How to pack for an overland trip

I feel there are two approaches to packing for a long overland expedition trip.

Method 1 (the one I used)

-         Lay out everything that you think you will need or would be nice to have along on the trip.

-         Take out everything that weighs more than 15 kg or is larger than 1m in any direction (includes things like bicycles, fridge, gas cooking equipment.  Exceptions will have to be made, e.g. the high-lift jack.

-         Take out half of what is left.

-         Now take out everything that does not serve at least two functions.

-         Pack what is left into your Land Rover Series 3.

-         Add a rather large crate or trommel onto your roof rack.  This will allow you to store all those items that, after 2-3 weeks, will become obviously and irritatingly superfluous, even though they were indispensable before you left.  These items can be traded off along the way or sent, in the trommel, back home to yourself.

Method 2 (the one I wish I’d used)

-         Pack a backpack as you would for a long hike.

-         Put the backpack into your Landy and leave before you can fill the empty spaces.

I have discovered that South Africans are masters of overloading and showing off kit that looks good but is not necessary.  We get inundated by ads in outdoor & 4x4 magazines and overenthusiastic salesmen at adventure shows and outdoor accessory shops that make us feel inadequate as travellers if we do not have the latest and greatest stuff.  There is an unspoken competition to see who can outdo whom with their gadgets.  I spoke to a (unnamed accessory shop) salesman who told me that the biggest single swipe of a credit card for accessories was in the region of R 87 000.- (no trailer involved but extra suspension strengtheners, no doubt).  Using method 2 for packing, this fellow could have financed a six-month trip for two to Ethiopia and back.  Or he could have bought three old Land Rovers and taken some friends along.

I have met travellers that have flown into Cape Town from Europe, bought a vehicle (to be resold at the end of the trip) and departed on a five-month trip of southern Africa with only the weight of equipment allowed on the plane.  So they don’t have a fold-out kitchen and they wear the same clothes more often.  So recovery takes a bit longer with only a high-lift jack.  But they get to see the same places and probably more of them because they spend less time packing and unpacking.  And anyone wishing to cook gourmet meals in the bush needs his/her head examined anyway.

The question to ask of every item while packing is not “will I need this?” but “will I get away without this?”

Anyone need a 2-way radio?  A fishing rod?  An extra fuel container?  A camp shower?

Some pics from a practice run to Marakele

Third party insurance in East Africa

Third party insurance in Africa is the source of much mystery, expense and rip-off /bribery opportunity.  Before leaving we’d heard about a “yellow card” insurance that was not obtainable in SA but would cover us in many African countries.  But every attempt at pinning down the details ended in failure at the end of a phone line in some remote Zimbabwean office.

Namibia and Botswana are fairly straightforward:  In Namibia we paid nothing, presuminably because there is an agreement between SA and Namibia, and Botswana costs 10.- Pula and is valid for a year.

From Zambia it gets more complicated.  Firstly there’s the need for temporary importation documentation, obtainable at the border if you’re not using the AA’s Carnet de Passage.  Secondly, 3^rd party insurance is sold at the borders: one month or three months (we paid US$ 20.- for 3 months = 65,000 Kwacha).  This insurance certificate is inspected at nearly every police roadblock and there are plenty of those: before and/or after every major settlement (our current record is six road blocks in one day of less than 250 km).

At the border we enquired about the “yellow card” and were assured that it could only be obtained from the issuers, The Zambia State Insurance Corporation Ltd, at one of their offices in a major town.  So off we trundled to Livingstone and got the following details after a long chat to one of the regional managers.

• The multi-country insurance is known as the COMESA yellow card.
• It covers most southern and eastern countries between SA and Egypt, but SA, Botswana and Namibia appear to have pulled out of the agreement at the last minute.
• 3^rd party cover must be bought in the country that issues the card and must cover the entire period for which the card is valid, i.e. you get 2 insurances that run concurrently.  In our case we bought Zambian 3^rd party insurance for 6 months (though we only plan to be in Zambia for two weeks or so) and a yellow card that’s valid for the same 6 months in Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan.  (Also covered are DCR, Angola, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Zimbabwe most of which you don’t particularly want to go to now anyway, and Egypt which is irrelevant since they do not recognise the Carnet de Passage.)
• The yellow card is not valid in the country in which you buy it.
• The yellow card is only valid in the countries specified and paid for.
• An approximate period per onward country must be given, but the details are not documented and the actual period per country is quite flexible.  We purchased 30 days per specified country but we can stay a day or three months in any one.
• The costs are outlined in the table below.  We paid US $ 60.- for the yellow card and 85 000 Kwacha for the 6 month cover in Zambia. 

The purpose of all of this?  The yellow card is well accepted in member countries and will hopefully prevent confusion and rip-off in countries where border officials and police are less friendly than in Zambia. 

The accepted exchange rate from Rand to Kwacha is 400 Kw/R

If this insurance story still confuses you, try bungi jumping off the Vic Falls bridge to re-arrange the facts.

PS  Get red (for the back) and white (for the front) reflective stickers (about 5 cm x 5 cm) for your vehicle, either before entering Zambia or as soon as you get there.  Normal reflectors are considered inadequate and the cost of not having the stickers is K 54 000 for the back, K 54 000 for the front and another amount, open to the discretion of the examining policeman, to help you remember that it’s a bad thing not to have reflective stickers.  The spares shop at the BP garage in Livingstone will sell you such stickers for K 3 500 with a knowing smile.

Riff Raff Overland Expedition 2001 - Land Rover Series 3

Accommodation

Overland Africa Camping Accommodation
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