God Bless the Rains

crazy. i dated a S African for a while when i was living up north. same story. i'll be in my jack shack.

 

high five!


After we wash hands obv

 

I'd find an old truck there and a shop, then cue the music...

 

Fuck yeah. And then shred Africa north to south reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew

 

What is the normal temperature and humidity where you'll be?

 

OP have you been to this country yet? If not expect culture shock. Might be worth a visit before shipping a vehicle there. I travelled in West Africa with my gal and she found it pretty difficult to adjust. Using the village open air squatting toilet with 30 village children surrounding you about 2 feet away while they touch your hair and skin while going #2 was, well, interesting for her. Sanitation is not to western standards. Most trees near any towns are completely covered in wind-blown plastic bags and trash. The smells are Inescapable..... the 3rd visit for me, this time Tunisia, was the last. No regrets was always an adventure there, but when that plane took off and was over the med it was a relief.

 

I'm with this guy. The whole thing sounds super scary. Better to just stay home and pull the shades.

 

yeah....you do that, OP is living the dream

 

Looks like a great adventure. I suggest you watch the Top Gear Africa special. Will give you some additional insight...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ivt3e

 

If I was in OPs shoes I'd be reading the shit out of people's stories of overlanding Africa. Not having been there I can't say shit for what to bring but I have seen numerous times that rolling around in a decked out high dollar rig isn't always the best choice. That and I've seen numerous accounts of needing a good amount of bribe money for cops who like to crookedly bullshit stop you for "required" bribe money.

More power to you OP, and wish you the best luck/safety on your travels.

 

sar·casm
ˈsärˌkazəm/
noun

1. the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.
   "his voice, hardened by sarcasm, could not hide his resentment"
   synonyms: derision, mockery, ridicule, scorn, sneering, scoffing;

 

It was 20 years ago but when I was there the bandit bribes were paid this way. Two guys with ak47s would walk out of the bush and block the road. As you approached (this was a split lane road and we were traveling about 50mph) you would crumple up a bill and throw it out the window as you passed. One guy would quickly uncrumple the bill and inspect it while the other kept the driver/vehicle in his rifle sights. I imagine that if the bill was, say fake or not a high enough denomination things would go sideways fast. Or they were bluffing, not willing to take a chance there. Survived 3 encounters like this.

 

eye wernt 2 screwl....

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a Tacoma in Africa thread, but everyone here is right. You go rolling around there in that thing and you make yourself the worlds biggest target. Even if there are tons of new vehicles there, yours will still stick out like a sore thumb. Buy something used that is used locally when you get there.

Sorry if this was brought up already, why are you going? Work? The hell of it?

 

Not to late to cut a big circle out of the roof then..

 

That's my biggest fear about going there, my friends want to go in 3 years and pay to have my Tacoma shipped there. By then it will have LT suspension, 37s and all that other bs. Hopefully we can find safe countries to pass through..

 

I dont think many in this thread that are commenting about Africa have ever been to Africa...

I am more concerned about being a white westerner in Africa than any type of vehicle I would have. LOTS of oil money in various parts of Africa so there are lots of newer vehicles here. My only concern would be maintenance items and something like a locally sourced Hilux would be a better option since I think a lot of the Gen 3 Tacoma stuff from the USA is region specific and could suck to get parts for. I would guess to ship your truck over to Africa would cost between 3 and 5 thousand USD. That would go a long way to buying something like a Hilux. But as far as fitting in over here, meh, whatever. Just let it get dirty like every other vehicle here.

I have felt no more unsafe here than I have in rural Mexico at times. Although there are countries in Africa where if you are a white westerner you dont go unless you are in an armored car with a few guys with machine guns.

P.S. Currently posting this from Entebbe, Uganda...

 

Is Uganda safe for the most part?

 

I believe one of the safer countries. I believe its one of the only predominantly Christian countries in Africa which helps. But its still Africa. I think lots of tourism here due to Lake Victoria.

 

Where in Africa are you going and why???

I did some work in Ghana West Africa back in '98. My wife always asks why don't you go back? NFW. I was there doing work on a power plant for General Electric co. N. Africa division. I got off the plane and while everyone else waited for customs to process them a special wicket opened just for me and then closed immediately after. When we drove from one village to the next everyone was stopped at the police checkpoints yet we drove right through. When I asked why weren't we stopped I was told "no one fucks with GECAD". This tended to be the theme. Everywhere we went as long as they knew we were with GECAD no one so much as made eye contact or a fuss of any kind. I asked my driver to show me his drivers licence. He laughed we don't carry one. I explained in North America we had to carry it when driving and he said they are too. He explained it is easier to bribe your way out of trouble than to have them find an issue with your papers.

One night after the bar one of the engineers didn't pay his "girlfriend" in the morning. They were under house arrest until someone paid the cops what was owed. A lot of things are greased with money regardless if you are law abiding or not. I would only go back if I was working there for a large company like GECAD. Too much corruption in the non corrupt nations let alone the lawless ones.

One thing to note is NO ONE uses headlights. They are all afraid the alternator will die and the so will the car. So they drive in pitch blackness then when you are almost on top of the each other they hit the lights "so people will see us" blinding each other as you pass. Many roads have washouts so everyone races to the washout first then jumps into oncoming traffic and jumps back hoping to make it back into your lane before the head on collision. I saw a head on collision EVERY SINGLE DAY I was there for 2 weeks. Brakes are what your vehicle comes with new. Once they wear out you just downshift and coast to a stop. If it isn't bolted down it will get stolen. The job had a BRAND NEW all-terrain crane. Six months old it had a bearing go under warrantee. They pulled the axle to be shipped to Germany for repair. It was stolen and then the rest of the crane was slowly parted so that when the new parts arrived they got stolen as well as they waited for the other stolen parts to arrive.

I would love to go back but I like waking up each morning.