How to Spend your safari budget wisely
The game viewing experiences at a waterhole are often the same whether you are paying £500 a night staying in lodge or £25 a night staying in a campsite and…
Animal Tails, the tuskless elephants of Ruaha
When I was a small child my Mother mistakenly took me to the cinema to watch what she thought was a child-friendly film about elephants. It was, in fact, a…
Article in Land Rover Owner
Baring the soul in a high profile magazine was a little daunting. This is tough reading for anyone that loves Land Rovers and at the time accounted for many years…
Health on the Road
It’s especially important that you take your own health seriously when you are a long way from home in countries that have no National Health service, no Ambulance service, and…
Travel Rescue is a better bet, article in Travel Africa 93
Don’t you just hate paying for travel insurance? I would rather spend the money on a flight over the Okavango Delta or splashing out on the honeymoon suite at Cottars…
10 Ways to Stay Safer
As Andrew Pierre White succinctly put it on a safety video about driving the roads of Africa, the easiest way to stay safe is to …. Slow Down! This simple…
How dangerous is the wildlife on a self-drive safari?
Given that many camping areas are completely unfenced and inside National Parks what are the real dangers for a self-drive family in Botswana or Namibia? The answer may surprise you…
Why travel rescue is better than travel insurance!
When you have a serious problem overseas; the medical emergency, the car accident, the crashing fall off a mountain bike, the mistimed landing on your paraglider, the rockfall, or the…
Whats has been happening in the Serengeti these past few months?
Its easy to forget that the world has not stopped turning, the sun still rises over the Serengeti Plains, the Zambezi is still pounding through its gorges creating wild spray…
8 Pre-Departure Checks
Setting out for the remote bush in Africa needs some preplanning so that you are self-sufficient and in the event of breakdown or incident you have a plan in place.…
Essentials to Pack
The leatherman is my single most useful and versatile piece of kit – just remember not to put it your hand luggage. As someone who only packs at the last…
Low Season is best
Why Travel in the Low Season? Firstly its a better experience The “low” season is simply travelling when other people don’t which can be for many reasons. It might be…
Why Tanzania is a tough self drive destination
Self drivers in Tanzania struggle with finding decent vehicles, making National Parks bookings and the high prices everywhere. Whilst there are the traditional car hire companies out of the main…
Free Spirit article in Travel Africa 92
When you have to explain to someone who has never been to Africa what you do and why driving your own vehicle on safari is the best experience and it’s…
Planning
This section covers the many different aspects you need to think about early on at the planning stages of your journey. Research the regions, check the guide books and look at the maps. Mistakes made at this time are very hard to put right later on.
Journey Planning Principles
- The main thing is not to try and cover too much ground.
- Add extra time for the “Africa” factor, you will need it
- Allow time at the start to get over the flight, briefings, shopping etc
- First days driving should be short to allow extra time to set up camp
- Most journeys work best as a mix of camping and lodges
- Use lodges/hotels in towns for security and ease
- Two or three nights camping followed by lodge nights works well
- Try to use owner run and operated lodges.
- Generally, camp more at the start of the journey
- Self-drive trips are very tiring so slow down as the journey progresses
- Build in a few days mini holiday at the end to wind down and relax
- The trip will never be long enough so try to go for as long as possible