US

Introduction

Why drive across Africa you may ask? Bloody good question & one that Clare is still asking! In a nut shell it is something Graham has wanted to do since he left Kenya aged 9, so it was inevitable that at some point we would do it, and now is the time. We have spent the last year preparing our vehicle and trying to learn all we can about the journey ahead. We start from our home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on the 15th January 2007 and head for Durban in South Africa, some 12,000 miles or so across 21 countries, hoping to arrive in time for Xmas 2007.

Not only will this site serve as a diary of our day to day lives while traveling across this harsh, but beautiful continent, it will hopefully also offer some inspiration and useful information to anyone out there who is thinking about taking on something similar or encourage friends and family to join us for a leg!

So search the Blog to catch up on what we are doing:-

Planning
Vehicle
Diary by Country:
Europe; Jordan; Syria; Turkey; Egypt; Sudan; Ethiopa; Kenya; Tanzania Malawi;Zambia; Botswana; Namibia and finally South Africa

The Vehicle

Bula Bula is her name (which is Hallo, how are you in Fijian) who originally started life as a Welsh Water Board vehicle but is now ready to tackle the challenges of Africa as both our new home & an Expedition Vehicle.

That's Mitzi who has wisely decided to stay home in England with her adopted family, Sabine and Barry Dix, as she thought that chasing cats in the UK would be preferable to being chased by the BIG cats of Africa!

Bula is a 1996 Defender 110 Tdi 300 with just over 130,000 miles on the clock. Recommended & bought from Marc at the Defender Centre (www.exmod.co.uk) she has since undergone a transformation from a standard utility vehicle to Expedition ready, including installation of a My Way roof tent & awning (www.mywaytents.co.za), Engel Fridge, Solar Panel, 2 new seats & many, many more other accessories - the list is endless. We have had the assistance of many people along the way, particularly James Smith who has given most of his spare time over the last few months to make sure Bula is both road worthy & fully equipped. Over the last 12 months we have obtained advice & help from many people & Companies, far too many to name here but special mention for their time, help & advice must go to: - Sam Watson (watsonsam@talk21.com), Mike Crossley (www.simplysafaris.co.uk ), Paul Stevenson (www.mywayrooftents.co.uk) & Peter Newcombe (www.dingocroft.co.uk), all of whom have been absolutely fabulous, thanks.