Driving to Tanzania....

[Lord Pikey]

Do any of you knowledge endowed people know anything about organised or in fact any convoys that run from UK / Europe down to Africa?

Basically the opportunity has arisen to deliver a couple of Landover's to an old college friend of my dads who owns a coffee farm in Tanzania. My dad is convinced such convoys exist (safety in numbers and all that) but i am struggling to find anything on the net.

And while im at it, it might as well ask. To me this seems like an opportunity of a lifetime. Is there any advice from those more travelled than I?

[Johnny]

Head to Zanzibar for some R&R?

[zac510]

Drove to Mali via Morocco and Mauritania and it took a long time and wasn't exactly R&R. We did it via a planned charity trip but I believe they have since been cancelled on safety grounds. Can you go via Egypt? We hugged the coast to avoid the inner-Sahara region which was known for being rough. We passed through about a week before the Dakar was cancelled but encountered no trouble.

How many cars are there? You say 'a few' cars, maybe that's enough convoy in itself. Pick up a guide or two on the border to help you along the way. Sounds like fun!

[mrdelmonti]

Just a thought but it might be worth asking about on Land Rover forums to see if anyone is planning on heading out that way.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/
http://landroverforums.com/forum/
http://www.lro.com/forum/

[Bluebarge]

Try this forum as well -

http://forum.difflock.com/

[Carfiend]

Just watch out for those Tanzanian Devils with all their spinning about in a little whirlwind. Nasty little buggers those

[Targarama]

Carfiend said:

Just watch out for those Tanzanian Devils with all their spinning about in a little whirlwind. Nasty little buggers those

Tazmanian devils actually, wrong continent. Mind you, maybe they travel.

[Rach*]

www.horizonsunlimited.com


If I didn't have a proper job now I'd volunteer as a driver

[Bill]

Convoys aren't really necessary on the main roads but there are sually plenty of people doing the same trip so you're sure to meet someone to hook up with if you want.

As recommended above the HUBB is a great place for advice, and this will give you a taste of what's involved.

[v15ben]

Can't add any advice other than Tanzania being an amazing place and also do you need a spare driver?

[Size Nine Elm]

You might want to avoid south-west Sudan on the way. And Congo (both varieties). Not sure if you can slip through the gap through CAR/Uganda...

[havoc]

When we were there last year we bumped into a couple of (Aussies I think) driving their LandCruiser up from S.Africa to London. They'd half-killed it by Tanzania on the roads, so god knows if they made it or not...

[VxDuncan]

Size Nine Elm said:

You might want to avoid south-west Sudan on the way. And Congo (both varieties). Not sure if you can slip through the gap through CAR/Uganda...

Would second that. It's also common practice with the overland tours to hire an armed escort through the border area between Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya.

Make sure you leave plenty of time to cross Kenya. The roads are absolutely terrible.

[Lord Pikey]

Thanks all, Excelent info.

Im going to find out more detials now such as how many vehicals they want and time frame.

Cheers

LP

[Stu R]

We're doing a road trip through africa to cape town next year for charity (and plan to get a few more folks involved). We've done a fair bit of research on it of late and it's not *too* bad to organise. We're looking at using landies too

Does require considerable planning though, and depending on which countries you want to go through the visa process looks like being quite nightmareish for some of the countries. The hardest thing to plan around is the local politics and the more unpleasant goings on that parts of Africa can be prone to, but some thorough planning will keep things as smooth as possible hopefully.
Happy to share any info I've picked up if there's anything specific you're after, feel free to drop me a mail through my profile.

[Bill]

VxDuncan said:

Would second that. It's also common practice with the overland tours to hire an armed escort through the border area between Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya.

The Moyale road? The army run convoys you can join, but they go at a hell of a pace and don't wait for stragglers. We didn't bother but left ahead of a convoy so the bandits knew we had backup coming if needs be.

[zac510]

I was reading about that section of road recently in Paul Theroux's Dark Star Africa. Sounds pretty dodgy!

[Bill]

Rumours amongst the professional overland drivers suggest Mr Theroux might have used some poetic licence in his account

[K50 DEL]

If anyone fancies coming down the West side of Africa, give me a yell when you get to Angola and I'll buy you a beer - I'd love to drive to work from the UK, but sadly I think it would take longer than the time I get off between hitches!!

[zac510]

Bill said:

Rumours amongst the professional overland drivers suggest Mr Theroux might have used some poetic licence in his account

He is a journalist after all, but I thought his account of being 'shot at' was quite modest. He could have played it up far worse.