LATEST UPDATES:
June 28, 2008
Flying out tomorrow. All updates will be on the Journal and Photo page from now on. Check it out, there's some great images of the truck and the crazy 4x4 training course Kobus did! 12 days and counting...
May 21, 2008
Check out the new blog page! Since our forum crapped out, I made a new blog thanks to the worlds best blog software. You can even add your comments. Hopefully the spammers won't attack this too :(
May 12, 2008
Is it July yet? Seriously... enough of this planning... let's go already.
I bought my tickets a few weeks ago, at $1700, thats a steal of a deal. Kobus is heading out at the end of the month. We've got all the visas, paperwork, and gear we could ever possibly want. Also, we've finally signed up some other suckers--- eh I mean friends--- to join us :)
My mom and brother will be flying into Dar in August for the Kili climb, and some messing around in the typical tourist safari areas. Woo-hoo. Then over to Kenya, where we'll drop them off at Nairobi Int'l just before heading to Uganda to pick up my super-cool cousins Ken & Alison. We'll tromp around Uganda and Rwanda for a few weeks, until Alison has used up her vacation time, and has to return to work :( Ken however has bravely decided to stick it out all the way back to Joburg. SWEET!
We're ready to go! Stay tuned for a proper blog page, and some funny packing photos. Not quite as compact as the Asia trip.
April 4, 2008
Last week we revised the route yet again. Since the situation in Kenya cleared up and all of the travel advisories have been removed, we figured we might as well go back to the original plan. So after Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti, we are headed to the Masai Mara, then Nairobi. Then a not-so-straight shot to Kampala, Uganda.
Thanks to some helpful forum advice... (particularly from the owner of this useful site www.luangwablondes.com) We've obtained a pile of excellent GPS maps for everywhere we are going. They work on our PC so we can actually get accurate routes, road conditions and distances. Thanks to Tracks4Africa for this amazing set of maps. It looks like the total mileage is 8808 miles (14171 km). To put that into perspective. It's just about the same distance from Seattle to the tip of South America, or from Seattle to New York three times.
March 17, 2008
I've just beefed up the security on our forum. Some spammer added a bunch of casino links to try and improve gambling sites. Nice. Now you must be a registered user to post anything.
Not much else is new. Busy planning a little bit at a time. I think I've found a few good Kilimanjaro operators. At least 50 emails later. I sent off for my first visa yesterday, 1 of 5. Kobus is lucky, only needs 2. Meanwhile we are still trying to get the vehicle insured. Just another thing on a very long list.
February 28, 2008
Kenya's rivals sign an agreement!. And the nice people at the AA office in Kenya (that's US equivalent to AAA) agreed to provide us COMESA insurance via mail. Hurray Kenya! For those of you that are interested. Most African countries require anyone temporarily importing a vehicle to buy 3rd party insurance when the enter. Because it is mandatory, yet rates are infrequently published, it's often a target for illegal bribes and demands. The Comesa yellow card insurance is the only 3rd party insurance recognized in almost all east African countries, and is a fraction of the price of buying new 3rd party insurance at every border. It's not available in South Africa, which is why finding a place willing to send it to us via mail is such a big deal. Yay Kenya!
February 26, 2008
Kobus bought his plane ticket to Johannesburg a few days ago. He's leaving May 31st. NWA is having a sale for any of you that have the urge to come :) In the mean time post some stuff on our Forum. It's been quiet lately.
Also see the equipment section of the forum to see pictures of our beautiful new truck.
February 13, 2008
I've just posted a full day-by-day interary here. Obviously there are still a lot of decisions to be made, but its a good idea of how long we are spending in each place. We've cut out a greater part of Kenya. We're tentatively planning to go up the East coast and straight back into Tanzania, then across the Tanzania safari circuit, into Rwanda, and looping around Uganda instead of around Lake Victoria. We're also cutting out the week long drive up the rift valley, which is sad, but it's wars come and go, and I'm pretty sure the rift valley's going to remain put for the rest of my life anyway.
February 9, 2008
Completely unrelated to Africa... see the six new series of photos from South East Asia here. www.jessicamans.com/sea/photos.html. A huge thank you to Kobus for the stunning flash animation he created. Calendar coming soon. I swear.
February 9, 2008
Lots of news this weekend. We've sealed the deal on the truck. 57,000 Rand. Kobus' brother is picking it up on Monday. Sweet! Hopefully we'll post some photos of it soon.
The Rand is still going up ... at 7.8 today. Dave, my hard core, way too smart for his own good, NY investor friend, says I am correct it has to do with the platinum prices and the fact that SA isn't mining their full amount. Recently interviewed by NY1 News- read more about how cool Dave is here: http://www.ny1.com/ny1/Living/personal_finance.jsp If I had money to invest I'd give it to him :)
February 7, 2008
The Rand is at 7.72 and climbing. Bling-bling!
January 31, 2007
The Rand is sittin' pretty at 7.5 to the dollar. That's the highest it's been since last August, when it peaked at 7.59. We speculate it has to do with the skyrocketing prices of platinum, because rolling black outs throughout South Africa have significanly slowed mining. It's probably bad for the South African economy, but it's going to make meeting that $100/ day budget a lot easier for us.
January 29, 2007
Finally found a good deal on a vehicle. 1995 Mitsubishi Colt 3.0 V6. 4x4 double cab. That's all I know. Kobus is in heavy negotiating strategies with Cornell - our South African buyer (Kobus' brother). If all goes well, we'll be the proud owners of a new 4x4 we've never seen or driven by the end of the week. Sweet!
January 28, 2007
Congo's peace agreement was just shattered. Fighting has renewed in the Eastern regions near Goma (that's where the Gorillas are). It seems that any chance for sustainable peace is fading. The US issued a new travel warning to the area January 8th, strongly advising Americans to avoid the eastern borders. Bad news for us and the gorillas.
January 26, 2007
News on Kenya is depressing. I did find this great website which records all known violence in the area. Anyone in Kenya can record acts of violence on the map. http://www.ushahidi.com/ This is the future of journalism.
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