Eco-African Dream

I was chatting online to a friend yesterday, who is off to the Zambezi valley in June. No jolly fair... Between that and running into those overland vehicles in traffic recently, I've restarted my wild daydreams. Yup, that "take off through Africa" thing. Again.

Unfortunately, this time round my kid is totally non-enthusiastic. But I'm hoping to "cure" him with a camping trip or adventure holiday near the end of the year, once it's safe to sleep outdoors without freezing.

Then this morning's e-news says petrol's going up again. Like WAY up. And, being who I am, I got thinking...

I've been going on about using traditional means to cross the continent - a petrol or diesel Landy, which requires long-range tanks and regular juice-ups.

BUT...

What if I could combine my itchy feet with my treehugger tendancies? What if I could find a way to convert an offroad vehicle into one that runs mostly on solar or electric power? Granted, there may not be many places to plug into a baobab to recharge.. but what if it used a combination of various fuel sources, and could switch between them when necessary?

Like this New Zealand bloke who runs a vehicle on water and a splash of petrol? Or any one of the myriad other options? Sure, solar cars are no speedsters, but which offroad vehicles actually speed along?

You know, I'll bet that if I got some strange hybrid vehicle going for an extra-long trip through Africa, I'd garner a bit of sponsorship to cover the costs.

Thinking. Brain steaming... :) It could actually work!

(cross-posted to the much-neglected Africa Trek blog)

::update::
I may have found my Landy...