Introduction

Hello!! This is our website, hosted by 1and1.com, documenting our 4x4 overland trip from Stonehenge, UK to Cape Town, South Africa in a Land Rover 110 Defender.  The plan is pretty simple, we are giving up our jobs, selling our house and planning the trip of a lifetime.  We aim to leave the UK Spring 2010 and head South, via Europe to Africa. We plan to be away for approx 12-18 months.   What will happen along the way? Who knows, but this site will tell our story.  Before we go we are looking to hook up with fellow overlanders for 4x4 trips in the UK and for general discussions ranging from Malaria to vehicle prep. Please feel free to contact us if you want to get in touch.

You are unique visitor  since site launch - Enjoy our site ;-)


Happy 2010!  Jabs completed, house packed up, car sold, wedding plans in full swing and final Landy tweaking being completed.....  madness!!


Latest News

  • The guys from Tracks for Africa  have just kindly upgraded our Africa GPS maps - Thanks Erin!!
  • If you live in the South (Wilts / Hants / Dorset) check out R&E Land Rover in Salisbury.  Rob and the team are great, provide honest advice and can help spec your vehicle.  November and January saw us working on Dassie at R&E Land Rover Salisbury - see the video


  • Thanks to Bron at BSP Design for creating our trip logo - she is great!!!!

About us

Inspiration and ideas for this trip come from many sources.  This trip probably falls into the "grown up gap year" grouping and we have made some great friends since we started looking into this trip who have a similar outlook and doing a similar trip be it Africa, Oz, Asia or ROW.  Its also a chance for us to explore the world and try our hands at a variety of new things.  Nick has always wanted to do more with his photography and Vicki is keen to see new cultures.   For both of us its a chance to step outside our normal comfort zones, take time off from the "9 to 5" and chance upon experiences that may well change our lives forever.

Nick Born in the UK, Nick has been a life long amateur photographer.  Having spent the last 15 years working in the technology sector its time for a new challenge! Nick is about to combine his love for photography with a trip of a lifetime by travelling overland through Europe & Africa with his partner Vicki.  They plan to undertake a variety of photographic studies along the way and plan to settle in South Africa.  Nick mainly shoots in black & white format using Canon kit.

  • What will you miss the most? Family for sure as well as Walkers Cheese & Onion crisps
  • What will you NOT miss? Voicemail
  • What do you fear the most? Holes in the mosquito net
  • Why go? If you always do what you've always done, you will always have what you've always had.....I am keen to try something new and see what happens, you never know what's round the corner, who you will meet and what might happen ;-)

Vicki Born in South Africa, Vicki moved to the UK in 2001 and worked at a life & pensions company having previously been a Restaurant Manager in Cape Town. Her interests include travel and wildlife.  Vicki met Nick in 2005 and they plan to marry in Feb 2010.  Thereafter they plan to embark on what some might say is a “challenging” honeymoon, a 20000 km through Africa in an old Land Rover…..not most people’s first choice method of travel but it will be one hell of an adventure!

  • What will you miss the most? Long hot baths
  • What will you NOT miss? Telephones
  • What do you fear the most? Snakes in the tent and hungry big cats!
  • Why go? Because if you dont go, you'll never know

The Trip


Vicki and Nick plan to leave the UK, May 2010.  Driving through 30+ countries in Europe and Africa they will be performing photographic studies of the people, places and events they encounter along the way.  The trip is self funded and will be completed overland in a converted Land Rover Defender over 16 months.  As part of this project, they will be using a variety of media to allow people to interact with them, including online photo album, blog, online video diary and Twitter


The Bigger Picture


Ever considered the latent story telling potential of that old camera you chose to upgrade last Christmas or that old compact digital gathering dust in the draw because you just purchased a brand new iPhone?  Having both spent time in South Africa Nick & Vicki are only too aware of the need for education as a means to effect social and economic change. 


To this end, Nick & Vicki plan to use the outputs from this trip as the basis of a new project that might yield an answer the question above.  Cameras For Change, which they aim to develop when they arrive in South Africa, will provide marginalised people access to recycled cameras and associated media so they can learn new skills, highlight their own experiences, sell their pictures and possibly make a career out of photography.


Nick & Vicki are seeking to collaborate with other travellers, photographers, writers, newspapers, charities, schools, patrons or sponsors that would like to get involved in this project.  We hope to hear from you.  Thanks!!

Contact: nick [at] langebaan-sunset.com