africa-overland

The following information is based upon our own experiences and is by no means definitive. I just thought that things like this would have been useful to me when I was planning my trip. I hope it is of use to you and your trip.

Camping and travel stuff:

Tunisia. We struggled to camp in Tunisia as there are few official campsites. Bush camping is an option. Once you get into the Desert around Tatouine there are loads of places you can bush camp. We did manage to camp on Jerba Island, though the place was a little dingy!

The Tunisians were pretty friendly and happy to see tourists although they were a little indifferent towards Amy. Cards can’t really be used anywhere although most large towns do have ATMs.
English isn’t widely spoken and they are strongly Muslim, you need to be aware and respectful of this.

Libya: Again we struggled to camp anywhere here due to lack of campsites. Our guide told us that bush camping was strictly forbidden and unsafe anyway. However, the lads who we met and travelled with in Egypt had told their guide that they were only prepared to bush camp and so did every night. I guess it just depends on your guide; ours obviously didn’t like camping and so told us we couldn’t!

The Libyan people themselves are really friendly and over the moon to see tourists. We had drinks (non-alcoholic of course!) bought for us, got free use of internet, free dinners etc simply because they were so pleased to see us. You can’t use cards anywhere and we only found ATMs in Tripoli and Benghazi. Between the Tunisian border and Tripoli there is no-where to get cash if you have run out.
English isn’t widely spoken and they are very strongly Muslim. However, your guide will be able to help and advise you so as not to offend.

Egypt: Camping options are limited again, although there are is much better scope for bush camping here. We found few official campsites in the north of the country but as you head south of the Nile you start to encounter more.
Going from north to south these are the campsites that we found either ok or good:
Luxor - Reitzekys camp, camping facilities are a bit small but the bar is good and the owner knows his stuff and can help with the Aswan – Sudan ferry. It is on the right as you come into town from the main airport road
Aswan: Adam’s Home Camp. This is a traditional Nubian run place serving excellent food. Again there are only a few options for camping, bug Yeah-Yeah, the owner is very friendly and the place is well worth a visit. It’s about 10km north of town, on the West bank of the Nile near the new bridge. Ask in town if not sure as everyone knows him.

General travel is a bit of a hassle in Egypt. You get hassled by tourist crap everywhere you go and we were quite happy to leave when we did.
Travel south of Cairo along the Nile is only allowed in military / police convoy. This isn’t as daunting as it sounds. We were never quite sure whether the guys we gave lifts to were genuinely there to protect us or whether we were simply giving them free lift home. To arrange the convoy we simply pitched up at the first police checkpoint and they sorted the rest out. They were a mixture of having someone in the car or following police trucks. We didn’t have to pay anything but we did hear that they sometimes make independents pay for the convoys.

English widely spoken but outside of the tourist areas Egypt is still very conservative.
The ferry to Sudan leaves on a Monday. You will need to be in Aswan on at least Saturday to sort this out. It is a hassle and don’t bother to barter as you have no other options. Cost was about $250 for the truck and $40 per person. It is more if you get a cabin. In Aswan you need to find Mr Edris as he is your contact. Ask around the waterfront but better would be if you stayed at either Reitzekys in Luxor as Eli will give you his mobile number.
If you don’t get a cabin, and we recommend that you do (we didn’t) be aware that your options for sleeping on the deck are limited. There are hundreds of people on the boat and floor-space is at a premium. We also had friends robbed on the boat so don’t leave your stuff unattended at all. It also gets very cold at night which surprised us so warm clothes would be a good idea.

Sudan: we pretty much bushed camped the whole time we were here. We took the Eastern route out of Wadi Halfa, following the railway track to Abu Hamed. You simply follow the track through the desert and it is a brilliant drive. As it is the desert you can camp anywhere. There is fuel and water available in Wadi Halfa, but none until you reach Abu Hamed. However, when we reached Abu they had run out of fuel so don’t really on being able to get fuel here. Take enough to get you to the next town, about another 150kms.
Khartoum: We stayed at the Blue Nile sailing Club. This is a tradition with overlanders. However, the place is a bit dingy. To be fair it probably didn’t help that the place had just be flooded by the Nile! The toilet block was pretty horrible, although they did start to refurbish it whilst we were there.
We bush camped all the way from Khartoum to the Ethiopian border without incident. Most maps mark the last 150kms of the road before the Ethiopian border as being in terrible condition. However, when we went through it was being resurfaced and all but the last 40kms were in excellent condition.

The Sudanese themselves were friendly but reserved. They simply don’t see many tourists and don’t seem to know what to do when they see them!
There were no atms that we could use although they are happy to exchange USD pretty much anywhere.
The border control at Wadi Halfa takes an age. Up to 8 hours. They speak very little English so it might be worth getting yourself a helper. Midhat Mahir (ask for him in town as everyone knows him) helped us and I’m pretty sure got things done a lot quicker than had we been on our own.

Ethiopia:
Official camping options are very limited in Ethiopia. We bush camped for the majority of the time we were here. However, Ethiopia has a large population and so there are people wherever you camp. Therefore I won’t make a comment on the safety of doing this because you have to make you own decisions. However, we had no problems with it and it is probably your only way of seeing the country cheaply. We also saw few backpacker / traveller orientated hotels. The 2 places we managed to officially camp were:
Bahir Dar: You can camp in the grounds of the Ghion hotel for approx 5$ per person per night. There is a good bar and the food is ok. G&T’s cost 60p for a double so get stuck in! It is on the right as you head into town on the main road from Gonder.
Addis Ababa: We were able to camp in the courtyard of the Baro Hotel. This is only an option if you have a roof tent as there is no grass. It’s in the planet so use that for directions. Service is very slow in the restaurant but the burgers are the best in Africa! Camping is approx. 5$ a night.

Travelling in Ethiopia is a hassle. The country is stunning but you will get seriously hassled by locals whenever you venture out of your vehicle. Every time we stopped a huge crowd would surround us. They would climb on the truck, try to pull things off it and generally it all felt a bit unpleasant. The country is well worth a visit (and pretty unavoidable if you are heading down the east of the continent) just make sure you have plenty of patience and watch all your kit like a hawk. I’ve written more about this problem on the Ethiopia section of our journal.
English isn’t widely spoken and there are few atms.

Kenya:
Once you hit Kenya and clear the bandit road between Moyale and Isiolo it’s petty much plain sailing. There are atms and proper supermarkets everywhere. There are millions of campsites here as you are now on the overland truck route. The ones we found good were;
Naro Moro River Lodge: This places costs 10$ a night but the campsite is excellent and the facilities very good. The bar and restaurant are very good and quite reasonably priced. It’s about 20km south of Nanyuki on the road to Nairobi. It has good views of Mt Kenya and is the place to arrange treks on the mountain.
Lake Naivasha: Fisherman’s Camp is a huge campsite well used by the overland trucks. The bar is excellent and the camping reasonably priced. The facilities are good. Hippos come into the campsite at night but are stopped from mauling your tent by an electric fence!
Nakuru: Kembu campsite is excellent. It is about 20kms out of town in Njoro. The bar is very good and the food superb. The grounds are lovely and camping was around 3$ a night. The facilities are excellent.
Eldoret: Naiberi River Campsite. This is a new pace with an awesome bar and very good facilities. The place is well suited to overlanders with each pitch having its own sink, table and covered area to cook. Camping is around 6$
Nairobi: We stayed at Nairobi Park Services, opposite the main entrance to Nairobi National Park. The place is a bit like a truck workshop because most of the overland trucks use this place to keep their trucks and have them serviced when not in use. The bar and restaurant are good though and internet is available on site, although it is pricey. Camping is 5$

I haven’t included all the specials camps we stayed at in the national parks as there are so many and they are all pretty similar. Also camping in these needs to be sorted out at the park entrance. They usually cost between 10 – 20 USD a night.
Travelling in Kenya is pretty easy. Most people speak English and you’ll find large well stocked supermarkets. This is not to say you don’t have to take the usual precautions when travelling, it is just that compared to North Africa it is a breeze.
Single entry visas were 30$ on the border and then a 25$ road tax charge.

Tanzania:
The same applies to Tanzania. However, if you head off the main tourist route you’ll not only find the roads in appalling condition, but also that not many people speak English. We found this to be especially true around Lake Tanganyika and the west of the country.
Arusha: we stayed in 2 places. Firstly was Mesarani Snake Park, about 20kms west of town. This has good facilities; an excellent bar is well used by overlanders.
Secondly we stayed at another overland place called Maasai camp on the old road to Moshi on the east of town. This bar seemed good but we got in late and left early and didn’t really use the facilities too much.
Dar es Salaam: You can camp at the Silver Sands hotel about 10km north of town. This place has a great beach, perfect for chilling out. The facilities are good and the place can also arrange trips to Zanzibar.
We did manage to bush camp in the west of the country, although this isn’t such a good idea in the north-west near the Burundi border. If you decide to travel down the West from Kibondo to Tunduma think very carefully about it. The area is stunningly beautiful, especially the area around the Katavi NP. However, the roads are truly awful, almost impassable in the wet. Very few people speak English and there are few facilities for tourists. Having said that it is so remote that you could bush camp in this area. However, the area north Mpanda is currently having bandit issues and the road from Rusumu Falls on the Tan / Rwanda border that runs for 300kms to Kibondo along the Burundi border is supposedly the most dangerous in the country. Check the situation on the ground carefully before travelling.
We did give a lift to one of the district councillors and he told us that they were plans in place to tar the main north south road from Kigoma to Tunduma but don’t hold your breath. It’ll be great if they do because the area is stunning and would suddenly become available to travellers.

They don’t accept Tanzania shillings at the Tanzania border as payment for a visa. I won’t say how much a visa costs because we know people that paid 20$ and others that had to pay 60$. It’s luck of the draw I suppose. They should issue you a receipt and if you ask for one it normally forces them into charging the correct price. Expect to pay 25$ road tax if you are staying more than 7 days and 5$ if you stay less than 7 days.

Uganda
There are lots of campsites here. In Jinja we camped with Nile River Explorers at Bujagali falls. If you raft the day with them (100$ per person, but well worth it) you get a free nights camping. Good facilities, the showers overlook the river, and very popular with overlanders. You can all but guarantee a lively night at the bar. Best to avoid their place actually in Jinja as this is a bit manky, the falls are much nicer.
Kampala. The Red Chilli Hideaway is excellent. Good facilities, bar and food. Internet is free for guests although when we were there you would have gone grey waiting for your emails to download.
Murchinson’s falls. Red Chilli Rest House. Same guys as Kampala and another good place to camp if you are in the park.
Lake Nkurba Community Campsite. Campsite is a bit basic but it is a community run one and very reasonable. Also the lake is stunning and worth seeing. It’s signposted from the Kibale Forest NP. Ignore the distances given by the planet as they are wildly inaccurate.
Lake Bunyoni Overlanders camp. Excellent facilities, bar and restaurant. Camping is on a peninsular overlooking the lake and is very tranquil. Staff can arrange Makoro trips on the lake but beware they rip off you something chronic!

We found travelling in Uganda not only very easy but also very uplifting. The people are the friendliest yet, the NP rangers enthusiastic and there’s a real air of determination to develop about the country. We definitely have plans to go back at some point.
Visas can be got for about 35$ at the border and you also have to get 3rd party insurance. We were stopped regularly to get this and seeing as it costs about 30$ is probably worth having just to save the hassles when stopped.

Rwanda.
We couldn’t camp anywhere here as there were no campsites. They don’t really seem interested in travellers (understandable really) and so we found it quite hard. That said the country is beautiful. Land of a thousand hills really is an apt description, especially around Lake Kivu in the West. The prices have sky rocketed since the last planet came out. NP entry is 20$, camping 20$ and any activities such as game drive, walking safaris etc 30 – 50$, making Rwanda an expensive option.
We stayed at the Hotel Okapi in Kigali which was excellent but pricey. Kigali is worth visiting simply to go to the genocide memorial, a truly haunting experience.
The main roads are good but the roads to west around Kivu are very bad, expect to take 4 – 5 hours to do the 100kms from the top of the lake to Kibuye (the planet says it takes 2, maybe in helicopter not in a landy!).
Visas are free at the border.

Malawi.
Another part of the overland route and therefore packed with campsites.
Chitumba Beach Resort is good. The facilities are ok but the bar is excellent. Very popular with overlanders and so you can again guarantee a long night.
Kande Beach. Not much different from above except that the toilets are better. Another overland stopover. Diving in the lake can be arranged here for 25$ a dive at Aquanauts.
Senga Bay Hotel. No overlanders here. A peaceful place right on the beach that has stunning views of the lake. Not that private but nice and relaxing, especially if you’ve spent that last few days boozing at Chitumba and Kande!
Lilongwe: Kiboko Camp. This is quite a small campsite and that has a small bar and restaurant. The facilities are ok but the staff a bit indifferent. Good but expensive internet is available onsite.

Travelling in Malawi is pretty easy. The roads are good, although there are police road blocks every 50km. Everything is well signposted and all towns have atms. However as it is a poor country we found quite a few of the petrol stations had no fuel. You can always buy it on the black market but it is usually at 2x the price so plan you refuelling a bit carefully.
Visas are free but we did have to show our yellow fever certificates to get in.

Zambia.
Flatdogs in South Luangwa is an excellent place. Right on the river you see hippo, crocs, and elephants in the camp. The bar and restaurant are excellent and they can offer all kinds of extras at a reasonable costs. Camping is 7.5$ per person.
Lusaka: Pioneer Camp 20 kms north of town is very good. The staff are very helpful and it is very peaceful. Camping is about 6$.
Livingstone. Loads of options here. We used the Waterfront and found it very good. The also arrange all the extras stuff you can do in Vic Falls. Camping is 6$.

Zambia is pretty easy to travel through. The roads are is good condition. Even the infamous road to South Luangwa NP has been done up. However, in the wet season a lot of the parks shut down so there’s not a huge amount to do if you come in Jan (like we did!). There are numerous atms and English is spoken everywhere. Lusaka is a modern city with the shopping centres Arcades and Manda Hill well-worth a visit.
Visas are very expensive. They cost 60$ per person and then you also have to pay another 30$ carbon tax. If you are booked to stay at a campsite ask them if they will send a visa waiver to the border post and this allows you to get a free visa. Most campsites are willing to do this, though some charge a small fee. However, the border post must have the waiver at least 48 hours before you arrive or else they won’t accept it. Also, even when they do have it they sometimes don’t accept it anyway. If this happens it isn’t the campsites fault it is the border officials being arsey. This is what they did to us and because I then kicked off they made life very difficult for us. We basically had to go and get about 300$ before they would let us in because they said we didn’t have enough cash to support ourselves and unless we could prove we could we wouldn’t be coming in. Although it didn’t take as long as north Africa to cross the border we found this the most difficult.

Botswana
Life just keeps getting easier as you keep heading south. Most people visit to see the Chobe / Moremi parks, the Okavango Delta and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
All accommodation in NP has to be sorted out at the entry gate.
In Chobe NP we stayed at Ihaha camp. This is an excellent place. The pitches are designed to make you feel like you are bush camping. However, there are also excellent toilets and showers.
Savuti. We stayed at the main NP campsite and again this was excellent.
To get into the Delta isn’t cheap and you need to go into Maun to sort anything out. You can organise flights over the delta at quite a reasonable cost.
There are loads of campsites in Maun. We stayed at
Maun Rest Camp. This is a quiet place with no bar. Good for relaxing. Costs 40pula pppn. They can also sort out fairly budget safaris for the Delta and Kalahari
Audi Camp: good bar, good food, good swimming pool. Popular with overlanders
The Bridge: same as above but a bit more laid back. Popular with locals so you are guaranteed to meet some interesting characters.

To camp in the Kalahari you need to sort it out at the National Parks office Maun, this is behind the police station.
Maun is really that place where everything happens. You could drive here via the Nata road from the Zambia border and once here sort out all your NP stuff for the Kalahari, Moremi, Chobe and the Delta. Maun is worth sticking around in for a few days, (weeks, years). There are a few good pubs. The Sports bar does good food, the Buck and Hunter is good for boozing and pizzas.
The rest of Botswana is easy to travel around. The roads are good and well-signposted. There are atms and supermarkets take cards. English spoken everywhere. You need to be aware that you aren’t allowed to take meat through the Vet fences. These fences are on every main road around the country and they will check your car and fridge so don’t bother lying to them.
Visas are free and valid for 30 days, this can easily be extended by going to an immigration office.

Namibia
There are lots of campsites here as it is very popular with South Africans. Bush camping is difficult as most roads have fences alongside them. However, if you try hard enough you can bush camp. You can bush camp in the Kaokoveld (although the locals will be annoyed if they catch you because they want you to stay in there community campsites) and along the North-West Tourism Recreation Area. However, camping is cheap and so you should really use the official places.
Ngepi Camp, just over the border from Botswana if you come in at Divundu. This is an excellent place, good bar, amazing facilities and location. Popular with overlanders. Costs $10pppn
Epupa Falls Community Campsite: Being built when we were there but still very good. The location is amazing, right on the Kunene River and deep in the vast wilderness that is the Kaokoveld. It’s a mission to get here but you’d be stupid to miss out in visiting the area.
Fort Sesfontein Hotel. This is also a campsite and is good. Again the setting is what makes it. You can use the hotel pool and restaurant
Khorixas Rest Camp. Not the best of places but adequate enough facilities, including a shop that will only sell you anything if you have the exact change. Khorixas good for a re-supply if coming out Damaraland or Kaokoveld. Good mechanic in town.
Huab River Camp, Spitzkoppe. Really beautiful community run place on the banks of the dry Huab River. The scenery is great and the area worth exploring.
The campsites along the Skelton coast are really manky. However, bush camping is an option here (but not in the NP).
Windhoek: Quite a few options here. We used Chameleon Backpackers. This is good place for meeting other travellers. Has internet and washing facilities. Best if you have a roof tent as not a lot of room for ground tents, otherwise you’ll have to get a room.
Swakopmund. Lots of backpackers, only a few campsites. Alte Brucke Camping at the south of town is good. Each pitch has its own shower and toilet, braai and washing up sink. Proper upper-class camping.
Sesriem: The campsite in next to the entry gate is where you stay for Sossusvlei. Campsite is good and has a swimming pool...

Zimbabwe
We’ll let you make your own mind up here. We had no problems other than the fact that as tourists we weren’t allowed to spend local currency. You need to take lots of Rand or USD.
Bulawayo: Burke’s Paradise is a great place with Norman and his wife really making you feel at home. Well worth a visit.
Antelope Park is also good. Here you get to play with lion cubs and the actual campsite is one of the best we have been to.

Check what is going on carefully before you go. If you are going to Zim from Botswana there are loads of people in Maun who know the country well so it is good to get their advice. Don’t use the atms as you get screwed at the official government rate. Everyone speaks English and is really pleased to see tourists. You have to a pay a fee to leave the country (about $10) so make sure you have it in USD or Rand of they ill seriously muck you around.
Visa is $55 and then you pay road tax.

South Africa
Could go on for hours here and so am not going to. SA seems to be where camping was invented. The best piece of advice I can give is to get a copy of the free Coast-to-Coast travel guide and pick your places from that. You can get it at just about all campsites and it very useful. One thing, if you can, go to the Wild Coast, especially Port St Johns and stay at Cremorne!

Swaziland
Worth a visit if you have time. Use the Coast-to-Coast to find campsites.
Malolotja Park well worth a visit, campsite is excellent and the park is beautiful. They accept Rand and visas are free. Everyone speaks English.
Get a good road map as the sign posts are non-existent.

Lesotho
Similar to Swaziland except that most of the roads are very poor. The country is very mountainous and so takes along time to travel around.
Malealea is definitely worth a visit. Lots to do in the local area, pony trekking, hiking 4x4ing etc.

Piczo