Day 234

Monday, 16 February 2009 - Route

We have finally decided on a route (sort-of!).  Of course, this is subject to change but in order to arrange carnet validation and for bank guarantees to kick in, we needed some dates to work towards.  So, for the first year, here it is:

 

Country  From To
France 15-Apr-09 22-Apr-09
Italy 22-Apr-09 30-Apr-09
Greece 30-Apr-09 14-May-09
Turkey 14-May-09 20-May-09    
Syria 20-May-09 27-May-09
Jordan 27-May-09 12-Jun-09
Egypt 12-Jun-09 19-Jun-09
Sudan 20-Jun-09 04-Jul-09
Ethiopia 04-Jul-09 20-Jul-09
Kenya 20-Jul-09 27-Jul-09
Uganda 27-Jul-09 10-Aug-09
Rwanda 10-Aug-09 14-Aug-09
Tanzania 14-Aug-09 28-Aug-09
Kenya 28-Aug-09 04-Sep-09
Tanzania 04-Sep-09 11-Sep-09
Malawi 11-Sep-09 19-Sep-09
Mozambique 19-Sep-09 18-Oct-09
Zambia 18-Oct-09 02-Nov-09
Mozambique 02-Nov-09 01-Dec-09
South Africa 01-Dec-09 07-Dec-09
Swaziland 07-Dec-09 14-Dec-09
South Africa 14-Dec-09 15-Jan-10
Lesotho 15-Jan-10 31-Jan-10
South Africa 31-Jan-10 01-Apr-10
Namibia 01-Apr-10 14-Apr-10
Zambia 14-Apr-10 18-Apr-10
Botswana 18-Apr-10 01-May-10

#1 john stevens on 2.23.2009 at 3:26 PM

Hi to you both. We met on the course in Solihull. How are you going from Greece to Turkey? I did it last year in my Discovery catching a ferry from Kos to Bodrum only to find the small ferry had a height restriction of 2.05m. I had to stip everything off the roof, tent and all, on the quayside to get on. That left me with 2cm spare!! Customs were a pain at Bodrum as well, taking 3 hours to clear me and I was the only vehicle!

#2 Jan on 2.23.2009 at 4:35 PM

Hi John

Thanks for the message. We met at the Expedition Medical course - you have your own framing business, don't you?? (Sorry, just trying to place you). Sounds like you had a bit of a 'mare.. Once you got over it though, did you enjoy it and where did you go from Bodrum? Have you got anywhere that you can recommend as a "must do" visit?

We've decided to drive from Patra. We're staying on the mainland and not visiting islands this time round - we've spent a few holidays there so we're giving it a miss. Its about 2500km for the land route so we've given ourselves 3 weeks to get to Syria. We can't arrive in Syria any earlier than 20/5 as thats when our carnet kicks in.

Our route (at the mo!) is:

Ferry from Brindisi, Italy to Patra, Greece (the ferry there takes 3m high rigs) then drive to Thessaloniki, Istanbul and on down the Turkish lake district to Adana and on to Syria.

#3 John Stevens on 2.27.2009 at 2:10 PM

Hi again. I have used the Bari-Patras ferry which was luxury so I expect yours will be the same. I lived in Turkey for a while and would recommend Cappadocia(?). An amazing place. The Corinth Canal, not far from Patras is worth a quick look.

I have been looking at your vehicle while visiting Paul at Footloose. Some job you have given them there. Graham was in a muttering mood when I saw him last!!

I will be following your exploits. Not long now. Best wishes. John.

#4 Edwina on 3.04.2009 at 3:13 PM

How much are you budgeting for this trip??

#5 Jan on 3.04.2009 at 6:17 PM

Hi Edwina

We are working on £1000 per month to cover all costs including fuel. That leaves a bit over for emergencies, running repairs (big jobs excluded!) and a trip once in a while like possibly visiting the gorillas in Rwanda which you just about have to sell your first born to do!!!

#6 John on 3.13.2009 at 1:42 PM

SELL, Sell!!

#7 latif and naseem on 3.18.2009 at 12:07 PM

hi trever and jan,hope you guys have a good time,me and my wife did the trip from scotland to kenya two years ago but we did the west coast of africa highly recomended.If you follow www.theworldoffroad.com they went down west and up east their journey may be of interest to you iam now settled in kenya when here pop in to see us wish you a good trip

#8 Jan on 3.18.2009 at 12:55 PM

Hi Latif and Naseem

We've love to keep in contact. If you send us an email using the "contact" link at the top of the page, you can send us your email address without it being published to the rest of the world!

#9 Simon on 4.27.2009 at 1:25 AM

Hi folks,

Great to see Sully in action and some initial blogging/photos. I'm sooo jealous!

Tip of the week - do indeed sell your firstborn to go and see mountain gorillas. In fact sell anything you can get your hands on.

I had an interestingly scary experience having my ass felt up by a female gorilla while at the back of a tracking party when we went to Virunga NP. Thought her bloke the silverback was going to notice, but after a quick grope she just sauntered off uninterested. Story of my life ;^)

Keep well!

Simon

*************

Hi Simon, Indeed we are looking for a second mortgage - the mountain gorillas are on my top 10 of my bucket list!  Thanks for keeping in touch with us - it's good to get messages from home.  Kind regards, Trevor and Jan