A day in the life of an overlander

Most days on the road were very similar in terms of the routine, and you would be surprised just how good you get at the robotics of it...shamefully enough Josie and I even had a trick or two to make it happen quicker...

So the first thing you need to do is get your ass out of bed. Now this is probably the most challenging, given the hangovers and time of the morning we repeatedly needed to arise in. You needed to have your tent and backpacks packed before you sat down to breakfast - to enable the 'dogsbodies' (people assigned to load the truck) enough time to eat and get the truck packed. Mithungu, our local cook, would be up 30mins before the rest of us getting the food ready..

In team Rudduck, Josie would sort out the inside of the tent, into backpacks - and I would go off and get some tea ready (you know what Josie can be like!)... by then I needed to put the tent away, which of course goes into a bag one size too small for the tent - while Josie starts into the breakfast. Surprisingly (now don't scoff at this) but Josie and I were usually the 1st ones up and had to wake up a few others - which is always sadistically enjoyable.

So, by the time I had the tent away and returned to the fire - we would eat our brekky. If we were lucky we would be treated to watching Ben & Josh putting the tent away still pissed - involving some quality swearing, a good tumble or two - and a tent rolled up that looked more like it had exploded :)

Once brekky was done, we all have to wash our own plates and cups and then flap then dry (in Africa this doesn't take long). The team on "Pot Wash" - would then need to wash anything that Mithungu had cooked with - while the dogsbodies loaded the truck... The rest of us would drag ourselves onto the truck - and usually try and grab the good spots. The good spots were few and far between - basically anywhere where you could manage a kip. Josh, usually was spralled on the floor with Ben or Kate or Dan (until he got travel sick)...

The truck would take off and most people would sleep, or spend their time trying to. We usually got a pee break about 2 hours after leaving...at which time our bladders were the size of baloons - and the funny bit about this was watching the girls try to find a tree to hide behind - something very difficult in Africa (especially Namibia) - good to be a man ;)

Around 12ish - we would stop for some of those lovely Paloney sandwiches....we would all pile of the truck. "Food prep" team would need to chop the salady stuff, bread etc while the rest would get out the camping chairs and look for shade. We would then stuff these (forgettable) sandwiches in our mouths, grab a drink and a quick slash. Pot wash would then clean up and back on the truck. Usually taking no more than 30 mins - which is not bad to prepare, eat and clean for 25 people!!

We would then normally arrive at camp an hour or two later - where we learnt it was a race to find a camp site...I think I said it before, but proximity to toilets, under shade and away from the snorers was the aim...not always easy. Once the tent was up, Food Prep Team would starting preparing dinner - while everyone else went to the pool and bar (if we were lucky with the camp site)...back for dinner about 6pm. Potwash would clean up, everything would go back on the truck - and back to the bar we would all go.

Stumble home at stupid o'clock...and then repeat.

Of course the fact we had 20 odd people makes this pretty interesting - not to mention the stunning landscapes of Africa that seem to change per hour on the road. It is a great way to travel some difficult areas, meet a few people and have a beer and a laugh.