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I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

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Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#231

Post by weerd »

Msurrow wrote: post #210
nickthemagicman wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Westerners version of traveling treats the world like Disneyland. Rich westerners save a bunch of money then go see the sights then come back and tell their friends! These experiences are purchased, the equivalent of visiting China world at Epcot. It treats travel, people, culture like an amusement park or even worse a status symbol...have YOU been to Africa? The OP wants something more meaningful I think.

Yes, I have. About two month in South Africa. Amongst other things spending 21 days volunteering and another 16 days-ish driving around the country.

Wow, way to miss the point. It was a rhetorical question. Sheesh....

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#232

Post by grecy »

sgt wrote: post #211
grecy wrote: post #154

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now! I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things. In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too. The details on the…

When you make it as far as Cape Town I'd like to meet up with you and briefly chat, if you don't mind. I've followed your blog so far and I'm very interested in following your process as you're making your way down south. It's definitely going to be a challenge.

Absolutely. Drop me a line when I'm getting closer.

Just this week I've bumped into three different people who just came North on the West Coast from Cape Town, including a guy from South Korea on a bicycle, alone, who doesn't speak a word of French and very basic English.

They all loved it :)

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#233

Post by vacri »

enraged_camel wrote: post #129
oska wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is very little to worry about there. Having your car break down or get bogged in a remote location is a much greater danger, but one that lots of tourists ignore.

Um, Australia is home to some of the most poisonous snakes and spiders on the planet. And outside of major cities, they crawl into people's homes and cars on occasion.

Apart from one or two snakes, the cassowary, and the crocodile, dangerous Australian wildlife is pretty shy and sleepy. Make noise when you walk through scrub and the snakes, if any, will avoid you. The only particularly deadly spider lives only around Sydney, you have to go hunting for it, and there's antivenin for it. I've also never heard about snakes getting into people's cars. Sure, it probably happens, but it's rare if it does.

Yes, the toxicity on paper of Australia's animals is sky-high, but that's not the full story. You're far more at risk of heatstroke than animal problems when travelling Australia.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#234

Post by vacri »

mb_72 wrote: post #140
enraged_camel wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, Australia is home to some of the most poisonous snakes and spiders on the planet. And outside of major cities, they crawl into people's homes and cars on occasion.

Australian here. What you say is true, but avoid long grass (snakes) when out walking and check under the toilet seat (spiders) before sitting and you'll be fine. More importantly, make sure you look up constantly when around gum trees to avoid sudden and violent drop-bear attacks. The exact number of deaths and injuries caused by drop-bears is keep secret by the Australian government to avoid putting off tourists, b…

If you smear toothpaste on the back of your neck when walking through forests, the dropbears will slide right off.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#235

Post by vacri »

shitgoose wrote: post #183
mb_72 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australian here. What you say is true, but avoid long grass (snakes) when out walking and check under the toilet seat (spiders) before sitting and you'll be fine. More importantly, make sure you look up constantly when around gum trees to avoid sudden and violent drop-bear attacks. The exact number of deaths and injuries caused by drop-bears is keep secret by the Australian government to avoid putting off tourists, b…

i had to google 'drop-bear'... are spiders under the toilet seat also part of australian folklore or they are real?

Mostly folklore - there's even a song: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/redback-on-the-toilet-seat-ly...

A normal clean toilet is no danger, same as everywhere else in the world, but if you're going to the loo in one of those ramshackle open-to-the-elements rustic outhouses, you might want to check the seat.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#236

Post by vacri »

sam_pointer wrote: post #40
georgespencer wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An old truck is a vastly more practical vehicle in Africa than a landrover - LRs need a lot of maintenance, whereas trucks generally just keep going. This sounds like received wisdom. Is there any evidence to support it? Why would one believe that a land rover's engine requires more maintenance than the average engine found in all the aggregate "old trucks"?

I can supply some anecdotally. I own two vehicles with reputations for running after neglected or minimal maintenance: a 1966 VW Beetle and a Land Rover. The more correct way of characterising both would be that they will continue to run and function without ongoing maintenance (the proper level of which is way above a modern vehicle) until they break in a spectacular and often terminal way. To attempt to answer your…

> until they break in a spectacular and often terminal way

One bloke had his Citroen die in such a way in Africa... and had to rebuild it into a motorcycle to get out of where he was

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168061/French-elect...

https://m.thevintagenews.com/2016/05/18/emile-leray-built-wo...

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#237

Post by pbhjpbhj »

forgotpwtomain wrote: post #159
DanBC wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. Wouldn't most people dig themselves out?

Probably you have never experienced a stuck heavy vehicle. It's usually impossible to get one out without assistance. Rarely, you may have a winch and can anchor to something which can support the vehicle's weight, but certainly not 'dig yourself'.

A winch that can pull the truck seems an essential item to take, but your general point stands.

Also, perhaps, don't drive a 10 tonne truck?

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#238

Post by imgabe »

overcast wrote: post #189
sangnoir wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To be fair, this is about travelling across Africa rather than visiting a specific locale Africa is really, really huge - it has almost 4 times the landmass of the contiguous US. Avoiding specific locales is pretty easy.

Not when those places are the ones people want to be. Yes clearly driving out into the middle of the desert, or on top of the highest mountain, probably low risk from the populace.

I think it's almost tautological that places with active conflicts going on are not places people want to be.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#239

Post by [deleted] »

forgotpwtomain wrote: post #159
DanBC wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. Wouldn't most people dig themselves out?

Probably you have never experienced a stuck heavy vehicle. It's usually impossible to get one out without assistance. Rarely, you may have a winch and can anchor to something which can support the vehicle's weight, but certainly not 'dig yourself'.

[deleted]

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#240

Post by [deleted] »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #208
Msurrow wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care that this is a late and buried reply and most likely only you will read it. I even created an account just to reply to you. I did this because I was you about a year ago and your post is exactly something I could hear myself say or think. I had a good friend that had lived part of their life out in the big world and I was talking to her about it, explaining how I felt, which is just about what you write…

There is deep truth in this comment, doing something you are not sure you can do will challenge you. And in overcoming that challenge you will be hugely rewarded.

[deleted]
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