Africa Overland route - any thoughts?
 

Hi

I am planning a tour around the world with a friend of mine. Our first stage is Africa. You can see the route here.

Any thoughts, experiences, or places along the route we should avoid is welcome.

Btw, our transport is a 1999 90-series LandCruiser. It has been prepared for the 2008 Dakar Rally, where it was used as a support vehicle for a team of two MC's. They only lasted a few stages, so it was shipped back to Holland, and the vehicle is in very good condition for a trip like this.

<bump>

The file, I link to above, is supposed to be loaded into Google Earth. If you don't use it, you can see the route here: Route | World Explorers

Bear in mind that this route is not final. We put it together to have something to work with, but changes are expected.

Any input would be great.

</bump>

I can only add a little, but you will need to cross the border into Mauritania from The Western Sahara near Nouadhibou, as far as I know there is no other option.

Matt.

Central Africa?
 

The route looks perfectly normal except the bit through Central Africa.

There used to be a way from Chad into Sudan but that closed a few years ago due to the conflict in Darfur.

The next option was further South through Cameroon, CAR, DR Congo and into Uganda. This closed in the 1990's but a few people have completed it in the last 5 years. You will need good vehicle recovery skills, plus negotiation skills!

take a look at this article 'the lost routes'

Good luck with your planning.

Your route thru Australia might need to be modified a bit, go the other way around.
Much more interesting, but depend on the time of year. Could be too hot/wet up north if you go oct to feb.
Just a thought.

@twenty4seven: Thanks

@zeroland: To tell you the truth, I'm not very fond of the route through DR Congo. My neighbour works for the UN in Uganda, and he says that this is the absolute northernmost he would dare to go. I've thought about driving down the Atlantic coast to Angola and from there, turn East through the Southern DRC to Tanzania.

@mx4eva: Thanks, we will try to keep it in mind, but other than Europe and Africa, you can't trust our route yet. The route in Australia is Google Maps' shortest way from Perth to Sydney.. Just to show that we are going to cross Australia..