Links
Websites I found useful to find equipment:
http://www.roughgear.co.uk/ general camping
and outdoor equipment at very competitive prices. Delivery was also good value and
superfast.
http://www.touring-gear.com/ they have
robust equipment to stock your “kitchen” of items not always easily found
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/ brilliant for
nifty gadgets e.g. I found a masher that fold up flat. Great tupperware and a few
picnic type products that are of excellent quality to stand up to overlanding. Their
stuff is good quality and they are easy to buy from online.
Websites I found with useful information:
http://www.africa-overland.net/Africa
Useful Items
Here is a list of items that come recommended i.e. I read tons of reviews, lots
of other overland websites and listening to what other people had to say.
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Sigg Water Bottles – http://www.sigg.com/
good value for money if you order directly from the Sigg website and excellent customer
service. Note that the smaller bottles fit into cup holders. The 0.6l is a very
tight fit into most cup holders and they don't fit into the cup holders of the Disco2.
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Headlamps – we had a big debate about this. In one of our outdoor 4x4 magazines
they had reviews on tried and tested ones. Hubby wanted cheap and functional and
I wanted ease of use. He settled for the Energizer 6. It works very well and has
the red light etc. The only drawback is that you have to click through all the settings
to get to the one you want or to switch it off. I got the Petzl Tikka – more expensive
yes, but it is a bit more comfortable and not this great big lump on my forehead.
Also the new generation Petzl2 headlamps have the added function of remembering
your last setting. So when you switch it off and back on it will be on the last
light function you had – which is probably the one you use the most. I still need
to get the hang of clicking between the light functions. The Petzl button is much
easier to press than the one on the Energizer. Energizer also make kids headlamps.
They are very easy to use and my daughter loves hers. The only drawback with these
is that you can't direct the beam as you can on adult versions. So she ends up wearing
hers loosely around her neck, so the beam shines where she is walking instead of
metres ahead.
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Cooking sets i.e. pots and pans – camping sets e.g. Gosystem, etc. They are
not robust enough for doing what we are planning. Our set looks like it is years
old and we only used it for the 2 weeks we were in Morocco. The handle that comes
with it makes it very difficult to use. If you leave it attached to the pot it gets
hot and it is fussy to use when you want to hold the pot and stir etc. The pan is
the wrong shape and very difficult to cook with. I tried making pancakes and these
came out very thick and were difficult to turn because of the shape of the pan.
All in all not easy to use and the non stick version (which I thought would be easier
to clean) comes off and scratches easily.
I looked at all manner of pots and pans and after hours and weeks of research settled
for the Tefal Compact set. They are not too expensive and are compact enough to
fit into each other and the fold away handle makes it easy to pack in our drawer
system (see Layout of Landy for how we packed everything). I got the 18 and 22cm
saucepans with lids and 14cm milkpan. This came as a set for £70. I will see if
the lids last but so far they seem ok. I also bought the 20cm pan. This is the size
pan I use mostly at home to fry up almost anything especially eggs and omelettes.
I really liked the Woll Nowo Titanium saute pans. This pan is deep enough to cook
one pot dishes and is very tough. It has the bonus feature of having a removable
handle. I just couldn't justify spending £100 on a pan. What if it went walkies
or I ended up not using it? And the Tefal 22cm saucepan seems to do the job so far.
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Car seat: Britax kidfix (with isofix) for age 4 upwards. Currently this is
the best one on the market and all the automobile agencies recommend this one as
it passed all the necessary tests. It is easy to clean the seat cover but not the
part on the back and headrest. It is easy to put in the car. Unfortunately, it doesn't
have a reclining position, so I still need to work out how to keep my sleeping daughter's
head from dropping forwards...A big pillow next to her seems to help a bit. And
the car seat comes in pink!
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SatNav: all our mobile phones have the Garmin functionality. Combined with
Tracks4Africa you should find most things..
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Dry Storage Keg AKA the washing machine -
http://www.touring-gear.com/products/Square-Dry-Storage-Kegs.html We put
our laundry in the keg, add some water and soap and strap it to the roofrack. Driving
around sloshes it around and when we get to a campsite we just rinse and hang up.
It works OK, but to get rid of stains (travelling with kids) one needs to scrub
and apply a bit of elbow grease. But it works and our clothes smell fresh. I'm hoping
that there will be plenty of locals all around Africa hoping to make a quick buck
by rinsing and wringing out my washing for me. We'll see.
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Water – having debates on what is more important: water or diesel; I decided
clean water is essential, especially when travelling with a child. Paul at Footloose4x4
recommended Micropur tablets. However one tablet can purify 1 litre of water.
How many tablets does that make for a 6 month trip? So I did some research. Micropur
is made by a company called Katadyn http://www.katadyn.com/en/
. Their website is very clear, easy to use with lots of useful information. And
their customer service is BRILLIANT! I've emailed them hundreds of times
and they were patient and happy to answer all my questions. Thank you Katadyn! Katadyn's
Micropur Forte also comes in powder form. So I opted for the 100g bottle
that can purify 10000 litres of water.
So our water system works as follows:
We fill the tank in the footwell of the Landy with 50 litres of water. Add 0.5g
of Micropur Forte powder (1g treats 100 litres). Driving around will slosh it around.
It cleans the water in 30 mins – 2hours. We can then fill our jerry can (in the
back of the Landy) from this tank. The jerry can is attached to a water pump and
Nature Pure Filter. The water is filtered to 0.1 microns. So what ever shouldn't
be in the water will now definitely removed. And if we're still not sure we can
always boil it.
We are taking 2 replacement filter cartridges with us. Clean water we should have.
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Packing – we opted for wolf boxes (ammo boxes) and instead of bags for our
clothes. It fits in neatly in the back and easier to find things. To make the boxes
appear more friendly I let Vanessa decorate them with stickers.
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Insect repellents – I think this is a matter of choice and seeing what works
for you. I have several. Some I bought from Boots in the UK. I also tried the one
from MASTA which is supposed to be child friendly, but Vanessa said it was burning
her skin. It does sting a bit and it makes your eyes tear. We will probably be using
Peaceful Sleep (South African) as this is easily available and Vanessa doesn't seem
to be bothered by it. I also got the Skin So Soft spray from Avon. If that doesn't
keep the mosquitoes away at least we'll have a nice moisturiser.
-
Sunscreen – again, this is a matter of personal choice. I heard Xeroderm
(orange tube) is very good for the face and then Techniblok. What I like about Techniblok
is that you can spray it on and it isn't a greasy cream. I'm just wondering how
much you use compared to a cream you put on. I've heard that we need to take a good
supply with as local markets North of South Africa doesn't really sell sunblock
as there isn't a market for it.
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Camping chairs – when we first looked at doing our adventure we thought this
would be an easy one. We would just get the director's chairs. But then after we
started thinking of what goes where and how to pack the Landy it really bothered
us that the chairs didn't really have a space. They don't fold up flat and are quite
bulky. So started weeks of looking at various chairs. Most of the ones we found
weren't tough enough and we didn't want the fishing type chairs as sitting in them
too long can mess up your back and posture. Then by chance I happened to find some
at Decathlon. They have the umbrella compact fold
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/comfort-mesh-armchair-17406493/ I also liked
these as they had the mesh which can be cooler to sit on yet keeps the bugs from
biting you. Another chair I really like is the Campmaster Aviator. It is new and
wasn't yet on the market when we needed chairs. (We didn't really want to go camping
in Morocco without chairs and couldn't wait till we go to SA to buy them).
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Cobb BBQ (Braai) – this is a great invention and if you have the time you
can cook lovely meals. It is perfect for our size family (3). BUT (and there is
a big but), you need a lot of time like making the Sunday roast and it is a “£$%£
to clean! We opted to use ordinary charcoal as we wanted to practice and knew we
won't find the Cobb briquettes along the way, so to make a “roast” we would need
to add more coals and sometimes the food got a bit smokey. As this was the only
cooking mechanism we had for a while we found we couldn't do anything quickly (and
water never got to boiling point). It is also quite bulky. So for the slow, quiet
weekend away – this is great. For overlanding... not so great.
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Super Potjie – after looking high and low for a replacement for the Cobb
we opted for the Super Potjie. We did contemplate getting a Weber Smokey Joe, but
this is also bulky (and I think we would've found similar issues to the Cobb) and
Frank didn't like the legs it stands on and thought they were quite flimsy. We looked
at the Lava pots: lightweight and good sizes but no lids. What we really like about
the Super Potjie is its size and lid. The lid is flat so you can use it as a grill
on one side or a pan on the other. It comes in its own bag and (so far) seems easy
to clean.
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Shower – We are using a car wash that works by pumping the handle up and
down to create pressure. It then makes a fine mist of water which lasts a few minutes
and uses 5 litres so you can have a shower. We haven't used it yet but the plan
is to fill a container with water, lather up and wash and then to use the shower
to rinse off. As we need to be careful with mosquitoes it is best to be covered
up by sunset so showers/washing will need to be done in the mornings or afternoons.
-
Ortlieb Wash up Tubs – a very good friend of ours bought us one of these
as a gift. They work so well I bought another one. It is a waterproof tub that folds
up. It folds up quite flat and compact. Compared to the Sea to Summit ones or any
of the others I've seen and tried, this is the mut's nuts as it is sturdy enough
to stand up and easy to transport. Great item! (Thanks R!)
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Utensils – I found this brilliant little kitchen knife made by Kuhn.
It cuts anything and seems to stay sharp. They come in all sorts of funky colours
and the knife comes with a protective, storage sheath so it can cut you when you
are rummaging in your drawer for another item.
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Engel Fridge/Freezer – we liked the National Luna Weekender as it has the
2 compartments and one part can be used as a fridge and one a freezer...but it didn't
fit. So we went to measure all the various fridges and freezers. There were only
two makes we considered: National Luna and Engel. After seeing some of the others
on the market it confirmed this. We managed to get a secondhand Engel MT45 (used
once). We were toying with the idea of getting the TwoZone and since arriving in
South Africa and travelling around a bit we are reconsidering this – but we need
to check those dimensions again as it may not fit and is probably a bit over the
top. The idea is to use the Engel as our freezer and then to use a cooler box as
our fridge. From past experience the cooler box can keep ice bricks frozen for a
few days and also meat from the freezer keeps it cool while it defrosts in the cooler.
Photographic Equipment
Canon 450D SLR with 3 lenses and LOADS of memory cards
Entertainment
This is where we decided there will be no DVD players or anything along those lines.
You have the biggest backdrop of entertainment in the world! The only entertainment
coming along will be our MP3 collection on memory sticks. Card games and family
orientated games are fine but nothing else.
OK, so we decided when buying a new laptop that it should be able to play DVDs just
as a “get out of jail free card”. We are travelling with a three year old so we
need all the help we can get when the going gets tough.
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