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„…Good advice is worth more than gold…“
Useful links? We thought it would be a good idea to forward not only our experiences, but also the hints, information and advice we received from other people and websites. We would like to offer this to other travellers and people with similar interests to ours :o).
Here you will find websites of companies, skilled people, info lists, websites of one of the most popular travel domains, and many many more…
LINKS, WEBSITES, WORKSHOPS, OTHER TRAVELLERS
Visa, documents and paperwork
www.autoturist.cz – a Czech page to get all information about the passport for your car, the „carnet de passage“.
www.auswaertiges-amt.de – The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, available in English also, informs about all the countries, visa requirements, security situations and general information.
In there you will find each country’s contact details for questions etc.
www.mzv.cz – The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well providing all different information about countries worldwide, security and visa issues same as general information. It provides contact details for enquiries as well. This page is available in English also.
Travel medicine
www.ockovacicentrum.cz -a czech advisor for travel medicine as well as a vaccination centre.
www.vakciny.net – very informative, not only about vaccinations, but also for what is easily forgotten...
www.who.int - the website of the world health organization...lots of useful info.
Mobile communication
Check with your mobile communications provider to find out more about GPRS and taking your own mobile.
www.iridium.com – We have decided to take a satellite phone for security reasons, with Iridium you have a coverage from North- to Southpole and can be reached around the clock, everywhere. Meanwhile we must say that we would recommend Thuraya system much more ( www.thuraya.com), we had bad signal coverage with our Iridium...
www.europeandatacomm.be – is the European service provider for the Iridium system
Otherwise it is no problem to buy local SIM cards and use them, we often had signal with T-Mobile, although of course, not in the bush!
www.ebay.de, www.ebay.co.uk, or www.aukro.cz - they are online auctions, where sometimes one really manages to buy good stuff. Not only phones, but also cameras or GPS. We bought the satphone and GPS there.
Maps, navigation and GPS
We have the typical Michelin maps as well as an African Road Atlas and our GPS with tracks4africa (maps) on it.
Books and guides
www.lonelyplanet.com - one of the most famous, we guess, with a lot of travel know how covered, but after our experience we have to say it wasn't all that useful and sometimes very strange descriptions of people and countries, lot of places didn't exist anymore and their budget often has moved away from the "ordinary backpacker" to a new clientele. We recommend Bradt and Rough guides.
www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de - very well equipped book platform online, it's ofteen easy and cheap to find new and used books there (for example the Lonely Planet Africa cost us 12 GBP there instead of 23 elsewhere) The British Amazon has a lot of books on tribes and history.
Websites of other travellers and info pages
www.africa-overland.org - it's a collection of websites of overlanders, people planning trips or actually on the trip as well as people who have done it. We have put our website there to get contacts with others.
www.africa-overland.net here we are as well, another overlanders' page, not only about Africa, but also Asia and America.
www.adventureandrew.com – Andrew’s and Jaye’s website. They have done the trip in 2007, went from the UK to South Africa, he gave us quite a few hints and we had a beer together in England.
www.toyota-adventure.com - Milan and Šárka chose a long trip around the world now. They will go down the West coast of Africa, then ship and drive up South and North America till Alaska. And from Asia back home!
www.unzip.cz - Petra and Pavel on their way from South Africa to Czech Republic. They left in September 2010, before we met up with them for a nice lunch and chat in Karlovy Vary.
www.ckc.cz a Czech travel server, not only for the "experts" but also for those who got hooked on travelling
www.cestovatel.cz, www.cestopisy.cz, www.turistika.cz, www.hedvabnastezka.cz –
www.abenteuer-reisen.de, www.geo-community.de, www.fernwehforum.de
they are travel communities with a lot of infos and forums - all about countries abroad.
www.offroadforum.cz, www.patrol4x4.co.za , www.offroad-forum.de, www.4x4community.co.za, www.4x4uk.org, www.4x4nazory.cz – here it's all about cars and how to work on them as well as some expeditions and travel fanatics.
African workshops and garages
If ever you´re stuck in Sudan and you need an English speaking 4x4 workshop with friendly staff, try the "Far Best Autoservice" in the Ryad part of Khartoum.
Another friendly and nice place full of 4x4 enthusiasts who know what they are doing is in Polokwane, South Africa. If you are stranded in Limpopo, check out 4x4traction.co.za to get into contact with them.
Who and where someone killed someone, who stole what and how travelling through Africa is dangerous you can read in a wide variety of magazines, newspapers and the internet. If you want to hear and see the truth, go there and have a look, or talk to someone who has been there for a longer time and not just "flew" through! We do NOT support the sensationalism that some travellers wrongly do to stand there like heroes in a "war zone". Africa is not like that.