2017 Jan 26
Nota: publicado
en Inglés: vamos a editar e incluir versión en español pronto.
Route Plan:
Since the last post we have been finalising and
optimising our “base case” route plan, based on sensible travel distances and
times we would like to spend in each place. The early part of the trip is driven
partly by visa limitations and partly by the need to make early reservations
for some of the places which are booked up early. No doubt we will need to
adjust the base case as the trip progresses, and we have left a lot to be planned
from the point we leave Botswana for Zambia, however prior to this we now have
a detailed plan, to which we need to stick to a great extent.
Visas:
The visas which present the greatest challenge
are those for South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. The first must be obtained
only from the Consulate in Caracas, the second we have to obtain in London, and
the third can be obtained only from Washington, D.C. Juggling travel to allow
us to fulfil existing commitments, while being able to handle the logistics of
couriers and visa issue has been an interesting challenge, however we now have
both the South African and Botswana visa applications in process, and will be
chasing the visa for Namibia immediately before leaving for Nairobi at the end
of February.
Vehicle:
We have now officially acquired the Land
Cruiser, and have the carnet application in process. We really appreciate the extensive
help of Luke in Nairobi in completing a full vehicle inspection and doing some
additional maintenance to get the vehicle ready. We’ll pick it up in Nairobi
and then focus on some final work to prepare it for the trip: setting it up for
sleeping, organising kit stowage, getting and extra spare tyre, etc. We’ll
travel to Nairobi with a “minimalist” approach to baggage, focussing on the
essential and not the “nice to have” and will also buy a fair number of ítems in
Nairobi, rather than hauling them from Colombia, when no doubt they’re readily
obtainable in Kenya.
Guides, maps:
We have acquired and loaded guide books, field
guides, and a variety of other reference material in the iPad, and will be
loading e-maps as well, just before leaving. We have replaced our trusty
Colorado 300 GPS with a new GPSMAP 64st, although loading the Africa map has
proved a challenge yet to be resolved.
Photography:
We finally decided to get a 400mm lens for the
cameras; we have been working with a range of lenses for a while, including a
300m and a 150-500mm, however decided that the 400mm would replace both of
these, for considerably less weight.
We also replaced our tired Nikon compact,
which we always carry when out and about so that we can take photos when
without the DSLRs, with a Canon SX620 HS.
Medical kit:
We have now completed/updated the medical kit,
having only to make a new case for everything.
Other kit:
On two recent trips to Canada and the USA we
took advantage of MEC and REI to buy some items which we need for camping, such
as collapsible camp chairs, a double hammock, and various other bits and
pieces.
So, things are falling into place. We have
taken advantage of the experience of our South America trip to refine our
equipment list, leaving out stuff which we took with us then, and did not need,
and adding items which we had not taken and found were essential.
We’ll post again when we have completed
preparations, have the visas we need, and are about to set off.
Photos
may be used for non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com
