1 week to go !

We've talked about it for four years...
We've said we were leaving soon...
Some of our friends thought that we had gone and come back...
Others thought we would never leave...

Our departure date is set !
We will be leaving Cape Town on November 29, 2008.

All we need now is a Farewell Party.
It will be at home, on the 25th, after work.
Pop open the champagne, let's celebrate !
Then watch this space for our news.

Namibia - Route D707 - Oct 2008

South West Namibia.
On route to hike the Namib Naukluft Trail.
Our plan aborted because of a car accident...
but it remained an amazing trip with stunning landscapes.

You can see the full-size pictures of our trip to Namibia on:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodboons/sets/72157608811978953

Namibia - Route D707 with Madonna - Oct 2008

Our very first video - test...

Botswana - Kgalagadi - April 2008

This Transfrontier National Park shares a border with Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
We camped in the wild, and tested Scarlet's sand driving.
There were amazing birds, snakes, and even a herd of Elands.




You can see the full-size pictures of our trip to the Kgalagadi on:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodboons/sets/72157608309848829

South Africa - Richtersveld - May 2007

The Orange River.
South Africa / Namibia border.
Camping and fly fishing in the desert wilderness.




You can see the full-size pictures of our trip to the Richtersveld on :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodboons/sets/72157608671063642

South Africa - Searching for the San man

The Cederberg is home to the richest heritage of San rock art in the world. It is also one of our favourite places close to home.
Steve's article was published by SA4x4 in February 2007.
Rock Art in the Cederberg

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Travel cederberg rock art

Mountaineering in Peru's Cordillera Blanca

This is a short article we wrote for first Ascent about our trip to Peru's Cordillera Blanca in July 2006. We intended to climb a few summits there : Yanapaccha, Artesonraju, and Huascaran.
first Ascent had given us some gear that performed very well.
It was published in first Ascent Newsletter in October 2006.
http://www.firstascent.co.za/old-site/newsletter_oct2006.htm

We are proud to say that some of our pics were also used later on for marketing purposes.
Here Steve appears on the 2007 calendar :)
http://www.firstascent.co.za/old-site/newsletter_aug07.htm

Namibia - Sossusvlei - August 2005

One of our first trips with Scarlet.
Sossusvlei is one of Namibia's most picturesque spots. It's best to be in the dunes at sunrise or sunset, with soft light and amazing shadows.

You can see the full-size pictures of our trip to Sossusvlei on :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodboons/sets/72157608785955285

Namibia - The Tirasberg Conservancy

Steve wrote this article after our first visit to the Tirasberg Conservancy in August 2005. We discovered it on our way to Sossusvlei after a hike down the Fish River Canyon. We took the route D707 and fell in love with its magical landscape.
We have already gone back (in October 2008), and will go back again !
The article was published by SA4x4 in May 2006.

Tiras

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Travel Vacations

How did it all start ?

We explored the Garden Route as a secret couple one weekend in 2003.
It seemed so easy to just keep driving north until the credit cards maxed out;
the perfect thing to do ...

We agreed in a Mexican volcanoe to go back to South Africa together and enjoy more trips, sleeping in the back of the bakkie.

It took us a while to get organised. We refurbished a house... and then a second one. Started a business. Working, saving, parties, holidays, family, mechanics, camping, weddings, gardens... until at last ... aaah!

"Un voyage se passe de motifs. Il ne tarde pas a prouver qu'il se suffit a lui-meme. On croit qu'on va faire un voyage, mais bientot c'est lui qui vous fait, ou vous defait." - Nicolas Bouvier (L' usage du monde)

Getting Scarlet ready

Customised aluminium canopy
Long range fuel tank (60l)
Water tank (60l)
Fridge (Engel 40L)
Roof-top tent (Howling Moon 1.2m)
Awning (Howling Moon)
New Engine (4Y 2.2litre petrol)
Recondition gearbox, differentials
New radiator
Electronic distributor
Service carburettor, alternator
Gas stove (LPG)
Extra leaf springs rear and new shocks all round
Spare wheels x 2
New seats and covers
Fuel jerry's x 2 and bracket
Inverter and second battery
Hi-lift jack and lifting points
Tools and spares

What did we pack ?

Basic camping and personal equipment.
Mountain gear.
Spares and tools.
Surfboards.
Credit cards to withdraw local currency.
Cash in US dollars for visas and parks.
Scans and certified copies of our documents.
Cameras, laptop and Ipod.
Binoculars.
First Aid kit.
A few books.

If you are interested we can email you our detailed check-lists.
They are in Excel format.

Budget

This has been quite difficult to plan.
We visited a number of other travellers' websites to get and idea of costs, but they never really mentioned their expenses.
To complicate things a bit further, the exchange rates with the Euro and the USD have been rather unstable lately.

At this stage we estimate ZAR15,000 per month to be sufficient.
That's €1,200 per month, more or less.

Needless to say that doesn't include some expenses we will still have at home, such as bond repayment, insurances, social security, etc

We have a record of our preparation expenses. We will also be keeping a record of our expenses as we go. Don't hesitate to ask if you want some more detail.

Intended route

We will be leaving Cape Town at the end of November 2008.
And we will be travelling for 6 months, more or less.

The intention - plans might change - is to follow the East Coast of Africa through Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya, before visiting Ethiopia, and maybe Erithrea and Sudan.

We will then come back to South Africa following a more inland route across Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, and maybe Botswana, Angola, and Namibia.

We will try and post a new map on this blog regularly showing where we are and where we have been.

Scarlet

She's a Toyota Hilux (1991) 2.2l petrol engine.
She is a 4wd with a front diff lock.
Oh, and she is red and tired of being referred to as 'the fire engine'!

"Have you ever seen a burnt down Hilux on the side of the road ?", Jaque, our mechanic, once asked.

Would you like to know why ?
Watch this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhoOkMccPZo

We chose an earlier model Hilux because they are renowned for being tough, simple and reliable. They are foundly widely throughout Africa , and we should have no problems (touch wood) finding mechanics with the spares and knowhow. And we needed a bakkie/pick-up for all the home renovation leading up to the trip !

Contact us

You can contact us on our personal email addresses, if you know them.
We will be checking them every now and then.
Otherwise, email us at : goodboons(at)gmail.com
You will need to replace (at) by @

About Steve

Steve is 31. He is South African.
He grew up in Namibia and Zimbabwe, at the back of his geologist parents' Landrover, until they settled in Johannesburg.
He spent a few years in England, but missed the African weather, people and landscapes, and came back.
He now lives in Cape Town, where he works as a civil engineer - when he is not surfing, travelling, rock-climbing, or fly-fishing in various part of the world.

Steve chose and found the car, designed its canopy, equipped it, learnt to drive it on any roads (or lack thereof), and is responsible for keeping the engine running.
He has some idea of what to expect along the way - he's done the trip twice before as far as Uganda - and is teaching Caro to enjoy "Africa time". He takes stunning photos, he can name most of the birds we happen to see, and prepares the best potjies ever.

About Caro

Caro is 31. She is French.
She also lived in Mexico and Canada for a few years.
She travelled extensively as a journalist before her job brought her to South Africa. She got friendly with a local and never left...
Now she runs her own business in Cape Town : Kunjani Student Placement Agency. She also teaches History and Geography at the French school.

Caro is responsible for the paperwork and turning Scarlet into a home : she got a bit carried away making check-lists for just about everything, organized our equipment and documents, and this blog.
She loves not knowing what to expect along the way, campfires under African skies, peaceful early mornings with a cup of coffee, hiking, surfing, and eating Steve's potjies.

Schwerthelm

Schwerthelm is our cat.
He doesn't like travelling,
but it's nice to have a picture of him here.

Alberto Boonzilla

Alberto Boonzilla used to be on Caro's key ring.

He likes travelling, so we brought him along, as our mascot.

Goodboons ?

It's another case of "lost in translation":

One day we had been watching a troop of baboons cavorting off the side the the road. After watching their antics for some time Caro said: "They're not so bad. Why do they call them badboons?"

Ever since then, "goodboons and badboons" have been a part of our lives.

Badboons ?

Goodboons ?

Mark Twain

He was an American writer, most noted for his novels The adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The adventures of Tom Sawyer. Twain was born in Missouri, 2 weeks after the closest approach to Earth of Halley’s comet in 1935.
He worked as a printer’s apprentice, and later as a steamboat pilot, a miner and a journalist ; and died in Connecticut, a day after another close approach of Halley’s comet in 1910.

Read more about Mark Twain on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain
and find some of his most famous quotations on: http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain

Baboons in Profile, Nakuru 2007 - by Nick Brandt

We have just discovered this stunning photo of baboons.
It is unusual to see Black & White photos of the African wildlife, and Nick Brandt has a very unique way of capturing the moment.
You might enjoy having a look at his gallery :
http://www.younggalleryphoto.com/photography/brandt/brandt.html

© Nick Brandt.