Africa 1977
In 1977, Francesca and John travelled for nearly four months through Africa from London to Johannesburg in an Encounter Overland truck with a dozen other young people. See Encounter Overland's description of this "safari".
Leaving London on 14 May, the group passed through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Empire (now Central African Republic), Zaire (now D.R. Congo), Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Botswana (briefly), Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa, arriving in Johannesburg on 27 August. J & F then rented a car and drove down to Durban and up to Swaziland (now Eswatini).
F then returned to Italy to work, while J flew to Perth, hitchhiked to Darwin, revisited the Red Centre, flew to Sydney and returned to Europe via the South Pacific and USA.
The story is told using the text of J's letters home to his parents.
Unfortunately the quality of the photos (scanned from 45-year-old slides) leaves something to be desired. (No digital photography in those days.)
This map gives the general idea of the route followed in Africa:
Three members of the group decided to challenge Kilimanjaro. See further details of the climb.
