Oasis Overland - www.oasisoverland.co.uk

This is my review of Oasisoverland This is just my personal opinion,

I am not connected them in any way, except as a passenger

The only reason I am writing this is…….

I was very impressed with their staff, their guides, their trucks,

their prices (they may not be the cheapest, but they do give value for

money and they do go ‘off the beaten track’)

My first ever trip with them (Oasisoverland) was the gorillas and game parks

I flew out to Nairobi and was met by a guide who showed me a dorm

where I would be staying until the truck arrived to start my trip (This

was Karen camp)

The dorm was basic, but I was the only one there, anyway The truck arrived the following day and introductions made,

I paid my local payment to the guide (this pays for food, campsites and extras)

The truck was well laid out with lockers beneath the seats to store

your kit, cooking kit and fresh food was stored in lockers under the

truck,, also under the floor is tinned and dried foods to be used to

used when fresh vegetables can’t be bought I was put into a cook group

Everyone is put into a cook group, they go and buy the food and cook

it for everyone, we all take turns, I lit the fire for every meal, and

prepared and cooked the meal)

I had never cooked for a group before, but others who had been on the

truck before me (they were on a longer trip than me) gave lots of help

and advice, no one died so I guess the meals were okay

Our guide told me all the basics and rules about overland travel

(keep your kit together, try not to let stuff spread out, always lock

the truck, no one (not even the police or army are allowed on without

the guide being present), there has to be 2 people on the truck at all

times we are in a town, city, village it was everyone’s responsibility

to look after it, even if it wasn’t yours

He told me the other countries we would be visiting, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and back to Kenya

There would be bush camps, campsites, we would try and stay away from populated areas when we bush camped

Oasis do provide 2 man tents, but you have to bring your own sleeping

bag and mattress, I was lucky, I had my tent to myself, lots of room,

but I did have to put up on my own (the tents are very easy to put up

and take down anyway, but they best for an overland trip and not a solo

trip, these tents are heavy

As this was my first overland trip I was using it as a taster and to find out if it was something I would enjoy doing

There is a lot of driving, and that means a lot of just gazing out of

the window, reading, dozing or just listening to iPods, mp3 players or

taking notes I never took a laptop with me so I just took notes, my iPod

did have internet access, but connections were few and far between I

took my phone (never again) to keep in touch with my wife,

I racked up a huge bill and I was just using text messages

Our first thing of note was crossing the equator, and photos were

taken of everyone We then went to the home of joy Adamson (the author of

born free, and we had a chance to watch the film,

I didn’t, I stayed outside and watched hippos and the birds (I had my

first sight of a hippos when it came up out of the water and just

grazed on the lawn, I am glad it was more interest in the grass than me,

they are massive animals)

Then it was off to a game park to see even more wild life

I am going cut this short here, if you want to read more, go on this trip and do it yourself

The guide and driver were great blokes,( [name removed] and [name removed]) always

there to give a hand with putting up a tent, lighting a fire, preparing

food, giving help and information on things to see and do, where to

change money, where the ATM’s were

When we were in a campsite, our guide had a novel way of getting

everyone together to go over the day and what we would be doing the next

day or days, he bought the first round of beer, I thought it was a

great way of getting everyone together

The people I was travelling with I had never met them before, but we

all got on really well, there was plenty of board, card, games for those

time you had run out of everything else to do, we all just mucked in

and helped each other out, I did enjoy my first overland trip with

Oasisoverland

The trip finished up where I had started Karen camp, the truck spent

the night there, but when we arrived, we did a major truck clean

EVERYTHING taken off, cleaned dusted, washed, seats beaten, floors and

lockers washed out, but with everyone helping it never took long

I spent a long time just talking to other people at Karen camp, not

people I had travelled with, and they told me of places they had been to

all over Africa

I had booked myself into a hotel before my flight home, so it was a taxi to get me there, then a taxi to the airport

My first overland trip was over, there had been bush camps, camp

sites, visits to places I had never seen before, I had seen the

demarcation between rich and poor, the slums of Uganda,

I had a meal cooked for me by a girl with HIV, I had seen things I had never seen before unless it was in a zoo or on the news

When I got home, there was a welcome back email from Oasisoverland,

they asked how my trip went, if I had any complaints (I only had one, I

should have done a longer trip)

I had to use my notes to start a blog and let all my mates and

contacts know about my trip, the blog was okay, but there was a lot

missing from it, but I uploaded all my photos to it,

Oasis liked my blog and featured it on their website (even though it was written after my trip had finished)

To date I have done 3 trips with Oasisoverland and I have really

enjoyed everyone, I have made lots of friends and new contacts (but my

best trip was Sth America, the guide and driver were absolutely

brilliant.

What a great pair of lads, [name removed] and [name removed] always up for a laugh and

the cause of many parties, [name removed] what a lad he is, the only bloke I

know that can change a gear box 3 times on his own and rebuild one and

in Cusco which is really high up and the air very thin, the guy was just

great If you want to go on an overland trip, give Oasis a try, they do

give value for money on a trip, they aren’t the most expensive or the

cheapest, but they will take you to places other overland companies

don’t

I am trying to decide where to go next (they have trips from 2 weeks

to 8-9 months long), and you can even take kids on them, they are also

very good for you to find out if overlanding is for you (I wouldn’t take

a babe in arms though; they just can’t join a cook group or light a

fire)

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I have been with one other overland company, but that is another

story and they can’t match Oasis in truck, staff, services, guide or

driver, even the places visited, bush camps hostels or campsites

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