It's the final countdown...!

As the title of the blog suggests we have a second final date... fingers crossed for 24th October - all things well with Charles and Mandy's passports coming through in time!

The cars were finished last weekend until our Land Rover - Ditzy - sprung an oil leak... better now than half way through I suppose so hopefully it will be just another week!

Last weekend we made an appearance at the Stratford Overlanding Show which was good fun - the weather was also beautiful which helped! I was not there for much of it due to other commitments however we spoke to some great people including Ruby Landy and Lizzy Bus about their previous and upcoming adventures! We also caught up with some other lovely people to watch SA in the rugby! Nothing bought, but the solar panels did their job!

With a final date looming we have last minute bits to buy,.. mainly little things like clothes and decent shoes (shoe shopping what a shame!), and kitchen bits - couple more metal bottles and a pressure cooker to add.

Keep following us at Where To Next Africa and Mandy is also writing a blog as well as showing her video making skills so keep up at http://wheretonextafrica.blogspot.co.uk/.

A little bit of positivity (and crossed fingers!)

We it has been over a month since I last posted - mainly because there has not been a huge amount to post...! Our leaving date has been pushed back to October due to paperwork issues (which are slowly being posted and worked through!), so we are a little bit in limbo .. back to work, still in the house (minus furniture and our lives in boxes), winter clothes in the loft (hopefully it won't get much colder!), however we are still positive!

The solar panels have now been fitted to both the cars - photos of Rob's car are below - so we have now spent most of the bulk of the money and done all the work (only one more seal to replace I think!). We still need to weigh the car and fill out the Carnet however we want to do this as close as we can to the leaving date, and also look into and pay for travel insurance... if anyone has any ideas or good providers please let me know!! Minor things to get done now.. nearly there!

At the end of the month I am informed we will be at the Stratford Overlanding show 25-27th September, and I think on a stand!! It will be great to see people there and hopefully catch up with Miles who we have been in contact with who is doing the same trip as us leaving in January (details to follow once I get some!).

In the mean time please keep liking our facebook page Where To Next Africa for up-to-date details and photos!

On a side note (real different subject) I have been keeping up with a family friend who is writing a blog as she under goes treatment for MDS http://alicebyron.com/ - her blog is very well written (unlike this one!) and very inspiring - definitely worth a read!

Waiting with fingers crossed!

We spent a good, sunny weekend at Billing Landrover show - met some interesting people, and spent some valuable time with friends and family...! We got use the new lightweight back section which was really useful - much easier (for Charles) to put up - and I also braved the shower and pop up shower tent for the first time - was cold but will definitely be good once we are in Africa!

You may know that we were meant to have left by now (August 3rd from the Billing show) however we are waiting for some paper work still so life is in real limbo! Charles and I have sold the majority of our furniture now so the house is looking very bare at the moment! Charles is happy as it means all the trip stuff can finally be stored in the house - it has a whole room!!

However.. since we are not leaving for a while the boys have been looking into solar panels to charge the second battery.. so much their brains are sore apparently! The dilemmas being the Wattage, whether they are fixed or can be moved and whether they work without loss over 25 degrees! After much debate they went for a monocrystalline 100W folding solar panel with a 15A charge controller (message the FB site for more details). It is easier to mount, can be moved for optimum sunlight (leaving the car in the shade) - there is a power drop from 25 degrees however due to cost we will accept what we can get! I will post photos once it has been put on!

Keep updated via our facebook site Where To Next Africa for the latest news and photos, and keep fingers crossed for the paperwork to come through!

Light weight back section (and a light in the tent..!)

After a final weekend of car work the car is now almost ready to go.. (when we get the go-ahead!) apart from a couple more buys .. the list is endless!

The boys overhauled and refurbished the transfer box, upgraded the rear suspension, and added a light to the tent.. which means no precarious balancing with a torch on the way up the ladder.

They also added a few more lights in convenient places as well as some tie down points!

We finally found a light weight back section for the roof tent (Charles now just needs to sell our original one - message me if you are interested!!) - he picked it up in the week from a family who have already done the trip! Lots in interesting information was exchanged!

In the week we also had a great meeting with Fred Mutebi who is a woodcut printmaker from Uganda. We are hoping to visit him and spend some time with him planting mutuba trees to make barkcloth (see more on his website http://fredmutebi.org/about/curriculum-vitae/ ). We are very excited to do this!

If you have been following our face book site Where To Next Africa you will see Mandy and Rob have been cooking with the Dutch Oven! They will be professional very soon  -  very impressed!

Next weekend we will all (plus others!) will be at Billing Landrover Fest so if you are around come and say hi or have a look! It would be lovely to meet you!

Thank you Craghoppers

Clothing has been rather an issue for myself.. someone who gets burnt on a vaguely sunny day in the UK... trying to find clothing that has a high sun protection factor but is also wearable has been a problem in the past. Therefore when we got an email from a facebook post to Craghoppers offering help with clothing we jumped at the chance!

I already live in my Kiwi Pro Convertable Stretch trousers - they are a good length (trouser and short wise), smart (I wear them to work!), fit well and are easy to clean - so for myself and Mandy to get another pair was great as these are all we will be wearing next year - they have a solar shield technology also!

Craghoppers also do a Nosilife range, I had already purchased some of this range Base Short Sleeved T-shirt and Base Long Sleeved T-shirt- again they are light weight, cover the shoulders (and arms), have a solar shield and are mosquito repellent (great all across Africa!). In addition to this myself and Mandy will be wearing the Adayna Hooded Jacket for cold nights - again does have solar shield if worn in the day, and the mosquito repellent, but also has security zipped pockets! Finally we have received the short sleeved Polo T-Shirts which will be great for when we need to look presentable in the Embassies!

The boys also received their gear this week! Both have gone for the Nosilife range Convertible Trousers, Long Sleeved Shirt, and Polo shirt, which again all have solar shield as well as the mosquito repellent technology.

There are sill a few things that need to be bought - shoes, hats etc however thanks to the staff over at Craghoppers for all their support and help!

Keep liking our facebook page -Where to Next Africa -  for all the updates.. Rob and Charles are doing loads to the cars still and posting onto facebook more often than I can keep up on here!

(photo courtesy of Rob)

A quick update...

With a short amount of time before we leave things are hotting up.. money is flying out of the account, parts are being bought and fitted, and general things that we 'need' are arriving! All this is timed around Summer Term at school, moving out of our house and countless other things that seem to pop up during the summer months!!

Regarding the car, Rob and Charles have been fitting new parts: cam belt, new radiator, breather filter, breather hose, rocker cover gasket, water pump - the head gasket will be fitted this weekend along with anti-roll bars (I am told in luminous green!). We have to program key fobs still which fingers crossed will be done next week! Long weekends ahead....

We have bought from ebay a Garmin Montana 600 so we can load Tracks of Africa onto it - Rob is slightly ahead of us having done this already and says it looks amazing! Tracks are all marked out in fine detail so we look forward to having a copy of our own!

We are in the process of also ordering a new notebook to store and edit photos.. this is one thing I can actually have an input on as I half know what I am talking about!

I have been clothes buying.. have managed to get some mosquito repellent, UVA 40+ clothing from a well know brand at a good price - they are really comfortable and covering (good for me who sun burnt last weekend in the UK!).

We still have to look into and buy insurance (we have been told approximately £800/person), and the Carnet for the car, as well as a train crossing to France which cannot be done until Charles and Mandy receive their UK Citizenship (time is ticking!!).

Finally Charles and Rob have been very kind to myself and Mandy and bought us pop up shower tents... it's the little luxuries!

I will keep trying to update more regularly than I have been - things happen every day, so I try to wait for a whole lot of things to write about before I do!!

Keep liking Where to Next Africa on facebook as this is updated by Rob very regularly!

Medical Kit

Today we received the bits and pieces for our medical kit... Thank you to DS medical who provided us with the kit!
Having spoken to Peter (the first-aider), various doctors and looking at other blogs a list was compiled and added to.
We still need to stock up on various over the counter drugs... and sun cream, however we are getting there!

For a comprehensive list please either post with your email address, or ask on the Where to Next Africa face book page!