Wolle's idea of traveling from Hamburg to South Africa by vehicle is being revived. To realize this idea we need a car, which fits this purpose. A first research quickly makes it clear to us that this will be a planning-intensive and expensive undertaking, associated with many open questions and topics that we have no idea about. A counter-research into what it costs us to travel across borders in rental vehicles for months quickly shows that this would be even more expensive, albeit “more convenient”. However, we would be significantly restricted territorially.

So let’s start researching your own car with camping equipment. What needs to be taken into account and why we ultimately decided on the Toyota Hilux with automatic transmission and camping cabin from Fiftyten and what technical aspects had to be taken into account can be found under the respective menu items.

The travel route can currently only lead over the African west coast and through more than a dozen countries – Wolle had already planned this route in 2019. In the east, Ethiopia makes transit virtually impossible with ridiculous fees. And unfortunately, unrest broke out in Sudan in April 2023 with consequences that cannot yet be foreseen.

Many travelers complete the route from Morocco to South Africa in just a few months. In the past, on our trips, we always had the feeling of not having enough time on site and since we will only do this trip once, we would like to build in a time buffer. We also think it makes sense to plan one or two breaks in order to digest what we have experienced, keep in touch with friends and not completely lose contact to our home in Hamburg.

So we dedicate an entire Sunday to initial planning, rummage through travel guides and forums for the best travel times, rainy times, heat periods and – very importantly – take into account where, according to Wolle's previous research, there are options for leaving a car safely. And while we're at it, it would also be nice to travel to Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania in southern Africa. At the end of the day we have a first planning option until the end of 2026! And we are a little surprised ourselves. However, we are aware that this is only a planning basis and everything can change. The first uncertainty: Will our car be ready in time so that we can do some “test traveling” in Europe and still get going at the end of September? It's exciting and our mood fluctuates between “it'll work out” and “it's completely unrealistic”.