Tents & Trucks - A guide to Overland Camping Safaris

'Mom, we're gonna camp tonight!', I declare, visions of my two-man tent up in the backyard, with torches, midnight snacks, s'mores and spooky sounds coming from the bottom of the garden running through my head.

Then at 10pm, the ground got hard, the batteries ran out, and a cup of hot chocolate sounded much better than our flask of luke-warm something. We ended up in front of the TV.

Camping has always appealed to our adventurous natures; it says you're hard-core, daring and not afraid to rough it. Well, one night or a weekend is one thing, a three-week trip through Africa with a group of other like-minded thrill-seekers is quite another.

Welcome to the world of overland camping safaris.

An overland trip through Africa - most popular is the legendary Cape Town to Victoria Falls route - is an adventure in itself; you learn to live, play and explore with a group of people you don't know, you get stuck in chopping, slicing and dicing during meal times, and you become an expert at putting up a dome tent.

These roomy two-man tents are shared with a friend, partner or another overlander for the whole trip, and are spacious enough for your camping mattress and sleeping bag - as well as two rough-and-ready overland adventurers.

Remember, camping is NOT a walk in the park. Arriving in the dark, finding out there's no hot water, losing your tent pegs, running out of toilet paper and struggling to get the fire started are just some of the challenges.

But it is the most fun way to encounter the African wilderness, her people and cultures, incredible wildlife, beaches, mountains and trendy cities - because you are really experiencing Africa first hand, not seeing it as if it were a photograph.

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• 1.
  

  Traveller

  March 10th, 2010 at 9:56am

  

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• 2.
  I love camping out in the wild and over the years I have found that the best thing is always to take a good travel guide with you wherever you go. Sometimes, the best thing to do before a camping trip is to check out an online travel ort camping site listed on http://www.dozentravel.com or another travel index. Check out this blog post on an online travel guide I found while surfing last night, it has some great advice on camping.
  

  Traveller

  March 10th, 2010 at 9:58am

  

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• 3. What is great about overland trips is that the itinerary, guiding, transport and admin is all done for you, so you don't need to worry too much about the details!
  But yes, if you're going to be camping on your own on a self-drive trip, it's wise to do some research before you go and have a check list of what to bring, including for emergencies.
  

  
  kimberoo

  March 10th, 2010 at 4:41pm

  

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