Africa overland travel guide

Experiencing Africa overland means you rise with the sun and make the most of daylight hours until the smell of camp cooking fills the air and the chatter of traveling companions is eclipsed by the African night. An overland tour is different to a regular safari or vacation as you’ll spend entire days covering long distances, in between free days to discover towns and villages, or undertake optional activities like walking with San Bushmen, desert treks, sand surfing or quad biking.

Some of the custom built overland vehicles – ranging from 4WD to purpose built trucks – are designed to accommodate camping and dining equipment, and luggage stowed in lockers, but not onboard toilets nor air-con. Passenger seating is elevated to maximise game watching and to take in vast swathes of desert and flat savannah plains that pass by your window on a seemingly continuous loop.

Overnight accommodation ranges from guesthouses, safari lodges, chalets, tents and traditional African huts with more than enough home comforts to make an overland trip feel just as relaxing as exciting. The job of your tour leader is to show you the magnificence of Africa without rushing the experience and a minimum of three weeks is probably just long enough to get to grips with the enormity of the continent and whet your appetite for many more overland adventures to come.

Underestimate a bit of luxury. Although there are numerous overland tours where joining in and roughing it is all part of the adventure it has to be said that a little bit of luxury can never be underestimated. Cocktails at sunset, comfy beds, spacious vehicles, your very own chef, and a couple of extra days to enjoy Cape Town or Zanzibar; don’t forget that this is your vacation and including a little bit of luxury can really go a long way.

Visit with a ‘must see’ tick list. One piece of advice that you’ll be given on an Africa overland tour is to be flexible and patient and try not to visit with a preordained check list of wildlife you ‘actually have to see.’ Animals are fickle creatures and if they don’t want to be seen then there’s no point getting all hot under the collar about it. Come with an open mind and remember that this is Africa and not everything always goes according to plan.