overview of overland camping
Overland Camping is a unique way to tour. Officially it refers to a journey without the use of flights. The travel is with vehicles to more remote locations and for off roading use. There are many places in the world where overland touring is the safest and most cost effective way to travel. When you join an overland tour you are committing to making the journey part of the adventure. Most overland tours include tents you put up yourself and you are responsible for chores and cooking meals as a group. You will be traveling with like minded people and have a seasoned tour guide. Like all travel in tours you are stuck with the other tourists which is always a gamble but it always makes for good stories. The overland tour in Africa was one of my favorite things!
why we chose an overland camping tour
We primarily chose to overland after reading about traveling through Namibia and the lack of public transportation. We realized that many things we wanted to see and do in Namibia included some off-roading which we weren’t as comfortable with. We had read some blogs of people stranded for hours in the middle of nowhere. After doing some research I found this overland tour through Absolute Africa that seemed perfect!
our tour
We decided to do the Namibia Nomad tour which is a 23 day tour that starts at Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side and travels through Botswana, Namibia and south to Cape Town in South Africa. We had already traveled through Uganda, Tanzania and then to Zambia to Livingstone. We joined the tour in Zimbabwe! We used the tour Absolute Africa and loved it! https://www.absoluteafrica.com/
pros of overland camping tour
It was an epic tour! It took away all the extras of planning. We were able to sit and relax over hours of overland journeying. We were able to meet some really incredible people who we met up later in the year around the world. It included highlights of all the things we wanted and some places we didn’t know we wanted but that ended up being wonderful. Camping was really cool and it was an affordable way to see these countries.
cons of overland camping tour
This tour was part of a larger several month tour. What that meant was that some friendships were already strong and we were like the new kids in class trying to catch up mid year. With that also came some weird group dynamics and cliques. We were split into groups for chores such as cooking, cleaning, etc and you can be separate from your significant other or friend. Some people were super helpful and did the work and others slacked off which was frustrating some of the hard workers. Lastly, some of the activities were included but many incurred an additional cost. You need to budget for those extra cost items that are high on your bucket list.
say Yes to Overlanding Adventures!
This was one of the most epic of my travels. I would do it again in a heartbeat! I’ve thought of doing overland tours in Asia and other parts of Africa. There are so many awesome companies to choose from. If you love camping, friendships and having the time of your life then consider doing overland tours. You will not be disappointed.
