An autonomous 3.5 ton truck to start an expedition through East Africa!

Posted by bruce zhu on January 8th, 2021

During the trip, we usually devote our time, energy and money to unique experiences and leave amazing memories. In this way, we can maintain a relaxed life without increasing our own burden, and at the same time, we can see more changes during the journey. This is also a summary of our many years of travel, particularly suitable for field trips.

If the trip is also an adventure, then our trip through East Africa is without doubt a very exciting adventure. First of all, we choose camping 90% of the time, which means that there are no comfortable beds and typical restaurants. Hence, jungle cooking and wet tent in the rain is our daily life experience.

I mean for sure if you are a spoiled person this might not be your trip. The mode of transportation is also a little different. We rented a 3.5 ton Sinotruk Howo truck. This truck offers "Afrimassages" and "Africon" (our names for rough driving and open windows for the air supply). Therefore, this type of trip may not be suitable for everyone.

You have to adapt well to the wild life. You should wear wet clothes almost most of the time. Bumpy dirt roads replace asphalt roads in the city. Annoying insects continue to create bugs on and around you. You have to adapt. In the cold and humid morning, one has to adapt to the days without hot water. The most important thing is that you cannot have a hot meal for several days. In short, various unexpected difficulties await you.

But on such a trip you will see places that few in the world can experience. Unlike the central business district, where city life is bustling and tourists are crowded, most parts of Africa are still unaffected and retain the nuances of local culture. The dense forests around the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar's white sand beaches, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania's true animal kingdom and the world's largest waterfall, Victoria Falls, are worth a visit.

As Chinese we can all have a special affection for Africa, and we are more or less partisan of Africa, but this continent has its magical side. The different terrains, the weather conditions and the fantastic landscapes are not for everyone. The vastness of the African savannah and the variety of wildlife made this East African expedition destined to be an awesome trip for me.

It's also a rather humble experience, because you can see how some of the poorest people in the world live. There are no grand palaces, no red carpets, and no shiny malls. You'll be buying produce from street vendors, a craft market full of entrepreneurs and artists, and you won't even find a hot shower at the end of the day. So: to escape the man-made attractions and have the opportunity to truly experience the nature you are looking for, you will feel so small and humble.

The World Animal Kingdom of Tanzania is a very famous animal park, and the scenery here is like what we see in the animal world. It is home to thousands of animals and birds, and perhaps the most famous is the annual migration of large wildebeest.

The Serengeti Plain is located in the Ngorongoro Reserve in central Tanzania. It is also the largest inactive, complete, and unfilled crater in the world. This is also the "Wildest Dream" video clip from Swifty's selected location. Serengeti means "endless plains" in Maasai (the language spoken by Maasai tribes in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania), and it provides 15,000 square kilometers of savannah and provides We have shown unprecedented style.

We drove for 24 hours on rough and muddy roads and found 29 lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, elephants, giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, Dick's gazelles, wild boars, jackals, bat-eared foxes, marshal's eagles and a few vultures. Assuming you have a dream of starring in an African stage in "The Lion King" (or "National Geographic"), this is your place.

When we drove a Sinotruk Howo truck to the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater at an altitude of 2,400 meters, our journey continued observing a breathtaking crater covering 8,300 square kilometers. This place is crazy, I don't think you can really understand the scale of this 1.5 million year old crater.

Even when I zoomed in to see the tiny dots on the lush ground, I couldn't figure it out. After camping at a nearby campsite for one night, we got up in the morning and saw a large number of wildebeest, zebras, flamingos and red crowned cranes. They seemed to welcome our guests from afar and greeted us.

It is a very unforgettable and exciting travel experience, so close to the wild animals of the African savannah. I have to admit after such a day of driving and camping I feel like I'm not traveling but more of a nature adventure. It is also an experience that I recommend to all friends who like to travel and go on adventures.