Egypt was our 25th and final country in Africa. We arrived at the Wadi Halfa border to cross from Sudan into Egypt on the 14th November. We arrived with supplies because this time we knew for sure that we could be camping at the border.

It was by no means a secret to anyone that the thought of entering Sudan both excited Stu and made Janell quite uneasy. And even she would be the first to admit that there was no reasonable explanation for this feeling, other than a link to the war torn country of South Sudan. Stu had deployed for 6 months to South Sudan on a peacekeeping mission during his service in the Royal Australian Navy. As is so often the case on this adventure we were both surprised and delighted by what we saw and who we met. We left Sudan with a genuine fondness for the desert country and a hope to one day return.

Ethiopia proved to be unique amongst african nations from the get go. At the border crossing we were invited to have tea with the officials while they worked out how to import our bikes without us having a Carnet. The process was easy in the end, they just completed a customs declaration form, which included all our electronics (phones, laptops etc.) and added the bikes to this. There was no fee, we just had to show the items on the way out in order to get our passport exit stamp.

Uganda was the only country in Africa that we had both travelled to before The Pack Track. In February 2013 we spent a few days in Kampala, squeezing in a one day safari, before heading off on a cruise of the Canary Islands. Riding our motorbikes across the border and onto Ugandan territory felt poles apart from this past memory. How easy it is to fly in and out of a place, stay in a resort and then boast of having been there. If any country put our overland travels into perspective, to appreciate just how far away from Australia we were, it was Uganda.

The Rusumo One Stop Border Post Customs and Immigration as the name suggests, is a one-stop border crossing from Tanzania to Rwanda. This particular border crossing was mostly uneventful, but they did ask for the permit to bring live animals into Rwanda. We weren't aware of such a requirement, this was the first time anything like this had come up since the Southern African Customs Union. The customs official told us that he'd let us through this time but in future we were to visit the Department of Agriculture website and register with e-rabis. It would probably be unlikely that there would be a next time but we took note anyway.

We crossed from Zimbabwe on the seventh of August and no sooner were we in Zambia and Janells beloved GS was on a truck again, 250km to Lusaka where we could get assistance and parts. It was actually Stu who had broken down this time and after a few hours of tinkering on the roadside he discovered his fuel injector was broken. We decided to swap injectors around on the bikes and see if we could at least get to Lusaka. We probably got another 20km and then Janell's bike stopped (with Stu's faulty injector). Our travel angel sent us Matias. Matias saw that we had broken down and pulled over to see if he could be of assistance. He was returning from dropping off produce to a supermarket near the Zimbabwe border and his truck was empty, he quickly suggested that we load the bike into his truck and he take it to Lusaka where we'd find someone to make the repairs. A group of local guys helped us load the bike. Stu followed behind the truck with the dogs on board and late that night we arr...

We had honestly intended to spend more time in Botswana but looking at the map we noticed that we'd be crossing National Parks if we crossed too late. We thought it would be unlikely we'd be allowed to cross with dogs. We also felt that we weren't going to anything particularly new staying in Botswana and so we after only one night we decided to forfeit our 30 day vehicle tax and head for the border. We knew that there would be difficulties getting fuel in Zimbabwe so we filled all of our tanks, including the Touratech long range tanks which would mean that we'd easily make it to Zambia before needing fuel again.

We'd had issues entering South Africa from Namibia due to the dogs, but it was easy enough to overcome. What was needed was an animal import permit. Once issued this document could be used to import an animal into any of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries and was valid for 30 days.

We spent two fantastic months in South Africa. But it almost didn't happen, sorting out paperwork problems for the dogs took us three attempts to cross from Namibia into South Africa. Tensions were high for two very important reasons. Firstly, we'd sent Janell's motorbike ahead to Pretoria after its breakdown in northern Namibia. And secondly, Janell's mother (Pauline) was flying into Cape Town on 11 June to spend 5 weeks travelling with us. So we needed to cross into South Africa one way or another.

The Republic of Namibia reminded us of central Australia. There is so much untouched country, desert left to the animals that can survive there. It was the first time in Africa we really felt remote, away from people and infrastructure. Namibia is a large country but with only a small population of 3 million yet it's in a better economic situation than its northern neighbour Angola. I think what we enjoyed so much was the 'western' luxuries in towns and cities but then being able to leave those behind to be in the wild. The best of both worlds. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Namibia, even with the breakdowns we experienced.