Well, I have just joined this site, and noticed that there did not seem to be much information available on African Trails, which is a shame… and I’ll tell you why….

?I travelled with African Trails in the Summer of 2007. Leaving from Nairobi, we travelled to Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania (and across to Zanzibar), to Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and we finished in South Africa. I believe this trip is advertised as the “Africa in Depth” one! What a fantastic experience.

That was my second trip to Africa. Our driver was Gavin Foreman (hope I am allowed to mention to names on here, apologies if I am not). Gav definitely ‘made’ this trip to be honest. Has to be one of the funniest people I have ever met. His knowledge of the countries far exceeded the knowledge of other drivers, from other tour operators (from what I myself experienced, and was told from other passengers from other companies). When I say this, I do not mean that he was a boring tour guide, constantly feeding us information we didnt want to hear. He is very passionate about Africa, and his interests and to be honest, this rubbed off on the whole group, and everyone had an amazing time.

The trucks are designed particularly well in comparison, I feel. The seats are comfortable, with underneath storage for luggage, and also the floor lifts up for storage also. The sides of the truck can be rolled up providing complete ventilation - which is needed!!!! The top rolls back also providing an all-round view.

Compared to other trucks and passengers we met along the way, I very much enjoyed the whole set up that African Trails have. Since there is only one crew member, everyone has to pull together and cook the food, clean etc, and to be honest although a lot of people may be put off an overlanding trip - possibly feeling that you may be restricted in what you can do - this is not the case. Due to not having to pay for everything in advance, you can choose what you want to do when you arrive at your destination. Although I was unsure of the mounting cost of this at first, it is a much better idea and provides passengers with?flexibility and independance! This is exactly what I was looking for from an overlanding trip!

Africa is Africa. Things do not run smoothly, and I knew this, although there were others on the trip who were not prepared for the camping every night, or for the unexpected twist of events that often occurred if there was a particularly bad storm, if we were held up at immigration etc etc. To me, it all added to the fun!

The only quibble I had about African Trails was that on their website they mention that you can take the Local Payment in Pounds… well we are from Scotland, and took the LP in ?’s and had a huge hassle on the first day when Gav collected all the payments, only to tell us he would need it in British Pounds. Scottish Pounds ARE British Pounds and have the exact same value…. but we had to spend the rest of the morning trying to convert said Scottish Pounds, and lost a couple of hundred in the process. Was very angry about this!!! Been meaning to email African Trails since we returned, but had actually forgot all about it until I was typing this review. So when they say you can take Pounds, DO NOT take Scottish - ridiculous really!

?I think its fantastic though that that was the only negative thing I can find to say about the running of the trip! I would definitely go with African Trails again, but would make sure I would?be on Gavin’s truck!!

?Had a blast! Definitely reccommend African Trails?to those who arent lazy and are willing to pitch in and set up their own tents,?prepare and cook meals as a team, and?have the?flexibility to chose what trips they want to do whilst in country!

Hope thats helped some people.

?Ashley Rogers
(anyone has any other questions, please feel?free to email ashleysfrogers [ @ ] googlemail.com)?