BBC – Podcasts – Africa Today
BBC Podcast. Africa Today: African news and analysis from the BBC’s Focus on Africa and Network Africa programmes; the Africa Today podcast contains the day’s top stories from the continent – available to download Monday to Friday from 1630 GMT.
Tracks for Africa – Route Planning – getting real with it…
After the ‘phoney war’ of “yeah we’re planning an Africa trip”, “Oh, when are you going?” – “Uhh, Oh, it depends”…. The hardware is of course now coming together, so we’ve pulled our finger out with regards to logistics planning.
As we’ve mentioned we have a rudimentary schedule of countries and the time of year we’d ideally like to be in each one. So the next step is to put some meat onto those bones. We’ve taken tips from the blogs of others (thanks to due to everyone) and we’ve been poring over the Michelin maps and making lots of “Here there be treasure” type crosses and markings in pencil. Whereas this is essential (to literally get ones bearings) – it is also limited when compared to the benefits offered by GPS technology and the brilliant concept of Tracks for Africa (T4A).
T4A started life as a benevolent project, to use GPS data, recorded by overland travellers, in order to map Africa’s byways. By collating the mass of data submitted over many years and moderating it, to distill out ‘real’ routes and points of interest (POI) – the present offering is very comprehensive indeed. With two updates every year it is pretty current (good as roads and byways can come and go with the weather in Africa). It is a work of genius and its significance in all sorts of applications on the ground cannot be overstated – and like all the best ideas it is a simple one. Check out the link to T4A for more details. Importantly, GPS gives you very accurate handle on distance (and T4A annotate the type and state of roads) – just the detail needed to attribute likely journey times for each leg. Plus you can (relatively) easily explore different options on the computer (let down by Garmin’s limited software functionality). T4A for the whole of (charted) Africa can be downloaded for a very modest ZAR 750 (£68)- a steal when compared to Garmin’s own expensive proprietary maps for Europe.
We already have viable routes for Egypt outlined – and it’s proving to be great fun. certainly putting metaphorical pins in placenames, thinking about times and routes and researching is making things feel very, very real 
We still need to determine the ‘Drive Out-Ship Back vs Ship Out-Drive Back” and the ‘Via’ to/from Cairo/UK (I’m favouring France, Italy <> Greece, Turkey, Syria, Jordan <> Egypt; but my head says that might be too much time for our schedule and something that could be covered in a future trip. IE We might have to be more direct to Egypt – subject to sums and deliberations….) Still, the favourable advice regarding the Carnet means we have little/less need to consider the Ship-in <> Ship-Out option.
Our aim now must be to get a well specified, tangible plan together that could allow for travel as early as next year (prefreable) – and even if we are delayed to have something robust enough to pull of the shelf the year after.
More Carnet Research
After being tasked with the job of looking into Carnet costing I thought I had better get cracking straight away. Following on from the really useful info on the gapyear4x4 website I emailed Paul Gowen, ‘Carnet Man’ at the RAC (and now the man of the moment in my eyes). An automated reply came back, basically advising he was a really busy chap and would reply as soon as he was able. This being Friday afternoon I wasn’t hopeful. However a reply did come back later that day advising ‘Paul had looked at our website and to call on Monday to discuss’!
This I did and had a very informative, useful and extremely pleasant chat regarding: our (tentative) departure date, vehicle (he has had previous dealings with Anton and Liz at OEC and says Hi) and motivation for the trip.
The Carnet will need to assure the vehicle valued at (a guestimate) £15,000; this being the price proffered by Paul after 14 months depreciation on the purchase price. Therefore for Egypt we are looking at £120,000 as the amount that will need to be covered by way of a bond/insurance policy (remember 800% of the value).
Paul has given me the number for LloydsTSB to see what terms they will offer and also explained that it is also possible to only invoke the ‘Egypt Carnet assurance’ for the time spent actually there, which would be a further saving in the quarterly charge(s) that the bank would levy over the whole trip [duration].
Other options were also discussed so I now need to get on with some other calls to see if we can being our Carnet costs down.
Paul also pointed me in the direction of some other websites which maybe of interest plus some organisations that it would be worthwhile contacting.
We are now filed under the 2011 trips along with the figures provided and Paul has generously added our website to his favourites lists (have I mentioned what a nice chap he is?)
We left it that I would certainly be in touch and I hope he enjoyed the 2 rolls that he was going to have for his lunch [when I eventually let him off the phone].
So the good news is that we could, if everything falls in to place, be able to secure the Carnet for an outlay that might be as ‘low’ as £2500 ish - which is MUCH better then we originally thought. Certainly it’s significant enough to our now being able to aim at 2011 rather than defer to 2012!
A valuable phone call indeed! Great service RAC and Paul in particular.
This Excellent (www.gapyear4x4.com) Blog Article Could Save Us £10k!
See www.gapyear4x4.com by Trevor and Jan from Lancashire (UK)
http://www.gapyear4x4.com/vehicle-preparation/day-238/
This is a great article regarding Bank Guarantees. If we can get one sorted (albeit something else to secure against the house) it could work out as an outlay nearer to £3000. Rachel has promised to look into this.
The front page of Trevor and Jan’s site also has a link to a log of fuel costs to date. All blogs glean detail – but the attention to detail here is to be particularly lauded IMHO – Thanks Guys and good luck for the rest of your trip. – RicH
“What is a Carnet?
Definition:“Carnet” aka “Carnet de Passage” aka “Carnet de Passage en Douane”
A Carnet de Passage (fully recognized as a Carnet de Passage en Douane and literally translated into “notebook for passing through customs”) is an internationally recognised document that covers the temporary admission of a foreign registered vehicle into a country.
It is essentially a guarantee to foreign countries that you will notbe permanently importing your vehicle and therefore are exempt from any import/export taxes or fees that may be applied otherwise. The document guarantees that if, for any reason, the vehicle fails to be re-exported following a temporary stay within a foreign country, the issuing motoring club i.e. the RAC will pay duties liable for payment. The RAC, in return for the Carnet de Passage en Douane book requires, from the vehicle owner, a security to cover the value of these duties in the form of a bank guarantee, insurance indemnity or full cash deposit, which is calculated according to the vehicle value and countries/region of visit if required. The RAC is the only issuer of this document in UK. This document cannot be purchased anywhere other than the country of the vehicle registration.
A great contact for Carnet requirements is Paul Gowen of the RAC – he’s a mine of information and one of the good people. Here’s a link to the RAC websitefor even more information on the Carnet.
What is a Guarantee?
So on to the money bits. In return for a carnet, the owner of the vehicle must provide to the RAC a guarantee of a sum of money that is calculated on (a) the value of the vehicle without mods ie its base value and (b) the amount of duty required by the different countries you are visiting. At the moment most African countries in the East are asking for 150% of the value. So an example (and I’m trying to keep it simple) is £10 000 car value, £15 000 duties. The exception by a l-o-n-g way is Egypt who are asking for 800% so in the same example £10 000 car value, £80 000 duties. YES, £80 000!!!! So if you dump your vehicle there and don’t take it out ie you don’t have your carnet stamped out of the country, the RAC has to pay Egypt that money. sigh. ‘Course if your vehicle is valued any more than this, it becomes funny money.
To provide this guarantee to the RAC, you can either provide a cash deposit (yeah riiiggghhhtt), a bank guarantee or buy an insurance policy to cover this amount. I have listed them in order from cheapest to most expensive that I have calculated on today’s rates that I have to hand.
I have gone to our bank (Natwest) and have requested a bank guarantee which they can do for you a number of ways
(a) unsecured – but in this day and age, that isn’t very realistic seeing that you are leaving the country for this time period
(b) cash – you deposit the cash in a fixed account for the time period that you require the carnet. You still get interest on the money.
(c) property equity
(d) Life Insurance policy
There is a cost to the guarantee (of course!). There is a one-off arrangement fee that comes in at around £300 to put this arrangement in place, then the cost of the guarantee is paid at approx 2% of the value of the guarantee quarterly in advance. Remember you need to re-check this for the current rate for you at your bank. So in total in this example for a 1 year guarantee it costs £300 + £1600 (2% of £80 000) = £1900
The insurance costs you 10% of the total duty liable ie in this example £8 000 and then you get up to 50% back on your return if you don’t use the policy. Again, you need to check this with the insurance company. But in my calculations this is a cost of £4 000 plus the interest you lose whilst they keep your money for a year.
What we’ve done
Now that I have bored you to tears with the money, here’s what we’ve managed to arrange with our bank. They, I must say, have been incredibly accommodating (I know!!! unreal isn’t it??) and with the help of Paul from the RAC (didn’t I say he was grand) we have come up with this plan. We’re taking out 1 guarantee but split into 2 with 2 end dates. The first for the value of the duties to covers us till Egypt and once we exit Egypt and prove to RAC that we have done so (ie fax/email them a copy of our carnet stamped out of Egypt and into Sudan), the RAC will release the first guarantee and will notify our bank who will then release my security to that amount. Then for the balance of the trip we pay the arrangement fee (remember 2% of the duty value paid quarterly in advance). So, a MUCH cheaper option even and I am thrilled that we have been able to sort this out. As I said on our home page, a load of people are due our never-ending thanks and gratitude…..”
Trevor and Jan from Lancashire (UK)
Carnets & costs, Sums & Funds – Sponsors Where for Art Thou!…
Been at work with the calculator tonight to get some top line/ballpark figures. We have tried not to ‘go low’ in order to get some realistic comparisons…
- Daily costs (food, accommodation, fuel) for 8/12 between £13000 (@ $80 per day) and £20000 (@ £80 per day)
- Visas £700
- Shipping £4000 (one way)
- Flights £1400 (one way two people)
- Travel Insurance £900
- Carnet inc Egypt a whopping £128000 to self indemnify!! (800% of vehicle’s listed value based upon £16000)
- An Insurance bond (as an alternative) would be 10% = £12800 with 50% refunded on return (not inc 5% insurance tax)
The Carnet and Egypt is a conundrum. Currently it’s the only way through (although there are some reports of people travelling up managing to get a Saudi transit visa – it is doubtful this could be relied upon at this time). If you could avoid Egypt, the Carnet would be nearer 200%of the vehicles value
- I.E. £32000 self indemnity – £3200 for indemnity by insurance with 50% refundable. Quite a difference compared with including Egypt on the itinerary I’m sure you’ll agree.
So trip costs (on top of our significant outlay and commitment to date)
- 1 way shipping (£4000) and Carnet inc Egypt (£13000) +Daily living (£20000 8mths @ £80 day) + Visas (£700) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights one way £1400) = £40000
- 1 way shipping (£4000) and Carnet inc Egypt (£13000) +Daily living (£13000 8mths @ $80 day) + Visas (£700) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights one way £1400) = £33000
- 2 way shipping (£8000) and Carnet exc Egypt (£3200) +Daily living (£20000 8mths @ £80 per day) + Visas (£600) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights two way £2800) = £35500
- 2 way shipping (£8000) and Carnet exc Egypt (£3200) +Daily living (£13000 8mths @ $80 per day) + Visas (£600) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights two way £2800) = £28550
- Drive both ways Carnet inc Egypt =
- 8mths @ £80 per day = £32400 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £900= £34700
- 8mths @ $80 per day = £25900 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £900= £28200
- 10mths* @ £80 per day = £ 37333 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £1000 = £39733
- 10mths* @ $80 per day = £29100 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £1000 = £31400
* 10 months allows for extended travel time if necessary [although this would increase costs attributable for us being on sabbatical coupled with maintaining the house in the UK]. NB We have doubled the Visa costs notwithstanding some countries issue double-entry visas – it is quite possible that extra third party insurance will more than outweigh any such ‘saving’.
We haven’t factored in spares and other sundries into these figures.
So to sum-up we need at least £30000 for the trip; additionally we need to cover our ‘domicile costs’ – mortgage etc.
We currently have about half that covered.
It may be we need to delay departure to save the balance and depreciate the vehicle base value for the Carnet.
There may be scope for fundraising and sponsorship. Although this is a challenge in the current clime. EG There is a ‘no cost/some risk’ option if a sponsor could ‘Self Indemnify’ the Carnet Cost on the assumption that we will bring the vehicle back and discharge the Carnet properly (as is our obvious intent!)
I think we need to
- Commit to buying the Tracks for Africa (T4A) download to better calculate driving times etc to see whether we can cram more into less – without missing the point by becoming ‘whistle-stop’!
- Research current daily spend/budgets of current overland trips (IE from the figures above £53 ($80)/day vs £80/day equates to £7k)
- Develop a plan/info as to what we could offer any potential sponsors (on top of the usual logo display on the website and the vehicle etc)
Of course one thing we can be sure of – costs tend to go up – not down! (Inflation and underestimation being the prime villains.)
No one said it was going to be easy.
Delivery and Delay
RR02 HAR arrives at OEC
Just a quick update to confirm that the vehicle is now at OEC’s workshop. Anton emailed last week and advised that work should begin “in a few weeks”. Basically they are finishing their current Azalai build and we are next in the line. (We have previously mentioned the effects of the winter freeze.)
Realistically this means delivery of the finished Azalai towards the end of the summer; so already the project has slipped a couple of months. We need to consider whether losing (summer shake down) time means a 12/12 delay in the trip. I’m assuming ‘there’s always snags’ theory here and on that basis it’s becoming a tighter decision.
In the bigger scheme of things it’s nothing crucial and will give us a larger fighting fund as we’ll have more time to save funds etc. On the other side – a tight deadline focusses the mind!
We will let you know as soon as we do.
Journeys, Life, Death & Adaptations
A Cape Town Sunset
Anthony from Roger Young Land Rover is going to deliver the base vehicle to OEC this week. So here we are, at the beginning of the build stage – good stuff – can’t wait (it’s just about 12/12 since we started planning). The paperwork has been a little bit more than one might think equitable due to the disability tax implications (and the administration of VAT and Road Fund) – but it’s just about there now. To be fair the tax works in our favour – so I can understand the need for due diligence on behalf of HMRC! (There has apparently been much fraud of late)
Once the build starts we hope to post some pictures.
We also need to catch up on our route planning. We have had a bereavement in the family and in the circumstances, things have slipped throughout February. We have plotted rudimentary East Coast down and East Coast Up routes – the times look like:
Down: Leave Feb/March (?11) – Return Sep/Oct (?11) – Ship Oct (?11)
Up: Ship May/June (?11) – Depart June/July (?11) – Return Jan/Feb (?12)
Our current preference is Ship Out and drive Up.
We are still toying with the possibility of Ship Out & Ship Back too. That could give us more time in the South and East (More Bush – Less Pyramids) plus we would reduce the time away from work – which would offset the additional shipping.
We will publish the details when we have researched more and decided the way to go. The above timings are based on weather (less rain, temperate) and game migrations/viewing – as good a basis as possible we think!