Equator, Kenya

The link between Cape Town and South Africa’s world-famous Garden Route is the Overberg (“across the mountain”) region. Where rolling hills give way to a dramatic coastline, you’ll find our home – Hermanus, a seaside village perched atop the cliffs overlooking Walker Bay.

Hermanus is the winter playground for Southern Right whales and offers probably the best land-based whale-watching in the world. The lookouts are dramatic crags dotted along the cliff path nature reserve, which harbours a wealth of endemic flora. The local vineyards of the Hemel-en-Aarde valley are separated from the ocean by a mountain range only and produce widely acclaimed cooler-climate wines.

With Jimmy the camp beagle at Flamingo Fishing Lodge, Angola

It is from this paradise that we have been setting out to explore the African continent, its unspoilt landscapes, forested valleys, deep ravines and crashing waterfalls. Over the years we have driven two successive Toyota Land Cruiser Prados, followed by a Land Cruiser 200 series, equipped with an Eezi-Awn rooftop tent.

After crossing the Equator in 2011, we made our way home thinking that we should not have turned back. Even though we adopted a different southbound route, we nevertheless felt that it would have been better to simply continue northward, until we reached the shores of the Mediterranean. What an adventure to keep going until the continent runs out!

Spending weeks on dirt roads

We departed in September 2013 and ten weeks later we were in Haifa, Israel. The Prado never disappointed, it was a comfortable ride. With 180 litre fuel tank and a dual battery system we were well equipped for the overland trip, even though we kept our gear to the bare essentials.

Rothschild’s giraffe at Nairobi Giraffe Centre

Since then we have been on the safari trail annually. Our backgrounds in the creative and agronomic fields respectively make for a fine blend – with curiosity about the world and a sense of humour, we cannot get enough of Africa’s wild roads.