My name is Dawie du Plessis and my wife; Catt and I are embarking on a trip of a lifetime in 2010. We intend to cross Africa along the eastern side and drive our 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser 80 series station wagon all the way to the UK. The African countries we are planning on visiting are: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.
Our planned leaving date is the beginning of May 2010, but the closer we get to that, the sooner we want to leave. The reason for the date is that we need to miss the worst of the rainy season in Southern Africa to enable us to get to the places and see and do the things we want to do along the way. Although we intend to spend around 12 months completing the trip, timing the rains in East Africa and the worst of the heat in the Sahara is also proving to be quite challenging.
When kitting out a vehicle and planning for a trip like this one you soon realize that economy, reliability, energy and water become the things that dictate your route and your plans. There is not a shop around every corner and simple things like fuel, fresh meat and water is not always available.
On a 47 000km od trip through these harsh conditions, fuel economy is a major factor. Even a 1km/l difference can have a MAJOR impact on the total budget. Let’s face it though, a heavily loaded Land Cruiser with a roof rack on is not exactly the most aerodynamic or fuel efficient beast in the world. To run an air conditioner inside the car from sunrise to sunset at full blast to be comfortable is not something that really helps the economy principal either. However, in temperatures topping 45 deg C it becomes a matter of survival rather than simple comfort. So anything we can possibly do to improve our fuel economy is worth it. Driving slower is the obvious and most efficient way of saving fuel, but not running the air conditioner unless absolutely necessary is also a potential fuel saver.
The supply name of the game is “stock up when you can” and for that reason we will carry a fridge/freezer that runs of an additional battery in the vehicle. This battery gets charged through the vehicle’s alternator, but also through a 90W solar panel when we are not driving. The fridge is designed to keep a constant temperature inside, regardless of the ambient temperature. This means that the hotter it is outside, the harder the fridge needs to work to keep the temperature inside and the more battery power it will use. A vehicle in the African sun becomes a baking oven in no time, so keeping the inside temperature of the car as cool as possible is essential in the efficiency and economy of the fridge. If this battery runs flat, we run the risk of loosing valuable supplies. We are able to carry 14 days worth of supplies in our fridge, so as you can imagine, a fridge failure can also have a big impact on the budget and sometimes even survival.
Security is another concern for us. The vehicle will become our home on wheels and we will need to put all our equipment and gear into it. It is inevitable that we will have to, at some places, leave the vehicle for a few days and we will need to drive through unknown African cities in every country. As with every big city in the world, there is bound to be areas that are less safe and as foreigners, we won’t necessarily know where they are. South Africa, as far as I know is the only country that advertises Hi-Jack Hotspots (Perhaps so the Hi-Jackers know where to go) and warns motorists about “smash and grab” dangers. We are all very aware of the dangers we face driving around our home country, but still people get surprised on a daily basis.
As you can imagine, a trip like this comes with many other challenges as well, but fortunately, with a little Googling and awesome support from Paul Rocky, we can rest assured that we found the best solution for keeping the inside of our vehicle cool and the gear inside it safe from opportunistic criminals.
The simple solution is fitting Llumar tinted safety film. This, as advertised, is not only “smash and grab” proof, but because of the tinting it will keep out those harmful UV rays and keep the inside of the vehicle considerably cooler. This in turn means that the airconditoning will not need to work so hard, and the fridge will sit in lower ambient temperatures ensuring better fuel consumption and a tangible saving on our complete trip.
Our planned leaving date is the beginning of May 2010, but the closer we get to that, the sooner we want to leave. The reason for the date is that we need to miss the worst of the rainy season in Southern Africa to enable us to get to the places and see and do the things we want to do along the way. Although we intend to spend around 12 months completing the trip, timing the rains in East Africa and the worst of the heat in the Sahara is also proving to be quite challenging.
When kitting out a vehicle and planning for a trip like this one you soon realize that economy, reliability, energy and water become the things that dictate your route and your plans. There is not a shop around every corner and simple things like fuel, fresh meat and water is not always available.
On a 47 000km od trip through these harsh conditions, fuel economy is a major factor. Even a 1km/l difference can have a MAJOR impact on the total budget. Let’s face it though, a heavily loaded Land Cruiser with a roof rack on is not exactly the most aerodynamic or fuel efficient beast in the world. To run an air conditioner inside the car from sunrise to sunset at full blast to be comfortable is not something that really helps the economy principal either. However, in temperatures topping 45 deg C it becomes a matter of survival rather than simple comfort. So anything we can possibly do to improve our fuel economy is worth it. Driving slower is the obvious and most efficient way of saving fuel, but not running the air conditioner unless absolutely necessary is also a potential fuel saver.
The supply name of the game is “stock up when you can” and for that reason we will carry a fridge/freezer that runs of an additional battery in the vehicle. This battery gets charged through the vehicle’s alternator, but also through a 90W solar panel when we are not driving. The fridge is designed to keep a constant temperature inside, regardless of the ambient temperature. This means that the hotter it is outside, the harder the fridge needs to work to keep the temperature inside and the more battery power it will use. A vehicle in the African sun becomes a baking oven in no time, so keeping the inside temperature of the car as cool as possible is essential in the efficiency and economy of the fridge. If this battery runs flat, we run the risk of loosing valuable supplies. We are able to carry 14 days worth of supplies in our fridge, so as you can imagine, a fridge failure can also have a big impact on the budget and sometimes even survival.
Security is another concern for us. The vehicle will become our home on wheels and we will need to put all our equipment and gear into it. It is inevitable that we will have to, at some places, leave the vehicle for a few days and we will need to drive through unknown African cities in every country. As with every big city in the world, there is bound to be areas that are less safe and as foreigners, we won’t necessarily know where they are. South Africa, as far as I know is the only country that advertises Hi-Jack Hotspots (Perhaps so the Hi-Jackers know where to go) and warns motorists about “smash and grab” dangers. We are all very aware of the dangers we face driving around our home country, but still people get surprised on a daily basis.
As you can imagine, a trip like this comes with many other challenges as well, but fortunately, with a little Googling and awesome support from Paul Rocky, we can rest assured that we found the best solution for keeping the inside of our vehicle cool and the gear inside it safe from opportunistic criminals.
The simple solution is fitting Llumar tinted safety film. This, as advertised, is not only “smash and grab” proof, but because of the tinting it will keep out those harmful UV rays and keep the inside of the vehicle considerably cooler. This in turn means that the airconditoning will not need to work so hard, and the fridge will sit in lower ambient temperatures ensuring better fuel consumption and a tangible saving on our complete trip.
