a work in progress...
***Top Trip Tips***
1. Take some small souvenirs from England with you to give out when someone is particularly kind rather than “willy nilly” to kids – the later just promotes the “mr mr … dollar dollar” something for nothing attitude which is annoyingly prevalent in countries like Tunisia and Egypt. We wished we had done this as it is nice to repay some of the kindness shown to us with something from home.
2. Only take new US$ notes (post 2006) – passed Egypt, people do not like old currency and will flatly refuse to take it (even banks) which can be a complete nightmare!
3. Don’t leave home without:
a.
a good air compressor (that connects directly to the battery)
b. a hammock
c. Tracks for Africa - it can be a pain sometimes with completely out of date or just wrong co-ordinates but i still wouldn't be without it!
d. Good GPS & Laptop
e. In-car 240v inverter
4. Don’t bother taking:
a.
b.
5. Anti-malarial tablets – we brought Doxycycline for 4p per tablet in Cairo compared to 70p in UK. Doxy and some other anti-malarials (but not Malarone) are widely available in Egypt at a fraction of the UK price – obviously everyone needs to take their own medical advice on which to take!
6. Things that I have been impressed with, (mainly thinking I want one of those):
a. a table/shelf attached to the vehicle - either on the side or on the inside of the back door - useful space and helps to shelter from the wind when cooking
b. a cooker which takes multiple fuels including diesel. We had difficulty getting gas from Egypt all the way to Kenya but diesel is obviously available everywhere
c. a GPS tracker that send signals back to your website to let people know at home you are still safe when you can not get in contact. A good one called "Spot "is available from I want one of those.com but have heard it is not so great in southern Africa.
*** Country by Country - Top Tips ***
** Tunisia – Top Tips **
1. Get off the boat as quickly as possible to be one of the first at the passport/custom checks
2. There are police stops everywhere – however, they never stop tourists (the only time we got stopped was to see if we would give one of them a lift!)
3. Only buy meat in the morning
4. Tunisian’s do not care for pavements and prefer to walk in the middle of the road – particularly at night in groups of 5 plus abreast
5. Every town has at least one Ave de 7 Novembre (the day in 1987 the current president, Ben Ali, seized power in a bloodless coup) and usually every other connotation i.e Rue de 7 Novembre, Blvd de 7 Novembre, Place de 7 Novembre etc. and atleast one Ave Habib Bougiba (the previous president) which can be quite confusing when whole towns only seem to have one street name
6. Although the motorways are numbered logically on the maps, the same numbers do not have appeared to make it to any signs!
7. One for the girls – although you are tolerated in cafes (usually all male preserves but western women are accepted as honorary men), beware that there is usually only mens toilets which you can easily get stuck in the cubicle waiting for a man outside to finish up!
8. Beware of the peppers that they sell everywhere, although not hot to taste – the seeds burn like chilli seeds no matter how many time you wash your hands and can wreak havoc on the eyes!
9. Watch-out for the Eurotrash driving their pimped up 4x4’s. Whilst some have Land Rovers, they are only here to rag them over the dunes and then go straight home
**Libya – Top Tips**
1. There’s no beer …
2. There is a lot of hype about rigorous searches of your vehicle at the Libyan border (mostly for alcohol) – we were not searched and we spoke to a Dutch overland tour guide and he had never once been searched (and had two weeks supply of beer in the back of his Mog!)
3. You can bush camp in Libya (apart from in Tripoli & Benghazi) despite what some guides say. However, the idea of bush camping seems to be finding the nearest petrol station/road side café and your guide asking them if you can park round the back
4. Even if you see nothing else in Libya, visit Leptis Magna, Knightsbridge War Cemetery in Tobruk and, if you can manage to spare an extra couple of days, Ghadames
5. There’s no beer …
6. … but it does have the cheapest fuel in Africa
7. Outside Tripoli, Libyan’s are the friendliest people – generally very pleased to meet tourists, we were given free food, free camping and if we asked directions, they would invariably jump in the car and guide you until you were on the right road
8. And now for the driving …
a. Libyan’s drive at atleast 80mph irrespective of road conditions or other traffic
b. Almost every car hoots or flashes you … we assumed they were just being friendly
c. Libyan drivers can join and exit motorways/dual carriageway from either the right or the left – this is most terrifying when you have to come to a sudden halt because there is a queue of traffic in the fast lane
d. When joining said motorways/dual carriageways, they seem to have a complete lack of awareness that there are other vehicles on the road
e. If a lane of traffic is going too slowly, the Libyan’s simply create a new one … either the hard shoulder, in the middle of two lanes or, my personal favourite, crossing over the central reservation and using the other side of the road. A particularly fine example of this was when we hit some roadworks requiring the dual carriageway to be filtered down to one lane … by the time we eventually got to the front, the helpless looking policeman was desperately trying to manage seven lanes of traffic into one
f. There are a lot of road renovations so be prepared test your suspension!
9. The road from Tripoli to Benghazi is long (about 700 miles) and very dull
10. You need to return your plates at an office on the right in the last town before the border - you will get LD100 back when you return them
** Egypt – Top Tips**
1. Despite what some websites say, Egyptian visa’s are available at the border between Libya and Egypt for $15 per person (very easy – it is just a kiosk, no formalities). We made the mistake of getting ours in Tripoli (b/c we’d read they weren’t at the border), which not only was expensive but they did not recognise them at the border and we had to spend 40 minutes convincing them that the visa was real!
2. Police convoys: are a pain, they either speed off at 80mph or drive at 20mph so we have spent a lot of time trying to avoid them – the country is perfectly safe now, but I think the police get bored sometimes. If they do insist and want to take your passport (this happened to us) apparently a copy will satisfy them. See Country Info for a summary of what we found.
3. See country info for border formalities and info on the Sudan ferry
4. Unless absolutely necessary, avoid MTI (the Land Rover authorised garage nr Cairo) – an oil change cost us UK£100, not to mention we seem to have more leaks after their service than before!
5. Luxor – we felt like this was a bit of an expensive tick in the box in the end. Check which tombs are closed before you pay – when we went to the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the best tombs were closed for refurbishment. The Temple of Horus in Edfu and Abu Simbel (which you get a good view of from the ferry) are just as spectacular, cheaper and with very few tourists, we found much more enjoyable.
6. Avoid the Eid holiday – it plays havoc when trying to get out of the country!
** Sudan – Top Tips** 1. There is absolutely no alcohol in Sudan, anywhere. Full stop. 2. The famous Blue Nile campsite is a bit of a hole and the staff
unfriendly. Unfortunately, it is the only camping option in the city but if you
don’t mind not being in the heart of Khartoum, suggest you try the other one
10km south of the city. 3. All the main roads in the north (Wadi Halfa – Dongola – Karima –
Meroe – Khartoum) are all fully sealed and in amazing condition. Generally,
there are no crap roads in the usual route through the country – we even tried
to find a crap one and failed. 4. Fairly good Land Rover garage (Awab Motors) in Khartoum and an even
better dedicated Land Rover parts shop in the same ‘hood. The garage know this
and will even drive you to the parts shop. This will literally halve your bill.
5. Don’t believe all the hype you read about Sudan being the highlight
of your trip. The locals out of town are friendly bordering on indifferent and the
people in Khartoum won’t give you a second glance (unless you want to change
money with them). Steer clear of the Police/Army as they are not helpful or
particularly friendly. It is a safe place though if you stick to the main route
from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum and exit through Gallabat. All in all, a nice place,
bit dull but a welcome change from Egypt. 6. Do not buy the Bradt Guidebook on Sudan – it’s useless - we doubt the
authors have actually stepped foot in Sudan in the last decade 7. There’s no beer …
** Ethiopia – Top Tips ** 1. Ethiopia is basically one big mountain range … it looks nothing like
the TV footage from Blue Peter we grew up with in the 1980’s. 2. If you stop and look around you for the highest mountain, you can be
99% sure that the road will literally go over the top of it, despite their
being a perfectly flat valley floor that one would have thought would be much
easier to build a road through. This is awesome for the first day or two but
gets a bit wearing on the vehicle after two weeks … we blame the Chinese. Make
sure your vehicle is up to it (particularly if you’re doing the Northern
Circuit) as LR spares are expensive in Addis. 3. Ethiopian children think all westerners are walking stationery
cabinets/ATM’s/2nd hand clothes stores. If you stop anywhere in the
countryside, you have out 60 seconds for a pee before you are surrounded … they
seem to be able to smell a faranji a mile away and appear en masse from
nowhere. 4. It is true – the kids do throw stones in Ethiopia. We got stoned
twice, once properly which left a mark. It’s not out of malice, the kids are
just bored and think it’s good fun/target practice. The problem is worse in the
north and especially the Simien Mountain area. 5. If you want to go into Kenya via the Omo Valley (rather than the main
Moyale Road), do not get your carnet stamped on entering Ethiopia because there
is no office to stamp it on exit. I understood that Ethiopia is not part of the
carnet scheme so you should not need to get it stamped anyway but they have got
so used to people producing it at the border that they now ask for it. It took
a bit of haggling with the lady but eventually she agreed not to stamp our
carnet on entry into Ethiopia. 6. I would only attempt the Omo Valley route in dry season – if it is
wet, it would be impassable on both sides of the border. There is diesel
available at Konso, which is the last pump you’ll get until
Baragoi/Maralal/Marsabit in Kenya, and then out of barrels at Abore (on the
Ethiopian side) and Loiangalany (on the Kenyan side). 7. Land Rover parts are available but very expensive in Addis. Labour is
cheap though. 8. Watch out for pick pockets in Addis!
**Kenya – Top Tips ** 1. The National Parks in Kenya are expensive for foreigners, if you
haven’t been before (which we had), I’d suggest going to the Maasai Mara and, if
you want to go for two, Amboselli - none of the other parks we visited quite
hit the mark compared to these two. 2. Stay at Jungle Junction in Nairobi – it’s aimed at independent
overlanders and has got everything you need plus you can pick up lots of info
from other overlanders. 3. Fill up with fuel in Kenya if your heading for Uganda as it is
cheaper in Kenya. 4. When we got our carnet stamped, the official recommended we go to the
airport and get some kind of Kenyan driving permit which cost US$40 – we didn’t
bother and never got asked for it.