OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
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Crossing over to North Sudan Driving down from Gondar in Ethiopia to the Sudanese border takes you from a very cool elevation of 2,100m down to just 600m. Upon arriving at the border town of Metema, we were completely dumbfounded by the intensity of the Sudanese desert heat. “Only 38 degrees today!” the locals cheerfully replied. “In Khartoum, it’s 46!”…
Given the Internet struggles, here is a belated post on our tour through historical Ethiopia — Lalibela, Tigrai, Axum, and Gondar. 1st Stop: Lalibela High in the Lasta mountains sits the ancient holy town of Lalibela. To get there is no easy task. The road from the closest town, Woldia, required slow driving on craggy terrain, and we had to…
Sunrise over our own private beach!…
Sulfuric acid is bubbling up through the salt-encrusted ground. The daytime heat soars over 46 degrees Celsius and the Gara (Fire Wind) is blowing incessantly. We’re in the Danakil Depression: -116m below sea level and officially, the hottest place on Earth. The Danakil straddles the Northern Ethiopian border with Eritrea, and sits atop the junction of the Arabian, African and…
We reached Addis! After picking up Margot, a friend from San Francisco, we dropped our bags at Wimms Holland House. Notorious as the overland camping site, the place has fallen a bit in amenities and hygiene. But it’s right in the middle of the city, which was perfect, given we needed to extend our Ethiopian visas immediately a few blocks…
Ethiopia Part 1: South Omo Nothing we’ve seen in Africa quite comes close to South Omo. Here, you don’t find a trace of “modern Africa,” and passing through the Ethiopian mountains was like entering a time warp. Even up to 50 years ago, the people of South Omo weren’t aware of an “Ethiopia” entity. From the Mursi women who stretch…
In choosing your route north from Nairobi to Ethiopia you have two options. On one hand, there is a vague route via Lake Turkana, taking you over the road ‘hardly ever trodden,’ and travelling close to 1000km without fuel stops nor another vehicle in sight. On the other, the infamous Marsabit-Moyale ‘road’ is claimed by many as literally the worst…
Bumper to bumper traffic welcomed us into the Nairobi, East Africa’s hub. And we were quintessential country kids who finally arrived at “the big city,” marveling at the 24-hr stores, cosmopolitan fare, and skyscrapers 10 stories high. One of our first days here, we delved into Nairobi’s wild side and paid a visit Nairobi’s Giraffe Center, a success story amongst…
Heading North from Dar, the PPE made light work of the well travelled and nicely tarred Dar-Arusha road. Although we had planned on staying further up the Swahili coast at Pangani, we settled on Lushoto, in the Usambara Mountains and were met with sparklingly cool mountain breezes. Not since Swakopmund, on Africa’s West coast had we experienced sub 25 degree…
We made a hurried return back to Dar just in time for Christmas.. and lo and behold.. we’re still here. What was meant to be a week in town catching up with friends turned into six. Nevertheless – Christine and I are planning our escape for the end of this week.. and who knows – we might even make it.…
With Alpheus gone, we decided to gun it through Zambia in order to arrive in Tanzania for some holiday cheer with old friends. On the recommendation of Toast Coetzer, editor for go!Namibia magazine, we took a detour to Kasanka National Park in central Zambia. Our arrival would serendipitously coincide with Kasanka’s annual bat migration. Every October, millions of gigantic fruit…
After a mad dash escaping the rains and a border crossing later, we found ourselves in Livingstone, home of the Zambian side of the mighty Victoria Falls. The Falls were initially underwhelming, a result of our visit coinciding with only the beginning of the rainy season and low water-flow. A dry-ish Victoria Falls The low water did, however, enable us…
A little dated but… Our first night in the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, we stayed right on the banks of the Okavango River in Rundu. Though the view of the river and Angola on the other side was beautiful, we decided to escape the bug-infested campsite the next day. We arrived at Ngepi Camp on the Okavango River, an eclectic…
@ Cafe Zambezi, Livingstone, Zambia –Christine…
A Tale of Two Radiators After 2 weeks, 2 cities, and 2 national parks, we finally got our holy grail in Tsumeb: a new radiator. At one point I thought the radiator just wasn’t meant to be. The one we initially ordered only fit Prados with petrol engines. A different one had to be shipped from Windhoek. As with all…
Nwambe Camp Nwambe – one of our favourite spots yet. A male hippo joined us for dinner, surfacing right next to the purple people eater. Needless to say, we finished dinner from the safety of our roof tent. Onwards to Victoria falls! – Eugene…
After a brief stopover in Windhoek, we put the pedal to the floor and made it to Etosha National Park right before the Andersson Gate closed. We hurried to set up our tents at Okaukuejo rest camp, and promptly rushed over to the flood-lit watering hole, hoping to catch some game at sunset. A troupe of giraffes greeted us, soon…
After a 300km drive over heavily corrugated roads this is what we’ve been greeted with. Angola is a stone’s throw on the other side. Magical ! -Eugene…
We finally found refuge from the blistering heat of the Namib desert by heading for Namibia’s West coast. After three weeks of 35 degree (and counting!) temperatures, the crisp air of the Atlantic meeting the desert dunes on the Skeleton Coast was a sight to behold. Named after the numerous shipwrecks that litter the coast line, the latest of which…
We were greeted by the Namib Desert with an overheating car and 46 degree temperatures. In heat like that, your body screams at you and forces you to seek respite. We took a note from Aslan’s book and our time in Sossusvlei was characterised by 4am wake ups to explore sunrise against the dunes and midday siestas in the Sossusvlei …
Howling Moon – at Kalahari Trail Restcamp For the past 2 months, we have enjoyed first world comforts and luxuries that accompany travelling the well-beaten tourist trail from the Drakensberg to Cape Town. Upon reaching the ‘city’ of Upington, it is time we say good-bye to those comforts as we transition from developed South Africa into the wild and desolate…
After crossing the Mata-Mata border from South Africa to Namibia, we gunned our way to the Quiver Tree Forest Rest Camp that lies roughly 13 km outside of Keetmanshoop. Luckily, we arrived just in time to see the rehabilitated cheetahs chomp down dinner and the sun set over the forest! -CHou…
Camp shot from a few days ago overlooking the Atlantic in Simons town…
It’s been two months – but we are finally leaving Cape Town! Our first big driving day since Outdshoorn will hopefully see us make it to Calvinia, a lazy 5.5 hrs drive north east from Cape Town. From there we are exactly half way to our final stop in South Africa – Uppington, before crossing into Southern Botswana. Visa issues…
Capetokathmandu.com has been eerily quiet over the past 6 weeks. Don’t worry. We are still alive. Proof comes from the picture above. I am sorry to report we are still in Cape Town. We have no epic stories about honey badger encounters nor have we tested the theory that elephants are attracted to Citrus fruit. I can show you pictures…
After our third week in Cape Town, we met the return of the Purple People Eater with a great deal of fanfare. Having spent the last week at JB Auto’s receiving no less than the car equivalent of open heart surgery (installing a new cylinder head), the tantalising notion that we might finally be able to start heading to Namibia…
Greeted by howling rains and frigid temperatures, our three weeks (and counting) in Cape Town has coincided with a change in seasons. Yesterday, we were treated to glorious +30C temperatures and a real taste of summer. It really is beautiful here. Although we could not have chosen a better place to bunker down for 3 weeks, Cape Town so far…
After 24 hours in transit, I arrived in Cape Town to beautiful weather and an empty Prado car seat. Our first stop would be the Westin, courtesy of SPG, where we managed to get some gym, spa, and free champagne breakfasts in our systems before heading back to the hostel scene. After getting settled in at the Westin, we dined…
After 24 hours in transit, I arrived in Cape Town to beautiful weather and an empty Prado car seat. Our first stop would be the Westin, courtesy of SPG, where we managed to get some gym, spa, and free champagne breakfasts in our systems before heading back to the hostel scene. After getting settled in at the Westin, we dined…
I forgot to mention an interesting fact from our Amphitheatre hike in my last post: Tugela Falls, the 2nd highest waterfall in the world (Trivia: What is the highest waterfall in the world? no cheating), originates from the top of the Amphitheatre. The reason I forgot to mention Tugela Falls in my previous post was because it was thoroughly underwhelming…