Genesis

Like all good adventures, this one started out as nothing but a vague daydream. I can actually pinpoint exactly when the concept of driving around the unknown swaths of African countryside made its presence known in my mind. It was in February, while I was at my job as an intern with Columbia's Center for Technology, Innovation, and Community Engagement (CTICE). While plugging away at some piece of internly work, one of my coworkers enquired about what I wanted to do for the summer. As I explained to her that I was in the process of applying for a grant and was looking for a potential overseas internship, another coworker who had lived in South Africa happened to walk in when I mentioned that I was looking into jobs from London to Cape Town. He took this opportunity to mention the innumerable attributes of South Africa that make it absolutely amazing.

However, his next comment proved to be one that planted the seed of my present dream. He said that if I were to end up in South Africa, I would have t0 borrow his book on road trips in SA and that driving is very possible because one could procure a car for "less than a thousand dollars." The damage was done.

Admittedly, I may have been a little less productive than normal that day at work because inside my head this dream had been born and was growing at an exponential rate. "A road trip? In Africa?!" The concept, so bold at first glance, was too attractive to ignore. "What if it's possible? What if, this summer, I could find myself behind the wheel of an old Land Rover, wearing a khaki suit complete with wide-brimmed hat, courageously pushing back the bush and exploring pristine lands?" I tried to temper my excitement, in order to protect myself from exploded hopes or pains of dreams unrealized. However, through a blessed series of events over the course of the next two months, I was generously offered an internship with All Nations, a Christian nonprofit based in Cape Town that focuses on church planting and humanitarian educational programs. Having been given the position, I applied for the grant and after a gracious chance to submit a revised draft, was given the money I needed to go! I was bounding towards achieving the dream.

The next piece of blessed news came from my friend Toukam Ngoufanke, a friend that I met in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Columbia. He was a graduating senior from the engineering school, a native Cameroonian, and the posses or of a sharp mind and he was going to be interning in Cape Town as well! It was the greatest of news, and I began to lobby for him to get excited about the post-internship road trip that had, by then, taken up permanent residence in my mind. Startlingly, Toukam became almost as excited as I was upon my invitation! I have to admit- I was prepared to be met with an utter lack of enthusiasm. Imagine my joy when I suddenly had a partner in crime.

TOUKAM AND I

This all happened by about mid April. Since then, the practicalities have set in, the logistical planning has begun, and the realities are staring us in the face- and the dream is stronger than ever. Slowly but surely we have seen obstacles come and go, problems arise and be solved. One of the largest was the question of getting a car. Originally we had planned only to get a car for the three or four weeks of the road trip. However, I found out that if Toukam and I were to be sharing an apartment, we would have to have it in Cape Town proper, while my office was to be in a suburb. Having established that a car would be needed for the whole eleven week journey, the process of finding which method of finding a car became a burden.

Originally, I had thought that it would be easy and cheap to find an old used car, buy it, and start rolling. Unfortunately, problems cropped up. Getting to each car would be a bother because of lack of public transport. I would not know if the car was a lemon. It would cost a lot of money and time to worry about registration and insurance. There would not be any recourse upon a breakdown. Looking into rentals was just as dismal. There were age restrictions that would be prohibitive to my 19 year old self. Restrictions on daily mileage would keep us from having a quick pace. Travelling to other countries would be a huge hassle. And it costs a lot. Where could we turn?

Upon further research, I thought I found our solution. Drive South Africa, a rental company, also did Buybacks (a way of buying a car and having a contract stating that the company will buy it back at a certain time for a certain amount). Depressingly, I also found out that it had been a scam and shut down a couple years ago after leaving many customers in the dust with cars on their hands with nobody to buy them. Discouraged but not defeated, I persevered. I came across the suspiciously similarly-named Drive Africa.

They offered the same service, buybacks, but with many improvements and far less sketchiness. For one, they have been in business for 12 years. Two, they are bonded and insured through a large SA tourism organization, SATSA. Third, nobody has complained about them to SATSA since they joined it. Having looked through all other possibilities and finding nothing wrong with Drive Africa, I contacted them, got a quote, and liked what I saw and heard. As of now, I have a deposit down on a 2000 manual Toyota Corolla for eleven weeks with registration and insurance included. It can be taken to other countries, and there are no mileage limits. On top of that, they're picking me up at the airport and dropping me off there too, to save me hours of hassle! Put simply, it's a godsend. I've been as cautious as possible, and I'm praying that they aren't really great scammers.

The second relatively large issue now is the apartment. Because of some confusion with Toukam's internship, he will be arriving after me, though his people are finding the apartment. I'm not too worried, but I'm praying they will find us a safe apartment with Internet and secure parking. One thing is for sure- I'm so glad I did not have to find an apartment on my own. I'm confident it will be resolved, though. If worse comes to worse, I can live in a hostel for a week or so until I figure things out.

There will be more problems, more snags, and many long waits in airports, but this dream is happening. I will go into the specifics of the trip in my next post, but I hope this post has sufficiently caught you, Reader, up with how this whole summer formed itself. I plan on blogging this entire summer with pictures and everything, so please stay tuned and leave comments!

I'm ready for an Old School Adventure, and I want you to come along. Stay Classy!

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