Here Begins the start of our Journey where nothing makes sense

A while ago Jonny and I started planning our trip overland from England to South Africa and it turns out a lot of people did not actually believe we would go through with it till now and its all real.

Since planning out trip the route has changed several times due to different countries starting a war (how inconsiderate). Originally the plan was to cross from Itlay to Tunisia (North Africa) and then travel across Libya and into Egypt however Libya went to war and when I contacted the Libyan embassy to ask about applying for transit visas to cross the countries one man laughed at me, one asked did I know there was a war on and then a woman said she had her fingers crost for me on my trip across Africa but would have to find another way.

We then decided to change route and go through Eastern Europe and the middle east crossing into Egypt from Jordan which to be honest got me really excited as I was looking forward at seeing some of the middle easy and Jordan. The route through the middle east did not come without issues though as we would not be allowed to pass through Israel on the way or we would be denied entry into Egypt with an Isreali stamp in our passport so the only option would be to pass through Syria into Jordan. So that was it route sorted (how wrong were we) as a few months after this was planned Syria started a war with each other and travel to the country was not permitted.

Well we were not going to be put off that easily and so research into new route to South Africa started, Through central Africa (not an option not safe and very difficult), Down the West Coast of Africa crossing from Spain into Morrocco but the west coast has issues and visas are difficult to obtain and so we were back to the middle east.

We could get comfortably down to Turkey but getting round through Syria was the problem so we started looking for a ferry from Turkey to Egypt (there isn't one can you believe it) even though it is just a short distance across the Mediteranean. I eventually after some time managed to find a cargo shipping company who will ship the car from Turkey to Egypt and so at last we had a complete route (see blog for the route and all the countries we will pass through).

One saying which keeps passing through my head is "It will be alright in the end and if it is not alright it is not the end".

Jonny has been putting his strengths into preparing the truck for its overland adventure and wow what a great job we now have a self contained living unit that we should be able to live happily in without the need of any campsite. The roof rack was made from scratch to take our roof tent (home for the next 12 months). The boot has wooden shelving allowing us to make the most of the boot space and to securely hold our supper cool fridge.

The fridge, well that was a mission in its self firstly we thought we would spend about £200 pound on the fridge (hugely underestimated) as it turns out the smaller the fridge the more expensive but we ended up with a fridge designed for use on boats and runs of the 12volt car battery and is small enough to fit into the gap we had planned for the back of the car (score £530 later).

Well I guess my strengths came into the paperwork side of organising our trip and wow what a mission to which I will not go into a lot of detail as it will sound boring to you and maybe will bore you over a beer one day but we finally received our CARNET DE PASAGE which allows us to temporary import our vehicle into each country without customs charges and then export it. It is like a passport for the car but stops customs charges and should (I say should) make border crossing easier. However Africa is an extremely corrupt continent and so me thinks it is going to be cigarettes and booze that gets us across the many borders.

I have also had to apply for an import permit for South Africa as it would cost us £2000 to ship our car back to the UK and to be honest a big 3 litre turbo diesel 4 x 4 with the fuel prices of today is just not economical in the UK so we have opted to leave the car in South Africa with friends or family.

As I am South African I am allowed one tax free import and so lots more paper work but we just yesterday received the import permit.

So Know that Jonny and Terri have

*Had all vaccination against nasty diseases

*Spent hundreds od pounds on malaria tablets

*Got our international driving licences

*Got 100 page passports for the numerous visas and stamps

*Got lots of spare car parts

*Got lots of medical kit and medicines for any issues

*Got lots of Maps

*Got lots of Lonely planet guides and guides to African illnesses and languages

*Got lots of suncream

ECT ECT ECT

We are know getting itchy feet and are ready to hit the road. We have had a great few months touring the UK catching up with friends and family, organising our massive trip and converting out Toyota Land cruiser but we are now ready and excited to hit the road.

So On the 14th of May at 12.15 we leave Dover for Calais and we will Fly back from South Africa in April 2013 on the 17th if all works out and goes to Plan and we make it all the way to the bottom of Africa. I will be posting photos and messages on our way South so keep posted.

All the best

Terri and Jonny