Health...

A daunting aspect to a trip of this nature is the amount of vaccinations we need before we set off.
Country by Country here is a list of the immunisations and medications that are recommended for us.

From the http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk site:

Turkey: Recommended Vaccinations: hepatitis A; typhoid; diphtheria; tetanus.
Sometimes advised: hepatitis B; rabies.
Yellow fever: No vaccine certificate required.
Malaria: Risk is exclusively due to benign malaria and occurs from March to November, mainly in the south-eastern part of the country, the Syria and Iraq borders and in Amikova and Cukurova Plain. There is no malaria risk in the main tourist areas in the west and south-west of the country

Syria and Jordan: Recommended Vaccinations: tetanus; diphtheria; hepatitis A.
Sometimes advised: hepatitis B; rabies.
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria:
Syria: Malaria precautions are essential in northern border areas from May to October.

Jordan: Not required.

Egypt: Recommended Vaccinations: diphtheria; tetanus; poliomyelitis; hepatitis A; typhoid.
Sometimes advised: rabies; hepatitis B.
Yellow fever certificate required if over 1 year old and entering from an infected area. Air passengers, without a certificate, and in transit from yellow fever infected countries will be detained in the precincts of the airport until their journey is resumed.
Malaria: Small risk of serious malaria in El Faiyum area (50 miles south of Cairo on west bank of the Nile) from June till October.

Sudan: Recommended Vaccinations: hepatitis A; typhoid; diphtheria; tetanus; poliomyelitis; yellow fever.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; meningococcal meningitis; hepatitis B; rabies; cholera.
Yellow fever certificate required if over 1 year old and entering from an area with risk of yellow fever transmission. A certificate may also be required for those leaving.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in all areas (except in the far north and the Red Sea coast where the risk is very limited) all year round

Ethiopia: Recommended Vaccinations: diphtheria; tetanus; poliomyelitis; hepatitis A; typhoid; yellow fever.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; meningococcal meningitis; hepatitis B; rabies; cholera.
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in all areas below 2000m, all year round. There is no risk in Addis Ababa.

Kenya: Recommended: diphtheria; tetanus; poliomyelitis; typhoid; hepatitis A; yellow fever.
Sometimes advised: meningococcal meningitis; hepatitis B; rabies; tuberculosis; cholera.
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Risk present throughout the year in the whole country, but small in Nairobi and in the highlands (above 2500m) of Central, Eastern, Nyanza Rift Valley and Western Provinces

Uganda: Recommended Vaccinations: hepatitis A; typhoid; diphtheria; tetanus; yellow fever.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; hepatitis B; meningococcal meningitis; rabies; cholera
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in all areas, all year round

Tanzania: Recommended: diphtheria; tetanus; hepatitis A; typhoid; yellow fever.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; meningococcal meningitis; hepatitis B; rabies; cholera.
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in all areas below 1800m, all year round

Malawi: Recommended: hepatitis A; typhoid; diphtheria; tetanus.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; hepatitis B; rabies; meningococcal meningitis; cholera.
Yellow fever vaccination certificate required from travellers coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in all areas, all year round

Mozambique: Recommended Vaccinations: hepatitis A; typhoid; diphtheria; tetanus.
Sometimes advised: hepatitis B; rabies; tuberculosis; meningococcal meningitis; cholera.
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in all areas, all year round

Swaziland: Recommended Vaccinations: diphtheria; tetanus; hepatitis A; typhoid.
Sometimes recommended: tuberculosis; rabies; hepatitis B; cholera.
Yellow fever vaccination certificate required from travellers coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in low lying areas (mainly Big Bend, Mhuome, Simunye and Tshaneni) all year round

South Africa: Recommended: diphtheria; tetanus; hepatitis A.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; hepatitis B; rabies; cholera; typhoid.
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: The risk is high in the low altitude areas of Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces which border Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Includes Kruger National Park. Risk also in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal as far south as Jozini. There is low to no risk in all other parts of the country including the tourist centre of Sun City and the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. Anti-malarials not generally required. Low risk in most areas.

Our route is still subject to change, there are a number of countries that we are keen to visit but whether we can or not depends on our time and the political/health situation of the countries at the time we are passing. I have included the health status for these countries for our reference incase we should choose to visit them.

Zambia: Recommended Vaccinations: diphtheria; tetanus; hepatitis A; typhoid.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; hepatitis B; rabies; meningococcal meningitis; cholera; yellow fever.
Yellow fever: Not normally advised and no vaccination certificate required.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in all areas, all year round

Botswana: Recommended: tetanus; hepatitis A; typhoid.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; hepatitis B; rabies; diphtheria; cholera.
Yellow fever certificate is required if over 1 year old and having passed through or entering from an area with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential. Risk is mainly from the malignant form and exists throughout the year but especially from November to June in the northern parts of the country including the regions along the Zimbabwean border, the Zambezi river and all the Game Parks to the north of the Kalahari desert.

Zimbabwe: Recommended Vaccinations: diphtheria; tetanus; hepatitis A; typhoid.
Sometimes advised: tuberculosis; hepatitis B; rabies; cholera.
Yellow fever vaccination certificate required from travellers coming from areas with risk of yellow fever transmission.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in the Zambezi Valley (including the Victoria Falls) throughout the year, and in all other areas below 1200m from November to June. Risk is negligible in Harare and Bulawayo.

Namibia: Recommended Vaccinations: hepatitis A; typhoid, poliomyelitis; tetanus.
Sometimes advised: diphtheria; hepatitis B; rabies; tuberculosis; meningococcal meningitis.
Yellow fever certificate required if over 1 year and entering from an area with risk of yellow fever transmission. Travellers on scheduled flights originating outwith, but in transit through, the area with risk of yellow fever transmissions are NOT required to possess a certificate provided such travellers remained at the airport, or adjacent town, in transit. All travellers on unscheduled flights originating within area with risk of yellow fever transmissions or who have been in transit through these areas are required to possess a certificate. The certificate is not insisted upon in the case of children under 1 year of age, but such infants may be subject to surveillance.
Malaria: Malaria precautions are essential in the northern third of the country from November to June and along the Kavango and Kunene rivers throughout the year

After a visit to the nurse I needed to have a yellow fever vaccination, hepatitis a and typhoid, rabies (a course of 3 injections over 3 weeks) and meningitis MCWY. I have also been prescribed a course of doxycycline to protect against malaria. I am up-to-date with all the other necessary vaccinations.

I was shocked at the price of these vaccinations; the rabies injections broke the bank the most. I was given a private prescription at a cost of £10 and had to pay for the drug on top of that direct from the pharmacy. I shopped around a bit, being quoted as much as £138 for the 3 injections at one pharmacy and £86.60 at another. I finally went with Asda Pharmacy for this one. All the other injections (the Yellow Fever Vac and Meningitis MCWY) cost £40 and £45. Hep A and Typhoid in one injection was free. The malaria precautions were operated in the same way as the rabies vac for me, I was issued a private prescription and had to purchase the medication from my local pharmacy. Luckily for me, my Mum covered the cost of these vaccinations and medicines as a Christmas present! Happy Christmas Katie!

Below: Yellow Fever endemic zones in Africa: Courtesy of http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk

Latest Prep - Jan 09

Pretty much every weekend now is dedicated to trip planning and Land Rover preparing. Or at least an attempt at it... with a list as long as a very long piece of string its difficult to know what to do first. We both feel as though we are horrendously unprepared and as though we have a hell of a lot to do before we are ready to go on our provisional departure date. (Feb 16th).

As you can see from our previous posts we have had a great deal of work done mechanically to Carol the Landy and she has already been converted in the back of the vehicle to a campervan with seats that fold into a bed, underseat storage and a safe. What remains to be done are various mechanical odd jobs (like installing a cooling fan,) checking and improving the electronics, acquiring various spare parts and tools and gaining some mechanical knowledge!

Here is a little of what we have done recently with a few pictures to boot:

January 24/25
Preparation:
This weekend we set aside time to tackle a number of little niggling problems that need sorting out.
One of the main problems that we are having currently is due to the campervan conversion that Carol was subjected to back in 1986. It is absolutely fantastic that she has been converted already (it saves us a job) however, over the years the previous owner has carried out a number on amendments to the original conversion which cause us confusion. There is a leisure battery from which the fuel pump, water pump, interior and exterior lights are all designed to run off. When we bought Carol the leisure battery needed replacing and there were wires all over the place and we still don't really know what half of them are for or where they need to be connected to. Alex's Dad, Ian quickly got the interior lights working and the water pump. This weekend we needed to work on the rest of the connections that run from the leisure battery.

For example,
One task was to figure out what some non descript switches of the dashboard do. We gathered they were linked to the leisure battery as they are part of the conversion but we had no idea what they did. Quite accidentally we found out...

With just a tatty old diagram of the leisure battery's fuse box to go on we decided to go for the most obvious solutions to problems first - fuses! We established that any fuel in the second/long range fuel tank could be transferred to the main fuel tank via a pump that we could see under the vehicle but we couldn't work it. Once we had replaced the relevant fuse we experimented with some of the non descript switches on the dashboard and voila the fuel pump sprung into action! We had more trouble with the exterior light. We took it apart, we removed half the ceiling looking for where the mystery wires from the exterior light went and we connected various things to the fuse box in a last ditch attempt to get it working. We were on the verge of giving up when we decided to see if maybe the other non descript switch on the dashboard was anything to do with the exterior light. Low and behold it was and despite hours wasted with dismantled ceilings and fuse boxes it appears that maybe the exterior light was working the whole time!

This weekend Ian also managed to fit the air intake, and with a bit of soldering and rewiring we also now have a 3 adapter plug to fit into the cigarette lighter. Progress!

The Roof Rack:
Although not a priority, I mean who cares too much whether the roof rack looks good or not? we still felt it needed work. The rack had been propped up behind a tree in Alex's garden for the last few months and who knows when it was last used. It was damp and dirty and really needed a good clean and a lick of paint before we could think about using it.

Before and After..... The roof rack and jerry cans before and after we got to work.

Firstly we sanded them down, cleaned and scrubbed the roof rack and jerry cans. Then we painted them initially white but eventually they will all be cream like Carol herself.

Aside from the cleaning and painting, we have also had a chance to try out the high lift jack, an apparent neccesity for a trip of this kind! Alex and his Dad have also fixed a rather gaping hole that was apparent in the drivers foot well... more pictures to follow....