Overlanding in Africa. What keeps us coming back?
When we think of overlanding, especially in southern Africa, it isn’t just about getting from A to B, as cliché as that may be. It’s about stretching your days, crossing borders, discovering national parks, spotting wildlife, and feeling a real sense of adventure and exploration. Overlanding is self-drive travel taken to its fullest. Your vehicle, the wilderness, and you. We’ve been lucky enough to experience this extensively throughout Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya as well as other corners of the globe.
What Exactly Is Overlanding?
Overlanding is a form of adventure travel where the journey itself takes centre stage. The term usually refers to adventures that rely on a fully self-sufficient 4×4 vehicle, one that becomes much more than just transport. It’s your bed, your kitchen, essentially your home on wheels.
Often equipped with a rooftop tent, an overlanding setup allows you to camp in remote, untouched places, though it can just as easily mean taking rest at guest houses or luxury lodges along the way. Built to handle gravel, sand, and everything in between, a true overlanding vehicle is designed to take you to places that others cannot reach.
Why Africa Remains the Ultimate Overlanding Destination
Southern Africa offers some of the best landscapes, infrastructure and access to nature for real, authentic overlanding. Here’s why:
- Variety of landscapes – deserts, grasslands, pans, wetlands, mountains. The variety is unmatched. We’ve driven through vast red dunes in Namibia, forded croc and hippo infest deltas in Botswana and conquered technically challenging escarpments in Zambia. Whether your experienced overlanders taking on challenging routes or traversing national parks and the sandy roads of Namibia, the excitement of having your own vehicle to explore the landscapes it what we love so much about this type of travel.
- Well-suited roads – Many roads are gravel or sand, with plenty of tracks off the beaten path. With a capable 4×4 you can access remote campsites and national parks. Yes, there can be challenging patches but with the right planning and local knowledge of roads and conditions, these experiences are surprisingly accessible.
- Low population density and big open spaces – In Namibia especially, but also in large parts of Botswana and others, the sense of space is unmatched. You’ll go hours without seeing another vehicle and the lack of light pollution offers up incredible night skies. It gives you freedom to roam, explore, pause where you want and camp wherever allowed.
- Wildlife and natural diversity – Etosha in Namibia, Central Kalahari in Botswana, The Karoo in South Africa, the remote corners of Zimbabwe. All have diverse wildlife experiences. We never get bored of it, whether it’s an elephant crossing the road Botswana, an oryx running along side a sandy track in Namibia or vultures circling above. If you’re anything like us, spotting a wild animal from the seat of your own car, being able to stop and photograph or simply admire these creatures in their natural habitat is an experience hard to beat.
- Range of accommodation / campsites – The bet overlanding routes have accommodation to suit all. Luxurious lodges, mid-range campsites and bush camps. Overlanding doesn’t mean “roughing it”. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Having your own home form home on four wheels means that even for those camping each night, by making it your own space and personalising the set up of your cooking equipment, roof tent and cabin, you’ll find that this kind of travel can be an incredibly comfortable way to explore nature. We’ve stayed in remote campsites in Botswana where it’s just the stars, the fire, and sounds of lions roaring in the distance, and at other times in luxury lodges in Kruger with all the good food and all the modern amenities on tap. For us, both experiences are equally rewarding, because at the heart of it all is the journey of self-exploration.
How we fell in love with overlanding.
I first fell in love with Africa on my first visit in 2014 during a trip to Kenya. An incredible safari guided by local Masai warriors in the Mara and hiking Mount Kenya. But beyond the main attractions I also just loved the long drives from place to place, albeit in the back of a hot, dusty, rattling minibus, shared with my fellow travellers. Being someone who loves any kind of road trip, I couldn’t help thinking that I needed to come back one day and explore this amazing continent at the wheel myself. It took a few years before I had the chance to return to Africa, this time visiting what is to this day my favourite country in the world, Namibia. I joined a volunteering programme, helping out at conservation research sites across the country. Once again the journeys from place to place were just as exciting for me as the destinations and activities themselves, especially such vast, open landscapes, where the sandy tracks cut through spectacular, ever changing scenery. Namibia struck me as the perfect place to take your own car and explore.
On my next visit to Africa the following year I did just that with a group of friends. We rented a car in Windhoek and with the help of some friends local to the region we planned a relatively short but incredible self drive around the southern half of Namibia. Stopping at all the usual main attractions but also getting off the beaten path and exploring some lesser known spots that we had been tipped off about. Sitting at the wheel of a high riding, very capable Toyota Hilux, skipping along dusty roads with just the very occasional fellow overlander or farmer passing in the opposite direction, the emptiness, remoteness and minimal evidence of human interference with the landscape, I really felt like for one of the first times in my travels that it was a true adventure.
From then on I was hooked, no other trip could compare to the freedom of having your own vehicle, stopping for photo opportunities wherever you wished, taking the road you chose for yourself and sharing the journey with friends. Since then I have embarked on many self drive trips, not just in Africa but also in Vietnam on a Chinese motorbike I bought for $300, Sri Lanka by Tuk-Tuk, a 4×4 camper through the Canadian Rockies, a rented camper across the Australian outback and east coast, a hastily converted van along the Andes of South America and my own personal beaten up Ford pickup truck in western United States. All have been incredible experiences in their own rights, again offering the freedom to plan your own route and watch the scenery pass by from the windscreen instead of through a bus window. None of these places, however, have succeeded in knocking southern Africa off the top spot as my personal favourite region to explore. And so Africa keeps calling me back, back to revisit my favourite spots in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and more as well as exploring new places such as Uganda and Rwanda.
During our longest overlanding trip to date, me and Lorena took our own personal Toyota Land Cruiser through six countries and 20,000km across southern Africa. The circumstances of how we embarked on the trip meant that we knew we would be passing through certain areas are far from ideal times of the year in terms of the weather and wildlife spotting. Although the season were mostly kind to us there were several moments in Botswana in the height of the wet season that were for sure very testing, especially having already been living on the road for a few months by then. However, not at one point did we regret taking on the journey and although we occasionally treated ourselves to a guest house here and there, we both were aways eager to get back on the road and back into our comfortable, cosy roof tent which had become a home from home for us both.
Although we have both been very fortunate to have had these experiences to date we are always wanting to experience more overlanding adventures. It feels like we will never run get to the end of our list of places to explore as the more we do the more we hear stories of new spots, new roads and new camp sites that get added to the list.
Essential Tips for Overlanding in Africa.
If you are planning a self drive overland trip across Southern Africa, here are some practical tips from my journeys:
- Vehicle preparation – A 4×4 with good ground clearance, spare wheels, some basic tools, recovery gear, maps, first aid kit and jerry cans (for fuel and water) are essentials. If you’re camping then a roof tent, cooking equipment, dishes and utensils, a gas bottle, table and chairs and a fridge are also important.
- Plan routes, but stay flexible – If you book a Drive Africa trip then your route will be well thought out and planned based on our expert knowledge of the region. If you’re embarking on a more open ended trip then it’s important to be flexible and adapt. Some border crossings can be tricky to navigate. Road conditions, park closures and weather can change. We once had to make a 500km detour to cross into Zimbabwe at a more ‘friendly’ border post. If you plan too rigidly, you’ll be frustrated. Leave buffer time.
- Supplies & fuel – Always carry extra supplies, especially fuel and water. In remote Namibia or Botswana, fuel stations are aplenty but can be spread out, so always top up when you get the chance in these kind of areas. Tap water in some regions is safe to drink but we recommend filtered water where possible. Many towns have very reasonably priced water stations where you can fill up your jerry cans with safe drinking water and save on buying plastic bottles at the same time.
- Learn to enjoy slow travel – Overlanding isn’t about rushing. Some of my favourite memories came from days when we drove less, stopped often and of course stopped for wildlife. It’s really important to enjoy the freedom of having your own vehicle to explore at your own pace.
- Respect the land & wildlife – As always, leave no trace, follow park rules, keep a safe distance from wildlife, avoid making your own tracks through sensitive terrain, especially in fragile ecosystems. It’s also very wise to read up on how to drive and behave around certain species in national parks, particularly elephants. Take five minutes just to familiarise yourself with some tips to stay safe around big game and jut as importantly not to stress or endanger the wildlife.
- Accommodation choices – On the longer trips we recommended, that if you are mostly camping, to throw in a night here and there at a lodge or even just a budget guest house. Camping in a national park, under incredible starry skies, surrounded by the sounds of Africa is unbeatable. However, on our extended trips, no matter how comfortable roof tents can be, we have found that a room with all the space and regular comforts it offers can revitalise and refresh ready for the next stage of the adventure.
- Paperwork & logistics — Visas, vehicle permits, cross-border documentation, insurance, these are all important. Of course, with any Drive Africa trip we take care of everything on our side and offer expert advice for anything else that you will need to prepare yourelves.
Southern African Highlights & Routes to Consider
Here are some of our favourite overlanding routes and regions that showcase what Africa does best:
- Namibia: From Windhoek, Etosha, Swakopmund, Spitzkoppe, Sossusvlei, Fish River Canyon, The Kalahari. Combines dunes, coast, mountains, deserts and wildlife.
- Botswana: Okavango Delta, Khwai, Chobe, Makgadikgadi Pans, Central Kalahari. Water, land, desert, wildlife and true wilderness on offer.
- South Africa: Kruger, Garden Route, The Karoo, Western Cape, Panorama Route and so much more. A massively contrasting and diverse country that has everything you could wish for in an African adventure.
- Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls, Nyanga, Hwange, Mana Pools, Gonarezhou. A natural world wonder, stunning mountain landscapes and some of the best wildlife spotting anywhere in the world, meets warm hospitality.
- Uganda: Bwindi, Murchison Falls, Kibale, Kipedo Valley, Queen Elizabeth, Mabamba. So many bucket list moments to be ticked off. Few countries can offer the same experiences of spotting the big five plus two of our closest and most special primate species, all wrapped up in one stunning country.
Why We Keep Going Back
Whether it’s been in Africa or another corner of the world, a self drive adventure will always be our preferred choice of exploring a country of region. Between us we’ve had amazing experiences in all sorts of environments and landscapes on a wide variety of transport, but there is something about Africa that keeps us coming back. It’s hard to narrow it down to individual things. Of course the wildlife spotting is unmatched pretty much anywhere in the world and the diversity of landscapes is also hard to beat. It’s more than that however. Something about exploring Africa is just different to other places.
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit six continents (Antarctica is still on the list!) and whilst I have found places on each that I have falling in love with, none quite compare to parts of Africa. Whenever people ask me why it’s so special, it’s hard to put my finger on. Maybe it’s something deeper inside us that still connects us back the region and landscapes that our earliest ancestors would have roamed. Maybe it’s the mystique that just the word ‘Africa’ evokes, a sense of true wilderness and exploration.
In reality, all I can really say is that you have to experience it for yourselves. From our own experiences, some people see a safari in Kenya, Botswana, or elsewhere, as a once in a lifetime trip. However, for so many first time visitors to Africa that we have met on our travels or guests that we have welcomed into lodges, they become hooked on the uniqueness of Africa and seem to already be planning their next trip before the first has even ended.
