Across Africa. In a Porsche...
Discussion
Hi there.
Rather than hijacking the "african roadtrip" thread in general gassing, I'm starting a thread here with a few details of a trip I made recently - from england to South Africa, in a '944.
I'd owned the car for six years before the trip, and with over 200,000 miles on the clock it was nearly time for a change. However rather than sell it, I decided to drive it across Africa. Like you do.
We had a few problems, including a complete engine failure two weeks before we left - fortunately, we'd brought a cheap donor car for spare parts, so we were able to take the completely unknown, untried scrap engine out of it and replace the broken engine. The new engine fitted one friday evening, and we nervously left for africa on the saturday morning.
Other issues on route included lots of read tape, breakdowns in tribal warzones, lots of overheating, and a suspension collapse in the middle of the Namib desert, a hundred miles from anywhere.
Anyhow, enough waffle. For those that have expressed an interest, there's some photos and a blog from the trip here: http://we-cant-climb.spaces.live.com/
Ben.
Rather than hijacking the "african roadtrip" thread in general gassing, I'm starting a thread here with a few details of a trip I made recently - from england to South Africa, in a '944.
I'd owned the car for six years before the trip, and with over 200,000 miles on the clock it was nearly time for a change. However rather than sell it, I decided to drive it across Africa. Like you do.
We had a few problems, including a complete engine failure two weeks before we left - fortunately, we'd brought a cheap donor car for spare parts, so we were able to take the completely unknown, untried scrap engine out of it and replace the broken engine. The new engine fitted one friday evening, and we nervously left for africa on the saturday morning.
Other issues on route included lots of read tape, breakdowns in tribal warzones, lots of overheating, and a suspension collapse in the middle of the Namib desert, a hundred miles from anywhere.
Anyhow, enough waffle. For those that have expressed an interest, there's some photos and a blog from the trip here: http://we-cant-climb.spaces.live.com/
Ben.
Hehe, unfortunately I couldn't quite afford the 959. Cool photo though. :-)
Yeah, Egypt was the worst country for us, paperwork-wise. They take their beurerocracy seriously there, going so far as taking chalk rubbings of the chassis number, insisting you rent egyptian plates, get a temporary egyptian driving license, and have an 800% loading for your 'Carnet du Passage'.
Our visit was made worse as there was one more digit on the chassis number of the V5 than on the actual car (for some reason, the last number on the V5 seemed to be replaced by an asterisk on the car). This led to us being denied entry into Egypt until we could get a fax sent from the RAC to the border post confirming everything was in order. Sorting all that out was a fun 15 hours...
I'm guessing they were worried that we'd be mistaken for one of the many other overlanding 944s in Egypt! :-)
Yeah, Egypt was the worst country for us, paperwork-wise. They take their beurerocracy seriously there, going so far as taking chalk rubbings of the chassis number, insisting you rent egyptian plates, get a temporary egyptian driving license, and have an 800% loading for your 'Carnet du Passage'.
Our visit was made worse as there was one more digit on the chassis number of the V5 than on the actual car (for some reason, the last number on the V5 seemed to be replaced by an asterisk on the car). This led to us being denied entry into Egypt until we could get a fax sent from the RAC to the border post confirming everything was in order. Sorting all that out was a fun 15 hours...
I'm guessing they were worried that we'd be mistaken for one of the many other overlanding 944s in Egypt! :-)
HereBeMonsters said:
Looks great, tbh the main reason I wouldn't do one of these trips is the annoying border crossings. I've done a few in my time and I really can't be bothered with them any more.
What was the Tanzania/Zambia border like?
Hi folks, thanks for all the positive comments.What was the Tanzania/Zambia border like?
The border crossings can indeed be a pain - but they are also often when you experience modern Africa at it's most real, warts and all. The key is to try to relax and try to roll with them, rather than getting stressed and trying to force things through quickly. This is easier said than done however!
We went from Tanzania into Malawi, then from Malawi to Zambia, so didn't experience the delights of the Tanzania/Zambia border. You shouldn't have any problems though, we found both countries borders to be reasonably efficient and understandable by African standards. You can buy visas, insurance, carbon tax, etc, on both sides of the border, and English will be spoken. Just don't get robbed by a shifty money changer going into Tanzania like I did!
As for having the 'wrong engine' in your land rover - Do the trip anyway and take pleasure in proving the doubters wrong! Good luck, you'll have a great time...
Did we all get on fine? Well I've been dating my co-driver from the trip for a nearly a year now, so we can't have got on too bad! :-)
There were occasional disagreements in the group of course, Spend a few stressful, uncertain months in close proximity and there always will be. The main falling-out was probably in Botswana, when a friend (accidently) crashed the Shogun into the back of the Porsche at about 30mph...
Edited by plymouthben on Monday 22 February 16:51
Hi folks.
If anyone out there still cares, I've finally got around to tackling some of the video from the Porsche's trip across Africa. You can laugh at our incompetent progress across the muddy, bandit ridden tracks of Northern Kenya here:
http://www.vimeo.com/10445844
Not the easiest days driving I've ever done, but certainly one of the most fun! That is, until the fuel filter mounting broke, causing it to drop down onto one of the halfshafts and wear through, leaving us dead in the mud with a high pressure fuel leak...
If anyone out there still cares, I've finally got around to tackling some of the video from the Porsche's trip across Africa. You can laugh at our incompetent progress across the muddy, bandit ridden tracks of Northern Kenya here:
http://www.vimeo.com/10445844
Not the easiest days driving I've ever done, but certainly one of the most fun! That is, until the fuel filter mounting broke, causing it to drop down onto one of the halfshafts and wear through, leaving us dead in the mud with a high pressure fuel leak...
graemel said:
Ben, I'd race any car at any speed at any circuit in the world that you would care to mention, but I have not got the b*lls to do what you did. I doff my cap 
Thanks, that made me smile.Its horses for courses I suppose. I found throwing the Porsche round the Nurburgring considerably more nerve-racking than crossing Africa in it.
The only properly scary bit of the trip was getting robbed at knifepoint in Cape Town - and that was only scary in hindsight, as I was far too drunk to care at the time.
Ben (with a slight change of name...)
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff