Where will I sleep?
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Tell
me about camping fees?
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All camping fees come out
of the kitty. At some camps there is also permanent accommodation
in the way of huts, double rooms, or dorms.
If these are available you can upgrade, sleep in a comfy
bed for the night, have a night off from pitching your
tent – you just need to pay the difference between
the camping price and the cost of the accommodation.
Occasionally if there is no permanent campsite nearby
or it’s too late to continue, vehicles pull off
the side of the road and bush camp.
The beauty of an overland camping tour is that they are
completely self-sufficient and carry all the necessary
cooking and other equipment to be able to do this.
You may not get a shower that night, but nothing beats
camping out under a starry sky in the heart of the African
bush miles from anywhere.
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Most of our overland tours are
predominantly camping tours, and camping gives flexibility that’s
hard to beat. Accommodation is normally in roomy two-man tents,
which are shared by two people and have fly-sheets, built-in
ground sheets and mosquito netting.
At the beginning of a tour you and your tent buddy will be allocated
a tent that you keep throughout the duration of the trip and
it’s up to you to look after it and keep clean. If you’ve
never pitched a tent before then the tour leader will give you
a demonstration and by the end of the tour you’ll be a
dab hand at quickly putting it up and down, even in the dark.
Occasionally you’ll help out and pitch the cook’s
tent if they are busy preparing meals. Expect a range of surfaces
to pitch your tent on from stony, gravel deserts, sun-baked
hard earth, to springy green grass and luxurious soft beach
sand. On most tours, you’ll need to bring your own sleeping
mat (this will be advised when booking) and sleeping bag. See
gear
for information on the types available.
Most nights you stay in campsites that can now be found the
length and breadth of Africa thanks to the popularity of Overlanding.
Some have extensive facilities whilst others are very basic,
but looking around you at how people live, Africa is not the
place to complain if you don’t get a hot shower every
night.
The more established places have shared ablution blocks, taps,
fire pits, rubbish bins, grassy or sandy camping sites, bars,
restaurants, and sometimes shops. Others have nothing more than
a long drop loo – not knowing where you are going to sleep
each night is all part of the overland adventure. Campsites
in East Africa tend to be much more primitive than those in
southern Africa. Travelling north to south facilities steadily
get better, whilst travelling south to north you will suddenly
wonder where the swimming pool has gone. |
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