WC is covered by just one week’s stay at one of the major parks.
Road Conditions: This is a biggie and definitely will affect your decisions on where you are comfortable driving and, perhaps, where you will be able to go. The main problem, which we ran into frequently, is the nearly complete lack of ongoing maintenance on many roads both paved and unpaved. Major highways tend to be in relatively good condition, especially in South Africa, Namibia and even tiny Lesotho, where the Chinese are said to have come in and rebuilt the roads. Secondary paved roads are often fine, but occasionally can be very badly potholed. Dirt roads in some areas, particularly Namibia and South Africa, can be quite good but more often are badly neglected. Major erosion issues such as deep ruts crossing the road where the water runoff occurs in the wet season create real challenges for any vehicle lacking significant ground clearance.
You can easily access most areas in South Africa and Namibia, but road conditions get much worse as you begin to move further north. Off the main highway, Botswana’s roads can get really bad, while Tanzania is infamous for the terrible condition of its unpaved roads. We were warned repeatedly about how bad these roads are. They are known to break vehicles and were certainly a factor in our own decision to not go further north than we did. In planning any trip to Africa, and most especially to either East or West Africa, you should inquire closely as to the quality of the roads you can expect to encounter and your choice of vehicle should reflect these conditions.
Weather and Seasonal Patterns: This is a difficult topic to consider at this time due to changing weather patterns caused by climate change. Typically sub-Saharan countries have a dry season and two wet seasons, early and late. The dry runs somewhere between April or May through October or November; the early rains come in November/December and the late rains in January to March or April. Normal advice is to avoid the rains, in particular the late rains when most of the annual rainfall occurs. This is a very general description, but if you research the best time to visit for various locations it is an overview of what you will find.
The problem for the overland traveler planning a year or more in Africa is that much of southern Africa in particular is experiencing a lengthy drought right now. We used the general information shown above, together with more specific predictions for each country, in an effort to avoid the muddy road problems we anticipated running into during the wet seasons. But in the end it turned out that the sixteen months of our trip, from July 2018 through November 2019, fell entirely within a period of extended drought. Over most of southern Africa the rains of November ’18 through April ’19 failed to materialize, and as a result our experience was primarily one of dry and arid bush country with vanishing rivers and very little greenery. News articles we have seen since leaving Africa confirm our experience. They also unfortunately suggest that, just as is being experienced in Australia, southern Africa is likely looking at continuing hotter and drier than normal conditions due to ongoing climate change. We urge anyone considering a trip to Africa or Australia to go ahead and do it, but seek out as much weather information as possible and don’t rely solely on historical norms in making your plans and determining your route.
Methods of Travel in Africa: Whew! This is a big topic, so bear with me. Most tourism in Africa is of the fly-in safari type and opportunities to do this range from the somewhat affordable to the extremely expensive. With enough research and enough flexibility in your own scheduling you should be able to find something along these lines to suit if you desire a short term group experience.
Another option is to fly in and do a group tour in a rental motor home, 4x4 or on a motorcycle. There are plenty of these around with varying lengths, routes and budgets. Each of these options offers advantages, especially in terms of the organization of your trip being done for you, guided tours and game drives either included or available, etc. But of course they share the disadvantages that come with any group travel experience as well. You will also find that these options are pretty expensive in Africa.
If you prefer to travel on your own schedule, then your choices are basically three. Fly in for a fixed length of time and rent a suitable vehicle; fly in for a longer or more open- ended time frame and buy a vehicle which you will then plan to sell at the end of your journey; or ship your own vehicle to Africa — as we did.
The plusses and minuses of each of these choices are the same as they would be in any other destination, be it Europe, North or South America, Australia/New Zealand, or anywhere else. Renting is easiest to arrange and involves the least risk, but if you contemplate a journey of longer than two to three months it will quickly become the more expensive option. Buying and selling a vehicle is possible in Africa but we cannot speak to how difficult it is or in which countries it would be easiest to accomplish. We can only say that we met some people who were doing it.
Shipping your own vehicle to Africa, as we did, has many advantages if you already own a suitable vehicle. We love traveling in our Tiger and enjoyed having it in Africa just as we have in all the other places we have taken it, so if you already own a suitable camping vehicle or camping trailer, by all means look into shipping it to Africa. One caveat for Africa however is a very important one. Our truck is four wheel drive, but we learned that for Africa we would have liked having something smaller and more capable, specifically something with more ground clearance. Probably the ideal vehicle for travel in Africa would be a Jeep/Land Rover/Toyota-sized 4x4. Naturally, along with this move would come many compromises in terms of overall comfort, and prospective travelers should carefully consider all of their available options. To emphasize, we were totally comfortable traveling in Africa in our Tiger. The caveat being that we were also somewhat limited in where we were willing or able to go primarily due to its limited ground clearance.
With this in mind, we somewhat reluctantly - and to our own surprise - would suggest that the best way to overland in Africa may well be to plan a series of rental excursions of one to three months length, doing one region at a time until you have seen the areas you want to see. This format offers two main advantages. First it allows you be more selective as to what time of year you’d like to visit each region, avoiding the hottest or wettest times. Second, it would allow you to travel in a smaller vehicle than you may want to own for longer term travel in other locations and would also give you the chance to experiment with your vehicle choices as you gained more experience of African overland travel. As an example of this, you will learn that in Africa, most campgrounds are part of a lodge, not stand alone camping areas. Thus, you may determine that your rental vehicle does not have to provide camping facilities but can just be an SUV (perhaps with provision for doing some cooking) with the greater driving comfort these offer. If you make this choice, you will pay higher costs for staying in a lodge room or chalet rather than in the camp site; but will pay less for the rental itself. Your call.
Traveling on a Carnet: Should you opt to ship in your own vehicle you will probably need to travel on a Carnet de Passages en Duane, which is basically a passport for your vehicle. The Carnet system is used for many types of temporary import shipping, not just for vehicles. Things like the amps and speakers for a musical show, or samples and displays for a trade show. Anything that is only imported into a country for a short time and then must be taken out of the country again after a specific time frame. The Carnet serves as a bond to insure that if you bring something in you will take it out again.
For the overland traveler, only a few regions of the world still require a Carnet for personal vehicles; Australia and Africa are the only areas where we have needed to get one; New Zealand also requires a Carnet had we shipped our vehicle there. Carnets can be obtained from only a very few sources. It used to be that national automobile clubs like AAA in the US, CAA in Canada or the ADAC in Germany and RAC in England would issue carnets, but now for US and British residents at least, the only company offering this service is Boomerang Carnets, located in Illinois.
The Carnet is issued on an annual basis and must be extended if you will be traveling past the date when it expires. As you are in effect posting a bond, it is a fairly costly item, with the cost being based on the value of your vehicle and the countries you will be visiting during the period covered. The newer and more expensive the vehicle, the higher the cost of the Carnet. But, if you need it, you need it. For example, our shipping agent would not even accept our Tiger for shipment to Australia without having the Carnet in effect. The same was true the following year when we shipped from Australia to South Africa. Some of the cost of the Carnet is refundable once the vehicle has left the affected countries.
In our case, with a vehicle value of $25,000 USD, over a three year period - including Australia - we paid a total of $7,110 USD for our coverage. When our vehicle was back in its home country and our carnet was returned to Boomerang, we received a refund of $4,000 USD. Therefore, our cost of having the carnet in effect for three years was a net of $3,110 USD. Your costs will vary based on the value of your vehicle, the countries you will be visiting, and of course the number of years you will need the carnet.
In Africa, if your vehicle arrives in a country that does not require a Carnet, such as Morocco, then you can travel from country to country without a Carnet by paying a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) fee as you enter each country. If you fly to Africa and then purchase a vehicle this is also how you would handle it. In the long run going the TIP route would likely be less expensive than getting the Carnet, but this will only work in one of these two scenarios: bringing your own vehicle into a country that doesn’t require the carnet and traveling on from there or buying a vehicle once you are in Africa.
Political Considerations: As in other parts of the world right now, political stability cannot be assumed. In Africa, corruption in government is a long-standing problem in many countries right along with tremendous inequality between rich and poor. In the past year (2019) price increases for fuel have caused significant disruptions in countries around the region while in South Africa there is rising antagonism directed at immigrants from other African countries. The overland traveler has always had to be aware of these issues and is well advised to learn as much as possible before entering a country or region. That said, by talking with locals when possible and watching for news items on line just as we check weather forecasts we never ran into any situations that made us feel in the least uncomfortable or unsafe.
Any specifics we mention here will certainly be different at a time when you might be considering your own trip, so we mention them only by way of citing an example. We had hoped to visit Zimbabwe based on positive reports by other travelers on their own visits in 2017 and 2018, but in the end we did not. At the time we would have entered the country there was significant unrest, with protests against the government over rising fuel costs as well as the relative unavailability of fuel. These issues were affecting public transit as well, so people were unable to get to their jobs and discontent was widespread. Reluctantly we decided to cancel our plans to visit what is said to be a lovely country populated with friendly people.
Safety and Security Concerns: We never once felt threatened or insecure during our time in Africa. We found the local people to be friendly and welcoming without exception and our interactions with them were unfailingly positive. The times we spent wild camping out in the bush were some of our favorite moments, just as such times are in every other area we have traveled. As always we acknowledge that our experience does not necessarily demonstrate that you or other travelers will never encounter difficulties in Africa. Only that we felt no more at risk during our time there than we have in every other part of the world we have been fortunate enough to visit.
Conclusion: Well that about covers it. If you are considering overland travel in Africa we sincerely hope that some of this information might be helpful to you. For more of a narrative picture of our African travels, you might enjoy our overview article, Memories of Africa, and for more stories of our time there any of our seventeen other postings from Africa.
Also, please don’t hesitate to send us an email with any questions we may be able to answer for you. We loved our time in Africa and are sure that you will too.
Safe Travels
Rick Howe
Links to other travelers’ websites we found helpful:
- Dan Grec The Road Chose Me
- Kym & Lyn Bolton Goanna Tracks
- Marcus & Julie Tuck Tucks Truck