Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Otherside]

I'm interested in doing an overland Africa trip. Something along the lines of Cape to Nairobi (or reverse) over about 42 days. From what I've seen there are numerous operators who run such a trip, and all seem pretty similar apart from the price (which can vary from about $2000 - $3500 for what appears to be the same deal).

So I was wondering, does anyone have any experience on such a trip, and do you have any comments, tips, or perhaps an operator to recommend.

Cheers

[RufusW]

I've heard travellers say Africa's actually pretty easy to travel around independently. I can't wait to hit it myself in a couple of years....

Anyway, you'll definitely be able to find plenty of info at thorntree travel forums (google it).

FWIW, I'd travel by myself, travelling's all about freedom!

[Otherside]

[Tiger Beer]

[RufusW]

Well I said that because I've met people who've travelled Africa and found it 'surprisingly' easy; although it may well be the hardest place to travel independently. I didn't realise you'd been there before (and to some of the harder places i.e Zimbabwe!) But I think a lot of people still see Africa as a 'heart of darkness' and impenetrable. I wasn't even thinking of those countries you'd already visited.

It is a little bold to say I'd do it by myself but that's what I'm going to do. I think I'm an aware traveller and someone who can deal with uncomfortable situations..... I don't like travelling with other people. And yes, I'd be going Option B.

I've got to say.... finding Africa boring because of the nightlife difference is ridiculous. I don't think there's a country in the world I'd travel to for nightlife..... except maybe Thailand.

If you're going for drinks and a social atmosphere then you'd definitely want to go in a group.

[Otherside]

Rufus, my point regarding the nightlife, wasn't to say that Africa is boring, but rather to say that when travelling alone it is much harder to meet up with other travellers than say Thailand or Europe.

I definitly don't see Africa as impenetrable and the "heart of Darkness" (I'm South African, so I'd like to think I have more on the ground experience than most), yet I think I'm aware of the problems, and also know my limitations and what I'm willing to enjoy.

I'm sorry my post came off a bit harsh, but it seems whenever I mention this trip to mates from SA the response is "Wow, that sounds awesome..pretty rough though?" and whenever I mention it to Canamericans their response is along the lines of "why go with a group? I'd rather do it myself" I guess you can see the irony there.

FYI, http://www.overlandingafrica.com/tour-details.php?tid=104&dd=6442 This is the link to the kind of tour I'm thinking of doing.

Tiger, outside of SA, the nightlife of trendy bars/clubs, becomes very rare. You either have the hotel/expat scene which is horrendously expensive, or the local shebeen type scene which is different at best and outright dangerous at worst (ESPECIALLY on your own). Granted it's hard to generalise an entire continent, and i'm sure there are exceptions, this is just been my impression and that of my friends. On the other hand, having a braai (barbeque) at night on the beach in Mozambique, can be one of the greatest ways to experience an evening

Lastly, my mother is going to Ethiopia in May, my first response was "why?" ...hehe, if I remember, I'll try let you know how it went

[D.D.]

Africa is friggin dangerous otherwise I would have gone there years ago. Truth is my friends have lost many friends in daylight in SA. There are also many places more dangerous than S.A. in Africa.

Travel is cool but losing your life just to cruise around Africa?

[phenomenon09]

I lived in Kenya, about an hour outside of Nairobi, for two years. Although I've never been an overland tourist myself, I traveled enough throughout East Africa to meet a fair share of them.

Catching an overland tour is a cheap way to get to a lot of the "must sees" in Africa without getting too deep into the culture. You'll meet a lot of the independent traveler types as well as other overlanders, but most of the tours are whirlwind and don't give you much time to get to know the locals.

Personally, I'd say it's easy enough to travel Africa independently, and if you pick up a Lonely Planet and follow their accommodation advice you'll meet plenty of like-minded travelers. Most of the people who choose to go this route, though, are in it for a long-term; 6 months or longer. The great thing about an overland tour is it's cheap and quick. It's like a sampler platter - you get just a taste of everything without getting to savor much. But at the same time, it is perhaps the best way to figure out what you want to eat more of next time. So go ahead and order the sampler this go round; when you find something you want to savor, order the full dish next time.

[Tiger Beer]

[Tiger Beer]

EDIT: double post.

[Otherside]

[PaulPizzazz]

In a few months I will be leaving for my big holiday. A big chunk of that holiday will include an overland route through Africa. I'm starting to get excited

My trip in Africa will last 5 months and will begin after I've finished my 7 months of backpacking through Asia. So it'll give me 1 year of solid traveling.

I plan to do a loop starting in Tanzania, then Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia and finishing in Zambia. I will be in S.A. for the World Cup. Soon I will be looking into making reservations for a room and perhaps a couple tickets for matches. Of the 4 months in South East Asia, 3 months India-Nepal and 5 months in Africa, the one month in South Africa is the only planned month that cannot change. The World Cup is June 2010, so that's when I must be there.

For me, I'm not interested in doing these kind of trips through operators. I will be doing my whole trip solo, knowing that I will be meeting new people all the time. So in fact I will have new travel companions with me at any given time. The freedom to make new friends and call my own shots is very important. It depends what you are comfortable with though I guess. Most people I know (even travelers) are not very keen on going to Africa because (IMO) there is something about traveling that continent that scares the crap out of them. I understand that doing it all with an operator at least takes a lot of the worry out of the equation.

Personally I feel that it's my time to tackle this "last" continent. Having traveled throughout my own country (Canada), Europe, South America and Asia, I can say that I feel about as confident as I ever will to attempt Africa on my own. I'm aware I will encounter hardships while I'm there. I want to have that in the back of my head so that I can minimize the risk factor, but I don't want it to be why and with what I reason everything I do while I'm there. I do expect it to be rough going and it will surely be rougher at points than what I've imagined it to be. I hope to be ok with all of that.

I've met a few people that have said living or traveling in Africa "changed" them. It touched them in a way that nowhere else on Earth can. To me, that's super deep. The power of Africa, to see both the best and worst of humanity. I want it!!

I will not be purchasing plane tickets until I'm on site, so as to have maximum freedom to allow for deviation in my journey.

Hopefully to finish my trip I will fly up to Spain where I will then try to get work on a sailboat so that I can cross over the Atlantic to go back to North America.

Anyhow, I recommend time, money, experience, research, and confidence to undertake these kinds of gut-check life testing events.

If any 'well traveled' people want to give me some feedback I would be interested to listen. Whether you've been to Africa or not.

[Otherside]

Paul, that trip sounds awesome. If I had the time and the temperament I'd love to do something along those lines. I'll also be in SA during the World Cup but hopefully I won't see you as I'll be in JHB (you'd be a fool to spend any length of time in JNB, but from my perspective it'll be great - my hometown and 3 stadiums -20+ games within 50km of my house). The only thing that I thought i'll mention, which none of the world cup promoters have mentioned, is that June/July is winter in SA and by far the worst time of the year to go to Cape Town (just like a London winter, dark and rainy, but about 15degrees warmer lol.)

[RufusW]

Yea that sounds like a sweet trip. Do you mind me asking how much you've budgeted for the whole year and how much for Africa?

The sailboat across the Atlanitc sounds great. It's my dream to go around the world overland. but it's gonna be a bugger getting across the Pacific at least...

Nepal was incredible for me. I hiked 'Around Annapurna' 30 days and 300 miles of bliss.....although in the high season it's really busy.... not so cool.

[PaulPizzazz]

RufusW;

Up until the financial crisis, this was my budget: 20 million won.
At the time that was equal to 20,000$Can, or almost 20,000Us.

With that I hoped to live on a basic allowance of 1million won/month. So 1 year = 12million

My flights should cost around 4million. (If I am to do the following flights: Seoul to Indonesia - HongKong to Mumbai - Kathmanda to Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg to New York or Johannesburg to Barcelona) Plus a couple short flights (Lusaka, Zambia to Joburg and New York to Ottawa).

That puts me at 16million. The remaining 4 million would be used for things that go above my day to day expenditures, ie; a month of World Cup, guided hikes in the Himalayas, a couple safaris, scuba diving, visas, random fun activities and random unknown costs.

But now that the won is weaker, I'm upping my budget to 25million. Hoping that this will do me well enough. Though I will be leaving Korea with quite a bit more than 25million, I won't dip into that unless it's absolutely necessary.

So ya, a month in Asia at a million a pop (or so a bit more ) and the same with Africa. My impression is that things in Africa should be really cheap, but that I will have to pay the "white man's" prices. So perhaps things will be pricey. Yet I am willing to rough it and won't be cutting difficult corners by spending more money than is necessary.
I ruled out Zimbabwe cause the country is in chaos. And I ruled out Botswana cause from what I read, the country is way underdeveloped. Without roads and all the only option is to take small internal flights while seeing areas with operators And lodging is limited and expensive as well. So basically traveling that particular country is not really a budget friendly option.

I would really like to do the sailing route home. I've also looked into the options of riding a cargo ship or taking a cruise across the Atlantic. Sailing does have a unique appeal to it. I've found that there are many boats crossing from Europe. Though my chances of landing a spot would greatly improve if I had some experience, as of now I have none. So I might look into getting a crash course done in Busan during my week off in July. We'll see.


Otherside;

What I'm trying to figure out these days is where to be in S.A. during World Cup. I knew that I prolly didn't want to be in Joburg. So I'm thinking Pretoria for a couple weeks. It's still close to Joburg and Rustenburg, in case I wanted to catch matches going on there.
As great as Cape Town appears, I was thinking against it because my impression is that that would be a place many toursits would want to be. And so things would be more expensive as well. So I was thinking a couple weeks in Port Elizabeth. That way i also get a couple weeks in near the coast. I never thought about bad weather, perhaps it will be bad all along the coast (P.E. and Durban included..?)
What do you think of this lose plan of mine?
To be honest I would rather not make any reservations for S.A. but I feel it would be unwise to just arrive in the country expecting to find a room/match tickets and all.

I know that Joburg and other parts of S.A. can be pretty rough. I'm am slightly under the impression that the government is going to use everything in it's disposal (police, army, etc..) to ensure the highest level of safety that they can possible muster (whatever that is..). I mean the whole world will be watching them. So I think the country will care about violence in general. What do you think?

Paul