Across the vast lands of Africa... travelling solo on tour, in the bus that was a truck!

Crossing Africa, the Intrepid Travel way. In memory of our driver "Rasta" who loved his bus that was a truck!

Or was it a truck that was a bus?

Two delightful solo travel months in Africa with Intrepid Travel on a truck-bus. I'll let you decide what you want to call it, here are my insights on how I got the best out of my tour.

To be honest, Africa snuck up on me! I had made my decision to pack a suitcase and travel the world for however long it took me, starting out in South America, with the aim of getting to Europe to visit family for summer. Excited as I was at the prospect of the Amazon Jungle, Machu Picchu, the Iguazu Falls and Uyuni Salt Flats, in South America, the Intrepid Travel agent very casually said to me, "what about Africa?" I was dumbstruck! How could I not have thought of this earlier? Africa! That vast land that I had so eagerly read about and desired to see for so much of my life .. the animals, the people, the diverse landscapes, the culture, the history! All that the Wilbur Smith books had excited within me. Africa! Of course ...

It turned into the best upsell ever for the agent as I booked two months travelling through Africa, four consecutive Intrepid Tours with Intrepid Travel. I started in Nairobi, Kenya and ended up in Cape Town, South Africa, two Aussie guys and I doing the full trip. What an amazing adventure, weaving across the continent like a snake, through bushland, villages, towns, mountains, vast plains, coastlines and deserts.

Small group size tours, single supplement and camping options were my choices and I allowed myself the ability to upgrade, whilst travelling, to any hotel room, should I feel the desire. And I certainly did! Some days you just don't feel like putting up your tent.

The brochures sold it to me, then Intrepid Travel in Parnell, Auckland made all the initial arrangements and helped with my flights. Very easy and everything worked out extremely well. Any upgrade while travelling was as simple as a "yes, please" to my travel guide. All the border and immigration details were taken care of for me and any help required along the way was always met with an enthusiastic response from the team who were guiding my tours, the same three guys throughout. And what great guys they were.

So, why camping? I could've done a tour where I stayed in hotels, everything catered for, a cosy bed and my own loo and shower, with all that I would need to do being to climb aboard the truck-bus each day. Why decide to stay in a tent, that I was required to erect each night, take down each morning and cook meals on roster with the rest of the group, including doing the prep work and dishes. Wasn't I going on a holiday? Why choose sleeping conditions that were going to be a bit 'rough'? And, well, let's be honest here, it's not exactly as safe as camping in New Zealand, where there isn't the threat of any wild beasts visiting my tent each night and eating me! Plus, to be fair, it's not like I am an 18-year old backpacker. Why? Simple! I wanted to hear the noises of the wilderness, fall asleep amidst the sounds of the African night and be stirred awake each morning to the songs of birds and animals that I hadn't heard before. Priceless! When you feel in your chest the vibration of a lion's deep roar, when you wake up and peek outside your tent door to giraffes wandering beside your camping ground, when you lay in your tent at night and hear the hippos and hyenas or watch the monkeys that are swinging in a hammock close by, being as silly as kids, even Mastercard can't pay for that.

Day to day living was like any camping trip. Upgrades were available throughout the tour and being one who does enjoy her comforts, I would upgrade to a hotel room when I felt like it. This offered a nice change of scene and conditions, no scurrying to the loo with a headlamp at midnight. Meals were cooked by the group under the guidance of our cook and we had nights when we would buy our own if we chose. Like any good camping adventure, everyone got involved and helped out and helped each other, if needed. I was blessed with some very fun people to travel with and we all got on well with each other. I am one who comes and goes of my own accord, while also enjoying mixing with everyone and yet, others preferred to hang as a group or with their partner .. it all works well, so stick to what you are comfortable with. We were a mix of ages in our merry band, although there are also age group tours where you can travel with similar aged travellers, should you desire to do so. There are also Intrepid tours on offer classified as 'comfort' and for a higher price you can have a different experience of the standard of facilities and options offered, but this wasn't what I was after for this trip.

Generally, I would advise that you decide what you want to get out of the trip, how you want to interact with the tour group, what comfort level are you expecting, be open to acting spontaneous, don't overplan or you can get caught up in disappointments of something not quite going to plan (even if it worked out better), how much do you want to be involved in the day to day running of the tour and what extras or day trips are you looking to do. From this you can then find a tour and price that works best for you. Intrepid Travel ticked all the boxes for me on this trip and I highly recommend them to anyone wanting a similar experience. At the end of the day, you take yourself with you so, what self are you packing in your suitcase.

As for the sights and encounters that I had on this tour, they were exceptional. Yes, I saw all of the 'Big 5', many of the 'Little 5' and all sorts of animals and birds in between. We experienced cultural and fun interactions with a wide range of people and I was truly blessed by the experience, down to smoking with one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world, the hunter-gatherer San people (Bushmen) in Botswana, bouncing up and down with the colourful and tall Maasai in Kenya and even being asked for my hand in marriage in Zimbabwe because, I think, I could dance whilst balancing a glass of rum on my head. It was an unbelievable experience.

Day safaris and cultural experiences were included, as well as the optional add-on excursions .. do as many as you can! When you are standing a stones throw away from the power of a Silverback mountain gorilla, staring into the face of a lioness as she saunters beside your vehicle, gently gliding over the Serengeti in a hot air balloon as giraffes saunter underneath and hippos gather in the river, circling in a helicopter looking down upon the might of the Victoria Falls thundering down into the chasm beneath or standing as a bull elephant fans out his ears and performs a warning charge towards your vehicle on a night safari, you won't regret the decision to be there or the dollars spent. It truly is life-changing.

In summary, thank-you to my Intrepid Travel agent for being the small voice of encouragement, for this was an experience that was truly over and above anything that I was expecting, from start to finish it offered a unique and exceptional journey through this part of the vast African Continent. Kenya to South Africa, with all that was in-between, life itself was on display, the young to the old, the newborn and the children, and to the laying down of the body in the transition back to Source. As Carmen Twillie and Lebo M so beautifully sung in the opening credits of the 1994 film 'The Lion King'...

From the day we arrive on the planet

And, blinking, step into the sun

There's more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done

There's far too much to take in here

More to find than can ever be found

But the sun rolling high

Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round

It's the circle of life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

'Til we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the circle

The circle of life ....