LONG ROAD TO THE SERENGETI

For many years, it had been on my wish list to drive from Gauteng to the Serengeti. Flying would be the easiest, but I wanted to drive. I have done numerous 4x4 trips into Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho, as well as through South Africa, and I have reasonable experience of this type of adventure. However, the Serengeti is over 4000km away, and this adds a new dimension to travel – especially if one wants to do it in twelve days.

So, where does one start to plan a trip of this magnitude? My starting point was to see if some of my 4x4 colleagues would be interested. I had previously arranged a three-day trip to the Tuli Block in Botswana, when thirteen people and four vehicles joined me - in what proved to be an absolute ball. So, I hoped to get some of the same guys interested in my new mission. During one of the nights around the camp fire in Tuli, I had put the Serengeti trip on the table. The idea was met with great enthusiasm and all were in. It was agreed that I would do the planning (over the course of a year) and work up the cost estimate.

Planning

I spoke to quite a few people who had been to Serengeti, but all had flown in, and had hired a tour guide to arrange the rest. Most overland travellers seemed to have taken more than a month. So I chose my own route, through Botswana, Zambia, and into Tanzania. Going through Zimbabwe was not an option, because of the long delays at Beit Bridge.

The calculated distance was an estimated 9400km – just over 4200km to Serengeti, then 1000km in and around Serengeti, and 4200km back. Fuel cost was calculated at 6km per litre, which worked out to 1566 litres per vehicle at an average cost of $1.75 per litre: a total fuel cost of $2741.

Camping was not an option, so accommodation for the trip would be in either hotels or guest houses. This made travelling lighter, as we would not be taking the same number of supplies. I had my PA, Dalene, spend many hours trying to find accommodation in the countries we would be passing through. She compiled a very detailed list. However, by the time the list was completed, she was almost suicidal... getting info from these places is virtually impossible.

Timing was the next issue to be addressed. I estimated that we would need four days to get there, have four days in the Serengeti, and four days