I spent two months overlanding in Africa with Absolute Africa, and it may just have been the greatest adventure of my life. It was absolutely not comfortable, but it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Overlanding is basically driving and camping around Africa. You rough it, but that allows you to really to be able to really experience it authentically. And it was an experience I’ll never forget.
When I told people that I would be straight roughing it in the African bush with a bunch of strangers for almost two months, they looked at me like I was crazy. But for me, it was a dream come true. How in the world are you supposed to experience true adventure if you can’t accept discomfort? I’d always wanted to go to Africa. Being able to be truly IN the wild and so close to incredible wildlife was something that was always a bucket list experience for me.
Some Quick Trip Highlights:
- White water rafting class 5 rapids on the White Nile in Uganda
- Experiencing the critically endangered mountain gorilla in its natural habitat in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (And even have one come up and touch me! Definitely a terrifying moment).
- Seeing all of the Big 5 (Lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo)
- Feeling the sheer fear an angry hippo can induce when you are in a tiny canoe (it did a warning charge at us and we got the heck out of there)
- Learning from Rwandan women how to make their local cuisine from scratch with only items that they had literally grown in their backyard
- Sleeping a tent with nothing but thin walls protecting me from the African bush – and we definitely had crocodiles, cape buffalo, elephants, hippos, and a literal pride of like 15 lions (story for another time) cross into camp at different times throughout the trip
- Experiencing a safari in the Serengeti
- Watching a lion stalk its prey
- Going cliff jumping into Lake Malawi
- Seeing the Great Zimbabwe
- Spending countless nights around the campfire with my new friends
- Flying in a helicopter over Victoria Falls
- Visiting these countries: Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania (and Zanzibar), Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
And that’s just some of it.
Doing an Overlanding Tour With Absolute Africa allowed me to have so many incredible experiences that I just simply would not have gotten by going the “luxury” Africa route. Plus, it made this experience affordable and accessible to me. The reality of roughing it means that you are up close and personal with the countries, the people, and the animals; and I mean REALLY up close. It also meant that I had some really good days and some pretty rough days. I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything in the world.
What Is Overlanding
In short, Overlanding is a method of travel that involves living out of a truck in order to explore an area in a more cost-efficient way. You live out of a truck, sleep in tents along the way, spend HOURS and hours driving (or riding), and cook your own food. Overlanding is a great choice for budget-conscious travelers who want to see a lot of Africa, but can’t afford the luxury costs. Disclaimer: You have to be prepared to be a little bit uncomfortable. But again, discomfort is the root of adventure.
Why I Chose Absolute Africa
When I started researching companies to Overland with, there were a bunch of tour companies offering very similar options. I knew that I wanted a route that hit the Serengeti, but I was open to different route options at the time because I wasn’t quite sure how long I was going to go for. I immediately weeded out any tour company that had an upper age cap (like only 20-35 year olds). Those trips tend to lean towards a “party or bust” kind of crowd who would rather be drunk than see a lion (which is fine, but not my vibe), and some of the best friends I have made in my life have been far above those age limits so I prefer age diversity in my travel groups. Absolute Africa had no age cap (✅).
In addition to this, I knew I would be spending literally over a hundred hours on the truck, so I wanted to choose a truck that had a layout that I could vibe with. A bunch of the overlanding companies had seats that surrounded the outside edges of the bus, this meant that I would be seated across from someone at all times and not have a side window to look out of. Neither of those things appealed to me. I liked that the majority of Absolute Africa’s trucks had rows (and even rows facing other rows, but I liked that I had options). So the layout of the truck was a win for me (✅).
Overall Absolute Africa Review: I’m VERY happy with my choice, and will be using them in the future for a Victoria Falls to Johannesburg Route.
A Honest Account of Everyday Life on the Absolute Africa Truck
Everyday life on the truck was different than I expected but not in a bad way. Every single day of the trip was a different and exciting adventure. Some days we woke up and found that hippos had crossed through camp, just a few feet from our tents. Some days we would dread the long, hot drive. Other days we would be riding 4x4s into a crater in search of wildlife. No two days were the same, and every day truly felt like an adventure. There were two main types of days that we experienced: Driving days and excursion days.
Many upgrades looked a lot like this, and it was truly a sweet luxury.
On rare occasions, we had some true luxuries though. Sometimes we would drive through a big city and be able to find western comforts (Like a milkshake). But in Zanzibar, it was all luxury. We were all put up in a resort and it was like a true vacation from our travels. By this point in the trip, we were all absolutely exhausted from roughing it. Zanzibar was the island relaxation we all desperately needed.
Driving Days
Most mornings we had to wake up around 5am-6am. Our morning started with repacking our bags (I found it best to just have a “tonight” small bag and leave my duffle in the storage of the truck since we rarely spent two nights in the same camp. After repacking our bags, we had to roll up our sleeping pads and sleeping bags as well as collapse and pack our tents. The first time I went through my morning packing routine, it took me close to 45 minutes to get it all done, but by the end of the trip, I could tear down camp and be ready to go in less than 20 minutes.
After tearing down camp, I would make myself breakfast. Breakfast was typically cereal, local fruit, or eggs if you wanted to make them. Sometimes we would take turns making breakfast for each other. Whoever didn’t cook would be in charge of handwashing the dishes. We had to cook all of our own food and wash all of our own dishes in buckets. Typically dinner was coordinated (everyone has daily assigned tasks, sometimes your task was to cook dinner), but breakfast was fend for yourself or make friends to team up with.
After that, we’d hit the road! Some days we *only* drove for 4 hours while others could be 12 hour days in the non-air-conditioned truck. When it was hot, we would all role the windows down, but sometimes the dirt would be so bad from the roads that we would have to roll them back up. We typically passed the time on the truck listening to music, talking, or playing games. The extremely long hours in the truck made for some rough days, but you certainly got to know the people around you.
We often had questionable lunch stops, so we would try and stock up on our own food for lunches whenever we made a grocery stop. We had to be extremely choosy in what we bought though because the truck only had one refrigerator that held the entire groups food. If there was any leftover space, we could store our own personal food in there, but there was rarely much space. The refrigerator ran off the truck’s battery as well so we would often have to unplug it during the day while driving in rough conditions.
We would usually roll into camp just before dark. If we arrived after dark, we had to get our headlamps out and setup up camp in the darkness which was never fun. Once we arrived at camp, we had to pitch our tents, this process takes about as long as tearing them down, but we usually helped each other set up the tents since the poles were much easier to adjust with two people. After setting up camp, we got to relax or shower (if there was a shower, which most of the non-bush camps had) unless we were on cook team. Cooking team immediately got to work making dinner for the rest of the truck. By the evening we were usually pretty wiped, but many still found the time for multiple rounds of beers when they were available. Typically beer would be the coldest drink you could find.
Safety on the Trip
People never made me feel unsafe during this trip. I always felt safe. Our guides were amazing and always on the lookout for us. One of our rotational jobs was to be on security team. When we were on this team, our job was to make sure the the bus was locked up at night. This was often more for baboons than people, and I think that’s a pretty good way to describe the safety situation of our trip. Be cautious of baboons and animals in camp.
In general, we had to practice animal awareness and safety precautions to stay safe at camp. Each camp had it’s own specific wildlife situation. One camp we stayed in had a worker who basically had the full time job of chasing baboons away with a slingshot because they would attack camp. I can confirm that it was needed, because a baboon jumped onto the top of the truck and screamed in my face. I screamed and fell over but he got chased off.
Another camp we slept along river. During the night we had hippos walk through camp as well as crocodiles as we could see their tail drag marks. This camp we were not allowed to leave our tents at night unless it was a true emergency because they knew of the wildlife around.
In the Serengeti, I woke up to the sound of a Cape Buffalo screaming. I was exhausted and didn’t think much of it, so I fell back asleep. Well apparently I missed out on the coolest thing ever because our tents were surrounded by a pride of around 15 lions that were actively hunting the buffalo. You can see the video they took below. This camp we were also not allowed to leave our tents at night.
While these are some of the crazier stories, we were genuinely in the African bush which comes with a certain level of adventure. You had to be aware and follow the safety instructions, but I never really felt worried.
The photo below is the only one I was able to get of a black mamba we saw in Uganda before it slithered away. That was really cool to see. For reference, we were on a boat, he was on a bush on land overhanging the water. I have a 500mm zoom lens and can photograph like this from 25 feet away, and our guide pointed him out so we were aware. This is one of those situations where I never felt unsafe, despite being able to see one of the most deadly snakes out there with my own eyes.
Cool Features of the Overlanding Truck
The truck was designed in a really unique way with Overlanding in mind. Throughout my journey, we had two different trucks. The first had roll up windows, and the second had glass windows (as it would be going all the way to South Africa and that was a vehicle requirement). I spent most of my two months in the first vehicle.
The truck itself was relatively comfortable. I use the term relatively because Africa’s roads are simply not even a little bit smooth so riding on them for 8-12 hours a day is a lot. At one point, I actually had bruised tailbone from sitting in a truck bed on a safari. That was less fun. Anyway here’s some cool features:
Charging Station:
There was a charging station upfront where everyone could charge their devices. This was nice because many nights there was no where else to charge at camp. Unfortunately the bus couldn’t handle charging a TON of devices and manage the hot African roads. Sometimes we’d have to unplug everything (including the fridge) to get through a certain area.
Refrigerator
There was a refrigerator onboard the truck which was amazing. It wasn’t very powerful so we had to keep it closed as much as possible, but it allowed us to keep meat cold for dinners. We weren’t allowed to put drinks or personal snacks in it typically as we had to prioritize storing food for the whole camp, but often, when the groceries had been eaten down and there was extra space, we were able to chill a soda or bottle of water and that was a true treat.
Storage
One of the coolest things to me about the overlanding truck was the sheer amount of storage. The entire underbelly of the truck was storage. But it truly had to hold a lot. We traveled with our entire kitchen, camp, and everyone’s luggage under the truck.
This Trip is Absolutely For You If:
- You want to see Africa but are on a budget
- You have a lot of time to give the trip
- You like camping or can tolerate it for an extended time
- You love wildlife
- You love socializing (we got to know each other really well on the truck)
Budgeting/Optional Excursions
So how the trip is set up, there are two major trip costs. Trip cost one is the tour itself which includes all the campsites, your guides, and general life on the truck. The second main cost is the excursions. Almost every excursion costs money, and you can choose to participate or not. Before the tour, we were given an excursion and price list so we could budget accordingly. All excursions were paid for in cash unless they were more than a hundred dollars (like the helicopter over Victoria Falls).
Actually just about everything was paid for in cash. We had to carry an insane amount of cash on us at any given time. There was a safe we could access.
Your Questions Answered
How Did You Stay Connected During Your Africa Overland Trip? (Wifi/Cell Service, Etc.)
Staying connected wasn’t as much of a challenge as I thought it would be. Every night of the trip, we spent the night at designated campsite. Some campsites were truly “bush” campsites and had no ammentiies besides a fire pit and a small step up from a bush toilet (see the toilet FAQ below), while other campsites had options to upgrade to an actual room, a bar, and even wifi!
For cell service, I had T-Mobile’s International Plan while I was traveling, and I had solid service probably 75% of the time which I was very impressed by.
Laundry
We did our own laundry in buckets. There was a pile of maybe 6 buckets under the truck that we could use to do laundry at any time. Typically, I’d use one bucket as a rinsing water and one as a sudsy water (I used this non-liquid laundry detergent) and hang it on a clothesline. The hardest part was having enough time for your clothes to dry as we often wouldn’t stay in the same place two nights in a row.
Toilets
On the truck, there was a button we could press to let our driver know that someone needed to use the restroom. He would pull over soon after and we would had a good old fashioned African bush pee. Yes, literally just walk off in the savannah and go. Because someone had to walk up and bush the button, often people would just hold it. But we were all thankful when someone finally pressed the button. At camp there were occasionally western toilets. But often, the toilet was a squat toilet. This is a gross gas station squat toilet for reference.
Upgrading at Campsites
Some campsites you could pay to upgrade to a nicer sleeping arrangement. Sometimes it was a hostel, sometimes it was more of a lodge-style setup. Often people would find a friend and split a nicer room. It definitely would eat into the budget quickly if you upgraded every night though. Below is an upgraded tent in Jinja, Uganda.
Shout Out To Our Amazing Guides
Our guide Wycliff and our driver Mogul were simply incredible. They managed all situations with ease and in calm manner, and we always felt taken care of. They were truly pros at their jobs, and I’d recommend them to anyone. I was thrilled with my Absolute Africa experience.
Anyway that’s the summary of the trip that took me two and half years to finally write!
