Much advice needed! (WARNING, NEWBIE IDIOT!!!!)

[Shippers]

My point was that although physically possible (i.e. theyre all connected by land, bridges over the suez ect) it isnt possible without being shot/arrested/beheaded on the internet

The internet doesnt shoot/arrest or behead anyone...

 

[LetsHopeItFits]

Have you been living under a rock??
Extremist groups have been kidnapping westerners, particularly those they believe to be american and/or british, and chopping their heads off, and filming it and putting it on the internet. I assumed most of the world was aware of this?

 

[ER1C]

Have you been living under a rock??
Extremist groups have been kidnapping westerners, particularly those they believe to be american and/or british, and chopping their heads off, and filming it and putting it on the internet. I assumed most of the world was aware of this?

Eh, are you thinking of 10 years ago ?

 

[Turboman]

No, fuel leaks werent considered, you got me there.
Alright. Im gonna put it to you guys. Lets say a max budget, MAX of £7500, for something to do weekend laning, and a long trip to africa. A 109 Series or a discovery 1. Now 7.5k on a series, might get something reliable, with a set of parabolic springs. Camping arrangement will be a ground tent and a sleeping bag. 7.5k on a disco will get more mods than it needs, a dual battery setup, solar, roof tent, ect ect, or a similar arrangement to a series, with a nice chunk of change.
Before you ask, funding for the trip will come partially from me, but also from mates who come with, so the costs are significantly less when shared between 4.

7.5k might get you an old but serviceable yacht.
You could fettle it up a bit, and sail down to Gib, you should only need a few gallons of fuel for your auxiliary to get in an out of harbours.
Spare yourself all the bouncing about, have a great sail, and be able to walk when you get there!

 

[Turboman]

Okay, to get to the southern tip of spain from me is going to be the best part of a week in any landy, so we'll call it a week. Now, I THINK (I dont know, newbie idiot!) That most of what I want to see/experience is in sputhern africa (botswana, zimbabwe, zambia, SA, lesotho, angola? Etc,) so if I spent a month there, maybe two, and then 1.5 weeks to travel through northern africa each way, so lets say 8-12 weeks? I doubt it will be my last trip (certainly hope not!)
Another option Ive heard of, but not looked into, is the santander ferry, which goes to spain in about as long as it would take to drive, iirc.
Okay, lets just rule out some things, I cant drive through the middle east, correct? And even if I could, it would be unwise to go to certain bits of eastern europe, currently. So that means the only way to drive is via the ferry from spain to morocco

South Africa and Zim are probably more dangerous for white people at the moment than anywhere else, except possibly Yemen or Afghanistan.

 

[ER1C]

South Africa and Zim are probably more dangerous for white people at the moment than anywhere else, except possibly Yemen or Afghanistan.

dont forget Luton... !

 

[Turboman]

dont forget Luton... !

Fair point. But he could avoid Luton on the way down!

 

[LetsHopeItFits]

South africa cant be that dangerous, given that a decent chunk of the population are white (yes, a small minority, but still a decent chunk)
And yeah, okay, dont camp on the side of the road in Johannesburg, thats probably a bad idea (likewise with Luton!)

 

[NorfolkBird]

@gencybay

 

[WoodyO]

Are you actually going to buy a Series?

 

[Bobsticle]

Like the idea. Love the hotspur. Would have done it myself given the opportunity.
It’s such a shame Africa has become such a crap hole of desperation and danger.
To have any chance of completing such a journey your going to need funding. The heap will need to be as new and your going to need to take a spare everything with you.
Try and get hold of a book by Ian Coates. He set off on a trip to SA to pick up a mates Land Rover and drive it back. He never made it. He did however get his wife to ship his motorcycle to him and spent seven years going the opposite way round the world before returning to his farm in Todmorden. He wasn’t a farmer as such but a mechanic.
The owner of the Land Rover insisted he had it scrapped and walk away. It did have sentimental value to him and that is why he wanted it back in the UK but the first time Ian was stopped by the local army for his own safety the plug was pulled.
In reality there are only two routs up Africa. East or west. He was half way up the west rout and to detour to the east rout would have taken months.
Both gentlemen in this story were affluent middle aged men with a healthy budget behind them. Money was of little consequence but they both had their eyes fully open to the fact that safety comes first and a single middle aged bloke has more chance avoiding confrontation than a group of teenagers on a jolly.

 

[LetsHopeItFits]

So is it just too dangerous now?

 

[WoodyO]

I have a feeling the Top Gear Botswana special was recently replaced on Dave...

 

[Bobsticle]

Just remember. Ian is a mechanic and believe me after spending considerable time on the phone to him knows more about series land rovers than I will ever hope to know.
He is also clinically bonkers and the only time he was home for any length of time was a couple of years ago when he broke his back from falling from a roof repair at the farm.
He is old now. Even old to me but still amazes us with his adventures. And he usually only sees his wife when he comes across an airport and she flies out for a couple of weeks to stare blankly at his travel stories.

 

[NorfolkBird]

So is it just too dangerous now?

Go to London, talk to any South African working in a restaurant, bar or club. They will tell you what the current situation is.

 

[Bobsticle]

So is it just too dangerous now?

Flying to a holiday resort to see a scabby lion is far removed from traversing desperate people attempting everything possible to feed their children. This isn’t inner city wannabe gangsters looking for trouble. Some of the areas your looking to travel through are hideous. The populations are dying. Life is cheap and the change in your pocket could save their children from a horrendous death. Sadly your change will run out and their options become more limited.
We had a chap on the forum not so long ago who thought he could improve things by renovating a LWB and taking it to a school in Africa to be used as a school bus, collecting the kids in the surrounding villages.
It cost him a fortune in bribes just to get there. Every official you come across will need paying off. And they will come looking for you. They will hold you up and delay your journey until they are sure you can’t give any more. That simply leaves less for the next one that will delay you longer and so on and so forth.

 

[LetsHopeItFits]

So the people who have done the london to capetown in record time (I think 3 teams have done it in around 10 days, one team in a panda 4x4!) How did they do it?

 

[NorfolkBird]

So the people who have done the london to capetown in record time (I think 3 teams have done it in around 10 days, one team in a panda 4x4!) How did they do it?

That was years ago. You need to get up to date info if you're thinking of travelling.

 

[Bobsticle]

If it’s wilderness you want. Go to Canada in the summer but take a woolly pully.

 

[Bobsticle]

So the people who have done the london to capetown in record time (I think 3 teams have done it in around 10 days, one team in a panda 4x4!) How did they do it?

Funding. And lots of it.