I had a delightful and interesting conversation with Catie and as someone who has done some of North Africa it was interesting to share our common experiences. See more about the podcast linke below.https://www.catiefriend.com/podcast/2021/12/11/chatting-to-dot-bekker

I'm frequently asked for more details on the maps for the book and regret I've not really successfully managed to get this included.  However, if you are interested this Google map identifies pretty much every location that I stopped at en route.  Use the link below to take you to the Google map.   shorturl.at/fCGUX    

Expedition Portal is a highly acclaimed magazine for overlanders and I was honoured to be interviewed by Ashley Giordano.  I enjoy doing interviews as each interviewer tends to focus on a different aspect of my journey and with each telling of my story I feel that I am reliving the adventure. Find the story using this link   https://expeditionportal.com/going-home-to-africa-interview-with-dot-bekker/

I'm often asked why I wrote the book and to be honest it was in response to the many requests I had from my followers to share more of my story and travels. Little did I know at the time that it would take me longer to write about it than it would to actually do it. From starting to write in November 2019 to publishing in April 2020 it was indeed a mammoth task. I had to write the story, and after setting out the structure I simply threw it all down into my computer. The initial story was...

When I first returned to Zimbabwe I had a really fun interview with Joe Mars and after reading my book he wanted to chat to me again about my return, my book and my work with girls.   https://joemarsonradio.wixsite.com/thejoemarspodcast Publish Post Once published, the post will appear on the blog listing

Tatenda reached out to me and asked me to contribute to her podcast.  Find it here ... https://anchor.fm/tatenda-rungisa/episodes/Dot-Bekker-shares-her-story-on-driving-20-000km-alone-back-to-Zimbabwe--A-story-to-remind-us-that-anything-is-possible-evg4dj

I was interviewed by a local newspaper about my journey home.  I struggle to get people here to understand that my journey was more than a tourist drive and certainly a whole lot more complicated.  Nonetheless, making it into the local paper has to be some kind of achievement.  Follow the local take on the link below.   https://www.chronicle.co.zw/just-in-60-year-old-embarks-on-19-country-tourism-drive/

On of my posts on Facebook led to being contacted by Helen, herself an intredpid traveller who loves backpacking and West Africa.  With her own travels at a halt due to COVID she is keeping her blog going with stories of other travellers and felt my story merited being interesting and asked if she could interview me about my journey. I had great fun chatting to her and here is her interview. https://www.heleninwonderlust.co.uk/going-home-to-africa-driving-from-morocco-to-zimbabwe-via-west-central-africa/

My drive through Africa took 8.5 months, writing the book took 7 months, the editing, proof reading, publishing and such took a further 8 months ... all in all the book took more time and headaches than the journey ... well OK, maybe they are on a par! I've never written a book before, well that's not entirely true ... I have written a book but it is still in a folder tucked away looking for a rewrite ... However, this was the first time ever that anyone wanted me to write a book and after my journey so many...

I was invited by the Global Travel Channel which is run by Mark Philpott to do a podcast with him shortly after my return to Zimbabwe in late 2019.  This podcast was entered into an awards program whereby people could nominate the podcast against various categories.  I happened to win this one as the Most Inspiring Guest for 2019/2020.  I was most shocked and humbled to receive the award.     Below is the link to the episode.  

I have to be honest, I’m delicious, not even an acquired taste, just plain outright delicious!    That is the opinion of any small biting thing that is around, especially mosquitos.  It is the bane of my life and I can confess that I have been scarred with PTSD as a consequence of the mosquitos of Africa.  When the merest twitch or brush against any part of my body I will twitch with unexpected urgency as a reflexive action, after having been subjected to untold number of bites over my lifetime with an intensity over the months I was driving...

Thanks to the Global Travel Channel and Mark Philpott for another chat, this time I'm taking you on a virtal tour of Zimbabwe.  Come along and find out why you should visit my amazing country.  

I’m regularly asked which country was the worst, the best, the most beautiful, the most friendly, etc. I’m not a person who does best, bestest, I believe that everything has good and bad, but as people are curious here is a headline of my thoughts, notably these are my opinions based on what I saw and experienced … First to clarify that the countries I drove through were, in order of travel, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea (Conakry), Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Cabinda (Angola), Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe....

A Recurring question is what would I consider to be some of the most essential items I took with me on my journey and I will give you my top picks, in no specific order. A keyring penknife . I was given this gift by my nephew and it served me well. Not only was it a penknife, with the added benefit of bottle opener, screw driver (flat and star) but it most usefully had a small button which switched on a tiny LED light. That light was so incredibly useful, being on the keyring it was always with me...

There is very little that can prepare you for the roads of Africa if you are overlanding, I’ve met seasoned overlanders who have been unpleasantly surprised and challenged by the roads I encountered. My best advice is … be prepared for anything and everything. Alongside that I would add that I would highly recommend you don’t attempt overlanding in some parts of Africa in the wet season, unless you are into mud and digging and probably a bit of a masochist. I opted for a 2WD vehicle because I couldn’t afford a 4x4 and I had the firm belief that...

At some stage once the structure of the internal build was done things started to move on at a better pace, or perhaps it was just that my muscles were better attuned and I was better skilled. There was the seating area, finishing the internal structure of the kitchen cabinet, installing the sink and water bottles, the secure storage areas and not to exclude the book shelves. Slowly I added some colour with plastic sticker tiles, my Africa map, the quotes and sayings that I like to have around, curtains were cut and sewn, cushion covers made and suddenly it...

September arrived and the days were slightly cooler and less crowded than they had been and I started to take early morning walks around to see some of the sites and visit markets (ever seeking bargains). It was also time to buy the panels for the sides and walls that we had been waiting for before getting on with building and then the panels of pine to build the structure framework. My nephew’s business had not ceased or let up during the summer months and he was soon to depart for South Africa so knowing it was pointless waiting for...

I had come to Barcelona to stay with my nephew who is a multi-talented man in the construction business. He has a workshop in the city where he has lived for 15+ years. I had come to build out the inside of BlueBelle into a home, my home on wheels that would make me independent and take me home to Zimbabwe on my drive through Africa. My nephew’s workshop was the ideal place to do this. Note that, like many in Barcelona, my nephew has made a living space in his workshop and there wasn’t really room for one more,...

Returning to Luxembourg was necessary to settle personal matters and put into play the registration for the non-profit I wanted to start for girl’s education as well as picking up the 35 boxes, chair, table and carpet I had left in storage in my friend’s garage. My intention to return to Africa is a one-way direction and without a location or destination at present in Zimbabwe it means that I have to either pay storage for my goods while I am away for an indeterminate period of time or reduce to a size where I can impose my things on...

Leaving the UK after living in a friend’s loft during a cold and wet winter (two of my favourite things ... not!) left me with dual feelings. Firstly I was glad to get out of the UK, one of the reasons I left 9 years previously is that there are so many people then there is the big brother controls which are everywhere (leaving you feeling safer but at the same time without any privacy), additionally now (with Brexit fever) ever more than before an unsettling feeling within the country of rising intolerance and strife and of course the weather....