While being on the road, we inevitably meet people traversing the African continent. Everyone does it in their own way, their own time and their own itinerary. It is always nice to share our experiences with these fellow travellers and to learn from theirs, to talk about places visited by both parties, to discover what may lie ahead of us and of course to make new friends. In one instance, we even had the opportunity to travel with another couple for a few weeks.
Most people travel from North to South. This makes total sense from a vehicle point of view; vehicles and parts are much more affordable in England than in South Africa. It is also a lot easier to arrange for a "carnet de passage en douane" in England. A carnet is like a passport for your vehicle and allows for a smoother time at the border crossings. From what we heard, it is more difficult to travel through the northern part of Africa and it is best to do it at the beginning of the trip; although you might fall for more scams because of lack of experience, you are still fresh and patient to handle the more frustrating parts. We met some people who got so annoyed with the driving conditions, bad roads and people begging all the time that they shipped their vehicle from Ghana to South Africa and went back to England in the meantime.
Most people travel along the East coast of Africa, preferring to brave the potential problems of traversing Sudan rather than affronting the Congo for example. For most people this is a one time adventure, their Africa journey; for others Africa is their destination of choice and come they back every other year, exploring a different area every time.
Finally, most people are traveling as a couple, but we did meet a two male friends traveling together and a solo driver. All those people are allowing themselves 6 months to a year to cross the continent.
Where do we fit in all of that?