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…
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…
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…
Catering & Shopping
Nowadays most African towns have good quality supermarkets where all your food shopping can be done. In some countries the bottle shop is separate so you may have to shop…
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…
Getting around Namibia article in Travel Africa 96
Great edition of Travel Africa magazine focusing on the practical aspects of self-drive journeys in Namibia. To coincide with this we are launching our own back to Africa project that…
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…
Zambia update C19
Paul Barnes reports from Zambia Tourists are now entering Zambia again. It is a requirement that they have a COVID negative test certificate no older than four days prior…
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…
Camping in Comfort
Self drive safaris are very tiring especially in the hotter times of the year and if you are camping. Heat, dust, rain, and mud combine to sap your strength and…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Pre-Departure
The countdown to your journey has begun and in this section, we cover all the items that you need to be thinking about before setting off.
Everything including health, visas, money, driver training, packing, final payments, double-checking all the bookings, need to be planned and sorted out.
Don’t leave it till the last minute!
- Layout the kit you are taking in advance
- Don’t be tempted to take too much
- Remember the weather conditions you will be flying to when packing
- Plan your immunisation early
- Travel Insurance is vital
- Flying doctor insurance critical
- Be realistic about your abilities – take training courses
- Put in place a backup plan in advance