A Wild Jouney - Expedition Africa 2008-2012

“... A good traveller doesn't leave any tracks ..." Tao Tse Chung

Long is the way, very long indeed—OUR JOURNEY, OUR DREAM!

Some may dream about a career, a big car or a nice house, some about a wonderful woman, white sand beaches, high mountains and far away landscapes. Unfortunately for many of them it stays merely a dream, forever only fantasy, never reality. We decided to fulfil our dream! We want to inhale the fragrance of Africa, see its exotic nature, watch an uncountable number of sunrises and sunsets, smell the savanna and acacias and not only feel the freedom but also everything that comes with a trip through this continent, inclusive of everything negative. The idea to go to Africa is already a few years old, but was swapped for New Zealand, also a country quite far away, on the other side of the world, full of nice people and impressive nature, but not quite the exotic, adventurous background that Africa has. And after returning to “stressful” Europe the wish for freedom and new experiences grew stronger and stronger.

We hadn’t had a concrete idea yet as to when, where and how in Africa, but the “bush drums” in our heads were drumming louder and louder till we knew, something had to be done about it! One just can’t escape the "call of the wild"! First we wanted to take part into some volunteer project in a national park, taking care of animals, but after a lot of internet research we found out that probably not much of all the money we would spend for this would really go to where it’s most needed but stays in the pockets of administration, one pays a lot of money, works for free, pays flight nd pocket money on top and finally just fills up the tills of the management level instead of real help for the project...so we scrapped this idea. We decided to go our own way, completely on our own! At first, we wanted to go only from South Africa to Kenya but then “stumbled” across the Overlander Network...a homepage for people who cross continents in their vehicles...and the idea was born! Why only go a short way if we can cross the whole continent? Jeeez, how excited we were at the prospect of this adventure!

And so it is now: If we go by car, then down the whole length of one side of the continent. We would like to cross Africa from its northernmost point “Ras Ben Sakka” in Tunesia through Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia till Africa’s southernmost point, which is, as you see on the map, not the "Cape of Good Hope", but “Cape Agulhas” in South Africa. On this trip we hope to learn a lot on African culture, its tribes and people who are so different from us Europeans, traditions and to see their happiness and sorrows. With our own eyes we would like to see, how far the media clichees about humanitarian aid differ from reality and how for example 1 EUR can heal one child from blindness! (No, we are not crazy...we just quote some advertisement) And wild animals? Yeeeeeeees, we can’t wait to see the first Elephants, Camels, lions, antelopes, crocs and hippos which till now we only know from zoos! We hope to see still countlss numbers of them before it's too late and they have all been shot by "tough, rich hunters and poachers".

People around us have all sorts of opinions. Of course, our parents don't really like the idea and some people ask if we have gone mental while others would love to come with us. Mostly however, people have the same opinion as we have - that it will be a journey full of adventure, of experiences and unforgettable moments, but also of possible trouble and that we will have to rely on ourselves. A trip like this will definitely give us something that no one could ever take from us and that would stay with us forever, something we could never find here in Europe. Soe of our views will change and so will our lives.

Our Journey will first bring us to Italy, where we will be swallowed by a big ship and hopefully spits us out DRY on African soil—in Tunesia! After a roundtrip through this country we will somehow make place in our car for our guide who will lead us through Libya, unfortunately it is a must to take one. So in the evenings we will sit around the fire being 3 people and grill sausages (but NO pork! Or beer! :o( ) Because these things are strictly forbidden in Libya! So we don’t even need to try smuggling something, otherwise we could only report from Tunesia—out of a Libyan prison!

In Egypt we would like to see many of the fascinating oasises, the remains of this ancient, Egyptian culture and walk along the river Nile. From the country of the mighty pyramids we will “swim” across the big Lake Nasser until Wadi Halfa in Sudan (just recently they discovered the world’s 3rd biggest subterranean lake in this country). From there on we will hopefully without any bigger problems cross the Nubian desert and meet some of the blackest people of the African continent before we arrive in the next fascinating country full of contrasts—Ethiopia! This highland, known for its very good coffee is full of different tribes and cultures. After this, we will go “downhill” till Kenya, to visit the majestic Massai and chat with them over some freshly roasted goat’s meat before visiting some national parks there and moving on to Tanzania, land of the mighty Kilimanjaro, which we hope to climb.

And after a climb like this we would like to relax in Malawi, sit by the side of the lake and taste their national dish “Chambo”. Following this we have a few possibilities: Shall we first go to Zambia and marvel at the amazing Victoria Falls or shall we try our fishing luck on Mozambique’s long stretched beaches? It doesn’t really matter because we would like to see ALL countries of Southern Africa—Namibia with it’s red Etosha Pan and skeleton coast, Botswana with its untouched nature...which way we will ever choose, you can follow OUR WILD JOURNEY through our diary or have a look at (hopefully) amazing photos in our Photoalbum…see how wild we might look by then, how big the fish were we caught or how exotic and “out-of-this-world” the people we met.

South Africa will probably be our last station, maybe it’s the most famous country of this part of the world...you know the “Cape of Good Hope”, discovered 1488 by the Portuguese seafarer B. Diaz, but did you know that the REALLY southernmost point is “Cape Agulhas”? No? Doesn’t matter...we will send you pictures!

We are not under pressure, we have a basic route planned, but will leave the rest to fate, for us it's not about speed and how fast one can go down to South Africa (it seems very fashionable nowadays!!!) nor is it about ticking countries off a list ("yes, I have been there - but don't know a thing"). If you are looking for some special attractions and a speedy Cairo - Capetown trip, please visit other traveller's websites, here is nothing about this. We are here to enjoy and to deeply experience.

In each country we would like to meet locals, get to know something about their habits and traditions and leave behind us tracks in the sand and memories and experiences of a good meeting, not stickers! If that's what you think as well...welcome to our diaries!

Back home we would like to share our experiences with all of you - don't worry, there will be no stories about how dangerous and deadly this continent is...we leave this to the media!
And even after all these experiences we are still missing one...sea sickness! That’s why we will (as far as it’s possible) go by ship and together with our bumblebee go back home, just to make sure we don’t miss out on anything!

Have a look on our travel map

MAP

GO UP