After seven months of travel, you start to get tired of planning. Getting from point A to B becomes your job and sometimes you need a vacation from that. So at a travel agency in Cape Town, we took a huge risk and joined a 21 day safari camping trip.

It can be argued that driving yourself out into the desert plains of Namibia along sparsely-signed gravel highways is a much greater risk than joining a tour, but at least you're in control. On a tour, you're at the mercy of the company you end up with.

We rolled the dice, and lady luck was kind.