Although we have a general idea of the route we are going to follow, we've decided to limit the fixed planning to this. We feel that we want the freedom to change our minds / routes as and when we feel like it. We've set aside 9 months from March 2002 to do our trip and have therefore given ourselves the freedom to decide where and when our travels take us on a daily basis.
In general we have opted for the East coast of Africa because it seems to contain most of the natural beauties of the continent as well as being relatively more peaceful than the Western side (e.g. Angola and DRC have recently, or are still, experiencing civil war and unrest).
Our high-level route plan will start in South Africa and head towards Namibia. We've planned the route from there until Nairobi, Kenya. As a group we've decided that once we reach Nairobi we'll decide on a subsequent route, which will mainly depend on our money situation and on how we feel at the time.
The two logical options will either be to head for London or alternatively to head back to South Africa via Mozambique.
Our high level plan is designed to include the following highlights into our trip:
South Africa:
�A visit to the Northern Cape and its surrounds
Namibia:
�Swakopmund
�Windhoek
�Quad biking and sand boarding on the sand dunes in the Kalahari Desert
�Etosha game reserve.
Botswana:
�Maun
�Okavango Delta
Zimbabwe:
�Victoria waterfalls (the Falls and the town)
�House boating on Lake Kariba
�A trip to Mana Pools (For game viewing)
Zambia:
�Various Game farms
Malawi:
�Lake Malawi (diving)
�Zomba plateau
Tanzania:
�Dar Es Salaam
�Diving and other sight seeing in Zanzibar and Pemba Island
�Game viewing in the Serengeti
�Ngora - Ngora crater
�Climbing Mt Kiliminjaro (highest peak in Africa)
�Lake Victoria
Uganda / Rwanda:
�Trekking the gorillas (the same place that made Jane Goodall famous)
Kenya:
�Mombassa
�Nairobi
�Masai Mara game park
�Great Rift Valley
As we've discussed above the plan that we've outlined here is only a provisional one and could be subject to significant change. In fact knowing us, I'm sure the plan will change a few times over the next 8 months. Have a look at the "Actual Trip" to see how much we changed our original plan