Overland Tips

 

These are a few tips that we have compiled from our experience on the road

  • Don’t buy diesel from the roadside unless you really have to. Diesel can take 20% water so it gets watered down!
  • Buy a Potjie (pronounced Poikie). This is a cast iron cooking pot also known as a Dutch Oven and is very useful for all sorts of cooking over a fire. They come in many sizes, we found a Number 1 ideal for two people. Also buy a Poijie stand, a metal support over the fire as it is so much easier than stones to support the pot.
  • Consider going South to North (ie shipping first) rather than the more convential UK to Cape Town. This way you can buy all your equipment (mostly made in South Africa) cheaper and probably reclaim the VAT on it too.
  • Get a really heavy duty roll bar such as Safety devices. There are horriffic accidents on gravel roads and this could easily save your life.
  • It is a matter of opinion but I wouldn’t travel to remote (especially sandy or wet) places without a winch. We certainly needed it.
  • Don’t forget a Visa card for withdrawing cash from ATM (or some bank counters). Much better than Maestro in South and East Africa.
  • Once again a matter of opinion but if you are thinking twice about retro-fit aircon I wouldn’t bother, in 5 months we have never used it once!
  • Don’t forget your Haynes Workshop manual!
  • Take a couple of Sigg (lightweight Swiss) water bottles each as these are so useful for decanting mineral water as plastic bottles leak and split.
  • So much is said by overlanders about packing systems! There are many storage boxes on the market. Our advice is choose strong lightweight boxes that arent too big or heavy to move as some you will move everyday! Also make sure the lids fit tight to keep as much dust out as possible.
  • Anchor your fridge down firmly or you will break the pipes on rough roads and have to have it re-gassed.
  • Limit the number of clothes you take. The 3 pair system (one clean, one on and one dirty is best!).
  • However take old T shrits and training shoes to give away (or trade!) if you can as these are much appreciated in so many African countries.
  • Take a second spare wheel and use inner tubes (also have some spare tubes and valves, puncture repair kit and tyre levers).
  • It seems obvious, but don’t forget to take a good range of tools and spares.
  • Be very careful when jacking the vehicle. Chock (at least) the diagonal wheel with stones and engage diff lock. Remember so many overlanders have bad accidents with High lift jacks.
  • Treat all officials and police with utmost courtesy and ask them how they are and chat with them. You are much less likely to have problems. Never get angry, it really doesn’t help!
  • Butternut squashes (further South in Africa) are a generally cheap and tasty addition to stews and casseroles.
  • Buy UHT milk and in re-sealable cartons. It lasts well and wont leak on rough roads.
  • Use resealable storage bags or plastic containers for meat to avoid the juices contaminating everything in a small overland fridge.
  • If you are a gadget freak like me (Digital cameras, GPS, Mobiles, Laptop, PDA, Sat Phone) then get a good inverter, you will need it!
  • Get a Sat phone (I bought an as-new second-hand one eBay for 1/3 of new cost). $1.50 a minute seems a lot but mobiles can be £3 per minute! Try to avoid calls to it though as these are pricey.
  • Try to use internet cafes rather than mobiles for email/internet access as the cost will mount rapidly and cafes are generally cheap. Remember if using your own laptop (which you can do most places) that they will have to set IP and DNS addresses manually.
  • Try and be frugal with your use of firewood, put it out and use remaining wood again. You don’t need a blazing fire 4 foot high when it is so warm! You may need to burn your waste as often there is no other way of disposing of it. Remember that coconut husks and maize cobs are useful fuel and palms fronds and stamen are useful kindling.
  • Bring a grill grid (from your home barbeque is ideal) so you can grill meat (Braai). Once again the Poijie stand is useful here to support the grill.
  • Save plastic bags from supermarkets as you will need these for rubbish and keeping the dust off things.
  • Bring Petzyl head torches, they are invaluable for camping. Also a rechargeable 1,000,000 candle power torch for watching wildlife in your camp! Reasonable and cheap 1,000,000 candle power torches are available here in Shoprite.
  • Remember spare batteries and rechargeables ones too.
  • It’s again a matter of opinion but I think a GPS is invaluable (we have a Garmin 60CS). I can’t recommend Tracks4africa GPS maps enough they are superb and cover tracks in reserves very well as well as fuel stations/food/accomodation (best for these waypoints further South though).
  • Tyres create long debates amoung overlanders too! I can highly recommend Michelin X tyres, they are so tough. We also went for Wolf wheels as they are indestructable. (Great advice from Foley Specialist Vehicles)
  • Consider a solar panel to top-up your second battery for when you stay somewhere for a few days (unless you like warm beer!).
  • Take spare engine oil and brake/gear fluids with you at all times. Save the oil containers for waste oil when you do oil changes.
  • Take a tarpaulin or mat to lie on and overalls for vehicle maintenance.
  • If you have a digital camera then bring a Laptop with a CD drive for backing up.
  • Remember your vehicle insurance (if you get it) will probably not cover your possessions or consequential loss (hire car, accomodation etc.) like a UK policy. If you have a Laptop and expensive Camera then there are specialist (but expensive) Worldwide policies available.
  • Get a Yellow Card Insurance policy for third party cover as soon as you can. This will cover many African countries in one go and will probably work out cheaper than buying a policy in each country that requires 3rd Party cover. Many brokers don’t seem too familiar with Yellow cards so press them for information.
  • Change a bit of money at the border for the next country (probably retaining some of the previous countries currency). Research the rate beforehand. You probably wont get a brilliant rate but it will be worth it as you will need some currency. Remember that money changers can probably tell you how much the 3rd Party Policy will cost you and Road Fund Licence but be careful as they may inflate it to get you to change more than you need to!
  • Keep your Driving Licence (I would recommend getting two International Driving Licences (fairly cheap from RAC) so officials can’t hold you to ransom with your only Licence) and 3rd Party policy to hand as in some countries Police Checkpoints will need them with monotonous regularity!
  • Be very strict over checking that your Carnet is being stamped properly, watch officials like a hawk!
  • Apply for your Carnet well in advance and check with your bank about their guarantee conditions and costs. This will give you time to swap to another bank if their costs are excessive or limit too low. We swapped to first direct for this reason. See also documents page for more details on Carnet conditions and costs.
  • Ensure you sort out Malaria medication before you go. Remember 5 million people die from Malaria each year and that cerebral malarial is quickly fatal if you are not taking preventative medication.
  • Start organising immunisations well in advance of departure. You may need quite a few and some maybe a course of three injections over 6-8 weeks so you will need time. see also immunisations document for indication of costs, it gets expensive!
  • Get bookings for Botswana reserves early. If you can’t get the campsites you want book what is available and then you can probably fit into overspill space. The park staff are usually very helpful in fitting you in where you want as long as you have a booking somewhere.
  • Use canvas seat covers not vinyl or plastic material which make you sweat horribly!
  • Get a bank account with Nationwide to withdraw cash using Visa for no charge. Other banks may charge a transactions fee and/or percentage (in the very small print). Nationwide do online banking so you can transfer money in while on the road.
  • Get the largest size Lifesystems travel towel they dry so quickly and take much less room
  • In Africa they use strips of old inner tube to to tie things on the roof. The elasticity makes for a strong and very useful tie-down.
  • If like me you can’t live without email and internet on the move consider getting iPass access for local dialup numbers all over the world you can then use a local pre-pay SIM (remember you may need to get it data enabled).
  • Cover the radiator with a fine mesh grill to keep seeds and grass out of your radiator
  • Get a Kelly Volcano kettle to boil water using just small sticks
  • Buy Doxycyline in Africa, you can do this without prescription and it is much cheaper, around 15p per tablet instead of 50p in UK. Obviously medical advice should be sought before leaving UK.
  • Don’t let anyone take your Carnet or passport away out of sight for any reason, they are too valuable, watch them like a hawk. Watch out for people posing as officials wanting to take them.
  • Take a good range of stainless steel bolts, nylock nuts and washers as everything works loose sooner or later on African roads! Check the tightness of bolts regularly particularly wheel hubs, roof rack fixings etc
  • Don’t forget spare fuses and 2 or more spare bulb kits for replacements
  • Never loose your sense of humour it is essential in Africa or you will go crazy! Bad roads and crazy bureaucracy may wear it thin though!
  • Watch out for people wandering across the road in Ethiopia they generally have no road sense
  • Bring a Leatherman and a Swiss Army Knife for all those bottle opening, lunches and quick repairs