Richard Stupart

@Dave – I loved Dark Star Safari. I wish Theroux had actually gone through Sudan-Ethiopia overland instead of flying, as I would have loved to hear the account of it, but I have his story of the truck drive from the Kenya/Ethiopia border to Nairobi indelibly stuck in my mind. I was kind of hoping it would be easier, but am relishing the challenge a little at the same time. :)

Hi Vinojini

In all honesty, I suspect you would be able to get as far as Ethiopia with no more hassle than you might experience trying to travel through Southeast Asia – though possibly with a few more questions about where your husband is than you might get in, say, Thailand. For the most part, however, the route from Cape Town to Nairobi is entirely doable on a mix of trains and buses (varying from proper, Greyhound-style ones to smaller, schoolbus things).

From Isiolo, north of Nairobi, to the border with Ethiopia at Moyale, you would have to just grin and bear sitting on the roof of a truck for a day and a half, if you are seriously committed to traveling the entire route overland. The scenery is absolutely amazing and it feels like falling off the face of the world you likely knew previously, but prepare to be dirty and tired. Really dirty and tired.

Ethiopia is perfectly navigable on buses, and I doubt you would have too many problems with people – spousal questions aside.

Sudan would be problematic to traverse overland as a single woman (I am assuming this – possibly incorrectly). Although terribly friendly (to me), the streets are overwhelmingly male and the culture is quite patriarchal. So I am not sure how traveling alone as a woman would be received (quite awkwardly, I suspect). That said, however, I met a lone female traveler in Sudan who had done the entire Cape to Cairo route over 9 months all by herself. She had made contact with a Sudanese family either via some contacts she made traveling earlier or via the couchsurfing network and they effectively helped her get from Khartoum to Wadi Halfa, from which the ferry north to Egypt departs. So even this leg of the journey *is* possible. It would just require more advance planning than other routes. Couchsurfing and local contacts aside, it may even be possible to link up with a 4×4 overlander or group of other backpackers in Ethiopia and traverse Sudan in their company.

Egypt can be quite misogynistic in places – mostly because of impressions of foreign women based on movies and TV – but there are an overwhelming number of foreign tourists moving through the cities and it would be easy to move with those crowds and be left alone if you wanted.

So, without understating that you would need more planning in Sudan than your average solo male traveler, it would actually be an easier than you realise. And absolutely, unequivocally worth your time and effort.

Hi Reza

Oh wow. I have just started looking through your blog now. That looks like it was an unbelievable journey! I can’t wait to find the time to sit down and read it through in detail (and in order).

How do you feel now that it is over? Besides being tired and sunburned, it must be absolutely fulfilling.