Twilight Zone: We Can’t Leave Cape Town (Video)

This is the story of finally reuniting with our Jeep in Africa, despite delays and unexpected costs. We thought our adventure was about to begin, as soon as we got some shop time out of the way. We had no idea that three weeks later, we’d still be in Cape Town.

Despite the setbacks and disappointments, we leaned into everything we were gaining in the process: new friends, a better-prepared home, and a deeper appreciation for the flexibility Africa wants to teach us.

Watch now:

What happened at the port?

We didn’t go into all the details in the video, so I thought I’d outline what we know/what we learned through the difficult process of getting our Jeep out of the port.

1. Unlike in Panama after the Darién Gap shipping, we did not need to go to the port to get the Jeep. Our agent at African Overlanders picked up the Jeep with his team.
2. Unlike in Panama, we were not there when the seal was broken on our container and the vehicle was taken out of the container.
3. Though we asked for information and details several times, no one ever told us #1 or #2. It turns out that African Overlanders usually has owners arrive a couple of weeks after their vehicle is due in port. That way the vehicle can be imported and everything can be tidied up without running down the owners’ visas, or causing a rush.
4. Dauntless was shipped in a 40-foot container, but we didn’t have a container buddy. So he should’ve gone in a 20-foot container. That would’ve been less expensive for us on the Africa side, and I assume on the Uruguay side.
5. We don’t know this for sure, but according to African Overlanders, Maersk is better for shipping private overland vehicles into Cape Town than Hapag. Hapag was our line. Again, we’re just repeating what we heard, but apparently Hapag did not know what to do with our private, foreign vehicle on a carnet. We’re not sure of all the decisions made by Hapag and customs, but we know the Jeep took a week to get out of port, and we know we had to pay almost $1,000 in detention fees.
6. We were not clear on what all would be due here in Cape Town. We’ve heard of this happening to other people, but we didn’t think it would happen to us. When we first received our shipping quote, we thought it included the whole shipping. But it really only included the Uruguay side, not the South Africa side.

This is not about pointing fingers or assigning blame. Hopefully you see we aren’t calling anyone out in a negative way. But we do want to share our mistakes, so others can learn from them. These are the top things we wish we had asked:

1. Can I get a container buddy? This allows you to split all shipping costs.
2. What is the smallest container I can fit in to reduce costs?
3. What is the total amount owed for the complete shipping process–due on both sides?

In the end, even if you do everything right, things can still go sideways. We didn’t pay the detention fees because we did anything wrong…it just happened.

Shop work in Cape Town

We’ve been planning our shop work since last March. We highly recommend Maniac 4×4 for Jeep mechanical work and habitat work. We include our full list of work in the video, but it included installing electronic componentry, getting new tires, and dropping our main fuel tank to fix a leak that dated back to Tulum, Mexico!

The Alu-Cab Fitment Center did a great job replacing a few worn-down parts, performing an inspection, and reinforcing our habitat. Five years of innovation and knowledge have caused them to create campers differently than they used to. They used that gained knowledge to make our habitat stronger for the road ahead.

Other resources

The best Africa resource we can offer is Paul Marsh 4×4. He is the one who helped us research tire availability, connected us with Maniac 4×4, sent us a vehicle insurance contact, and answered every other question we had. His consultation services are priceless. Beyond consultation, Paul also offers vehicle design, project management for builds, and 4×4 training. If you don’t know who Paul is, then we highly recommend his interview on Overland Journal Podcast.

Jeep enthusiasts should check out Jeep Club South Africa. It’s the only Jeep club in South Africa that officially partners with Stellantis. We had such fun going on the first Jeep run of our drive around the world so far. Everyone was welcoming, friendly, and curious. It was a privilege to spend a morning with Jeep Club South Africa’s members and give them a tour of our home.

Our new (placeholder?) Instagram

Please follow us at @hourless_life on Instagram. As of this writing, our 9-year-old account @hourlesslife is under review. We hope to have it returned, but we don’t know what will happen. It would really encourage us to see you on the new account, if Instagram is somewhere where you spend time. Thank you.

Will we ever leave Cape Town?

This has been a genuinely challenging chapter for our family, which should be clear in the video. We can feel ourselves being stretched, and we have a choice whether to retreat and fuss, or embrace the way that stretching leaves one sore.

We are embracing it. There have been tears, hard conversations, and even despair at times. But guys, we’re driving through Africa. It is so, so good to be here. We are still excited for the road ahead. We hope to share it with you in our next video.

-B