Days 107 & 108: South Africa

Day 107

And so after 107 days on the road which equated to 16,168 miles or 26,202km we had reached the most southerly point of mainland Africa called Cape Augulas. It felt weird to be at such a geographical extreme having got there overland in a 19 year old vehicle.

We sat for a while staring out to sea knowing that Antarctica lay far off beyond the horizon, but after a few waves had crashed against the rocks below our feet, it was time to continue the journey to Cape Town where we would meet up with Joachim for the first time since we towed him to Nairobi.

Joachim himself had only arrived back two days previously, and so was still unpacking when we arrived. After welcoming us into his house in Milnerton and introducing us to his wife Tine, we sat down to dinner discussing the different routes we had taken and telling tales of our differing journeys.



Day 108

We knew that before we could get up the west coast that we would need to get the Landrover looked at by a mechanic to see if it was in good enough condition. We knew that two of the UV joints needed replacing, and that the rear shocks that we had bought in Khartoum were now broken as they were just cheap replacements.

Joachim took us to a Landrover specialist who he knew from when preparing his San Yung 4x4 for the trip, and we found two used shock absorbers and a series of bushes and washers which the garage donated to us for free. Then the mechanic gave the Landrover a quick once over, and explained that the front propeller shaft would need replacing, that we needed a new rear differential oil seal and that all four wheel bearings should be serviced. Coupled with the fact that the new fuel tank was still not sealed correctly and slowly dripping from the side, along with many other minor fixes being required, we knew that we didn’t have enough funds to repair the Landrover and head up the west coast.

In effect, our trip was then over and we would need to ship the Landrover back to the UK. Although slightly disappointed, we had both agreed along the way that to drive all the way from the UK to Cape Town in a 19 year old Landrover like we did would be an achievement, and that if we got as far as Cape Town we would be happy. It was just a shame we didn’t have he funds to return home by land, but on the west coast of Africa we would have needed to spend £1000/€1100 just on visas.

The distance travelled from Wrexham to Cape Town was double what we had planned and accounted for, but we would never regret taking the detours to see some of the amazing places we did see along the way. With us driving on some really terrible roads through Africa, the technical problems that we had with the Landrover on the way had mounted up, but not once had we broken down. As they say, a Landrover is always sick, but never dead, and with the engine still in brilliant condition having done 140,000miles/225,000km given time and money back home, it will be back on the road again soon.



The blog will continue slowly over the next three weeks as we ship the Landrover back to the UK and get the chance to have a look around Cape Town, but there wont be too much to write about from now on having already written more words in the blog than my university diploma thesis.

Days 105 & 106: South Africa

Day 105

With the Congo visas obtained and our passports back, we tried to see if we could apply for any more, but after a morning of finding embassies where the waiting time for visas was over two weeks, we decided to carry on with our journey towards Cape Town.

Before we left Pretoria we had time to go and to see the Loftus Versveld Stadium where the security guard let us in to have a quick look, but sadly wouldn’t allow us to take any photos. The staff at the stadium all seemed to be gearing up heavily towards the world cup, and there was an air of excitement as it was the day that the remaining tickets went on sale to the general South African public.

The roads out of Pretoria led us south west past Jo-berg and down through a number of towns before it was time to look for somewhere to stop for the night. We eventually found a Guest house in a town called Wolmarandsstad knowing it would take us another two days to get to Cape Town from there.

Day 106

We had found that cheap accommodation isn’t really too prevalent in South Africa, and wanting to save on money we hit the road early so that we could attempt to get to a town near the coast called Oudsthoorp by the evening where we knew from the guide book that there was a cheap backpackers hostel.

The drive through the centre of South Africa was made quite tedious due to roadworks in preparation for the world cup, but by taking this route we avoided the tolled N1 route.

We arrived in Oudsthoorp just before sundown and found the hostel where we could park outside and sleep in the rooftent. Although it is often tricky to find an appropriate parking space where we can unfold the rooftent, at times it has been really easy to use, as after three months we can unfold it or pack it away in under two minutes time which is a lot quicker than erecting a normal tent.

Days 103 & 104: South Africa

Day 103

For a while we had realised that we would not have enough money to carry out the intended second part of the trip around South and North America, after many things along the way had cost a lot more than expected and having swallowed up the contingency money in preparation, and travelling through Europe. Plan ‘B’ was to get to Cape Town and ship the car back to the UK, but after speaking to Beverly in Khartoum who had travelled down the west coast of Africa, we realised that once we got to Cape town it might actually be just as expensive to drive back up the west coast as it is to ship the Landrover back to the UK whilst we flew back.

The new route back home would take us through Namibia, DR Congo, Rep Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco and Spain, and would involve getting numerous tricky and expensive visas prior to starting our return journey. The Angolan visa we knew would be the trickiest, and so we thought we would visit every Angolan embassy along the way to improve our chances of being successful, the first of which was is Gaberone. The official at the embassy told us it wasn’t possible there, but possibly in Pretoria, Cape Town or Windhoek (the next three we knew we could visit).

With no visa obtained, we headed east out of Botswana and into South Africa, the final country on the first leg of our journey. Once we arrived in Pretoria, just like Botswana it was proving difficult to find cheap accommodation, and the one place we had in mind had closed down, so yet again we found a campsite on the edge of town to camp for the seventh night in a row, the longest sequential spell of camping on the journey so far.



Day 104

The night was cold for the first time since Turkey as we were now below the Tropic of Capricorn, well into the southern hemisphere and a temperate climate once more. The first task of the day was to find a few of the embassies of the countries we intend to travel through on the west coast and enquire about visas.

We found the Democratic Republic of Congo embassy and began our visa application before heading to the Angolan embassy to see if we would be able to get a visa there. After chatting to the security guard, we then got to speak to the ambassador who informed us we could only really get them in Namibia. On the way out I explained to the security guard that we couldn’t apply for the visa in South Africa, and he commented: “I don’t know what’s wrong with these people.”

The next task was to find a cheap hostel, as the campsite from the previous night we could only describe as depressing. We managed to find a place near to the world cup stadium and shared a room with a Canadian called Ben, who knew more about world geography and politics than anyone else I know, and we chatted into the evening discussing everything from American States to African politics.

Days 101 & 102: Zambia & Botswana

Day 101

The town of Livingston lies 11km/7miles away from where the water of the Zambezi river crashes down hundreds of metres to give us one of the most famous waterfalls in the world; The Victoria Falls. On the short drive out to the falls the wide river is visible from the road with a breathtaking plume of water spray visible in the distance.

After entering the national park area, the roaring sound of water is audible and the waterfall slowly emerges into view from the woodland that surrounds the opposite edge of the river high up. A bridge links the river edge to an island in the middle of the river from where the experience of being so close to the waterfall really becomes apparent. Walking across the bridge was like being in the biggest torrential downpour ever, with every part of your clothes getting absolutely soaked through with water within one minute, it was unbelievable.

We walked around getting extremely wet, but getting the best views of the falls that the other dry tourists would miss out on. The falls were even more spectacular due to the large amount of water in the Zambezi for that time of year. We had heard how full the Zambezi was from other tourists, as we had been told that the pontoon ferry between Zambia and Botswana wasn’t running as the banks had flooded.

We headed upstream to the ferry and found out that they had constructed some temporary piers for the cars to get onto the pontoon ferry, and so we would be able to get into Botswana after all. The drive on the opposite side of the border was through the middle of the Savanah where we saw more elephants than people along the road to Francistown where we camped for the night.



Day 102

In between Francistown and Gaberone is a small Rhino Sanctuary near the town of Serowe, and having read in the guidebooks how cheap it was, we decided to pay a visit and attempt to tick off a few more animals from our ‘spotted’ list (Not a physical list I hasten to add).

The roads throughout the sanctuary were in really good condition, and we managed to cover near enough every road of the 4,300hectare site within about three hours viewing kudus, wildebeast, gazelles, impalas, vultures, ostriches, giraffes, zebras, warthogs along with five rhinos.

Happy with our game viewing we aimed to get to the Botswanan capital of Gaberone by the evening, and after searching for illusive cheap accommodation, after a few hours we found a campsite on the edge of town for a reasonable rate. The plan in Gaberone was to try and get the first of our visas for the second part of the trip once we had arrived in Cape Town.

Days 99 & 100: Malawi & Zambia

Day 99

The morning was spent trying to exchange money in the city centre, but for some reason which we still don’t understand, none of the banks or bureaux de change’s had much Zambian Kwatcha, and offered a ridiculously poor rate to the dollar if you were looking to buy.

Wanting to get rid of our Malawian Kwatcha we exchanged enough into dollars to get us through the border, then as much as we could into Zambian Kwatcha, some more into Botswanan Pula, and the rest we took to the border to exchange there. The currencies were beginning to become complicated for the first time on the trip.

The border was a relative formality, and we entered the nothingness of east Zambia to cover a lot of ground before the sun set. Without having anywhere in mind to stay for the night, we stumbled across a beautiful small camp called the Luangwa River Bridge Camp just off the main road which was run by a South African guy and his English wife where we rested our heads after yet another long drive.

Day 100

The next real destination of interest on our journey was the Victoria Falls outside Livingston, but we thought we might spend one day in the capital of Lusaka which was on the way. We arrived in Lusaka before midday and parked up to go and get some lunch before we decided whether to stay or carry on driving though the afternoon.

After deciding to carry on driving, we returned to the Landrover to see someone leaning inside with the door open. We both ran down the road towards the car with Nathan arriving on the scene first as I was carrying the laptop bag, when the guy spotted us and began to run. Nathan got a good hard kick at him and ripped the shirt off his back as he tried to apprehend him, but he scampered away having not stolen anything.

We arrived in Livingston and spent around two hours looking for somewhere to camp, eventually finding a hostel where we could park the Landrover around the back and sleep in the rooftent.

Days 97 & 98: Malawi

Day 97

The next morning we resumed our journey towards the Malawian border passing through Mbeya to stock up on money and fuel as the diesel in Malawi would become more expensive. The border crossing was a formality as we parted with no cash what so ever as the VISAs for UK citizens are free.

The road that follows the shore of Lake Malawi eventually twisted and turned its way up into the mountains, and once again the Landrover was overheating due to the increased pressure on the engine from the sudden rise in altitude. After a few stops to let it cool down whilst we watched the mountain baboons running up and down the road and swinging in the tree canopies, we resumed our journey to Nkhata Bay.

The Mayoka Village resort wasn’t the easiest to find, but its’ remote location on the bay was stunning. After we had eaten there we went to another resort to see if they had the Manchester United v Bayern Munich Champions League game on. Some of the locals invited us into one of the bars on the beach saying they would show a place with the game on, and so we got chatting and eventually went around the corner to watch the game in a strange unfinished hotel resort.

Day 98

The journey to the capital Lilongwe wasn’t as long as the previous two days of travelling which had seen us travel 1100miles/1771km and so it made a change when we arrived at our destination just after midday and checked into the Kiboko Campsite on the edge of the town.

We decided to utilise the facilities and spent the afternoon splashing about in the pool with the football. Once again after a few days of hard driving it was to good to have an afternoon off. If we had the money to spend more time lazing about, then Malawi would be the ideal place, but the budget was beginning to tug on our purse strings.

The Malawians seemed really laid back compared to the past few countries in Africa we had visited, and although we were only passing through, Malawi is another country I will probably visit again in the future. It’s just a shame that the beer in Malawi is all brewed by Carlsberg and is piss poor compared to the rest of the African beers we had sampled along the way.

Days 95 & 96: Tanzania

Day 95

The ferry back was due to leave at around 11am, so we checked out after a brief lie-in and went for some breakfast in a small café around the corner from the port. The Catamaran journey back to the mainland was really choppy, and at one stage we were nearly puked on by a little girl at the front of the boat who obviously didn’t like the rough sea that that catamaran was smashing through at pace.

Once back on the mainland, the cheapest way to return to the campground was to get two Matatus from the centre of town. If you can speak the language and can cope with cramped conditions the Hiace is a very cheap and relatively quick method of public transport as the journey back cost us much less than $5 between us.

After getting some money out and changing it to dollars, we retreated once again to the campground to watch DVDs on the beach under the full moon that hovered over the Indian Ocean.

Day 96

With our washing done and the Landrover packed, we started our journey to Malawi, hoping to get somewhere near the border by the time the sun went down. Trying to get the miles under our belt as quickly as possible so that we had more chance of getting to Mbeya, the border town by that evening had one major flaw. On one of the main roads heading through and out of a small town I got caught speeding.

The police had parked on the edge of the town with a radar gun and had clocked me doing 77kph in a 50kph zone, resulting in a £10/€11 on the spot fine. I had wanted to get to Cape Town without any speeding tickets, but when you are travelling 12,500miles/20,000km often at high speed through remote areas, the chances are that sooner or later you will probably get caught out.

We didn’t make it as far as Mbeya, but we found a small town called Matakyoko which wasn’t too much further from the border. We found a hotel called the Mid-town motel with really nice en-suite rooms for £2.50/€2.75 per person per night, and the meals from the restaurant turned out just as cheap. After all the day didn’t prove too costly at all.

Days 93 & 94: Tanzania

Day 93

With the Landrover needing attention yet again, we headed into Dar to see if we could find a garage. Whilst asking in a tyre garage, a local who was getting his wheels aligned offered to show us where a Landrover specialist was located in the city. We invited Matthew into the car to show us where it was, but when we arrived the place was shut as it was a Saturday.

The security guard had the phone number for a mechanic who worked there and so we gave him a call to see if he could help us. He was doing some private work at the time, but said if we drove up to meet him that he could quickly repair our car before returning to the other job. The house he was at was only around the corner from where we had stayed the previous night, and after finding him the job of replacing the bearings and oil seal whilst fixing the brake calliper was complete within a couple of hours.

We drove Matthew home and thanked him for his help in finding a mechanic. He had gone out of his way to help us and we appreciate the genuine kindness of people who just want to help, rather than the usual African way of helping and then asking for commission. We spent the evening having a few drinks before returning to the Silver Sands resort to go swimming/skinny dipping in the sea after sundown.



Day 94

Zanzibar is a small island just off the coast of Tanzania, famed in history as an important part of the early trade routes. Although our budget was beginning to tighten itself, we both agreed that we must visit the island whilst we were in the area, as we might not get a better chance to do so. We got a taxi down to the port, leaving the Landrover safely parked in the campsite, we booked our tickets and then boarded the next fast catamaran ferry that was leaving the rainy mainland.

The journey took just over an hour and a half, and we arrived in sunny Zanzibar to fill out more Tanzanian immigration and health forms before getting our passports stamped and being allowed onto the island. We took a walk around the old stone town passing through the narrow maze of alleyways that only scooters, bicycles and pedestrians could navigate. To lose the way around these twisting cobbled lanes was quite easy as a tourist, but whichever way you went, you would always end up back at the main road on one side, or the sea on the other.

It was Easter Sunday, and despite Zanzibar being a Muslim place it seemed quite subdued. The maze of alleyways led us eventually down to the old fort in which we found a nice little restaurant/bar where we had a drink and a game of pool for the first time on the trip. Just after the sun went down, we returned to the park on the promenade which had amazingly come alive with stalls selling charcoal grilled food enticing what appeared to be the entire town out to eat and socialise on the sea front. All the senses combined at once as the smell, sound, taste and sight threw up a dramatic and unexpectedly pleasant end of the evening in Zanzibar. (I’m not gonna cook it, but I’ll order it from Zanzibar! – not for one minute could me or Nathan get that song out of our heads.)

Days 91 & 92: Kenya & Tanzania

Day 91

Early the next morning we repaired the shock absorber and also managed to fix another leak from the fuel return air hose which meant we had a slightly reduced fuel capacity. With the car parked securely at the hotel, and the ferry across from the south beaches in Diani being a drive and then a ferry journey away, we decided to get a Matatu to the ferry and walk around Mombasa.

As much as I hate Matatus, they are a really quick and cheap method of transport, but to drive or conduct one you need an ego. We arrived at the ferry to see people crowding onto the flat deck around the vehicles like ants and within ten minutes we had set foot on the other side in Mombasa. Walking around the old town felt like being in a caneletto painting with the picture consisting of a place made up of parts of Africa, Europe and India.

After viewing the fort and walking around the old town, we headed back to the south beaches to cool down in the hotel room with a cold shower after spending the whole day in the hot and humid climate of the coast.



Day 92

Looking forward to entering a new country, we started our journey towards the Tanzania border at Lunga Lunga quite early. The border crossing took longer than expected due to a coach load of Tanzanians arriving at the same time, but after just over an hour of getting things stamped, we were into Tanzania.

The road to Tanga was quite poor in parts, and at one stage we overtook the aforementioned coach which had slid down the muddy embankment at the side of the road unable to get out. The roads yet again had taken their toll on the car and the front passenger side wheel wasn’t sounding to healthy, but instead of stopping we continued to Dar Es Salam where we knew we would have a better chance of getting a good fix or parts if needed.

It made a change to arrive somewhere before dark, and we found a hotel resort on the northern beaches of Dar called Silver Sands where we could camp for the night and get something to eat in the restaurant on the beautifully smooth beach sand.

Days 89 & 90: Kenya

Day 89

It was raining for the entire night, and so a few people who were camping on the ground had decided to sleep indoors rather than in a tent. I was OK in the rooftent which was raised 2m (6ft4in) above the flooded campsite and therefore only got a bit damp during the night.

After driving off road again the Landrover needed some slight attention once more, and so me and Nathan got the tools out and started fixing things which had rattled off, whilst at the same time tidying out the back of the Landrover which now looked like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle.

Nathans’ now fiancée Caz had to catch her flight in the evening, and so we drove her out to the airport to say goodbye. I yet again informed Caz on her departure that it’s never too late to change her mind.



Day 90

With Caz out of the way [I’m only joking Caz!!!] it was time for the two of us to back get on the road to Cape Town. The new route we had decided to take was along the coast of Kenya, through Tanzania and then into Malawi, and so our next destination was Mombasa. The entire road from Nairobi to Mombasa was just full of idiots for drivers. The worst incident of the trip happened as I was overtaking a series of slower moving vehicles on the single-carriage road.

Having overtaken one vehicle I continued to try and overtake an articulated lorry, keeping my indicator on and even beeping the horn to warn him that was overtaking. Just as got half way past the long trailer, he decided to pull out leaving me the only option to brake the hardest I ever have and to swerve onto the opposite hard shoulder. The brakes were smoking as we came to a halt only inches away from both the side of the lorry on one side and the grassy ditch to the other side.

After briefly venting our frustration with the driver we sped off towards Mombasa lucky to avoid a serious incident. The roads south of Mombassa along the beaches are cut off by the port, and so we thought the only way around according to the maps was to drive on back-roads through the countryside. This route contained poor roads again, and took a lot longer than we thought. At one stage one of the rear shock absorbers had fallen half way off, and after stopping to remove it completely we continued in the dark to the hotel with one shock missing.

Days 87 & 88: Kenya

Day 87

The park gates to the Masai Mara open every day as the sun comes up at 06:30 and shut as it goes down at 18:30 and so to utilise this timeframe so as only to pay for one days worth of park fees ($60 per person per day) we got up at 05:30 to get ready. Once we had driven through the gates, the first drive heading west took us past hundreds of Thomson Gazelle, Kudus, Wildebeests and buffaloes before Caz spotted a Lioness in the grass. There turned out to be three of them and it was quite pleasing not only to spot them at all, but within ten minutes of being in the park.

Next we spotted a lone elephant, before stumbling across a herd of giraffes, and eventually a herd of elephants. As we slowly approached in the Landrover and pulled over to take photos, we could see one of the elephants that was a mere 10metres (9 yards) away starting to slowly charge towards us! I quickly stepped on the accelerator and we sped off from the elephant that I’m pretty sure was giving us a first warning.

The day continued with spottings of baboons, hippos, warthogs and various other animals of all sizes until we needed to start our journey out of the park back to a hotel. The route out of the park was again off road and it had started raining heavily leaving some of the roads very wet. The real problems started when the rainwater would channel itself into the road to descend the hills, leaving a lot of the roads completely wet meaning we were effectively driving down rivers! The worst part was a muddy stretch where none of the road could be seen for a thin watery/muddy layer that was un-drivable. Luckily we turned around to find the main road out of the area and back towards civilisation, but we spent around five hours driving off road in the rain and dark through terrible conditions just to get a cheap hotel room for the night.



Day 88

With such an amazing day the previous day we decided to close the loop on our trip around Kenya back to Nairobi so that Caz could catch her flight back from Nairobi airport. I hadn’t been feeling too well all night and the dodgy stomach had continued into the day, so by the time we got back to JJs it was time to chill out.

After getting a much-needed lunch cooked by Nathan and Caz, I headed for a late afternoon kip in the rooftent. When I woke up again in the evening it appeared that the rain that we had witnessed in the Masai Mara had caught up with us in Nairobi.

The entire campground was flooded and so we all gathered inside the main house adjoining the campground for some noodles and a beer. This is when Caz informed me that whilst I was driving the Landrover around the Masai Mara with Nathan and Caz sat on the roofrack to get a good view, Nathan had proposed to Caz, and Caz had duly accepted his proposal! I informed Caz that it’s never too late to change her mind.

Days 85 & 86: Kenya

Day 85

The reason for visiting Lake Victoria was to see some hippos, and so after breakfast in the morning we drove south to hippo point to see how much we could hire a boat for. The prices were quite high and we couldn’t haggle a lower price so we decided to go and search at the other end of the town where we knew we would find some fish restaurants.

The whole end of the bay to the north was a long terrace of bars stretching wide along the shore, and long back onto the land, leaving a small space around the waters edge for power boats to dock, and for people to drive cars down into the lake to wash them. The fresh tilapia from Lake Victoria was on sale in the restaurants and so we shared a medium sized fried fish tilapia between us. (Whilst getting constantly hassled by hawkers and glue sniffing teenagers.)

Just before we were about to eat, we were approached by a bloke who said he could take us out on the lake in a powered boat to see the hippos for the same price as we could have hired a rowing boat at the last place. After some cheeky negotiation we haggled down the price to a reasonable figure and headed out onto the lake. We only managed to see one semi-submerged hippo for about two seconds, but the one-hour boat ride was quite interesting and we did get to see some Kingfishers.



Day 86

The night before the Landrover had been broken into at the front and an attempt had been made on the lock on the back as well. Nothing was stolen from the front (we remove all valuables when we leave the car parked), the back is impenetrable because of the second hasp lock we installed, and the car wasn’t stolen because we have an immobiliser and a steering lock. Luckily the two locks still function and so no real damage was done.

We started our journey heading to the Masai Mara just before lunchtime estimating that it would take us half a day to get there. After stopping for lunch we resumed our journey at good speed until we hit the off road part of the route.

Progress off road was slow and we ended up driving in the dark with rain starting to fall. One river crossing proved too difficult, as the approach was a very steep rocky dip on which we got the tow bar caught. After a five-minute job removing the tow bar we were on our way to Talek to find a cheap hotel for the night.

Days 83 & 84: Kenya

Day 83

With Caz’s flight arriving in the evening we had a day to kill in Nairobi, but after the horrendous roads from Moyale the Landrover needed some attention and so we set about fixing all of the parts that had rattled off due to the corrugations.

Although it was day 83, I still hadn’t wired up the fog lights that had purely served an aesthetic purpose on the Landrover so far on the trip. The problem was that every time I tried to wire them, the wiring on the Landrover didn’t match the diagram in the Haynes Manuel, or some of the switches and relays had broken. After an hour of taking apart the entire dashboard to feed the wires through, the fog lights were finally up and running.

In the evening Caz arrived and I had prepared some cottage pie for the three of us. Caz had brought a tent with her, but the rain was so bad that night that the three of us had to cram into the roof-tent to avoid the flooding below.

Day 84

We left Nairobi heading for Kisumu on the shore of Lake Victoria hoping that the journey would not take too long. The roads were all tarmaced, but the potholes and Matatus were proving rather tricky obstacles to our intended velocity.

The Matatus are the Toyota Hiace minibuses that are restricted to 80kph and seem to have a special driving licence requirement whereby drivers must have an IQ of less than 53. Reading the papers I wasn’t surprised to discover that in one day there had been three separate road traffic incidents in Kenya killing over 30 people – all of which involved a Matatu.

We drove over the hill and down towards Kisumu just as the sun was descending over
Lake Victoria creating the most amazing red and purple sky in the distance. After finding a hotel and getting some dinner we headed back to our rooms for a cheeky drink to watch some DVDs.

Days 81 & 82: Kenya

Day 81

Having the previous day clocked up enough miles to take our journey past the 10,000mile mark we headed south in convoy with Joachim to reach another big landmark on our journey as we crossed the Equator just south of Nanyuki. At the Equator we had the obligatory photo under the sign, and I was given an explanation on the Coriolis effect by one of the locals, where he demonstrated the water flowing in opposite directions downwards either side of the equator, and directly down on the equator. (Although this is true in theory, at the close distances at which he demonstrated this it is certainly a magic trick, but one which I couldn’t work out how he had done it.)

The next stage of our journey was to drive to Nairobi, and so like we did along the Isiolo road, Joachim and us decided to drive at our own pace again (as his car needed several fixes in Nairobi) and so we agreed to meet at some stage along the main road. We sped off towards Nairobi at lot faster that Joachim, and decided to wait for him at one of the junctions about midway. After waiting for over 30minutes, we realised there was something wrong, and so decided to drive back to try and find him. After a long drive back to where we thought we had seen him last, we were just about to give up when we spotted a 4x4 parked at the side of the road in the distance. It was Joachim, and his gearbox had failed meaning the car couldn’t move at all. He was so glad to see us as one of the locals had offered him a tow for over £135/€150, but with us returning in our trusty tow truck of a Landrover and a virgin towrope we continued our journey to the capital once more.

We knew we would have to find somewhere to stay along the way as the distance was too great to cover before it went dark, and so just before I saw the sun descend from its midday position in the north to its evening conclusion in the west for the first time in my life, we found a random hotel/restaurant/bar where we could camp for free for the night.



Day 82

The next morning we resumed to tow Joachim to Nairobi where our intended destination was an overland campsite called Jungle Junction. By the time we arrived in Nairobi, the traffic was absolute chaos, and trying to tow another vehicle through congestion whilst still trying to navigate was proving an extremely laborious task.

Eventually we found the campsite just after midday and were so glad to see what a brilliantly comfortable place it was to stay. Most other overlanders who come through Nairobi also stay here, and the owner who is motorcycle crazy has his own garage in the compound with all of the tools and equipment you could ever need.

In the afternoon we visited the local supermarket which we were absolutely amazed by. It was just like being back in Europe with different sections stocking various foods and goods, and it was strange to see such a multicultural place once again as people of all races were doing their shopping there. We spent the remainder of the evening cooking and relaxing in the garden, whilst Joachim tried to find a garage where he could get his car repaired.

Days 79 & 80: Kenya

Day 79

The drive to the border was achieved before midday, and we needed to stamp out our passports and carnet on the Ethiopian side. The customs official noticed that our visas had expired and told us we would have to return to Addis to renew them. We asked if there was any way we could ‘pay’ for an extension at the border, and before long he reticently received a bribe from us for half of what we would have paid for an extension and stamped our passports out.

We then drove across to the Kenyan side where spent ten minutes and no money getting our passports and carnet stamped in, then proceeded to change lanes from driving on the right on Ethiopian tarmac, to driving on the left on Kenyan dirt tracks, and we were on our way to Marsabit.

We knew the road would be terrible, and that the distance of 150miles/250km would take a long time, and we were right. The first third of the journey wasn’t too bad, then the middle third was horrendous rocky roads mixed with thick muddy patches after a tornado twisted its path across the road in front of us on the horizon and brought with it a rainstorm. The final third was just terrible corrugations of the road surface that we had to navigate through in the dark. After over fourteen hours of driving we had arrived in Marsabit and we looked forward to a much needed sleep.

Day 80

An early start was once again required as the road to Isiolo we had heard was just as bad as the Moyale to Marsabit road. After less than two hours on the corrugated roads we had covered a distance of only 30miles/50km, and we were completely frustrated by the relentless shaking and rattling being done by the road surface to the Landrover.

Just after stopping for a bite to eat at the side of the road we continued our journey to see a familiar car parked up on the side of the road. It was the car of Joachim who we had met in Addis who we thought would be half way back to Cape Town by this time. We were glad to meet him once again, and he made our day when he informed us that the last 60km/40miles of the road to Isiolo was now tarmaced! We decided to drive at our own pace and meet up again where the tarmac started.

When we arrived at the tarmac we could almost hear the Landrover breath a sigh of relief. We waited for Joachim and continued our journey to Isiolo where we found a hotel run by a Dutch couple who had space for us to camp, and who cooked us one of the best (and most definitely the biggest) meals of trip.

Days 77 & 78: Ethiopia

Day 77

We returned to the garage to refit the tank only to find that the fuel connector pipe had been bent by one of the workers meaning that it wouldn’t connect properly. The tank came out once more, the pipe was bent back, and the tank was once more refitted.

The next stage was to bleed the fuel system of any air, but air kept coming through into the filter and the engine wasn’t running correctly. We called for a mechanic to sort it out once and for all, and after two or three hours of us all investigating, the problem wasn’t in the engine or the fuel system, but in the tank. And so, the tank was removed once more.

The problem was that the internal fuel pipe was touching the bottom of the tank when it was re-welded, and so wasn’t sucking diesel correctly. The tank was opened up, a piece was cut off the pipe and then it was welded once more. This time we tested the entire system before we fitted the tank back between the chassis, and everything was fine.

With the engine running, the car moving again and having spent eleven hours working, we set off back to Rolfs house only to find that the battery had drained and we needed a jump-start. Once back at Rolfs, the electrical system failed again and we dreaded yet another day in Addis fixing more problems.



Day 78

On closer inspection to the electrical system in the morning, I discovered that the mechanic had rewired our split charge system incorrectly when he removed all of the batteries to weld the exhaust pipe, and so the main battery wasn’t charging at all. We were relieved that it was such a simple solution, and astounded that the battery had lasted so long without being charged.

We were finally, thankfully back on the road and exuberantly heading south towards Kenya with the engine ticking over like a dream, and the tarmac being swallowed up beneath our wheels. The scenery of southern Ethiopia was changing around us from beautiful lakes within the savannah, to flat desert land, to mountainous fertile valleys where you might of thought you were in Cambodia.

We arrived in a small town called Yavello in the evening 251miles/404km later, and found a hotel for the night with a short drive to the border awaiting us the next day. From what we had seen of Ethiopia, we vowed that one day we would come back and spend longer exploring the vast landscape of the most fascinating and diverse country we had ever visited.

Days 75 & 76: Ethiopia

Day 75

Our 14th night in Addis would be our last. Our visas would expire before we reached the border at Moyale, but we thought we would risk not getting an extension for $20 each knowing that if anyone at the border would say anything, that a bribe would be cheaper.

One thing we needed to arrange for was vehicle insurance for the next countries we would be travelling through, and we were able to obtain Yellow Card insurance for Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia all in one policy in Addis for less than £40/€44 for a month.

The evening was spent at Lules bar where we said goodbye to him for the third and final time, once again enjoying his brilliant food and saying farewell to the other people we had met in our stay in Addis.

Day 76

After saying goodbye to Rolf and Rut we were back on the road, and we needed to fill up with diesel at the local garage. Half way through filling the tank, we noticed that diesel was pissing out of the side near one of the electrical connections at a ridiculous rate, and emptying all over the petrol station forecourt. We were devastated.

We drove back to Rolfs house and immediately back to the aluminium company ordering them to remove the tank, fix the problem and refit it at once whilst we headed to a restaurant around the corner for some lunch and a much needed drink.

The tank was leaking through the gasket of one of the connections that had melted when they had welded the tank for the second time, and the solution was to remove the gasket completely and weld the connection on. After this was done we checked the tank to find that there was a small leak through the sides still, and that an epoxy was needed to seal it, but as the sun was coming down and the epoxy needed time to harden, we would have to return the next day. Night 15 in Addis and still counting.

Days 73 & 74: Ethiopia

Day 73

We were still waiting for a call from Bruke at the garage, but it never came. It was becoming more and more frustrating having no car in a large city and having to rely on Rolf to give us a lift everywhere. The other option was to use the Hilux HiAce minibuses which were really complicated unless you knew the city really well, or to take a taxi which were quite expensive.

In the evening we had arranged to meet up with Jack and Ryan, along with Adam who had just arrived in Addis on his bicycle. We met at a top Italian restaurant in the city centre, introduced Rolf to everyone and shared stories about our journeys so far. After a few beers we aimed to get a taxi home, but as usual various taxi drivers constantly quoted us ridiculous prices just because we were white.

For a short journey which should cost us 50birr (£2.50/€2.75) we were being quoted 130birr, but a stupid quote meant we would search elsewhere. Eventually we found a taxi who quoted us 50birr exactly and we accepted. On the way back though, he took a wrong turn and tried to drive his Lada over a 20cm (8 inch) concrete central reservation in the road and got stuck. Me and Nathan had to get out and tell him how to drive it out safely, otherwise we would never have got home. This is why we needed our Landrover back.

Day 74

The call came in the morning that the car was fully ready. We arrived at the garage to see the mechanics still working and cleaning the car. After an hour it was complete though and we could finally drive off into the city to get the engine jet washed. The Landrover now felt and looked new again, it had never been so clean.

After going out for a bite to eat at Lules, Rolf reminded us that we still hadn’t sampled the local Taj, an Ethiopian wine made from honey. We had left tasting it all through our trip in Ethiopia until Addis where we had heard the quality is much better, and so in the Afternoon we went to a local bar which was renowned for the best Taj in Addis along with Lule and Chimey.

As per usual when with Rolf, the drinking didn’t really stop, and carried on until the late evening when we finished the night off by going for another traditional Ethiopian meal called Kitfo, a raw minced meat served with cheese and spinach, a weird taste, especially because I prefer my food cooked.

Days 71 & 72: Ethiopia

Day 71

Yet again we were hoping the tank would be ready after lunch, but it was a very optimistic hope if anything. By the late afternoon we had received another phone call wanting us to come to the factory and check that the tank looks good before the final welds were made.

The tank measured well and so we gave the order to weld it whilst we went for a drink around the corner to wait. One hour later and we returned to the factory to see the final welds being made before testing the tank for leaks.

It was too late to fix it back into the Landrover as the sun by this time was low in the sky, and so we went for a bite to eat and a few more drinks vowing to wake up early the next morning to finally get our Landrover up and running.

Day 72

We had drunk far too much the night before and woke up feeling still slightly drunk, but the tank needed fixing before we could get the Landrover back on the road and to the garage.

The fit still wasn’t perfect as the holes for the bolt fixings to the chassis we slightly wrong, but after two hours of toiling underneath the Landrover and bleeding the fuel system, the engine was ticking over again and we were on route to the garage.

The waiting game had resumed again, and we were again hoping for the steering, exhaust and CV joints to be fixed as quickly as possible so that we could resume our travelling. It wasn’t going to be ready at earliest until the morning though, and so a few beers at night once again quelled the frustration.

Days 61 - 70: Ethiopia

Day 61

The route to the capital city Addis Ababa we knew would be long, and so we started early in the morning to utilize the sunlight hours, so as not to drive on the roads at night. Our exit from the hotel wasn’t as hasty as expected though, as three minibuses had blocked us in overnight.

The roads were the same as on the journey to Lallibela, and once again we experienced some amazing scenery, eventually dropping down into a valley near Waldia that from my reckoning must be the most fertile place in Ethiopia. The whole valley was covered in various plants and crops, and the only visible part that wasn’t green was the grey and dry rocky river delta at the bottom.

The darkness was looming and we were still a long way from Addis, so we decided to try and spot a decent hotel for the night in one of the many villages along the roadside. The hotel that we found in a small village in Robit cost us around £2.00/€2.20 for the night, and the only thing to do there was to eat and drink, but with the price of beer and food being just as cheap, this wasn’t a bad thing.

Day 62

We left Robit early and continued towards Addis. The leaking from our fuel tank had worsened over night and we had split around five litres. This left us with a small cash problem, as we had budgeted to spend just enough money on Diesel to make it to Addis where we could once again use a cash machine to withdraw money.

We needed to change our emergency supply of dollars to ensure we had enough fuel, but once we had found a bank with a cash machine, we were fine. The next task was to phone Rolf and get directions to his house where he had invited us to stay. After getting directions, we proceeded to the nearest liquor store to buy him a crate of beer as a welcome present, and once we had arrived at his house, the old mans eyes opened wide with delight!

We spent the evening drinking and eating with Rolf and Rut in a local restaurant called Road Runner which was owned by a guy called Lule, a crazy Ethiopian who had spent many years abroad in the USA and Columbia to name but two. We were enjoying Ethiopia without end, and meeting some brilliant people along the way.

Day 63

With the tank needing to be fixed we spend the morning removing it from the Landrover and by the afternoon we were at the metalwork compound ordering a local firm that Rolf knew through the owner to fabricate us a brand new tank from zinc galvanised steel for 2000birr/£95/€105.

Then started the long wait for the tank to be made, and with nothing really to do or see in Addis, we proceeded to eat and drink our way through the Addis Ababa restaurant directory under the advise of Rolf and Rut.

In one of the bars in town called Kiel Bar we met a German student called Silke and her Ethiopian boyfriend Sultan, who after a few drinks invited us to try chat the following day, a stimulant plant native to Ethiopia and quite popular amongst the locals.

Day 64

Chat is a drug that is banned in many countries worldwide, but is legal still in a few including Ethiopia and even the UK, although I have never even heard of it in the UK. In Ethiopia it is chewed for long periods of time especially students and people of other professions who wish to stay awake and alert during the night.

The method of consumption by chewing and retaining the chewed leafs in the mouth appears to be a very social event (almost a ritual) and we were joined by Sultan and Silke and two university friends of Sultan. The leafs taste really sour, and one way of counteracting the taste is to simultaneously eat salted peanuts.

After two or three hours of chewing and conversing with each other with bulging cheeks full of chewed up leafs, we both agreed there was a small effect, with us both feeling more alert and awake, but only similar to taking a high dose of caffeine. We spent the rest of the evening in a local live music bar called Harlem Jazz drinking the one drug we know and love.

Day 65

We spent most of the morning and early afternoon trying to find a decent internet café so that I could update the blog, but all of the connections in Ethiopia are amazingly slow. We were informed that the fastest internet café in Addis is across the road from the Kiel bar, but one of the frequent power cuts in the city meant that the computers would not run, so instead we went for a beer across the road.

Rolf came to meet us and invited us to dinner at a large restaurant on the top of the hill overlooking the city called the Face of Addis, and we enjoyed a brilliant meal that cost less than £2.50/€2.75.

Then Rolf took us around a few bars in the Checenyia area of the city, unknown to us, this area is the red light district of Addis, and every small ramshackle bar with neon lights was full of prostitutes trying to ply their trade. Rolf at the age of 65 was loving every minute of the attention of the young girls that warmed to his old charm, but the only thing me and Nathan wanted to buy in these bars was a cheeky beer.

Day 66

Waiting for a fuel tank to be built in a city where the only thing to occupy the time is to eat and drink (and for the more uninhibited gentleman, to get a taste for the ladies) was taking it’s toll after drinking for four nights on the trot, but Rolf had arranged a barbeque in his house for a group of friends, and so we spent most of the day preparing the food, alcohol and a fire.

Ingo had now been joined by his brother Mark, and along with another overlander called Joachim that Rolf knew, we started cooking around 4 kilos of meat just after 5pm. The evenings musical entertainment was provided by me and my guitar, and lasted for hours with everyone requesting songs that I had the tabs for on my laptop.

The rain started late in the evening and the fire was abandoned as we took all of the furniture, food and alcohol inside to continue playing music and drinking under shelter.

Day 67

We awoke late with a hangover and were too late to go and get our Kenyan visas. Instead we tried to be productive finding a bank where we could withdraw money and an internet café with broadband.

This was supposed to be the day that the tank would be ready, we were hoping we would be able to pick it up in the evening, and be able to fit the tank in the morning then to take the Landrover to the garage, but the tank was not ready and we were unsure of how much longer it would take.

Yet again in the evening we went out for a meal and stayed up late drinking with Ingo on his last night in Addis before driving back to Bahir Dar.

Day 68

The Kenyan embassy opened at 9am, we were out of there by half past and then had to pick up our passports again in the afternoon. We were glad the process wasn’t as frustrating as obtaining our Ethiopian visa.

In the afternoon we drove to one of the overland camping grounds to meet Joachim who was interested in taking an unusual route into Kenya on the western side of Take Turkana and was hoping that we would be driving with him. We met up and told him about the delay with our fuel tank, which meant that if we wanted to drive together he would have to delay his departure from Addis which he wasn’t keen on doing after spending two and a half months in the city.

In the evening Lule from the Road Runner bar and restaurant had invited me to play the guitar in the courtyard of his bar after hearing from Rolf that I was playing at the barbeque. I played in front of around 30 people for two hours with the musical genres ranging from Irish folk, rock and country and western. For my troubles Lula had offered me free food and drink all night, but sadly I had a dodgy stomach and couldn’t take advantage of the free beer!

Day 69

With the tank taking longer than expected the Landrover was stuck in Rolfs compound still needing to be fixed, so we decided to see if the mechanic would come to the Landrover to fix it. He arrived to take a look at the Landrover and give us a quote estimate, but insisted we should really wait until the tank was in and drive it to his garage.

We still needed to buy some new bolts with which to refit the tank and so we took a drive to a hardware shop just around the corner. On the way there we bumped into Chimay who owns the Kiel Bar, and Rolf had arranged with him that we meet up for a drink in another bar nearby which served draft beer.

Every morning at breakfast Rolf would say “No alcohol today.” By lunchtime we would be drinking. After one drink he would say: “This is the last beer now.” Then after we had finished that one he would say: “One for the road.” We only went out to buy some bolts and we ended up drinking from sunset until after midnight, but as Rolf said: “When you buy some bolts, you have to have a beer!”

Day 70

We were hoping all day that the tank would finally be ready, and in the afternoon we phoned up to see if it was complete. It wasn’t so in the meanwhile we tidied up the back of the Landrover and waited for the call.

Later that day at around 3pm we had the phone call that the tank was ready. We drove out to collect it, and it looked good. We paid and drove back to Rolfs house, donned our clothes reserved for getting dirty and tried to fix it back into the Landrover before sunset.

The tank had been built three or four centimetres too wide and wouldn’t fit between the chassis. We were really frustrated by now, and had to drive back with the tank and inform them to fix it. We knew yet again that our wait would continue for at least another day.

Days 59 & 60: Ethiopia

Day 59

The route from Bahir Dar to Lallibela we knew would be a 50/50 mix of tarmac and gravel, and the main road from Lake Tana to Gashema was exactly that, as the road was still being built and tarmaced. The scenery and drive we both amazing as the twisting road which was often only one lane wide rose high into the mountains offering spectacular views, and some hair raising moments whilst overtaking lorries with a shear drop of over 1000m to one side of the Landrover.

The last 30miles/50km was really bad gravel, and took us down 2000m into a valley, and back up the same distance the other side to Lallibela. The engine started overheating with only 8km to go, but we let it cool down as it started to get hot before resuming our journey.

Once in Lallibela we found a hotel, and then tried to find somewhere to watch Man Utd play against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final. We already knew that the Ethiopians was crazy for the Premiership, and so yet again it was easy to find a small tented garden with benched seats and a TV where the owner would charge 2birr (£0.10/€0.11) as an entrance fee.



Day 60

The reason we visited Lallibela was to see the rock-hewn churches that were built there over 700 years ago and carved out of solid rock with both the exteriors and interiors sculpted to form the architecture. From the inside, the churches are quite uninteresting, but from the outside, especially the more photographed church of St George looks really impressive.

Out of the eleven churches in the area, two are now covered with some rather crude space-frame canopies to protect the churches from the weather, and it is sad to see such an ungraceful display of architecture around what is a world heritage site, especially when the entrance fees to the group of churches are so high. (300birr/£25/€28)

Fed up of the hassling again, we decided to chill out for the rest of the evening in the hotel watching movies. Being a tourist in many places that we have visited along the way soon becomes a chore of politely telling people that you don’t require a guide or help or directions to a hotel (where they will get commission) as they follow your white skin down the street like a shadow.

Days 57 & 58: Ethiopia

Day 57

With the front axle now put back on, the garage were trying to charge us £75/€82.50 for the time spent removing and reattaching the front axle, even though we had warned them not to do any work until we have a quote. For four hours work in Europe this would still be above the normal price, but for Ethiopia, a waiter wouldn’t earn this type of money in a month.

We argued and eventually paid £30/€33 to the garage so that we could leave their compound with the Landrover and get back onto the road. We said goodbye to Rolf and Rut, but exchanged numbers agreeing to meet up again in Addis at Rolfs house in less than a weeks time.

The road south from Gondor led us to a small town on Lake Tana called Bahir Dar, it was an ideal place to chill out for a few days in the sunshine, reading and relaxing with a few cold beers.

Day 58

The Nile Falls we knew we located only 20miles/31km from Bahir Dar, and so we decided to drive out there with the Landrover after getting a quick breakfast at the hotel. The road there was terrible, but by now we were getting used to driving on the gravel roads that were commonplace in the more rural areas of Ethiopia.

We arrived at the adjoining village to the falls only to get the standard amount of persistent hassling from the locals trying to sell themselves as tour guides and it proved impossible to just wander around without someone latching on and following our every move. The falls were not as impressive as we had hoped, as the river has for a long time been dammed in a hydroelectric project, and would have been quite an enjoyable trip if it were not for the hassling.

We returned to the hotel to sit down watching a game of football on the large screen TV when we discovered we had a visitor. Rolf had recommended this hotel to us, and had decided to come and spend a night in Bahir Dar with his friend Ingo, and then to try and track us down to see if we fancied a beer! We spent the evening having a few beers with both Rolf and Ingo, before retiring to bed with a long drive in front of us the next day.

Days 55 & 56: Ethiopia

Day 55

After packing up the Landrover and driving back into Debark to drop off our scout we hit the road back to Gondor once again along the bumpy and dusty gravel road. Half way into the journey we were overtaken at high speed by a German registered Nissan Patrol who was beeping his horn waving to us enthusiastically.

As we got closer to Gondor we saw the same car at the side of the road with the bonnet raised, so we decided to pull over to see if we could offer any assistance. The fuel injector was broken and he needed us to tow him to the garage in Gondor. The garage was full of 4x4 vehicles getting fixed, and so we decided to see if we could get the Landrover seen to asking for the mechanic to look at the fuel tank and steering leaving him to give us a quote whilst we went for food with Rolf the German and his young Ethiopian girlfriend Rut.

Rolf had spent a long period of his life travelling through Africa and had now retired to Ethiopia where he had spent the previous eight years living in Addis. Rolf like us also had a taste for the beer, and so that evening we out for a good drink together, sampling the various Ethiopian beers that were available.



Day 56

Thinking the previous day that the garage were taking out only the steering shock absorber to test it, we arrived at the garage in the morning to discover they had taken out the entire front axle. We then asked them if they had prepared a quote for fixing the steering, the fuel tank and welding a small part of the differential and the exhaust. The quote came to $790 (around £500/€550). This was phenomenally expensive for what was only a days work, and involved no parts. We argued with the garage that this was silly money, and Rolf phoned a friend in Addis to see what price we could get the work done for there to discover it would be a third of the cost.

We informed the garage that they should put the front axle back on, and that we wouldn’t pay their ridiculous prices. Rolf was having the same problem with the mechanics trying to remove random parts of his Nissan without his approval, and asking for large sums of money to fix his car.

We would have to spend another night in Gondor, and so after going out for something to eat with Rolf and Rut, we ventured into a local Ethiopian bar where local music was being played with singing, drumming, dancing and drinking combining to form the evenings entertainment.

Days 53 & 54: Ethiopia

Day 53

In the daylight we discovered that the seams of the fuel tank were sodden with diesel. One of the waiters in the hotel knew a mechanic and so we arranged for him to come and see the problem and give us a quote for removing the tank and welding the leaks.

It took two mechanics two hours to remove the nineteen year old tank from the rusty fixings of the undercarriage, and once we had drained it and removed the bottom shield, six of us stood around the tank with a piece of chalk circling the dozens of holes, just like being stood around a pub quiz machine playing spot the difference.

The garage only had the electrical welding equipment and not the better oxygen based welding guns, and so the job was only really a temporary fix until we could either get it re-welded somewhere else, or preferably get a new fuel tank.



Day 54

With the Landrovers fuel tank back in place we drove up into the Simian Mountain National Park with our compulsory local gun carrying park scout who couldn’t speak a word of English. The park is home to over 6000 gelada baboons and after only a hours drive we spotted a couple of hundred at the side of the road.

We got out of the car to go and walk amongst the baboons and sat down watching and taking photos. The baboons were not intimidated by our presence, and would come within touching distance of us so long as we made no sharp movements. After a while we resumed the drive upwards to over 3,300m above sea level. We got out for another longer walk around the park seeing the amazing scenery including the Geech Abyss, a 2000m shear face of rock that dropped vertically from beneath our feet into the valley below.

We drove back to a campsite near the entrance to the park where we knew a few of the other overlanders we had met on the ferry would be camping that night. We cooked dinner on a campfire before the sun went down and I eventually got the guitar out to play a few songs to give us something to do once the sun had gone down.

Days 51 & 52: Ethiopia

Day 51

Away from the desert in the Ethiopian highlands the heat was once again bearable, and the sun shone down as we took a walk around Gondor to the Royal Enclosure, a walled area of the town with numerous remnants of castles and palaces dating back four hundred years.

In the afternoon Nathan was interested in watching the Manchester United game on the TV, so we set off on a walk around Gondor to try and find somewhere to watch it. It turns out the Ethiopians are crazy for the English Premiership and it wasn’t long until we found a hotel where they had the game against Everton on the big screen in front of around a hundred Africans and two Welshmen drinking a cheeky afternoon beer.

After the game we drove up to another hotel on the top of the hill to see the view and sample the local food. We tried the fasting food which consists of a large flat sour kind of pancake with numerous dips and vegetables on top. We weren’t overly impressed with the sour bread, but some of the dips were really tasty.



Day 52

To reach the Simian mountains towards the north of the country involved a long four hour drive on gravel roads to the ‘base town’ of the mountains called Debark. The suspension and steering on the Landrover were taking a battering, and the dust storm that was created by the back wheels was churning up dust into the small gaps in the rear door, covering everything inside with a horrible layer of dust.

Once we had found a hotel we decided to check that the Landrover was OK. The day we arrived at the Ethiopian border we had discovered a small leak coming from the fuel tank. Initially we had thought that the local youths who were hassling us for cash near the border had sprayed Diesel over the tank in some sort of scam, as they all appeared to know where there was a good mechanic once they had alerted us to the problem.

We took a closer look in Gondor to see there was actually a slow leak, but on another inspection in Debark, the tank was leaking around ½ litre (a pint) per hour. The sun was going down, and so we placed a bucket under the tank until the morning when we would try and get it fixed.

Days 49 & 50: Sudan & Ethiopia

Day 49

We returned to the Ethiopian Embassy before 9am, filled out the forms, and submitted our application. After waiting over an hour and a half, the visa officer called over Nathan asking questions about our trip, and then mentioning that she couldn’t issue us a visa as the photos in our passports were too old.

We argued politely that our passports were 8 years old, but still valid for two years and had been accepted by every other country we had passed through so far with no problems. We argued that whatever picture was in our passports, they would always be old, whether it was one year or nine years, and that they are still valid, but the stubborn woman seemed incapable of reason in her thinking and she insisted that we needed new passports to obtain a visa for Ethiopia.

The other option for us was to visit the UK embassy to get a letter with an official stamp from them explaining that the passports should be accepted. If we didn’t get our visa that day, we would have to stay in Khartoum all weekend. We found the British Embassy, but it only opened at 11:00am. The Ethiopian embassy closed at 11:30am, and we knew it was going to be tight.

We each managed to get a letter from the British Embassy which cost us each $100/£65/€75, but we had no other option. We returned to the Ethiopian Embassy at 11:45am, but were luckily still allowed to get the visa processed. One letter and two hours later, and we had our visa. Thankfully we knew we would be out of the unbearable heat of Khartoum the next morning.

Day 50

It appears that we left Khartoum at the right time. The heat that weekend apparently soared to a freak high of 50 degrees Celsius! Instead of being stuck in an oven, we were on our way to the Ethiopian border, with two new shock absorbers which had had managed to fit the previous day after the embassy fiasco had unfolded.

After around 2pm we had arrived in Gallabat and proceeded to stamp out of Sudan. Another problem of the visa fiasco and the Landrover repairs was that we had very little money left, and in Sudan we were unable to withdraw money from their cash machines. Luckily the border crossing into Ethiopia cost absolutely nothing. We completed all of the documentation procedures whilst being hastled by about ten locals wanted to help us, then asking for commission, but we crossed the border post (a piece of rope between two wooden sticks) for no cost at all.

The day turned out to be the longest drive of the trip, and we arrived in Gondor in the dark to find a hotel and go out into the town for a meal, and our first beer in 12 days. It was longest I had gone without a beer for 5 years, and as it slowly trickled through my stomach and into the liver, I was no longer ill, the loss of appetite had returned, and the shaky hands had stopped. The two meals and four beers had cost us less than £3/€3.50. We had arrived in Ethiopia.

Days 47 & 48: Sudan

Day 47

Glad to get out of Khartoum, we left the campsite without paying as no-one was ever there to take any money from us during our stay despite us constantly asking who we are supposed to pay. Trying to find the way towards Ethiopia was tricky with no road signs at all (not even in Arabic) and so finding the way through asking local people was like trying to play a game of ‘hot or cold’.

After stopping to ask directions in Wad Medani, a local who could speak English said he would show us the way if he could get a lift as his house was on the way. His house was in a small village just outside Wad Medani on the main road to Gedaref, and when we dropped him off he invited us into his house for a drink of tea, and even offered us the use of his bath or the guest bedroom if we wanted to have a quick afternoon nap! This for us summed up the general kindness and hospitality of the brilliant Sudanese people.

We wanted to get on the road again and get to Gedaref so that we would be close to the Ethiopian border the following morning. Once we had arrived in Gedaref, Nathan was reading a guide book which stated that visas could not be attained at the Gallabat border, and after checking on the internet we realised it was correct. We would have to return to Khartoum to visit the Sudanese Embassy.



Day 48

We didn’t relish the though of returning to Khartoum, but it had to be done. We knew that getting the visa would take a day, and that we would really need to get the rear suspension fixed – even with a bodge – as it was getting worse and worse. We set off early and arrived in Khartoum after midday, arriving at the Ethiopian Embassy to find that like all embassies it was shut for the afternoon.

We thought that might be the case, but knew we still had one day before the Muslim weekend in which we could obtain a visa, and the guards at the gate informed us it would only take two hours.

The next job was to find a hotel (as honest as we normally are, we didn’t want to return to the Blue Nile Sailing Club to pick up the bill) and to get the Landrover fixed. Returning to the Industrial Area we stumbled across four more Landrover spare shops, and found a guy who said he would be able to fix it the next day after we had obtained our Ethiopian visas.

Days 45 & 46: Sudan

Day 45

The plan in Khartoum was to try and fix the Landrover, but after searching the internet we couldn’t find any parts dealers in Sudan. Needing to look at the problem ourselves we decided to take one of the wheels off to get better access to the rear suspension, but the wheel nut spanner was old and simply bent as we tried to release the nuts.

We then took a walk into the city centre to find a new spanner for the job, and after asking in one garage, he directed us to the industrial part of the city where there was one Landrover parts shop. Sadly they didn’t sell the bushes and washes required for the suspension fix, and so we thought the best thing to do was to wait until we reached Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

That evening in the Blue Nile Sailing Club we saw another Landrover parked next to ours. It was a Series I, which we guessed was over 40 years old and we got chatting to the owner Beverly (male not female) who was from the UK and travelling around Africa having sold his house. This guy was quintessentially English, and we initially thought that he must be ex-military (even nicknaming him The Brigadier), but he was an electrician from Derbyshire.

That night a few other people who were camping had told us there was a talent competition at a local Italian restaurant, and so I took along my acoustic guitar from the Landrover. Some of the talent on show was shockingly poor, but even my rendition of Cannonball by Damien Grey was not good enough to beat a local rapper who sang about his love for Sudan being similar to his love for women. After the talent content the night was rounded off by two local bands who performed some Sudanese rock music.



Day 46

After another unsuccessful look for parts for the Landrover, we returned to wash the Landrover for the first time of the trip, and the brown bodywork was once again returned to it’s former blue colour.

We drove out to where the Blue Nile meets the White Nile to see the difference of the colour as they meet. It was interesting to see, but not as spectacular as people had made out, the Blue Bile looked blue, whilst the White Nile looked as brown as the Landrover before we washed it. We returned to the camp and sat down with the brigadier who was telling us of his trip and route through Africa, picking up some very helpful information on where to stay and which roads to take.

It was our last night in Khartoum, and the Blue Nile Sailing Club had a music night with more local bands on. Two of the Swedish cyclists who were on the ferry had just arrived and I sat down listening to the music whilst they told me of their journey from Wadi Halfa. After only 20km they had punctured two tyres, been involved in a road accident and then damaged the rear hub of one of the bikes, getting the bus to Khartoum where they could get replacement parts (which we eventually heard cost over €2000/£1900!).

Days 43 & 44: Sudan

Day 43
149miles/240km

We awoke to find that the mosquitoes in the hotel had enjoyed a bite to eat the previous night - even though we had mosquito nets on. We hit the road once again and took the opportunity to stop for food and tea in a few of the settlements along the way.

Our destination was the Jebel Barkal, a series of Egyptian Pyramids just outside Karima. We took the Landrover off-road the long way around to the pyramids, and the suspension wasn’t sounding too good over the bumps.

The plan for the night was to camp in the Nubian Desert, the complete wilderness of Sudan offered an ideal place to find a spot in the middle of nowhere to get out the rooftent, set up a campfire and cook the evenings meal. We enjoyed a full roast with vegetables and gravy before getting some sleep.



Day 44
185miles/298km

The journey to Khartoum would take us past another site with temples and pyramids, but we completely missed the turnoff, and we ended up miles away travelling quickly towards the capital. We decided to carry on and set up camp at Blue Nile Sailing Club where we intended to stay for a few days.

The food in Central Khartoum is the most unvaried selection I have ever witnessed. The choice is between Falafel, Fuul and kebabs, and after too much of all three along the way through the Arab world, we didn’t have much of an appetite. Plus, we couldn’t wash poor food down with a beer as Sudan has banned alcohol with Sharia Law being the legal system.

We did manage to find a wide selection of pirate DVDs for very little cost for sale in the city centre, so we spent the evening sat outside in the still over 30 degree heat watching movies on the laptop next to the River Nile.

Days 41 & 42: Sudan

Day 41
1miles/2km

With the barge taking longer than the ferry we had two days to kill before getting the Landrover back. The previous night me Nathan, Jack and Ryan had played (and beat) the locals in a game of football, but other than that, there was nothing really to do in Wadi Halfa.

We spent the morning completing immigration registration and getting a photography permit, and then we chilled out in the shade drinking Pepsi and eating the local food. After returning to the hotel, we heard a knock on the door from one of the other drivers who had a 4x4 on the barge telling us the barge was arriving and that we should go down to the port to unload it.

We knew we couldn’t complete customs formalities until the morning but we arrived at the port to see the barge coming in before each of the vehicles was driven off the barge, half onto a floating platoon, then onto some ramps, and finally onto the pier. We just couldn’t understand why there was so much trial and error from the port workers in the method of creating a ramp when they do it every week, but after four different approaches, the last Landrover was driven off a now lighter and more buoyant barge making the last decent the largest drop, but probably the smoothest of all four.



Day 42
239miles/385km

We awoke to complete the customs formalities, where the police took away all of our music CD’s into a small room for inspection, closed and locked the door behind them, and shut the curtain so that we couldn’t see what they were doing. Very strange, but perhaps they were hoping we had some pornography that they could watch.

With the roads ahead being newly tarmaced, we got a quick bite to eat and resumed our journey south. It turned out that the new roads that had been financed by the Chinese were better than most A-roads in Europe. The tarmac was smooth with no speed bumps to catch us out, and it even had cats-eyes either on both sides or just in the centre.

We stopped off at a few villages along the way to get some food and drink, but it wasn’t long until we had reached Dongola. We thought we had seen the end of the annoying Sudanese paperwork when we had left Wadi Halfa, but when we checked into a hotel for the night we found out we needed to go to the police station to get permission to use a hotel! Passport, VISA, South of Khartoum Permit, Photography Permit, Hotel Permit – what will we next need permission for??

Days 39 & 40: Egypt & Sudan

Day 39
12miles/19km

The ferry to Wadi Halfa was due to depart in the afternoon, but we first needed to complete all of the Egyptian border formalities at the port just south of the High Dam. We arrived at the port at 9am to start the customs check, get the carnet stamped, get our passports stamped and finally to drive the Landrover onto the barge which will take it into Sudan.

The barge is a separate boat to the passenger ferry and takes a few days longer, so once we had driven the Landrover onto the barge, we proceeded to the 2nd class area of the passenger ferry to the upper deck to meet fellow travellers and backpackers who were also heading south through Africa.

On board were 3 couples also driving 4x4s to Cape Town, Jack and Ryan that we met at the embassy in Cairo, along with 3 more backpackers and 6 cyclists. One of the cyclists from the UK was cycling to Cape Town to raise money for mosquito nets for Africans in the fight against Malaria. He told a story of how in Egypt had camped behind a mosque, and awoke the next morning to find himself bitten over 100 times in the face by mosquitoes leaving his face swollen so that he couldn’t see through one eye for a day. He had fallen to sleep not bothering to wear his mosquito net!



Day 40
0miles/0km

The night on board the ship was pretty crap. I didn’t take my sleeping bag on board and couldn’t get any sleep on the cold and windy deck of the ship, even when I tried to sleep inside a chest full of lifejackets, using them as both pillows and a duvet.

Early that morning though we passed the Abu Simbel site on the west bank of Lake Nasser, a site only accessible by an organised tour, but one we could view at best and for free from our ferry journey.

The disembarkation from the ferry was chaotic at best. The ferry had been loaded with tonnes of electrical goods that the Sudanese were buying in Egypt to take to Sudan, and the scramble off the ship, out of the port, onto a bus and finally into taxis was fraught with tussles past people carrying anything from big boxes of headphones to washing machines.

Days 37 & 38: Egypt

Day 37
5miles/8km

The next stage of the journey into Sudan required us to get a ferry along the Nile from Aswan to Wadi Halfa, but first we had to book the ferry, and hand back our temporary Egyptian licence plates to the police.

The first step involved going to the traffic court to get a document which proved we hadn’t been involved in any accidents or been caught speeding. After that we headed to the Traffic Police office to hand back the plates and receive another document we would need for customs. Only then could we book ourselves onto the ferry.

The rest of the day was spent trying to be productive and finding someone to fix the cover for the rooftent that was ripped on day 1 when I drove the Landrover under a low car park ceiling in Brugge. We found a local cobbler who sewed it back together with leather for 30EP/£2.60/€3, and then headed off to the souks to buy some meths, spices and to get our laundry done.

Day 38
41miles/66km

With one day remaining before the ferry we decided to change the oil on the Landrover, and so we found a local disused garage with a pit to use. Whilst underneath the car, we found out what the skeaking coming from the rear suspension was. The speed bumps throughout Egypt had taken their toll, and the shock absorber bottom washers that adjoin the bushes had sheared over the retaining bolts resulting in a large amount of ‘give’ in the shock absorbers. We decided to leave repairing it until we arrived in Sudan.

After the oil change, we travelled south to visit the Philae Temple on an island in the middle of the Nile. When the Aswan dam was constructed, it left the surrounding area completely flooded, including an old temple site dating back at least 2000 years. For a long time the Philae Temple was under water, but with the help of UNESCO the Egyptian Antiquities Department took down the temple brick by brick and re-built it on a new higher island which can be visited by tourists.

In the evening we finally finished watching ‘Withnail & I’ on DVD after four times in previous evenings of trying to watch it, only to fall asleep half way through.