Route

Overview

There are many roads that lead to Rome. The same is true for an overland trip to Cape Town, South Africa. We start our trip from Haarlem, The Netherlands and hope to reach Cape Town many months later.

Initially, we wanted to take the Western Route down because we have not been to western African countries before. The difficulties for obtaining a visa for Angola and the unstable climate in Democratic Republic of Congo stopped us from taking this route as we would get stuck in Gabon. Further North the current situation in Nigeria, Chad and Central African Republic is also not recommended. Our option is to go the Eastern route via Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and then South.

Planned route

We drive through the following 26 countries:
The Netherlands, Belgium, France (to visit family), Italy (visit friends), Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya (visit friends), Tanzania (visit friends), Rwanda (visit friends), Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.

Click here to see how you can make such a map.

Country info

The Netherlands


Capital: Amsterdam
Language: Dutch
Population: 16,715,999
Area: 41,543 km2
Currency: Euro

Belgium


Capital: Brussels
Language: Dutch / French / German
Population: 10,414,336
Area: 30,528km2
Currency: Euro

France


Capital: Paris
Language: French
Population: 64,473,140
Area: 674,843 km2
Currency: Euro

Italy


Capital: Rome
Language: Italian
Population: 58,126,212
Area: 301,340 km2
Currency: Euro

Slovenia


Capital: Ljubljana
Language: Slovenian
Population: 2,005,692
Area: 20,273 km2
Currency: Euro

Croatia


Capital: Zagreb
Language: Croatian
Population: 4,489,409
Area: 56,594 km2
Currency: Kuna (HRK)

Bosnia and Herzegovina


Capital: Sarajevo
Language: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Population: 4,613,414
Area: 51,197 km2
Currency: Konvertibilna markas (BAM)

Serbia


Capital: Belgrade
Language: Serbian
Population: 7,379,339
Area: 77,474 km2
Currency: Serbian dinars (RSD)

Bulgaria


Capital: Sofia
Language: Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%
Population: 7,204,687
Area: 110,879 km2
Currency: Leva (BGN)

Turkey


Capital: Ankara
Language: Turkish
Population: 76,805,524
Area: 783,562 km2
Currency: Turkish liras (TRY)

Syria


Capital: Damascus
Language: Arabic
Population: 21,762,978
Area: 185,180 km2
Currency: Syrian pounds (SYP)

Jordan


Capital: Amman
Language: Arabic
Population: 6,269,285
Area: 89,342 km2
Currency: Jordanian dinars (JOD)

Egypt


Capital: Cairo
Language: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood
Population: 83,082,869
Area: 1,001,450 km2
Currency: Egyptian pounds (EGP)

Sudan


Capital: Khartoum
Language: Arabic / English
Population: 41,087,825
Area: 2,505,813 km2
Currency: Sudanese pounds (SDG)

Ethiopia


Capital: Addis Ababa
Language: Amarigna 32.7%, Oromigna 31.6%, Tigrigna 6.1%, Somaligna 6%, Guaragigna 3.5%, Sidamigna 3.5%, Hadiyigna 1.7%, other 14.8%, English
Population: 85,237,338
Area: 1,104,300 km2
Currency: birr (ETB)

Kenya


Capital: Nairobi
Language: English / Kiswahili
Population: 39,002,772
Area: 580,367 km2
Currency: Kenyan shillings (KES)

Tanzania


Capital: Dar es Salaam
Language: Kiswahili or Swahili / English
Population: 41,048,532
Area: 947,300 km2
Currency: Tanzanian shillings (TZS)

Rwanda


Capital: Kigali
Language: Kinyarwanda / Bantu / French / English
Population: 10,473,282
Area: 26,338 km2
Currency: Rwandan francs (RWF)

Mozambique


Capital: Maputo
Language: Emakhuwa / Xichangana / Portuguese
Population: 21,669,278
Area: 799,380
Currency: meticais (MZM)

Malawi


Capital: Lilongwe
Language: Chichewa
Population: 14,268,711
Area: 118,484 km2
Currency: Malawian kwachas (MWK)

Zambia


Capital: Lusaka
Language: Bemba / Nyanja / Tonga / Lozi
Population: 11,862,740
Area: 752,618 km2
Currency: Zambian kwacha (ZMK)

Botswana


Capital: Gaborone
Language: Setswana / Kalanga / Sekgalagadi / English
Population: 1,990,876
Area: 581,730 km2
Currency: pulas (BWP)

Nambia


Capital: Windhoek
Language: English
Population: 2,031,000
Area: 825,418 km2
Currency: Namibian Dollar (NAD)

South Africa


Capital: Pretoria (Administrative Capital), Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)
Language: English
Population: 47,000,000
Area: 1,221,037 km2
Currency: South African Rand (ZAR)

Lesotho


Capital: Maseru
Language: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Population: 2,130,819
Area: 30,355 km2
Currency: Maloti (LSL)

Swaziland


Capital: Mbabana
Language: English
Population: 1,337,186
Area: 17,364 km2
Currency: Emalangeni