the last post

THE LAST POST
Thanks to our family at home for keeping the farm running so well and for looking after our parents, houses and pets and thanks to all our friends for their support.
Nev’s summary:
My African Dream is over. My first objective was to see the pyramids from the Landy. My second was to complete Africa and enter Europe and reach London.
My six highlights in Africa in order are:
1 Sudan: People, country, heat, desert, Wadi Halfa
2 Uganda: Rafting down the Nile
3 Kenya: Lake Turkana
4 Ethiopia: (believe it or not) The different people, the churches which drove me mad, Axum, the farming (and potential), the mountains
5 Egypt: So different from the rest of Africa, (like SA is so different)
6 Libya: so controlled, the poor women who are treated worse than dogs.
My highlights in Europe:
Slovenia: People, caves, subsistence farming.

My lows were
Loosing the camera and video in Tunis
putsy flies in Uganda
The mad men in The DRC
Sitting on the ferry in the heat for four hours in Aswan
not having spent more time in Tiwi beach (Kenya), Zanzibar, the South Omo (Ethiopia), Libian Desert, Sudan’s desert and coast, and the Egyptian Black and White deserts.
Would I do it again? YES
Would I do it differently? YES:

OBSERVATIONS:
1 Africa is not for sissies.
2 Take less stuff, one can always buy on the way. Clothes, food, Toilet rolls, even fuel
3 Be independent of others, Africa can be done in one vehicle as you meet up with people all along.
4 Go slower, spend more time getting to know the people.
5 We should have gone through the Serengetti into Kenya, and along Lake Turkana, north into the South Omo in Ethiopia.

Advice:
1 Do not alter your basic vehicle.
2 Don’t put in electronic switches when you can use manual.
3 Start with new batteries
4 Do not weld your side shafts (all the welded ones broke)
5 Take good tyres and don’t hit potholes in the tar. (Coopers STT only 2 punctures in 43000Km)
6 Load the heavy things in the middle at the bottom, not at the back or up top.
7 From Ethiopia north, the vehicles are ‘left-hand drive’, and ‘right-hand drive’ vehicle spares are not always available.
8 Speed is less important than the right gear ratios as most African road are not in ‘speed’ condition and you use far less fuel.
9 Do not take a doxycycline prophylactic for malaria. At least five of the eight of us has adverse skin reactions and we do not know what other long term conditions like loss of eye sight and bad teeth we are still going to experience.
10 Pack so that daily requisites are easily available, and the other stuff is accessible.
11 Fuel is generally available, fuel capacity for 1000Km is more than enough. Fuel consumption is important as fuel is expensive south of the Egypt. Diesel is much cheaper than petrol.
12 Choose your traveling companions with great care, and if you think you should part company, do so sooner rather than later. They should have the similar interests, time available and financial constraints as you have.
13 Eastern Africa is much safer than you think, and in preparation, far more scary than in actuality.
14 Follow the weather patterns carefully. Preferably leave in September to avoid the rainy seasons and the heat of Sudan.
15 We love our Landy!!!! She did us well.


Lorraine’s summary
1 SOUTH AFRICA
My home, always where the heart is.

2. BOTSWANA
The country is stable and un-corrupt. However it has one of the best wild animal experiences to offer. This trip we just zipped through in transit.

3. ZAMBIA
We got here in March and it was still too wet to go to the places not explored on previous trips, or places we really enjoyed previously. The tsetse flies in Kafui were horrific, as they were last time we tried the reserve.
Zambia is still one of my favourite countries.

4. MALAWE
We only went to the northern area and experienced the snorkeling in Lake Malawe, the scenery around Livingstonia and the Nyika Plateau.

5. TANZANIA
Interesting (terrible) roads, fertile and well developed agriculture. Dar es Salaam. Fantastic beaches, Serengetti, Ngorogoro Crater, Mt Kiliminjaro, the Masaai people, the artistic carvings and creative abilities are the things that stand out in my memories. Bicycles are the main transport mechanism and they use them to transport everything, literally. Zanzibar and Stone Town.

6. UGANDA
White water rafting down the White Nile at Jinja near Lake Victoria. Kampala. The delicious fruit. The Murchison Falls. Queen Elizabeth Park. Chimp tracking in the Kibale Forest and the terrible putsy flies. Shoebill and the airport at Enthebe.

7. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
My experience is limited to the gorilla tracking in the Varunga mountains and in getting through the border. My impression from the bad state of the vehicles and the wooden scooters with wooden wheels, which appeared to be the main method of agricultural transport was that the country is a very poor one.
From the armed guards which were required to accompany us everywhere makes me wonder about the general safety in the country.
From the strange and aggressive behaviour of two of the men at the border makes me think that the ongoing wars have had a bad psychological effect on some of the people.
From the fact that we had to go twice through the border, as the first time was not properly organized, makes me wonder about their organizational abilities.
The country around the border with Uganda appears tropical and fertile and very highly populated.
Although it was a wonderful experience to get so close to the gorillas, the overall impression I got of the country was not good.

8. RWANDA
Three days is really not enough to form a complete idea. However I get the impression that the people are slowly healing, although the history of the Hutu vs Tutsi genocide is still very real and present in their minds. They are way over populated, and they looked at me with almost fear and suspicion until I caught their eye and smiled, at which the lights were switched on in their eyes and the friendliness and contact was very moving.
The country is litter-less, full of flowers and the people trying to unite to heal the past.
Every single square inch of ground is under the plough.


9. KENYA
The Rift Valley Lakes of Borgoria, Magadi. The culturally rich and fertile area around Mt Elgon. Masai Mara. Mt Kenya. Lake Turkana. Fossils of …. near Lake Magadi and Lake Turkana. Nairobi. The fantastic beaches (Tiwi). Lamu Island.

10. ETHIOPIA
A totally unique country in Africa from the time you enter across the border to the time you step over the border again. They have their own unique language, alphabet, food, religion, time and calendar. They have many different and totally unique cultures, especially in the South Omo Valley. They have a rich archeological heritage which they are proud of, and is fascinating. They have a scenically spectacular and diverse country ranging from steep, moist and cold mountains to flat, hot and dry desert to fertile, flat and agriculturally perfect midlands. The potential of the fertile volcanic soil is being wasted in inefficient agriculture and loss of soil by erosion. The universal culture of begging, and the resultant receiving of donations of food from the outside world has made them lazy and dependant on these donations. Any development is done by foreign governments or companies. Their time is spent either involved in religious activities, having coffee ceremonies, or ‘chat’ parties. The basic populace has no concept of respect for general privacy, nor of basic hygienic toilet facilities. Agriculturally it is like stepping back 2000 years where the subsistence farmers plough with oxen, sew, weed, and reap (mostly the very low-yielding crop of teff) by hand.


11. SUDAN
Although a Muslem and policed state, in a state of war in places, and although we entered at the end of summer and the heat was at times quite a challenge, the general safety and the open and kind hospitality of the people were outstanding highlights of my trip. The ability to drive off into the desert and camp behind a dune in safety and privacy contrasted hugely with the ‘Ethiopian’ experience.
Wadi Halfa: The name conjures up the sprawling, hot, dry, dusty but loveable laid-back town which is a meeting place of travelers from Egypt in the north and Sudan from the south.

12. EGYPT
Money seems to run everything. They expect to be paid even just for pointing you in the right direction, which they more often don’t do. They hassle you to part with your money, but respect a person who shows them a bit of respect by trying to speak Arabic, and listening to them for a second. They treated us from South Africa differently from those tourists in ‘group tours’. Bustling, vibrant, cosmopolitan but friendly. Cairo is unique. Sinai and the west coast of Dahab, diving/snorkeling. Oil wells. Tourist resorts up the west coast. The Red Sea and the gulf of Aqaba. Siwa Oasis.

13. LIBYA
Libya is a land of untapped potential. It is a rich land due to the abundance of the desirable oils fields which is its wealth at present, but could also be its downfall. Inasmuch as the wealth it has created, as well as its restrictive and controlled police and Muslem culture seems to be stifling creativity and growth is all other areas eg manufacturing, research and development. Compared with its immediate neighbours, Egypt to the east and Tunisia to the west, which are both very effectively selling their culture, desert scenery, coastal activities and marine life, Libya is very much behind. Not only that, the cheap products of oil, viz plastic, in the shape of disposable bags and bottles, combined with the lack of policy regarding disposal of waste and litter causes unsightly mess. The mandatory traveling with an escort is expensive, claustrophobic and restrictive. It prevents contact with the general populace, so one cannot get to know the people, but it does make traveling in a country where you cannot speak the language much easier.

14. TUNISIA
Lack of information with respect to books on the country made me feel that we were wasting our time and not seeing the parts that we should have seen. Also we were really only had a transit visa, so did not have enough time to get to know the country. Tunis is still the most beautiful city in its bright white buildings set around the lakes. Matmata and its troglodyte community of 500 years. Chott el Jira, salt lake. Dates in Nefta. Camping in the desert with the flies. Green mountains full of olives. The cork and oak forests. Biserte and the old city with the saunas in action. Tabarka and the yacht club.