London to Capetown

Approximately two months prior to our departure we will hold a Pre-Departure meeting in the UK.

We advise you to attend this meeting as this is where we go through everything concerning your expedition in detail, what you can expect from your expedition and what is expected of you. You can ask any questions you have and will get a chance to meet the other expedition members. For the benefit of the whole group we simply cannot have someone joining an expedition without being fully prepared for it or understanding what it entails.

We will take final payment, collect passports, sort out insurance, go through the type of gear you will require in more detail and fill in a few forms etc.

And afterwards, have a few drinks and get to know one another.

You will be given the details for your Pre-Departure meeting closer to the time of departure.

Below is a comprehensive list of things to take into consideration before joining any of our expeditions.

• These vary in price according to your nationality and they are ultimately your personal responsibility to obtain. Visas are often obtained en-route but a few are more easily acquired in U.K. When possible, we will try and collect everyone's passports about 8 weeks prior to departure (usually at the pre-departure meeting) and apply for whatever visas we can, using a visa agent in London, before leaving. All other visas will be obtained en-route. We will explain what visas need to be obtained prior to your pre-departure meeting, nearer the time of departure.
• Budget around £500 in total for visas throughout the entire expedition.

• Must be obtained before joining the expedition. As insurance is a personal issue we recommend you choose a policy carefully and make sure it suits your requirements. Read the small print! Make sure it covers you for all the countries we will be visiting and make sure it covers repatriation expenses.

• Must be obtained. Speak to your Doctor and explain the nature of our expeditions and the countries we will be visiting. Your Doctor will have a list of necessary vaccinations for the countries to be visited.
• A vaccination certificate listing all necessary vaccinations must be obtained or you may be refused entry to certain countries.
• A lot of the vaccinations required must be done over a period of 2-3 months, so make sure you don’t leave it too late to start organising.

• Must be valid for at least one year from the expedition start date and must have at least 20 free pages or you may be forced to obtain a new one en-route, which Is often difficult, time consuming and expensive.
• We will require a scanned copy of the passport you will be using during your trip to be e-mailed to the UK office as soon as you have confirmed that you will be joining the expedition.
• PASSPORT PHOTOS are essential on the London to Capetown expedition - we recommend you bring along 20 of them as they are not always easy to obtain en-route. Ladies, for some visas can you please obtain at least 4 photos with your hair and neck covered by a black scarf and only your face showing.

• Money is always a major concern while travelling so we recommend you bring it along in three forms - cash, travellers cheques and credit cards.
• Cash is always the easiest but only take along what you can reasonably afford to lose. We recommend you take one third of your money along in cash and divide it into Euros and U.S. Dollars.
• Travellers cheques can be difficult to exchange and you may end up paying a commission to exchange them but they are by far the safest option. We recommend you take along one third of your money in TC's but make sure you get them from an internationally recognised institution and find out where they have offices and if they charge commission.
• Credit cards are becoming more acceptable worldwide with ATM's popping up in the strangest of places so definately bring at least one along with one third of your money on it and use it when you can. If you going to be relying on credit cards a lot, it’s a good idea to have someone trusted at home who has ‘power of attorney’ so they can sort out any problems for you if you experience them along the way I.E sending you out a lost or stolen card, sorting out over the phone any ‘banking problems’, saving you the expensive phone call etc.
• Money transfers are of course another option but we have not really ever had cause to use the services of Western Union or the likes but we do know they operate in most big cities and charge a commission for their service.

• One of the most important aspects to consider and the hardest to give an estimation of, on any overland trip, is how much spending money to budget for. It is even more difficult on most of our expeditions given the fact that they are exploratory. Your budget really depends on a huge array of things, for example: Are you happy to eat from the local, side of the road street vendor’s, or would you prefer to eat out in midrange/expensive restaurants? Do you drink alcohol? If so, how much on average? Are you always buying drinks and snacks? Are you the type of person who buys a lot of curios/souvenirs along the way? Are you planning on doing any adventurous type activities? ie. diving, bungee jumping, white water rafting etc.
• If you’re happy to eat or drink the local stuff then you can look at about half price for everything (compared to the UK), if you want to buy western brands (chocolate, drinks etc), when you can find them, then your looking at around the same price as in the UK.
• The outdoor activities are roughly the same price anywhere in the world, for example, it will cost around £30 to go white water rafting, and about the same for 2 scuba dives. You can buy a cheap carving for around £3 or a Persian carpet for £2000!
• As this is such a long trip, you really just have to work out what you can afford to spend, make a rough budget, and stick to it! We recommend an average of £10 per day, or £70 - £100 a week to live comfortably (not including visas, any flights and optional extras). You could get away with spending a lot less than this, but equally, you could manage to spend a lot more! If you under-spend one month, you know you have more to spend the following month. At the end of the day, if you over-budget and have not spent as much as you thought on the whole trip, well that’s not such a bad thing!

• We cannot list all the optional extras along the way due to the fact that our expeditions cover such a vast distance over a long period of time and prices and activities are always changing. Of course, on top of this, everyone has different interests, so you will have to come up with a maximum figure you are comfortable spending, and just stick to your budget.
• What we would recommend however, over and above your weekly budget, is that you put aside an amount for unforeseen optional extras. This amount depends entirely on your budget, what you want to do and what you want to see. We reckon approx £1000 up to a maximum of what you are willing/able to spend.

(If you are still not sure what gear to take after reading through following, wait until the Pre-Departure meeting where we can discuss it in more detail. You will still have plenty off time left to obtain everything you require).

• Spend some time looking for comfortable sleeping equipment - you will be using it every day.
• Sleeping Bag - Due to the parts of the trip we will be in cold weather and high altitude, a good 3-4 season sleeping bag will be required. You can always buy a cheap blanket on route if need be, to use in addition to your sleeping bag through the cold areas and give it away to the locals when it gets hot.
• Sleeping bag liner - for those hot nights a silk liner is ideal and it’s also very effective when cold.
• Pillow - an essential item not only for use at night but also handy for naps on the truck. Forget about the blow-up ones and get yourself a real one. – just make sure it’s half the size or a proper therm-a-rest travel pillow.
• Sleeping Mat - There are a wide range of sleeping mats available, ranging from the very cheap and basic foam mattress to the top of the range 4cm thick therma-rests. This is obviously up to you but we would definitely recommend investing a bit of time and money in a good quality one. You will be sleeping on it for a long time and the terrain will not always be smooth and flat! If you do decide to get a therm-a-rest type one, remember to bring a puncture repair kit for it. Due to the luggage limit, we will not allow any padded, non travelling type mattresses.
• Tent - The reason why we have not included tents as part of the trip is because on all long trips we have done, everybody said that they wish they had brought their own. This is because it doesn’t force you to share with someone if you travelling on your own, giving you a bit of privacy when you need it. Also, you get to choose what you’ll be putting up and pulling down for the best part of the expedition! If your planning on doing some big treks along the way, then you definitely need something of good quality and light-weight. You should talk to the staff at Camping and Trekking stores, explaining what your using one for and they can give you the best advice. If your not sure about the whole ‘trekking’ thing, then I would recommend something good quality and light-weight, but maybe something a little roomier, with a built in mosquito net, with a detachable fly for the top. These are good for when it‘s too hot for the fly and you get to sleep under the stars, while still protected and closed in.
• Mosquito Net: if you bring a mozzy net look at the free standing ones as the others always need something to hang from and remember to bring something to use for a ground sheet as well.

• Your luggage will be limited to only one 100 litre backpack/sportsbag and one day bag (in order for your day bag to be stowed under your seat you are best advised to have one with the dimensions of 20cm x 30cm x 40cm).
• We are obviously restricted by the amount of luggage stowage space so we can’t accommodate people bringing more than one back pack and you will most likely buy a lot along the way as well.
  Another reason for not bringing a lot of extra gear is because we cannot carry anyone's luggage across borders if they are not present to be responsible for it, so if you want to go off and explore on your own for a bit, the last thing you want is to have more gear than you can comfortably carry.
• If you bring more than one 100 litre backpack/sportsbag and one day bag (with the dimensions of 20cm x 30cm x 40cm) you will be asked to leave it behind before we depart.
• Do not bring more than you can comfortably carry and lift easily. Everybody always brings far more than the need (or even use), try to be very hard on yourself while packing. You can always pick up anything you need along the way.
• If you are looking at purchasing a new backpack, bear in mind that some backpacks have a zip-off day bag which is convenient when trekking etc. If you don't want to travel with a backpack you can of course just bring along 100 litre sports/equipment bag and some form of day-bag but you may find it impractical when you have to transport it from the truck to a hotel for example.
• Due to the overall size when stacking, wheelie bags/suitcases will not be permitted.
• Please note. When packed up and ready to go your backpack should have your sleeping bag inside of it. We have a separate locker for your tents and roll mats.

• Although we will have a comprehensive First Aid Kit on the truck for emergencies, you need to bring your own basic one too.
• Basic First Aid Kit - which includes plasters, second skin (for blisters if you planning on trekking), antibiotics, headache tablets, antiseptic cream, bandages and iodine.
• Prescriptions - for any glasses or contact lenses, if required
• Shampoo – you will be able to re-stock along the way easily
• Soap container
• Hair brush
• Tooth brush / Tooth paste
• Suntan Lotion – this can be picked up easily along the way
• Insect repellent with DEET - you’ll be able to pick up local brands along the way.
• Contraception pill / Condoms enough for the whole trip
• Tampons - bring as many as you can! You will really struggle to find them in some places and the are usually very expensive when you do find them
• Razors – You can replenish easily along the way
• Nail clippers
• Foot pumice
• Contact lens solution - you can replenish along the way in most places
• Wet Wipes – You can find them easily along the way
• Toilet paper - at least one to start with
• Sewing kit - a small compact kit is very handy
• Moisturisers – You can find most well know brands along the way

Ladies: There are a lot of occasions to dress up and go out along the way, so if make up and a ‘stepping out’ dress is your thing, then feel free to bring that type of thing (it’s not all roughing it)!.

• 1x Good quality water-proof jacket
• 1x Wet weather trousers - not ‘essential’, depends what your planning on doing, i.e. trekking
• 1x Fleece Jacket – a good quality one
• 1x Fleece top – a good quality one
• 1x Cold weather hat and gloves – good quality. And another pair of gloves for digging – gardening gloves are good.
• Sunhat / Sunglasses
• T-Shirts/Vests – 4 of each
• Shorts - at least 2 hard wearing pairs
• Underwear - we will leave that for you to decide
• Socks – at least 3 pairs (and 2 pair of trekking socks if you normally wear them while trekking).
• Thermal underwear – top and bottom proper good quality thermals are essential
• Trousers - 2 hard wearing pairs of whatever you are most comfortable travelling in
• Bathers/Bikini
• Trekking boots – if you planning on doing some serious trekking otherwise a good quality trekking shoe/trainer will do (boots take up a lot of room, but if you are taking some, a worn in pair are best)
• Walking sandals - good quality hard wearing ones – these can be replaced in most places so don’t feel you have to buy new ones for the trip.
• Flipflops/Jandels - for the shower as well as the beach
• Remember, you will probably buy the local garb along the way, a Chador in Iran (for the ladies), a Salwar Kameez in Pakistan and all cheap clothes available along the way. So don’t get too worried about what you take, you can pick stuff up along the way, just not always the type of stuff you can get at home
• Note: Good quality branded (North face, Columbia etc.) outdoor jackets, fleece, boots etc. are extremely cheap in Nepal and Tibet.

Remember - although it may be cold at times, it will mostly be hot the whole way.

• Most of your washing can be done cheaply at hotels and laundries on route, or you can do it yourself at campsites. Most people tend to wash their smalls in the shower and put their big stuff in to the laundry.
• Any clothes that you wear regularly will fade and wear out very fast, so we would recommend bringing your ‘old comfy favourites’ as opposed to buying a whole new wardrobe.
• If you intend to hand wash, bring some washing soap (the powder kind) in a small plastic bottle (so it doesn’t spill in your bag)
• ‘Travel Wash‘ although good doesn’t last long.