Africa Route Advice Needed

[teizms]

Hello Folks,

We are laying out the groundwork for a trip from Egypt to South Africa (actually starting Germany).I have read up and researched but still have a 2 main questions/concerns:

a) How much of off-road/unpaved segment are unavoidable on this route. I know that road conditions of even paved stuff will vary - but want to avoid most of the extreme stuff. traveling with my wife and mechanical skills are limited

It seems like south of Nairobi, one can manage to stay on mostly paved roads?

b) if we want to pace at 200-300km/day, can we expect to come across decent accommodation every day... i don't mean luxury - but something more than a campsite. Or is camping gear a must. rough price ranges in various countries?

All help is appreciated

[jquinton]

Just done the route with several detours but

It is all tarmac except for deviations which vary from ok to terrible but only for a kilometre or two. Niarobi, Arusha, Dar route across to Iringa through the game park, Mbeya, into Zambia, Lusaka, Livingstone, Kazangula ferry to Francistown and into South Africa. Only problem with accomodation was between Arusha and Dar where I found nothing until Dar, probably because I was not looking until 6 at night when it got dark.

Can give several good stopovers but they vary, some may object but beds were clean and food available. Message me or reply here but may be a while as on the road.

[teizms]

thanks for the feedback. please post more info as you come by it.

jquinton - i will b in touch

[teizms]

Also need info on:

range of rates for acceptably clean accommodation

prices to see animals in various countries - and which experiences are recommended

feedback on living situations for above experiences


information on availability of gasoline

rates for food and other travel expenses so we can develop a budget

[loertle]

when do you plan to start your trip? I am planning the same route starting spring 2014 from zurich, switzerland and looking for travel buddies. I am travelling on 4 wheels with a landcruiser.

some budget information based on my recent travel experiences:

ethiopia:
double rooms: 15 EUR for Basic up to 60 EUR for luxury. meal around 1.50 up to 4 EUR, 70 Cents. in Addis add 100%

tanzania / kenya: same as posted above unless you sleep inside the borders of a national park where you should add 500% to the above

A good and little bit less developed and hence less pricey alternative for game viewing is Uganda...

[jquinton]

Petrol, had no problems, max distance was 300km only because I went past a station. Locals all need petrol so never went more than that and mostly even less. Tanzania into Zambia is the only time I used my spare fuel becuase it got down to empty and a petrol station appeared 10 km later. Water was more of a problem I found. Check bottles have not been refilled.

[teizms]

Originally Posted by loertle

when do you plan to start your trip? I am planning the same route starting spring 2014 from zurich, switzerland and looking for travel buddies. I am travelling on 4 wheels with a landcruiser.

some budget information based on my recent travel experiences:

ethiopia:
double rooms: 15 EUR for Basic up to 60 EUR for luxury. meal around 1.50 up to 4 EUR, 70 Cents. in Addis add 100%

tanzania / kenya: same as posted above unless you sleep inside the borders of a national park where you should add 500% to the above

A good and little bit less developed and hence less pricey alternative for game viewing is Uganda...

how recent are these prices.

we will starting in germany but dates are not fixed yet.
probably head to turkey first.

[loertle]

Originally Posted by teizms

how recent are these prices.

Ethio Prices from September 2013... the others from 2011.

Which route will you take for driving into Egypt?

[mcgutt56]

Hello teisum,
i am also going to africa but not until september/October to avoid the heat. I have planned the west coast of africa to cape town, up the est to cairo, boat to turkey, maybe we cross paths, i am starting from Norway.

[mharbort]

Hi teizms,

we are currently on that trip but started from Cape Town. Until now we had nearly only tarmac (in Tanzania you can actually now take the western route via Singida, about 50km tracks and detours, rest tarmac). Last thing we heard about the part Marsabit-Moyale was that it is still in very poor condition. Anyone travelled recently?
Fuel prices until now are about €1,10 to 1,50 per liter, with an average of about €1,30.
Accomodationwise it depends on what you want. Camping is about €5-10 (average €7), budget but okay hotel rooms (double) about €12-50 with an average of €30. I would take camping gear with you, and if it is "just in case". We didn't plan on camping much but it saves a lot of money.
Places to accomodate you are definitely enough on the road (at least so far). Take the Tracks for Africa on you GPS, it is quite helpful
Good luck!