slight change of plans

We are thinking of taking Moracco out. That saves us about 10 days. Instead we are considering going to Jordan by car or Saidia Arabia by ferry. A lot more research has to be done about either or both before any final decisions.

Visas and other stuff

We have done some research on visas for the trip. 20 countries require the visas to be payed for before we get to their borders.

The list:
Gambia
Lybia
Sudan
Cameroon
Ghana
Guinea
Ginea-Bissau
Mouritania
Niger
Nigeria
Democratic Republic of Congo
Gabon
Burrundi
Djibouti
Eritria
Ethiopia
Somaliland
Tanzania
Angola
Mozambique

I don't think most of these are going to be a problem. Somaliland is the only one that has been causing problems so far. I can't even find the visa application anywhere. If anyone has any advise or knowledge on this please let us know.

We are going to start getting the visas in Jan of 2009 just in case we run into some problems along the way. All the other countries on the itenerary either do not require a visa or it is better to get it in transport.


In other news we my have found a private donor to give us half the money to buy Flarence, but I went to see Flarence today and she was not on the side of the road. She may have been sold but no worries we will fall in love again. We plan on purchasing a vehicle in Jan 2009 as well. Pray to whatever you believe in that Flarence will still be there waiting for us to love her and drive her around 42 countries.

we found the most awesome things in South Africa

So as you know three of us are living in West Africa, and there are Mcdonalds here. We were all talking about how much we wanted to go and get french fries and chicken nuggets. So we looked up where the closest one in Africa is. There are three on the whole continent and we have added going to all three of them on our trip. There is one in Cairo, Egypt and 2 in South Africa. We are going to all of them. We are sooooooo excited. It is is simple pleasures in life.

We also looked up shark diving which we do plan to do in South Africa as well. It is $200 to go diving in a cage with Great White Sharks after they provide all the free beer we want on the boat. It may sound a little unsafe, but I think we'll be fine. May be Jaws would like a beer too. Just kidding to any environmental freaks out there.

So anyway some of the details of the trip are already coming into place and we are so excited. As we find out and look up more stuff we will let you know.

Flaurence

We may have found the car of our dreams. She is a green mini van. We think she is an early 80's model. She has definatly already got some stories and a history of her own. She is for sail for the equivalent of 2000 dollars. As soon as we saw her on the side of the road, when we were on our way to pizza, we all knew she was the one. It was practically love at first site.
O.K. so the only problem is that we don't actually have the money to buy her at the moment, but we are working on that.

When we get her or another equally as beautiful specimen of a vehicle we plan to:
leopard skin seat covers (or maybe just tacky fabric stapled to the seats)
garland around the window
a collection of stickers of wild, crazy, and tacky things
curtains that both slide and tie up
She will be the most decked out green mini van that has ever driven to 42 African countries. We are just praying that she can actually make it to 42 countries without dieing. After all she is as old as we are. But don't worry we plan to take her to a doctor for a checkup before any final decisions.

Estimated costs per person

I have taken these prices from books, online sources, and word of mouth so they are subject to change. Also with the way gas prices are rising by 2010 it could be doubled.
With gas I took the estimated total price and divided by four for this entry.

Gas $850
Accomidation $1000
Visas $1500

The car $500

food and entertainment depends on what we dicide to do both individually and as a group. There are a few things that are set in the schedule in one way or another. we are bringing a propane tank and cooking utensils to cook most of our own food to save money.

I think between $1000-$2000 will be sufficient.

Getting started

We are planning a massive but totally awesome trip around Africa. By we I mean four of the most amazing, effecient, resourceful, inteligent, and beautiful women to ever walk the planet. We are Jenni, Katie, Lauren, and Shayla. I am leaving out surnames for privacy purposes (I hope you understand).
The trip mentioned above will begin in April 2010. The tentative starting is April 8. The trip will last 120 days and we will visit at least 42 African countries.
List of Countries:
Gambia
Senegal
Morracco
Mauritania
Mali
Niger
Algeria
Tunisia
Lybia
Egypt
Sudan
Eritrea
Sudan
Djibouti
Somaliland
Ethiopia
Kenya
Uganda
Rwanda
Burundi
Tanzania
Mozambique
Malawi
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Botswana
South Africa
Swaziland
Lesotho
Namibia
Angola
D.R.C.
Congo
Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Cameroon
Nigeria
Benin
Togo
Ghana
Burkina Faso
Cote D'Ivoire
Guinea
Guinea Bissau

Currently three of us, Katie, Shayla, and Jenni, are living and working in West Africa. We have been here for 5 months working in the health field in different villages around the country. We will be living here until April 2010. Lauren lives in the states and is in graduate school at Nova for speech pathology.

We plan on buying a vehicle, hopefully a station wagon or small mini van, and driving the entire way. We are basically going to drive the entire African continent. We are still hoping to recrute a fifth person to come with us, If anyone is interested and highly committed you can contact us on here.

The purpose of the blog is to allow people to see our plans and eventually come with us, on the computer through pictures and stories, on our trip. We also hope to raise some money to help pay for the vehicle and other group costs such as gas and oil. This trip will be the trip of a life time.