In Africa the Landrover stills reigns. For the more arduous stretches, I would still feel more comfortable in a Series III Landrover with a 2.25 normally aspirated diesel engine than in a modern turbo charged version. The Series III is tried and tested in Africa and bush mechanics know how to repair it and where to get the bits. Turbos do not like ingesting dust and when they go wrong are difficult to repair. Similar comments apply to other luxeries, such as power steering, which come as standard on newer vehciles. That said, a Series III with a top speed of 50 mph (80kph) is tedious on the straight and well maintained roads of Southern Africa.
The foregoing assumes the use of a 4WD vehicle. In practice there are very few places where 4WD is necessary, with correct choice of route and at the best time of year, 2WD will get you most places. 4WD allows you to go 'off the beaten track'. In my crossing of Africa, it was only the stretch through Zaire, that would have defeated a determined driver in a 2WD saloon. I used 4WD, to get into the Sahara in Mauritania, to cross Zaire, to go into game parks in Kenya and Tanzania (including the crater) and to visit Kaokoland in Namibia.
The picture above is of my Landrover at the start of the trip. It is a Series III Landrover, left hand drive and released for sale in 1985, registration B710 BPP. 1985 is very late for a Series III, and it must have been one of the last manufactured. It was in very good condition and in particular the chassis was spotless. This was due to it spending the first six years of its life in Cameroon, where salt from road grit or the sea had never got to the chassis. Chassis corrosion is the weak point when buying a Series III in Europe for use in Africa. Any Series III is now (in 1998) at least 13 years old and if used regularly, without proper maintenance, the chassis will have weakened. Signs of plating or bad corrosion of the chassis foretell expensive repairs in Africa.
Landrovers come in many different configurations, such as Long Wheel Base (LWB), Short Wheel Base (SWB), Hard Top, Safari, Ambulance etc. You will need a LWB to give the storage capacity. The choice of body type is then really between the Hard Top or the Safari. The Hard Top is more of a van, with two doors and the back of the vehicle totally enclosed. The Safari is a four door version, with windows all round. The Hard Top is more secure but has restricted visibility. The bodywork of the Hard Top is also stronger and a roof rack can carry a higher load (although Landrover do not approve). B710 is a LWB Safari chosen because I expected to have up to four people on board. Doing the trip again, I would probably take a Hard Top but add extra side windows.
| Heavy Duty Springs. | The use of these was questionable, as they pass on more stress to the chassis. In my case the chassis was strong enough to take it, in Mike's vehicle the chassis cracked. The heavy use of spring bushes was also probably due to these uprated springs. |
| Long range tanks under front seats. | The extra range these tanks provided was extremely welcome, but an unexpected problem was that they cut down the airflow under the vehicle, the confined engine heat resulted in the foot wells being extremely hot. |
| Uprated alternator and extra battery with split charge system. | The split charge system that was fitted was a simple relay, which was open when the engine was running. This did not preserve the main battery charge and allowed the use of the fridge to deplete the main battery. |
| Five Michelin XZY Tyres | These were bought new and proved to be worth the money (GBP150.00 each). I had one puncture in the whole trip, and by the end there was still over half the tread remaining. These tyres were twelve ply and extremely tough, which meant if you did need to repair a puncture it was difficult job. | |
| Brownchurch Roof rack. | A perfect piece of equipment that gave no problems and withstood the trip. Covered with marine plywood it provided a sleeping and viewing platform. Weight on the rack should be minimised and by the end I had stressed and cracked the bulkhead, by having to much equipment on the roof. | |
| Sand Ladders | Again from Brownchurch these saw good service in the Sahara, but were hardly used thereafter. In use I had one concern as their length meant that when driven over they rose and hit the underseat tanks - very near to the drain plug. | |
| Light guards | The front guards are probably worthwhile, but I struggle to see when the rear guards are needed. | |
| Jerry Cans on front bumper | This is a convenient way to carry diesel (not petrol!), although fixing the jerries was not easy. | |
| Work Light | I had one flood fitted to the rear, which was very useful as an extra reversing light and for lighting the cooking area in camp. I would adopt a more flexible system, or have more lights, if going again. |
There were also additional things I would have loved to take, but could not afford. For example, handheld GPS units were just coming onto the market, but at GBP 1000 they were too expensive. The sun is still a very useful compass and is visible most of the time. I regretted not fixing extra gauges as the warning lights for charging and oil pressure only tell you that something is wrong. Gauges would have shown that a problem was starting, mind you that would just have been more to worry about.
The following is the stuff I considered necessary to make a trip through Africa:
| Jerry Cans | I took six fuel (metal) jerries, two fixed to the front bumper. To keep deisel out of the vehicle, the cans were stored on the roofrack, but were transferred as soon as the main tank was depleted. | |
| Water jerry cans | I took eight expecting to cross Algeria. This was more than necessary for the route followed, but allowed a system of keeping purified and other water separated. Ex-army dark plastic are much better that campshop clear plastic carries. | |
| Water purification | I used the system from Brownchurch, which worked but keeping the filter clean and getting a reasonable flow rate was tiresome. However no-one got an infection which could be blamed on water quality. | |
| Table and Chairs | Good sturdy tables and chairs add a little luxury. The table was generally used for food preparation and loosing it would have caused great inconvienence. The chairs and extra chairs always allowed a social group to form. | |
| Hi Lift jack | An essential. I took a five ft jack, but a four foot jack is sufficient. | |
| Shovels | Essental for digging out if (when) you get bogged. Short handled are fine. | |
| Tow ropes | I took a tow rope and a KERR (Kinetic Energy Recovery Rope), both were used. The KERR more from fun than need - but ensure the fittings you are using for towing can take the strain. | |
| Wire rope | A five metre section of wire rope is useful for securing items. We'd run the rope through tables and chairs last thing at night and they'd still be there in the morning. | |
| Coleman stove | Whenever possible we'd use campfires, but a stove is necessary for those times when firewood is in short supply. The Coleman suffered from the dirty fuel and clogged up, but it did survive the trip. | |
| Fridge | I got a 2nd hand one cheap, it never really kept up, but that was partly due to it being 24V running off 12V. A fridge is not necessary. | |
| Cash Box | There are plenty of places to hide money in a Landrover, I'd generally keep $100 or so in the boss of the steering wheel - for bribes if really necessary. The main secure box was bolted to the floor and well disguised. Items like carnet and passports, which were required often were generally in the cuddy box (also locked). | |
| Cooking Grate | Having been told to get a good stove (the Coleman), I had expected to use it most of the time. In reality we used campfires for most of the trip. It was only in Benin, that we eventually got a decent cooking grate. It was just a piece of grid used for re-inforced concrete, but it made life so much easier. | |
| Maps | To do a Trans-Africa you only need two maps, Michelin map 953 and 955 (954 and 955 if you follow Cairo to the Cape). These maps may seem to cover a lot of ground, but they include all the detail you need, indicating all the main roads and their conditions. If you intend to add some side trips, such as my trips in the Sahara and the Kaokaland, then specialist maps for those areas (and a GPS) will be useful. |
These items were generally stored in the vehicle for security. The table and chairs went on the roof rack as they were quite bulky, the other items went in large metal boxes in the back of the Landrover. These boxes were dust proof, but I didn't have enough boxes to store everything. Anything that wasn't in a dust proof box got ruined. Dust is everywhere in Africa and it penetrates into all areas making a lovely grinding paste. Plastic boxes and the like get the dust engrained into them. Best to get a number of large boxes and ensure everything is stored in them.
| Sleeping Bag | A basic synthetic bag with a three season rating, which could be washed when necessary |
| Lightweight tent | The nylon two man tent I already had. Ideally would have had a larger tent with better ventilation. Roof top tents are useful as they give security and are easy to set up. They have the disadvantage that if you are settled in a place, you cannot leave the tent and go off for a drive. Similarly if you want to go for a trek, you still need another tent. Finally, a self standing tent is useful as getting pegs into the ground can be extremely difficult. In Marrakech we bought the local tent pegs, half inch diameter steel rods of convenient length. and binned the lightweight treking pegs we had. |
| Mosquito net | Treated with permethrin, this was used much more often than the tent. |
| Sleeping Mat | I started off with a cheap self inflating mat. To this I added a closed cell mat in the Sahel and a beach mat in Ghana. The closed cell mat protected the inflated mat from thorns and the beach mat established a clean area for my be roll. The bed roll was laid out next to the vehicle and the mosquito net tied to the roof rack was rigged over it. This was all bulky to store, but it was light so could be thrown in anywhere in the vehicle. |
| Water bottle | A private bottle cuts down the risk of cross infection. |
Finally, the storage of the spares is important to ensure they are useable when you need them. Our spares were provided just as we were leaving and quickly stored. They were never properly labelled and by the time they were needed, it was difficult to identify what was what. Also some items were damaged. The Girls found their cylinder head gasket was u/s when needed as it hadn't been stored flat and dry. I found my spare tubes had been worn through by the edges of the cardboard box they came in. Contamination of spares by dust or leakage from other areas (water for some, a damaged grease can for me) was a problem most of us encountered.
Item | Quantity |
Comment | Item | Quantity |
Comment |
|
Hub oil seals |
12 |
Never used | Flange Gaskets |
12 |
Never used |
|
Decoke Gasket set |
2 |
Used on return | Differential Oil Seal |
2 |
Never used |
|
Gearbox Oil seal |
2 |
Never used | Main leaf (front) |
2 |
Never used |
|
Main leaf (rear) |
2 |
Never used | U Bolts and nuts |
2 |
Used when replacing bushes |
|
Spring bushes |
8 |
Ghana, Zaire, Zimbabwe | Shock bushes and pins |
8 |
Never used |
|
Rear shocks |
2 |
Never used | Front shocks |
1 |
Never used |
|
Fuel lift pump |
1 |
Never used | Lift pump repair kit |
1 |
Never used |
|
Fan belts |
6 |
Cote D'Ivoire (2) Nigeria, Zaire, Botswana | Water pump |
1 |
Dakhla |
|
Radiator hose set |
2 |
Never used | Heater hose set |
1 |
N/A |
|
Inner wheel bearings |
4 |
1 set given to Girls | Outer wheel bearings |
4 |
1 set given to Girls |
|
Rear wheel cylinders |
1 (each design) |
Never used | Front wheel cylinders |
1 (each design) |
Never used |
|
Brake cyl repair kit |
4 |
Never used | Clutch plate assembly |
1 |
Never used |
|
Clutch cylinder repair lit |
4 |
Never used | LHD speedo cable |
1 |
Given to Girls |
|
Throttle cable |
1 |
Used by Mike (Ghana) | Valve spring |
2 |
Never used |
|
Exhaust valve |
2 |
Never used | Inlet valve |
1 |
Never used |
|
Starter motor |
1 (recon) |
Never used | Starter motor brsuh set |
2 |
Never used |
|
Bulb set |
2 |
Brake bulbs all used | Tube valves |
8 |
||
Tyre tubes |
8 |
1 used in Bamako, 1 in Etosha | Main fuel filter |
12 |
Replaced approx every two weeks |
|
In-line fuel filter |
12 |
N/A | Heater plugs |
2 |
1 used in Cape Town |
|
Injector and sealing ring |
2 |
Mike used all. | Injector pipe set |
1 |
Never used |
|
Exhaust repair kit |
1 |
Never used | Engine oil |
10 litres |
Consumable |
|
Gearbox oil |
10 litres |
Consumable | Brake fluid |
2 * 1.5 litres |
Consumable |
|
Bearing grease |
2 * 500 ml |
Consumable | Fuel pipe |
1 m |
||
Fuses |
lots |
Lots used | Track rod ends |
2 |
Never used |
|
Wiper blades |
4 |
Never used | Oil filters |
12 |
||
Radiator cap |
1 |
Broke in Kenya - didn't replace | Thermostat |
1 |
Silly item |
|
Shackle bolts |
6 |
Flexible brake hose |
2 |
Never used |
||
Spanners |
|||
AF 5/32 Combination |
AF 3/16 Combination |
AF 15/64 Combination |
AF 7/32 Combination |
AF 1/4 Combination |
AF 9/32 Combination |
AF 5/16 Combination |
AF 11/32 Combination |
AF 3/8 Combination |
AF 7/16 Combination |
AF 1/2 Combination * 2 |
AF 9/16 Combination * 2 |
AF 5/8 Combination * 2 |
AF 11/16 Combination * 2 |
AF 7/16 Combination |
AF 13/16 Combination |
AF 1" Combination |
|||
8 mm Combination |
10 * 11 Open |
10 * 11 Ring |
14 * 15 Ring |
16 * 17 Ring |
18 * 19 Ring | ||
Sockets |
|||
AF 9/16, 5/8, 11/16, 3/4, 13/16, 7/8, 15/16 |
MM Socket Set | ||
Screwdrivers |
|||
1 set precision |
2 medium Philips |
1 set right angled |
1 Small philips |
1 large flat |
1 chunky philips |
1 Medium flat |
1 Chunky flat |
1 Small |
|||
Tool Roll containing |
|||
Molegrips |
Long nosed pliers |
Wire cutters (small) |
Circlip pliers |
Adjustable 200 mm gape stilson |
Pliers | ||
Assorted |
|||
Torque wrench |
3 cold chisels |
1 Impact driver |
1 Stanley knive plus blades |
1 wire brush |
2 metal files |
1 centre punch |
1 hand rivet gun |
1 set feeler gauges |
1 large hacksaw plus blades |
1 small hacksaw plus blades |
1 bowsaw |
1 machette |
2 tyre levers |
1 12V soldering iron |
2 Hand drill and drills |
1 crowbar |
1 small club hammer | 1" paint brush |
Analgesics, Antibiotics, Anti-Infective, General Medical
| 50 paracetamol tabs | 50 soluble aspirin | 20 dihydrocodeine tabs | 24 co-codamol tabs |
| 12 ibuprofen tabs | 30 metronidazole tabs | 40 co-trimoxazole tabs | 6 mebendazole tabs |
| 50 quinine tabs | 10 fansidar tabs | 2*21 augmentin | 12*2 halofantrine tabs |
| 12 loperamide caps | 40 dioralyte tabs | 20 senokot tabs | 10 prochlorazine tabs |
| 10 dequadine throat loz | 10 diazepam | 20 asilone tabs | 30 chlorpheniramine |
| 15 cinnarizine tabs | 1 toothache tincture | 1 electrolyte spoon |
Ears, Nose, Throat
| 1 otrivine nose spray | 1 otosporin ear drops | 2 chloramphenicol eye oint | 5 normasol sachets |
| 1 eye bath | 20 cotton buds | 5 amethocaine minims | 1 eye pad BPC no 16 |
Sterile Equipment
| 2 sutures | 2 dental needles | 5 green needles | 5 blue needles |
| 5 orange needles | 6 venflon needles | 5 2ml syringes | 5 10ml syringes |
| 2 disposable scalpels | 2 steristrips | 2 butterfly needles | 10 alcohol wipes |
Creams and Powders
| 1 15gm hydrocortisone cream | 1 15gm micanzole cream | 1 20gm micanzole powder | 5 steripods |
| 1 bogela gel | 1 15gm cicatrin powder | 2 50gm lacto calamine cream | 1 videne powder |
| 1 blisteze | 1 20gm magnesium sulphate paste |
First Aid
| 5 melolin dressings 5cm | 5 melolin dressings 10cm | 2 wound dressings BPC 15 | 1 triangular bandage |
| 1 zinc oxide tape 5cm | 2 gauze swab packs | 1 cotton wool 25gm | 2 bactigras 10cm |
| 1 thermometer | 1 micropore tape 2.5cm | 1 zinc oxide tape 2.5cm | 3 1m fabric strip plaster |
| 5 lancets | 1 new skin | 2 25ml iodine tinct |
Personally, each person requires a valid passport and a vacination certificate. Details of vacinations required change and can be obtained from any doctor. A passport should have validity for at least six months beyond the end of the trip and enough free pages for the visas and entry stamps you are going to accrue. Getting a new passport is not a bad idea. Memorise the number as you will be asked for it any number of times.
For the vehicle you will require a carnet, which is essentially a passport for the vehicle. Carnets are available from the motoring organisations (AA and RAC in the UK) and cost quite a lot, depending on the value of the vehicle. Also for the veicle you will need international driving permit (for each driver), an international certificate for motor vehicles and a letter of authority.
Last Changed 25th August 1998 (Some new comments)