Cape to Cairo Mostly by Train
Posted: July 23rd, 2008Has anyone done this? It looks possible. I'd be much obliged for any tips, hints,or comments.
Hey there! I'm embarking on a Cape to Cairo trip leaving September 24th of this year.
Overland travel from Cape to Cario by train looks very doable. I haven't verified that trains connect every city or anything--but the infrastructure seems more solid than I'd expected--however I hear traveling by train can be very slow (I'm assuming due to frequent stops).
From what I've read, your toughest stretches would be crossing Sudan/Ethiopia/Somalia. It's my understanding these countries aren't the safest and their infrastructures are lacking severely.
The Lonely Guide Southern Africa book is pretty detailed about train depots and prices from city to city--they make the journey sound very doable. Both it and Lonely Planet's Eastern Africa book would be all you'd need to get started evaluating the possibility of an overland trip.
Two novels have been written recently (past 8 years) about overland travels from Cairo to Cape--Paul Theroux's "Dark Star Safari" and Peter Moore's "Swahili for the Broken Hearted". I'm working my way through Dark Star Safari--the author's experience doesn't seem overly typical--he's a 60+ year old traveling with money, connections from working and living in Africa earlier in life, etc. I think I'll be roughing it and going by the cuff slightly more than he did.
I'm thrilled to hear someone else curious about the Cape to Cairo. If you need any more specifics, let me know.--Eddie