Decisions - How do you prepare for such a trip?
When you begin to speculate on what you need to do, you could easily be excused for thinking it was an impossible task. We chose to start with a "fishbone" diagram to give us an overview of the task in hand. Here we chose six categories which we hoped would cover all the planning needed. We can then, as we go along, add things as they come to mind. The categories were:
1- Vehicle
2- Route
3- Economical implications
4- Paperwork required
5- Planning/preparation
6- Personal items
Maybe this won't cover everything - time will tell!!!
Having decided which route we wanted to attempt, the next stage was to see what the chance was of getting visas. Not much sense in planning a route if one of the countries in question won't let us in. We decided this was Karen's job, or did she just start doing it - can't remember.
One thing was certain from what she found out. We have to start arranging things now, even if there is nine months before we need the visas. The visas will in the end ultimately decide the route we take.
02/04/09
Which way??? Here is the latest regarding the route we hope to take. Travelling through North West Africa is a none starter. Too many countries to travel through and too many of them dangerous for tourists, which is after all what we are. We visited Ferie for alle ("Holidays for everyone") in Herning and picked up a lot of info. from various countries in Africa who were represented at ministry level. It seems travelling through Tunisia, Libya, Egypt is a going concern, until you reach Sudan. Here it seems the road ends. No visas being issued at the moment, especially to Danes. Even if the visa application is eventually successful, you have to weigh up the dangers of travelling through. The situation in many African countries is an on going situation which can quickly change, but at the moment it certainly puts a damper on things.
A ray of hope. There is no real alternative at the moment if we cannot travel through Sudan. We are still working on this one. Jesper, one of our friends from Zealand, threw us a new ray of hope last weekend while we all were enjoying ourselves at party. He felt there was a way through Sudan, without all the dangers we have heard about. You certainly need a plan B, D, C and so on if this trip is going to be a success. We will get back to you on the route when and if there is a break through.
01/05/09
Today we had to make a very difficult decision regarding our route. The visa to Sudan is proving very elusive and we don't think at the moment there is much chance of us both getting one. We will not even consider the thought of one of us driving alone through the country. It's both of us, or nothing.
Expensive!
Another problem, if the visa wasn't enough, is the cost of driving through Egypt. To be issued with the necessary papers for our vehicle, we have to able to, amongst other things, give a bank guarantee which amounts to 8 times the vehicle's value. We think this is absolutely ridiculous, just to spend three or four days driving through the country.
We will now transport the vehicle by ship direct to either Namibia or Cape town in South Africa. We are in the process of getting quotes from various shipping companies, so we can start to arrange passage. Let's hope this doesn't present any serious problems!!!