Been at work with the calculator tonight to get some top line/ballpark figures. We have tried not to ‘go low’ in order to get some realistic comparisons…
Daily costs (food, accommodation, fuel) for 8/12 between £13000 (@ $80 per day) and £20000 (@ £80 per day)
Visas £700
Shipping £4000 (one way)
Flights £1400 (one way two people)
Travel Insurance £900
Carnet inc Egypt a whopping £128000 to self indemnify!! (800% of vehicle’s listed value based upon £16000)
An Insurance bond (as an alternative) would be 10% = £12800 with 50% refunded on return (not inc 5% insurance tax)
The Carnet and Egypt is a conundrum. Currently it’s the only way through (although there are some reports of people travelling up managing to get a Saudi transit visa – it is doubtful this could be relied upon at this time). If you could avoid Egypt, the Carnet would be nearer 200%of the vehicles value
I.E. £32000 self indemnity – £3200 for indemnity by insurance with 50% refundable. Quite a difference compared with including Egypt on the itinerary I’m sure you’ll agree.
So trip costs (on top of our significant outlay and commitment to date)
1 way shipping (£4000) and Carnet inc Egypt (£13000) +Daily living (£20000 8mths @ £80 day) + Visas (£700) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights one way £1400) = £40000
1 way shipping (£4000) and Carnet inc Egypt (£13000) +Daily living (£13000 8mths @ $80 day) + Visas (£700) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights one way £1400) = £33000
2 way shipping (£8000) and Carnet exc Egypt (£3200) +Daily living (£20000 8mths @ £80 per day) + Visas (£600) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights two way £2800) = £35500
2 way shipping (£8000) and Carnet exc Egypt (£3200) +Daily living (£13000 8mths @ $80 per day) + Visas (£600) + Travel Ins (£900) + Flights two way £2800) = £28550
Drive both ways Carnet inc Egypt =
8mths @ £80 per day = £32400 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £900= £34700
8mths @ $80 per day = £25900 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £900= £28200
10mths* @ £80 per day = £ 37333 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £1000 = £39733
10mths* @ $80 per day = £29100 + £1400 visas + Travel Ins £1000 = £31400
* 10 months allows for extended travel time if necessary [although this would increase costs attributable for us being on sabbatical coupled with maintaining the house in the UK]. NB We have doubled the Visa costs notwithstanding some countries issue double-entry visas – it is quite possible that extra third party insurance will more than outweigh any such ‘saving’.
We haven’t factored in spares and other sundries into these figures.
So to sum-up we need at least £30000 for the trip; additionally we need to cover our ‘domicile costs’ – mortgage etc.
We currently have about half that covered.
It may be we need to delay departure to save the balance and depreciate the vehicle base value for the Carnet.
There may be scope for fundraising and sponsorship. Although this is a challenge in the current clime. EG There is a ‘no cost/some risk’ option if a sponsor could ‘Self Indemnify’ the Carnet Cost on the assumption that we will bring the vehicle back and discharge the Carnet properly (as is our obvious intent!)
I think we need to
Commit to buying the Tracks for Africa (T4A) download to better calculate driving times etc to see whether we can cram more into less – without missing the point by becoming ‘whistle-stop’!
Research current daily spend/budgets of current overland trips (IE from the figures above £53 ($80)/day vs £80/day equates to £7k)
Develop a plan/info as to what we could offer any potential sponsors (on top of the usual logo display on the website and the vehicle etc)
Of course one thing we can be sure of – costs tend to go up – not down! (Inflation and underestimation being the prime villains.)
No one said it was going to be easy.