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Horrible idea. I don’t know where to start, but I suppose one way is by balancing your input. You’ve read Thoreaux’s book, perhaps you can now try http://url.co.nz/african_trip/, a superb travel log about an Africa overland trip.

As a tonic for your soul, pay special attention to Angie, whom the travellers meet along the way.

There is absolutely no need to carry water. Or even purchase it. Use a filter. They are < $100 and I have used them in India, Uganda and many other places quite safely. My husband looked at me weird when I would filter, but we did not get sick, use powder gatorade to mask iodine taste imparted by filter if it bothers you. The locals are not starving and you won’t either. Basic food is available in anyplace a tourist would go through. If you are that picky (which I don’t think you are), don’t go. Of course I would not eat from a street stall in Nairobi. And I do carry cipro and painkillers when I travel. Have a great time !

Those who plump for the backpacker style of tourism: I’m not saying that I’m going to camp next to the airplane every night. The idea is to see the landscape really well, which you can only do from the air, and spend time in the smaller/nicer towns rather than big city transportation hubs. Having the aircraft as a home base rather than a backpack means being able to carry 500+ lbs. of reliable food and water.

I think that I’ll meet plenty of people either way. In fact as a pilot one is often very well taken care of by the locals. I was adopted in the US Virgin Islands by a guy whom I met at the airport and taken home to his family, out sailing with his brother, etc. That wouldn’t have happen if I’d arrived with a backpack and stayed in whatever dump the Lonely Planet recommends.

As for “children laughing at the weird whitey” that is happening every day here in northern Japan! No need to get food poisoning to experience that.

Flying. No, not an especially good idea. You won’t get to meet people. You really would be better off backpacking.

Assuming you want to get a good tourist overview, Cape Town is a good place to start. If I was you I would take advantage of your blog, and ask anyone in CT to contact you. I’d spend more than a few days there though. There’s some good scenery. A nice mountain. Interesting shops. Penguins. The southern tip of Africa (don’t bother). Diving. Excellent wine and wine farms (3 to 4 days in itself). Good beaches. Historical spots – recent and colonial. Whales if you choose the right time. And terrific people.

The West coast is pretty barren. It’s got a cold current. But it’s very beautiful in that empty way. It’s worth going a couple of hundred miles up the coast, maybe even by plane. It’s definitely worth stopping at the small towns though – so maybe a car is better.

I’m guessing you want to go to Namibia to see desert? You could fly along the coast from Cape Town. But however you count it, it’s a long journey. The thing is that you could easily spend a couple of weeks in the desert. You should look for desert guides. You don’t mind hiking? I haven’t done it myself, but the people I know who have, think it was amazing.

Back to Cape Town – the Garden Route is lovely. Much of it is semi-tropical. But, the style of driving is more, uhhh, robust than most US driving. You are probably better off taking organised transport. You might enjoy the Blue Train – do a search – there’s a service to Port Elizabeth.

From PE, visit the Addo Elephant park. Then catch a plane to Johannesburg. (It’s not as bad as it sounds, and you’ll only be passing through.) There are a few things worth seeing in Jhb. It’s kind of LA in Africa. It’s worth getting a guide so that you don’t do anything amazingly stupid. I don’t mean a paid guide; Jhb readers, volunteer your services.

From there head towards, the Kruger National park. You can do that by train, or fly, or by car. I’d probably go by car. You do need to know though that it’s not like visiting a zoo. It’s perfectly possible to spend a week looking at mostly grass and trees. Not many people get to see the big animals. You can get bush guides there who have knowledge that’s worth paying for – they usually know where to find the most interesting animals.

Now it’s tough. I would say to go into Mozambique – it’s worth seeing how the poor world lives. Average *annual* income in Mozambique is around $200 (that’s not a typo, I meant two hundred dollars). You definitely want to go with someone who knows the ropes.

I would say to go up to Zambia, into Botswana and then into Namibia, but you’ve only got three weeks, so afterwards you should head back into South Africa. But it definitely is worth getting into Botswana if you have the time.

Okay, so that’s about 2 months or more. I may have overdone it.

You would probably like books by Obie Oberholzer. He’s done photographic essays of his tours around South Africa and through Africa. http://www.allbookstores.com/browse/Author/Oberholzer%2C%20Obie
http://www.museums.org.za/sang/exhib/photosyn/obe_obi.htm
http://www.artthrob.co.za/01july/images/oberholzer01a.jpg
I think his earlier works are best, if you can get hold of them.

And since I’m punting photography – my brother-out-of-law: mostly Africa – http://www.mikestoryphotography.com/

And finally, an ad. In case anyone reading is interested in a luxury overland safari truck. Built in Germany. Currently in Cape Town. It’s not cheap, but then it does have a boat, and a built in crane to lift it off the roof. But I couldn’t in all honesty tell you that it’s something suitable for a 3 week trip.

Jeff Veit

Mike and Aloke: it may be about the people for you, but it’s apparently about the landscape for Philip. Media stereotypes nonewithstanding, the risk of having your head chopped off is still noticeably greater in Africa than in Cambridge, MA, or Japan, or even Argentina. And all it could take is one of those happy locals being in a bad mood. Granted, you may not expect Philip to contribute much more to the (computer) science at this point, but some of us would nonetheless regret to lose him.

To be frank I think this is a terrible idea. I just came back from two weeks in South Africa and at least in that country your three premises are completely incorrect. From my readings and discussions with others they are incorrect for many other places in Africa too.

As Mike McKay and David Chapman put it so eloquently above: its about the people, stupid.