Travelogue Entry Archives

Kitting out the Defender and heading up the east coast

Buying a Land Rover Defender, kitting it out and heading up the east coast of South Africa with friends. >> more

A Three-Day Bushwalk into the Wild of Mpumalanga, South Africa

A friend of mine, Steve, came to visit for a couple weeks. We found a guide and spent four days camping and doing full-day 20km bushwalks with up close encounters with a number of animals that were 10-50 times our size. The most exciting encounters were the rhinos. >> more

Gliding in a Mokoro Through the Okavango Delta, Botswana

The Okavango Delta is a 15,000 sq km maze of lakes, channels, marsh and islands that is home to lions, elephants, hyenas, wild dog, buffalo, crocodiles, red lechwe and the impressive hippo. >> more

The Long Road to the Kalahari Elephants in Savuti, Botswana

After 45 minutes of chopping trees, moving logs, breaking an axe, falling in the water, losing the shovel and my flipflops in the river, we made it across and saw hundreds of elephants from lone bulls to large breading herds cooling themselves off at watering holes. >> more

Umhlanga Reed Dance Ceremony at the Queen's Royal Village, Swaziland

Tens of thousands of unmarried and childless Swazi girls and women gather at the Queen Mothers royal village in Ludzidzini each year to participate in the eight-day Umhlanga or Reed Dance ceremony. >> more

South African Municipal Workers Trash Towns in Dirty Protest

Over 150,000 South African municipal workers throughout every province went on a one week strike in protest of low wages and trashed cities and towns throughout the country. >> more

House of Judah Nyabinghi Rastafarian Grounation in Khayalethu South Township, South Africa

Six hours of songs, sermons, drums, dancing around the fire, and chants to Emperor Haile Selassie made for an interesting entrée to the Nyahbinghi Rastafarian way or life. >> more

Riding and racing ostriches in Oudtshoorn, South Africa

After eating an ostrich steak dinner, an ostrich egg breakfast and a bit of practice riding these awkward birds around my friend Bryan and I went to the racetrack to test our ostrich riding skills. >> more

Pre-Departure Note

After making the decision to hit the road and purchasing my air ticket, the few weeks before I left were full of spending time with family and friends and preparing for the trip: visas, immunizations, getting the right gear, packing and repacking. >> more
Taking off to some unidentified place in the heart of Africa – somewhere with no electricity, no running water and at least one week’s journey from anything resembling a city has been a long time dream of mine.


My name is John Bradley and in May 2009, I left my job in Chicago, sold my car, moved everything else I owned into my grandma’s basement and flew to Africa. I plan to take roughly one year to overland on a budget from Cape Town to Cairo. I do not have an itinerary; I have no idea where I will be five days from now. My path is guided by the attempt to balance the urge to see and experience as much as I can with the desire to travel slowly and close to the ground.

This is where I will post my stories, photos, and videos as I move along on my journey. Feel free to post comments or send me an email with any thoughts or suggestions.

Current location: Coffee Bay, South Africa

Distance traveled: 42,790 km

Days on the road: 366

(last updated 5/16/10)

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