My G Adventures Overland Truck group woke early (5:30am) on day 3. We had 45 minutes to go to the bathroom, wash up, dress, pack and take our tents down, before breakfast. So being organized is really important. We would typically be on the road by 7am. Many days we would make a sandwich at breakfast to take on the truck if we had a long driving day.

We drove 9 hours to the Namib desert. Every two hours we would stop for a bathroom break and sometimes, if we were in a town, we could pick up water, snacks and go the ATM. Bathroom breaks were usually on the side of the road…girls to the left, boys to the right…behind bushes, trees, tall grass, etc.

Later in the afternoon, before arriving to the desert, we stopped at Sescriem Canyon.

We camped here…

After setting up my tent and retrieving my suitcase, I would set out what I wanted to wear the next day, put my headlamp on, spray myself with Peaceful Sleep (mosquito repellant that works great and is half as expensive as deet), and place my medications, toiletries, etc. next to my sleeping bag.  We were split into groups for chores–cooking/washing dishes/stock coolbox/packing/clean-up campsite.  If I was on the cooking team, usually around 5:30pm it was time to help by chopping things up. The washing team duty was my least favorite job.

We would help each other remember to take our Malaria medication. Most people were taking Malarone.  The only common side effect that most people are having is odd dreams. Some of my dreams were that a man approached me and another girl on the trip and he was a bad man, so I bit his arm and tore some flesh off.  Another dream had me throwing spaghetti at my husband.  In one of my dreams, I had a baby and it could talk and told me I needed to take him to the hospital because he was going blind.

We would have a campfire every night. Some of us would have a drink or two, talk and then it was time to get ready for bed.  If you don’t mind taking a cold shower in the dark occasionally, bugs, and camping, then an African Overland Truck experience is the perfect way to see Africa!