November 2006 Archives

My 3 months of voluntary work at the Pestalozzi International Village are nearly at an end, and I am currently finalising preparations for the next phase of my life: an eight month trip through Africa. In order to see as much as possible of the countries in that vast continent, in order to be able to visit and stay in the more remote places there - especially deserts, mountains and savannah, and in order to travel safely through regions that can be dangerous for a solo traveller, I have decided that the ideal method of travel for me this time is an Overland Trip.

What is an Overland Trip? Its a journey by road in a truck, often 4 wheel drive, that has been fitted out with seats, camping equipment, cooking facilities, large storage tanks for fuel and water, and all the tools and spares required to keep the truck running through some of the most remote areas on the planet. Add a couple of drivers, up to 20 passengers who have never met each other before, and point them in the direction of somewhere far off and exotic. This is a 'hands-on' journey for all, not a guided tour. The truck gets you there, but its up to you what you see. Participation is the key - on a typical day you might have to bargain for food at a local market, and then, in the evening, prepare a meal for 22 hungry travellers over an open fire. On a bad day, you will be stuck for hours at a border, or spend all afternoon digging the truck out of sand or mud. Luckily, there are not too many of these. On a good day you get to explore bits of the planet that are not accessible by public transport. You get to see some stunning scenery. You get to meet many people from many different countries, and to get to share some great times with a bunch of other like-minded travellers who will often turn out to be friends for life.

It has been 14 years since I last went on an Overland Expedition so there was a fair bit of planning and research needed. As I hadn't got a truck of my own right now, the first thing to do was to decide which company to go with. In the past I have preferred Exodus , but looking through their online brochures it seems that they are slowly moving away from the longer journeys, and going over to the smaller ones, which was not what I was interested in. Guerba have a very good reputation too, especially in Africa, but their routes were not quite right for my needs this time, as they, too, seem to be favouring the short trips rather than the epic expeditions I was looking for. I guess they are just following the market, and catering for people in well-paid jobs with only so much holiday-time available, but I have found in the past that the longer trips are the really enjoyable ones, when people realise that they will be with the same group for quite a while, and thus make the effort to really pull together.

A bit more surfing brought me to the Dragoman site, and once I had started to read through their excellent online brochure I saw that not only do they still do the very long journeys that I prefer, but that they are also opening up some new and unusual routes which were of great interest to me.

After much browsing and pondering, I decided on a 6 month trip from Dover, England to Cape Town, South Africa. You can see a map of the route on my Map Page, and more details on the Dragoman page here. The route that this trip takes is an interesting one: rather than the standard drive through Morocco and West Africa before turning south, it goes instead through Tunisia and Libya, crossing the Sahara to Ghadames and the Fezzan, then heading to the mountains and rock art of Jebel Akakus and the stunning oasis of Obari Lakes before returning to the coast to see the Tobruk War Cemeteries and the battle ground of El Alamein. As a big fan of the desert, the chance to do this route through north Africa, and see some of the rarely-visited antiquities of Libya, such as the Sabratha ruins or the Roman city of Leptis Magna, was just too good to miss. There might even be the chance for a glass of Carlsberg in Alexandria, as others have enjoyed before...

Here is the full list of countries that we will travel through:

England, France, Italy, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, and South Africa.

For those friends and family who are interested, here is my rough itinerary:

Section	From	To	Period	Start	Finish
1	Dover	Tunis	09 nights	22 Nov 06	01 Dec 06
2	Tunis	Cairo	28 nights	01 Dec 06	29 Dec 06
-	Break in Cairo		04 nights	29 Dec 06	02 Jan 07
3	Cairo	Khartoum	27 nights	02 Jan 07	29 Jan 07
4	Khartoum	Addis Ababa	25 nights	29 Jan 07	23 Feb 07
5	Addis Ababa	Nairobi	21 nights	23 Feb 07	16 Mar 07
-	Break in Nairobi		04 nights	16 Mar 07	20 Mar 07
6	Nairobi	Victoria Falls	34 nights	20 Mar 07	23 Apr 07
7	Victoria Falls	Cape Town	34 nights	23 Apr 07	27 May 07

When I get to Cape Town, I plan on spending a month backpacking around South Africa, and then I pick up a second Overland Trip, this time with Kumuka, a new company for me. The trip, for which you can see more details here, departs Cape Town in South Africa on the 24th of June 2007, and takes 21 days to journey via Namibia and Botswana to the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where it arrives on the 14th of July. Once again, an Overland Trip is ideal for travelling through Namibia, as there are many wild and desolate areas to see that are well outside the range of public transport.

I'll stay at Victoria Falls for a few days, then fly back to London on the 17th:

BA6282 d 1350 Tue17Jul07 Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe a 1530 Tue17Jul07 Johannesburg,South Africa
BA0056 d 2015 Tue17Jul07 Johannesburg,South Africa a 0620 Wed18Jul07 Heathrow Terminal 1

Contact Information:
Although emails will be the normal and easiest method of communication, some people have asked how to send me a 'snail mail' letter, and I must add that it is always very nice to receive a hand-written letter, Christmas or Birthday card, and any that I receive will be replied to. Here are the addresses that I will check:

MAKINS, T POSTE RESTANTE MAIN POST OFFICE MIDAN ATABA CAIRO EGYPT	I will be arriving here: 29 Dec 2006 You should post letters at the latest: 08 Dec 2006
MAKINS, T POSTE RESTANTE MAIN POST OFFICE CHURCHILL ROAD ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA	I will be arriving here: 23 Feb 2007 You should post letters at the latest: 09 Feb 2007
MAKINS, T POSTE RESTANTE MAIN POST OFFICE KENYATTA AVENUE NAIROBI KENYA	I will be arriving here: 16 Mar 2007 You should post letters at the latest: 02 Mar 2007
MAKINS, T POSTE RESTANTE POST OFFICE LIVINGSTONE WAY VICTORIA FALLS ZIMBABWE	I will be arriving here: 23 Apr 2007 You should post letters at the latest: 09 Apr 2007
MAKINS, T POSTE RESTANTE MAIN POST OFFICE PARLIAMENT STREET CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA	I will be arriving here: 27 May 2007 You should post letters at the latest: 11 May 2007
MAKINS, T POSTE RESTANTE MAIN POST OFFICE GARNISON STREET SWAKOPMUND NAMIBIA	I will be arriving here: 01 Jul 2007 You should post letters at the latest: 15 Jun 2007

Some notes for those of you not familiar with 'Poste Restante': it allows me to go to the main post office, show my passport, and pick up any mail that is waiting for me. Post offices normally hold mail for 1 month ONLY, so please don't send your mail too early. Your local office will advise on postal times, though generally 2-3 weeks is sufficient. It is MOST important that you copy the address EXACTLY as shown above, and that you don't write my name in any other way than 'MAKINS, T'. Note that security is not always guaranteed, so parcels and packets may get lost or stolen. A letter, airmail form, or greetings card in a sealed envelope is the most likely to reach me. If you wish to send a package, parcel, or magazine, please send it separately from your letter, and mention in your letter that you have sent a parcel. Note also that it is not unheard of for envelopes with attractive stamps to be stolen, too, so just use the most boring ones you have, or get the letter franked on a bulk-mailing machine. Don't forget to send the letter via Airmail, and include a return-address on the rear of the envelope.

Packing List
As I mentioned above, it has been a while since I last went on a journey like this, but thankfully my old notebooks were still available, so by reading these, and do doing some research both on the web and in the excellent trip notes that Dragoman sends out, I managed to arrive at a final 'Overland Packing List', which I have copied below for anyone who is interested:

Rucksack	Sleeping Bags (2)	Trainers	Sponge Bag
Daysack	Sleeping Bag Liner	Sandals	Soap & Soapdish
Mosquito Net	Thermarest & Repair Kit	Shorts	Laruium
Cord & Spacer & Pegs	Groundsheet	Rohan Bags (2)	Rennies
Cash Bags (3)	Fleece (2)	Immodium	Savalon
Waterbottle	Stuff-Sack	Short-Sleeve Shirt (2)	Nurofen
Travel Pillow	Crayons	Long-Sleeve Shirt	Toothpaste (3)
Eye Shades	Pens (2)	Tee-Shirt	Toothbrush
Ear Plugs (18)	Pencils (2)	Sweatshirt	Shampoo & Bottle
Padlocks (2)	Highlighter	Sandal Socks	Aloe Vera
Chain	Eraser	Trainer Socks (2)	Sun Cream
Spoon	Playing Cards	Scarf	Puritabs
Scissors	Housewife	Belt	Handwash (3)
Torch	Wallet	Plasters
Spare Bulb (2)	Money Belt	Pants (3)	Binoculars
Candles (4)	Passport	Long Johns	Balloons
Penknife	Vaccination Cert.	Cap/Hat	London Postcards
Bag Labels (2)	Credit Card	Watch	Washing Powder
Calculator	TCs & Receipt	Towel	Rubber Circles (3)
Sunglasses & Case (2)	Lipbalm	Nail Clippers	Washing Line
Glasses (2)	Bankcard(s)	Radio & Earphones	Rid
Digital Camera	Walkman	Insurance Form	Liquid Skin
Camera Pouch	Cassettes	Passport Copy
Battery Charger/lead	Passport Photos (20)	Trip paperwork	Fly Spray
Dual Battery Box	Cash	Vitamin Pills
AA Batteries (?)	USB Memory Stick	Maps	Tooth Repair Kit
Memory Cards	Bracelet Book	Notebooks (2)	Ziplock Bags
Walking Boots	Embroidery Silks	Guidebooks	Daily Toilet Paper
Walking Boot Socks (2)	Umbrella	Reading Books	Toilet Paper
Rain Coat	Woolen Gloves	Rain Trousers

Hopefully the list is fairly self-explanatory. Some you can find out about on my Backpacker packing list page. A Google-search will find most of the others. Here are a few you might not understand...

'Rohan Bags' - they are my favourite travellers trousers. 'Bracelet Book' - that's where I keep designs for friendship-bracelets. I like to design my own, and making them is a great way to pass the time whilst travelling. 'Dual Battery Box' - that's a little plastic box which I keep spare camera batteries in. What's a 'Housewife'? Actually, its the name that soldiers call their sewing kit. Here's my 'Housewife' contents:

Plasters	Tin Opener	Tweezers	Button Thread
Cottons	Gaffer Tape	Velcro	Press Studs
Leather Thong	Sellotape	Thimble	Buttons
Safety Pins	Paperclips	Seam Ripper	Super Glue
Lighter	Needles	Pins	Elastic Bands
Screw-Eyes (2)	Mini screwdriver	Scalpel blade

I hope you will visit this TravelBlog from time to time, to see my progress through Africa. There will be regular updates, though I don't promise lots of photos whilst I am travelling, or indeed lots of text. Unlike my trips to India, I will not be taking a laptop, so photo selection and resizing will have to wait until later. And I don't intend to spend hours in the Internet Cafe at each stop, so the text will just cover the latest news and events. Sorry if you are expecting more, but there seems little point travelling to new countries only to spend lots of time in the Internet Cafe. I'd rather see where I am, talk to the locals, make new friends, and document my trip at a later date.

September 3rd. The day started out innocently enough. I was driving the Pestalozzi minibus, on a trip taking the newly-arrived first-year students to nearby Bodiam Castle, built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a royal councillor and veteran of the wars with France. Although now a ruin, is one of the most celebrated castles in England, and an excellent introduction to English history for the students.

Out of nowhere, disaster struck. I was climbing one of the spiral staircases when somehow my foot slipped sideways, I fell down a few stairs, and stopped with an agonising pain that told me something was seriously wrong in my right ankle. A break for certain, and a break like no other I'd had in the past. No bones sticking through the side of my leg, though it felt as if there should be. I was helped to the ground floor, and an ambulance was called. They arrived with anaesthetic gas, and plenty of morphine that kept me in a dazed stupor all the way to the Conquest Hospital in Hastings. Those guys were the best: so professional, so competent, so calming.

At the Casualty Department, an X-ray confirmed the worst: both bones in my ankle broken, one in a number of places. I was speedily admitted on to a ward, then after a short time whilst others examined my X-rays, I went back to Casualty to have my bones re-positioned. Thankfully, I was knocked out before this was done, as even moving my leg a centimetre caused the greatest of pain. The next day was spent waiting for a surgeon who could operate on me. The nurses were very nice, and everyone treated me very well. Pain relief was available, though not the morphine that really made a difference. The alternatives took the edge off, though never took it away. It was to continue like that for the next month and a half, during which time I discovered how powerful the right attitude of mind can be when dealing with, and subsequently ignoring, pain. The broken nights were the greatest nuisance, but anything is worth putting up with when you are slowly improving.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. After two days, a surgeon was avaliable, and late in the evening she operated to fit a 5 inch long metal plate and 14 screws to hold the bits of my bones in place whilst they healed. My leg was placed in a cast: not plaster any more, but fibre-glass, which was much lighter, though still just as itchy! I spent a few more days in hospital whilst my progress was monitored, then provided with a pair of crutches, and sent back to Pestalozzi.

A driver who can't drive!! What use is that? So many places would have told me to leave, but at Pestalozzi, that did not happen. They found me a new room on the ground floor, and everyone helped to make sure I was fed, watered and comfortable. The students, especially, just couldn't do enough for me, and would carry my plate, do my washing up and help to keep me cheerful. I found that there *were* things I could do after all: office work, website additions, and a place on reception in the afternoons, where I was taught to use the switchboard, answer the calls, and deal with visitors. Whilst waiting for calls, I helped catalouge the resources for the PIDEC department.

After 2 weeks, I went back to the hospital to have the 40 or so stiches taken out of my ankle. There are scars on both sides, so at least I will be able to prove why the metal-detectors at the airports will keep going off!! Some fun for the future, I think. The cast came off to take the stitches out, of course, and then a new one was put back on. Two more weeks, and I was back again for an X-ray and a new cast, the third. My leg had shrunk, and the second one was too loose now. All was well, despite the constant pain. I though that there were problems with the healing process, but no: all was well, and I was just experiencing what everyone else does in my situation. A few weeks more, and at last came the moment I'd been waiting for: the cast came off for good.

The foot was still rather painful. It swelled up a lot after the cast came off - the doctor said that it might, but still it was surprising. Tubigrip helped a lot with that, though I was careful to take it off at night. I tried to stand on both legs, but that just wasn't possible: it was still far too painful, and I realised that much rest was needed for the next few days. I am *allowed* to put weight on it, but all the muscles etc. have locked up during their inactivity, and need easing out again gradually. They were also cut into during the operation, and need to grow back normally. I still have to use the crutches all the time: this is a bit of a disappointment as I had hoped to be able to walk a little, but I am told this is normal. I keep my leg raised up as much as possible, usually on a pillow on top of the desk, which raises eyes in reception until the visitors notice the cast and the crutches propped nearby.

It would be just over 2 months from the date I broke my ankle to the time when I was first able to put the full weight on both legs and takes some steps un-aided by crutches. Not many at first, but after so long, any felt like a huge achievement. I write this to lend support to anyone else who might be in a similar situation, and is wondering why it all takes so long, and when the pain will end. It does eventually, of course; it just takes time: much time.

For me, time was not something I had a lot of. I had the deadline of a trip to Africa to meet. With two weeks to go, I was still not walking unaided, and was just ready to write and say that I must back out of the first section of my trip, but something stopped me sending the email. The next morning, without really realising what I was doing, I took my first steps, and realised that all was possible after all. It was an emotional moment. Things improved quite quickly after that, with measured amounts of progress made each day. Exactly 2 months and 10 days after the accident, I spent the whole morning walking about without crutches, and only used them at luncheon time to aid me on the long climb up the hill to the dining hall. I guess I had better finish my packing, after all!