Date of Entry: October 30th 2016
Date of Writing: February 6th 2017
I wake up early at the Zebra Crossing with all my stuff already packed and head off down long street towards the Nomads Africa office nearby green market square. Today is the start of an exciting adventure, 20 days in the back of a converted truck alongside about 20 other people covering a lot of ground, heading from Cape Town all the way to Victoria falls in Zimbabwe. It’s going to be one hell of a ride.
By the time I get to the office check in is in full swing. I’ve paid everything online but I still have to check in and show proof of Travel Insurance. This is something I usually travel without (not that I necessarily recommend doing the same as me) but it was a requirement for this trip so I dropped about 100 dollars for three weeks of coverage and booked through world nomads. I’ve bought two policies in the past 4 years and never had to claim anything. That said they come highly recommended and they are easy to buy from while already on the road, which is nice.
Over the time of about an hour everyone gets checked in and we meet our two trip leaders. Honary, our guide, and Blessing, our truck driver. They are both from Zimbabwe and seem to be in good moods, joking and laughing lots as we load our bags up into the lockers built into the back of our truck named Peter Tosh. Climbing inside and checking it out we see we’ve gotten an older truck and I feel sure it’s going to be a long and crowded 20 days with lots of time in the truck. Still, hopefully what we’ll be seeing will make it all worth while, and over landing is one of the few budget ways (both time and money) to get the best out of Africa as a solo traveler which makes renting a car not feasible.
Maybe 90 minutes later we’re all packed tight into the back of Peter Tosh. Blessing and Honary in the front of the cab as we set off out of downtown cape town getting to know each other in the back of the truck as we drive. Our group is a great mix of ages and nations ranging from around 20 to into the 60’s. Countries represented include Brazil (4 people plus me), United States (3) Canada (3) South Africa (3) Germany (3) Sweden (2) Australia (2) Netherlands (1) South Korea (1) and Portugal (1). We’ll be spending a lot of time in tight confines together camping and driving for most of many days and of course they’ll be tension, but I miss these people.
I’m sitting beside Norman a car engineer for Mercedes while Peter (one half of the other german couple works for BMW- I smell a rivalry.) There’s also Matt and Trig from B.C. near us, and Bas and Ji across from us at the front of the truck. Just 45 minutes into the drive I’m wishing I was a smaller person, as there are few places in the world built for my size.
We pile out of the back of Peter Tosh at our first stop, table view beach just a half hour drive from the centre of cape town. The view is hard to describe in words, so many different shades of blue set around the picturesque table mountain which is the most recognizable landmark of cape town.
The climate in cape town is perfect this time of year, a temperature in the high 20’s with a cool breeze flowing in off the ocean makes it downright comfortable as I head all the way down the beach and dip my feet in the cool water gazing out at the horizon before heading back up and snapping a photo for Trig and Matt and getting one in return.
We make another quick stop at a shopping centre to buy a bunch of snacks and supplies and so that Honary can buy our food which he hasn’t had time to do. Nomads has been overbooked this year and sadly that shows in some of their equipment being old, but Honary has had to fly back from Victoria falls the night before, remarkably though he seems full of energy.
We’re called back to the truck before too long and keep moving on to our next stop, one that does not particularly interest me but proves to be pleasant enough as we stop in a winery to fully experience everything South Africa has to offer. Some of the others benefit during our wine tasting getting to sample my glasses as well as there own.
By all accounts the wine’s are quite good, and the setting in the green hills of western south Africa is charming. Not something I was eager to do, and nothing compared to the view from table view but still a fun time and a good chance to chat with more truck people,like my 5 fellow portuguese speakers. Okay calling myself one of those might be an exaggeration but I’m getting better and everyone’s very friendly. After our tasting we head back to the trck and enjoy Sandwiches beside it in the sun that Honary has prepared for us. Not only is he our guide for the next 20 days, he’s our chef too.
Back on the road again we have a long ride up towards Namibia, though we won’t get there today. I snap some pictures of the ride from the back of the truck through a window above the cab.
We pull up to a gas station and I go get a cold drink as the cooler in the back of the truck still does not have any ice, that’s our job to organize. I get back to find out there’s a problem with Peter Tosh and we won’t be going anywhere. Now break downs when over landing in Africa are sort of expected. But I’m kind of worried. We’ve just been driving a few hours of perfectly paved roads, surely they must have checked the truck before sending it out. I guess not. This is one of a few beefs I have with Nomads but I will say there staff was awesome and by the end I will have had a great trip.
We end up waiting about an hour for Whitney (Houston), another nomad trip doing the accommodated tour that mirrors our itinerary. It’s newer and has usb charging units in each seat, though comfort wise I think it might even be more cramped then ours. In Whitney we are driven to our campsite while we unload our tents for the first time. I’m paired with Al a friendly but very quiet older South African man. The tents are one piece of equipment in good condition and are surprisingly spacious and quick to assemble. 5 minutes after a demonstration by Honary and Blessing and we have ours up ready for the sun set and an included dinner. (I’ll do a seperate post breaking down the costs of over landing and what it entails once I’ve finished with my african adventure)
The dinner is made by our campsite owners and is utterly delicious, and before you know it I’m settling down to bed as we have an early start tomorrow, around 6 am.
