u/Status-Carrot1049

I have been researching overlanding tours in Africa relentlessly for the past two weeks. I have been able to budget out a trip that goes from Victoria Falls to Cape Town with Nomad Africa tours. After that trip ends, I will then begin the solo portion of my travels. I will spend 5 days in Cape Town. Then I will fly from Cape Town to Johannesburg where I will begin a 6-day tour with Big Six Safari Tours that will take me to Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Kruger. It ends in Durban. I will then fly from Durban to Lusaka, Zambia. I will spend five days in Lusaka. Then I will fly from Lusaka to Mfuwe where I will be picked up for a two night trip with Mikango Safari to S. Luangwa National Park. On the third day, I will fly back to Lusaka. From Lusaka I will take the bus to Livingstone. The next day I will spend at the Devil's/Angels Pool in Livingstone. The next day I will fly out from Victoria Falls back to the U.S. My number one choice was Oasis Overland because it leaves when I need it to and is priced where I need it to be and travels to Lesotho as well. Unfortunately, the chances that the trip will be confirmed and guaranteed to depart are really low so I have chosen Nomad because the specific date I am looking at is guaranteed.

I have $16,000 to spend so far I have allocated funds as follows:

tour: $4170

ticket: $1800

travel insurance: $300

optional activities: $1500

solo portion: $4106

emergency funding: $250

gear: $2682

miscellaneous: $800

total: 15,608

I am planning on bringing my own tent to have my own space while solo- traveling. I have read every thread, TripAdvisor review, and Google link that already exists about overlanding in Africa, but I am curious if anyone has any experience that hasn’t had the opportunity to be shared about being a solo-traveller with a specific company.

This will not be my first time solo backpacking. I have solo backpacked in Latin America, the Mediterranean, South East Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East—but never southern Africa. I am familiar with West Africa as I have visited many times as well but again, not solo.

How important is it to have a really good travel insurance? How important is it to have a really high end sleeping bag, sleeping backpack, etc.? I learned that the climate during the time of my travels (May 14-June 27th) will be quite cool at night but hot during the day. I don’t want to phone it in on the sleeping bag, for example and end up being cold at night.

I have been researching overlanding tours in Africa relentlessly for the past two weeks. I have been able to budget out a trip that goes from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg with Oasis Overland. After that trip ends, I will fly from Cape Town to Johannesburg to start my six day Safari with Big Six Safari Tours that will go to Mozambique, Kruger, Eswatini, and Lesotho. The next day I will head back to Johannesburg from where I will take a flight to Lusaka. I will spend a day in Lusaka then fly from Lusaka to Mfuwe/S. Luangwa National Park. I will spend 2 days in S. Luangwa National Park then fly back to Lusaka. From Lusaka I will take a bus to Livingstone where I will spend a day. Then I will take the hostel shuttle to the Victoria Falls Airport and head home (US). Oasis Overland leaves when I need it to and is priced where I need it to be.

I have $15,300 to spend on the tour, the ticket, the solo portion of the trip, travel insurance, miscellaneous, optional activities, emergency funding, and all gear needed for the trip. So far I have allocated funds as follows:

tour: $4975

ticket: $1800

travel insurance: $400

optional activities: $1500

solo portion: $2168

emergency funding: $250

gear (tent, binoculars, sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, pillow, backpacking backpack, hiking shoes, sleeping pad, camera, clothes): $3282

miscellaneous: $925

total: 15,300

I am planning on bringing my own tent to have my own space while overlanding. I have read every thread that already exists about overlanding in Africa, but I am curious if anyone has any experience that hasn’t had the opportunity to be shared about overlanding with Oasis Overland specifically. I was seriously contemplating a G Adventures or Nomad trip but I have since settled on a company that covers part of the garden route along with the victoria falls to cape town via namibia route. I had also considered Absolute Africa but they travel in March or August and neither are travel time options for me. The same story goes for Dragoman and their Lusaka to Cape Town route (it isnt taking place during an agreeable time).

This will not be my first time solo backpacking. I have solo backpacked in Latin America, the Mediterranean, South East Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East—but never southern Africa. I am familiar with West Africa as I have visited many times as well but again, not solo. So I am wondering what advice people have for this tour and whether it actually makes more sense to do a G Adventures or Nomad trip (trips that don’t include the garden route) and then solo travel the entire garden route back intoto zambia ( from Cape Town to Durban, Durban to Maputo, Maputo to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Lusaka, and so on and so forth) instead of doing what I am doing. Any and all advice is sincerely appreciated!!!

Also, how important is it to have a really good travel insurance? I have never used travel insurance and I have found its cumpolsory with many of these overlanding companies. Do I really need more than the standard travel insurance package (200)? Right now I am budgeting for the more premium travel insurance but I do not know exactly how necessary that is.

I have been researching overlanding tours in Africa relentlessly for the past two weeks. I have been able to budget out a trip that goes from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg with Oasis Overland. After that trip ends, I will then travel solo from Johannesburg to Maputo (bus). In Maputo I will do a day trip to Eswatini. The next day I will head back to Johannesburg from where I will take a flight to Lusaka. I will spend a day in Lusaka then take a bus from Lusaka to Mfuwe/S. Luangwa National Park. I will spend 2 days in S. Luangwa National Park then take a bus back to Lusaka. From Lusaka I will take a bus to Livingstone where I will spend a day. Then I will take the hostel shuttle to the Victoria Falls Airport and head home (US). Oasis Overland leaves when I need it to and is priced where I need it to be.

I have $15,300 to spend on the tour, the ticket, the solo portion of the trip, travel insurance, miscellaneous, optional activities, emergency funding, and all gear needed for the trip. So far I have allocated funds as follows:

tour: $4975

ticket: $1800

travel insurance: $400

optional activities: $1500

solo portion: $2168

emergency funding: $250

gear (tent, binoculars, sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, pillow, backpacking backpack, hiking shoes, sleeping pad, camera, clothes): $3282

miscellaneous: $925

total: 15,300

I am planning on bringing my own tent to have my own space while overlanding. I have read every thread that already exists about overlanding in Africa, but I am curious if anyone has any experience that hasn’t had the opportunity to be shared about overlanding with Oasis Overland specifically. I was seriously contemplating a G Adventures or Nomad trip but I have since settled on a company that covers part of the garden route along with the victoria falls to cape town via namibia route. I had also considered Absolute Africa but they travel in March or August and neither are travel time options for me. The same story goes for Dragoman and their Lusaka to Cape Town route (it isnt taking place during an agreeable time).

This will not be my first time solo backpacking. I have solo backpacked in Latin America, the Mediterranean, South East Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East—but never southern Africa. I am familiar with West Africa as I have visited many times as well but again, not solo. So I am wondering what advice people have for this tour and whether it actually makes more sense to do a G Adventures or Nomad trip (trips that don’t include the garden route) and then solo travel the entire garden route back intoto zambia ( from Cape Town to Durban, Durban to Maputo, Maputo to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Lusaka, and so on and so forth) instead of doing what I am doing. Any and all advice is sincerely appreciated!!!

Also, I tried to call Ertago, a Mozambiquan bus company to ask whether there really is a bus from Maputo to Johannesburg and found Spanish to be insufficient to communicate. I have used Spanish to communicate with Brazilians before and I took it for granted that we could understand each other. So, its time to step my Portuguese (and other African languages) weight up before I leave. On another note can anyone confirm there is a bus from Maputo to Johannesburg and back?

Also, how important is it to have a really good travel insurance? I have never used travel insurance and I have found its cumpolsory with many of these overlanding companies. Do I really need more than the standard travel insurance package (200)? Right now I am budgeting for the more premium travel insurance but I do not know exactly how necessary that is.