“Almost arrived. Car poorly” was the ominous text that landed in my inbox at the ungodly hour of 4:30 in the morning. As I walked out into the pre-dawn darkness, I was greeted by the sight of my co-driver pushing our noble steed down the road. One has to love traditional British understatement in times of trouble. To help those less mechanically-minded, our car had run out of electricity and had lost the ability to produce more, rendering it rather immobile.

If I am honest, this was not quite how we had imagined our grand voyage into the depths of West Africa would begin – but such is the world of budget overland travel. Overland travel in the UK is based around odd truck/bus combos that travel vast distances carrying great numbers of tourists in confined conditions, provided by companies such as Dragoman et al. This is where we differ from our continental neighbours who think nothing of packing a 4×4 or estate car and spending a few weeks every summer touring Senegal or Morocco. Burkina Faso seems to attract young Belgians in huge numbers, who appear to flock there like migratory birds during the summer months. So why do we British find the idea of this kind of travel so extraordinary? Every summer French and Spanish highways fill with British cars, each packed with enough equipment and provisions to supply a small regiment for a month. So it is not as if we are averse to the idea of long-distance travel. We even developed the first commercial caravan in 1880.

I believe that the student population in the UK is missing out and I have put together a brief guide to help you plan and prepare your first overland expedition. My experience is in West Africa but many of the following tips are valid everywhere.

Choosing a Vehicle

Your first instinct will be to go on Autotrader and start looking at Land Rovers and Toyota Landcruisers. You will likely do so, see the prices, and decide that two weeks in Benidorm was really what you wanted anyway. The fact of the matter is that four wheel drive is simply not required if you are happy to travel from city to city. My co-driver and I were lucky to get a near perfect vehicle; a 21 year old Suzuki SJ410 that could split between two and four wheel drive. Much to our displeasure we only had to engage our four wheel drive once to pull out some poor fellows who had decided it would be a jolly good idea to try and drive a 20 year old Nissan Micra over a Saharan sand dune.

Diesel should be your fuel of choice, as not only is it more efficient than petrol (and thus less-damaging to the environment) it is also cheaper and has far wider availability. The logic to bear in mind is that lorries will go where every other vehicle will not. You will also have great difficulty finding petrol anywhere near a border, especially if the petrol is cheaper where you are, as everybody will stock up on the fuel before they cross. Indeed, even during the peak of fuel prices last summer we were able to find leaded petrol in Moroccan Western Sahara advertised for 50 pence per litre, the only problem being that there was no petrol at all within 30 miles of the border.

Left or right hand drive? That is the question. Right hand drive is helpful in the sense that you will be accustomed to it and thus more confident. However it can lead to some ‘exciting’ incidents when you forget your huge blind spot – and almost side-swipe a small Spanish car and its helpless occupants. The main problem with left hand drive is that they can be quite difficult to find in the UK. If you are able to locate or import one ,they do have some massive advantages, once you get over the initial problem of all the gears being on the ‘wrong’ side. With left-hand drive you will be driving in the same position as everybody else on the roads so you won’t have to play Russian Roulette every time you try to overtake another vehicle on single-lane roads, which are certainly the rule rather than the exception outside Western Europe. You will also be able to sell your vehicle for a surprisingly good price if you decide to call it a day and fly home, depending upon various import taxes of course.

So what do I honestly believe is the right choice? At the SOAS Expedition Society we are leading an overland trip from London to Timbuktu in Northern Mali and for the most part we will be in vehicles. Although we are still investigating the possibility of importing cars from abroad (incidentally if you decide to do this, Germany is apparently the cheapest country to purchase said vehicles), our fall-back will be a number of diesel right hand drive Volkswagen Golfs, ideally estate versions.

Finally, how much should the vehicle cost? If you have no problem with the appearance of your car then you should be able to find plenty of bargains. A recent MOT requirement is that cars must not have significant rust exposed that may pose a danger to a passer-by and their delicate hands. This then means that cars with extensive rust even on panels and non-structural areas will see a significant drop in price pre-MOT. For this summer’s Timbuktu expedition we will spend £1000 on each car and this will include acquiring the vehicle and replacing worn parts with new. This is spread between four people, bringing the total vehicle costs to the quite reasonable sum of £250 per person.

Road Conditions and Issues ‘On the Road.’

You are now the proud owner of a car that probably looks like it should be swiftly sent to the big scrapheap in the sky. Your friends, family and loved ones are probably already questioning your sanity, but you should be secure in the knowledge that underneath the bonnet of your tatty wreck beats the heart of a far younger car. Unfortunately, once beyond the smooth, well-maintained European highway systems you may find a number of issues begin to arise.

Firstly, pot-holes are prevalent. In some parts of Burkina Faso it was physically impossible to find a clear path through a series of pot holes. Often you have to resort to weighing up the relative damage each hole will do to your back and decide accordingly. Pot holes also differ in size and destructive capability, varying from the small, that will cause a tyre blow-out and a near-fatal accident, to the medium, that can result in snapping your front axle, a loss of steering and yet-nearer-to-fatal accident all the way, and even the ones of such epic proportions that they can topple lorries and fill with so much water you find yourself wondering if they contain crocodiles or Nessie’s long-lost cousin. As if that wasn’t enough, you will also encounter a form of road condition known as ‘corrugations’, as you are quite literally driving over a surface shaped like an iron corrugation roof. If taken at a normal pace it will definitely result in significant joint pain in older life and will probably kill your car, thus giving you two options. The first is to travel at 4 mph so as to try to minimize the vibrations, but in reality you are simply increasing the length of your torture. The second is infinitely more comfortable: skipping along the peaks of the corrugations at 40 mph or more. This is wonderfully smooth and blissful until you need to brake, upon which you will realise that you have no grip and face a sizeable impact with that Toyota pick-up carrying a dozen full black bags, seven young men and a quite nonchalant looking camel.

Fuel quality is of a varying nature and will almost certainly lead to a clogging up of the fuel filter over time. Luckily this is very simple to replace. You may well end up with fuel of such poor quality that you have no choice but to dump it in the most environmentally friendly way possible. It is thus an immensely good idea to not fill your fuel tank and your spare jerry cans at the same fuel station so as to prevent one of those unscheduled yet scenic stops in the middle of the Sahel – where you are fortunate to see another vehicle once every three days.

Finally, if the worst happens and you do break down it is important not to panic. It is not a gross generalisation to say that breaking down is a common occurrence in some parts of the world. Indeed we met lorry drivers with supplies to last three weeks should the inevitable happen. Local mechanics are a joy to watch and will forever highlight the rip-off merchant that is your hometown mechanic.

Red Tape

Beyond the usual holiday paperwork such as visas, travel insurance and such like, you will find that driving brings a whole new dimension of red-tape to travelling.

Quite obviously you will need a valid driving licence. An International Driving Permit is not always necessary, but for the sake of £7.50, it won’t hurt to have one.

Before you travel anywhere by vehicle you must check whether your destinations require a ‘Carnet de Passage en Douanes’, or Carnet as it is usually known. This is a multi-page document that allows temporary importation of a vehicle into certain countries without payment of customs duties and taxes. You are required to place a deposit – usually 150% of your car’s value but can be as much as 800% in Egypt – with the RAC who are the only issuers of Carnets in the UK. If you then fail to leave the country you have temporarily imported your vehicle to, this deposit will be used to cover any duties you will be liable for. Many countries do not require a Carnet and will instead make you purchase a ‘laissez-faire’ or temporary import licence when you cross the border. For more information you should contact the RAC and look at their website. They are very helpful and eager to sort out problems you may encounter.

Picture the scene. You and your friends have just been escorted through one of the world’s most extensive minefields by a kind fellow in a very beaten up Ford Escort. Your convoy is then led up to a ragged walled compound, standing like a castle amongst the unending desert, and as a small sandstorm begins to blow you are greeted by a well-armed smiling man in a pristine military uniform. Welcome to the Mauritanian border post. Borders are much like many things in life – your first time is scary, you have no idea what you are doing but it does bring quite a thrill. However, this thrill is soon replaced by an immense boredom as border formalities can take up an entire afternoon.

Each border process is split into four parts. Firstly you will have to receive your exit stamp on your visa from the country you are waving goodbye to. Next you will be ushered forward into no-man’s land, where you will then get your next visa stamped. This tends to be the longest part of the day, as anyone who has travelled extensively will tell you. Next will be the stamping of your Carnet or granting of a temporary import license, usually for a one month period. The latter will typically cost around 30 Euros. There will usually be a cursory search of your vehicle to ensure no illegal imports at this point. The thoroughness of the search often depends upon the temperature outside and can be further influenced by the strategic placement of particularly foul smelling socks. Finally you will have to purchase local insurance. This is very important as you will have no end of tribulations if you fail to have this document with you at all consequent checkpoints. Costs can vary immensely but in our experience set us back about 15 Euros for 10 days of cover. The insurance is also practically worthless and will afford you next to no cover if you do end up in an accident, but such are the joys of overland travel.

Weighed down with enough paperwork to cause an Office Angel to cry and with half your passport filled with stamps, you will excitedly tear off down the highway. After a short while this excitement will turn to puzzlement and concern as you see first a series of huts and then, as you approach, are waved down by another military uniform and his AK-47 toting friends. This will be the first of seemingly endless checkpoints. Though these can be time-consuming, if you maintain a cheerful and helpful demeanour, they can be surprisingly pleasant. To speed up the process you may wish to produce a ‘fiche.’ This is usually a one-page document, ideally in French, that has all of your passport information, your planned route, your job and other assorted information. For added Brownie Points include a passport photo somewhere on the document. A template can be found online with a bit of searching, leaving you to just fill it out and print in vast numbers. Corruption can be rife at borders and checkpoints but as long as you remain firm yet pleasant you should have few difficulties. You will develop a deep aversion to the word ‘cadeau’ which means ‘gift’ to the non-Francophiles.

Finally it is all very well and good looking at a world map and planning your grand tour but you must do your research into border relations between various nations. Thought about driving along North Africa’s Mediterranean coast from Morocco to Egypt? Looks utterly amazing but the land borders between Morocco and Algeria are closed, as are the borders between Libya and most of her neighbours. How about driving through India to China, or maybe through Myanmar into South East Asia? Well the roads are there but you can’t use them. Myanmar allows no access to tourists through its land borders and the Indian/Chinese border has only just opened up to limited local trade.

Where to Go and Why Travel by Car?

Now armed with all this knowledge, where do you want to go? I cannot rate West Africa highly enough. The road network is growing all the time and every country is making great efforts to become more tourist-friendly. Though Senegal officially needs a Carnet, there are ways to get round this and this opens up the amazing city of Dakar. Mali has the cultural delights of Bamako and Djenné to name but two, and you can always use your car as a base from which to explore further to Timbuktu or maybe go trekking in the Dogon Plateau. How about Ghana or Benin? Even La Côte d’Ivoire is calming now and is set to be quite a destination.  Indeed, it is possible to drive from Morocco to Cameroon and even beyond without any serious off-roading at all.

A little closer to home you could explore the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Scandinavia is beautiful and easy to explore by car (just don’t forget your snow chains). You can really let your mind run free and think up the daftest adventures. Did you know that every year hordes of British cars make an annual charity drive to Mongolia? None of these are overland-tailored 4x4s, just your standard two wheel drive, 1 litre engine cars such as mid-90s Nissan Micras and Ford Fiestas.

Travelling overland provides a quite unique experience, much unlike backpacking or travelling by train. A vehicle gives you total independence to travel wherever the road network takes you (and beyond) whenever the timing suits you. You need not spend hours or even days waiting for the next bus/train/cart.

If you are able to get a group of friends together then you will find overland travel can be pursued at a very reasonable price. Many costs such as petrol, paperwork and supplies can be shared out and, in our experience in Morocco and Mali, campsites charge per car as opposed to per person, thus massively reducing your accommodation expenses as well.

I honestly feared that, in my big metal box, I would become entirely separated from the country and the cultures that I travelled through. In fact I can happily say that the opposite occurred. Your car forces you to interact with everyone around you. Often the best experiences happen when you break down (you will). An experience I will always remember was travelling in a small convoy in Burkina Faso at night (which is a near-suicidal thing to do at the best of times) when one of our number had a serious breakdown. Whilst we were wondering quite what we were going to do, some young men emerged from the darkness and helped us push the stricken vehicle off the road and towards their village. Over some not too pleasant cups of NATO ration pack tea, we made conversation as best we could, our collective Burkinabé being somewhat limited. The next morning the same group looked over the stricken car with us and mutually agreed that it was ‘dead.’ It was an immensely heart-warming experience when a small audience came to wave us off and wish us luck. Even stopping for petrol or at borders can create illusions of stardom as people are always keen to talk and are wonderfully curious about the journey you are attempting.

The largest obstacle in overland travel is simply coming to understand quite how possible it is. It may involve a bit more work than flying out to Thailand or inter-railing around Europe, but none of it is incredibly complicated. In return for that extra work you will get a trip that is entirely unique. With a vehicle the whole map is your itinerary. Your vehicle allows you to sleep anywhere and everywhere and will allow you to carry spare fuel, food and water for weeks at a time.

In closing I will paraphrase Captain Jack Sparrow, who said it best with: “That’s what a car is; it’s not just wheels, seats, dials and an engine, that’s what a car needs. What a car is, what it really is… is freedom.”

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