My African Conquest: Cape to Cairo at 80

By (author): Julia Albu. At 80 years old, Julia Albu set off from Cape Town in her 1997 Toyota Conquest, driving solo through Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Egypt before continuing on through Europe to London, arriving in time for her 81st birthday. Her memoir recounts the journey with candour about the physical toll of overland travel in old age — she admits to hating camping, tents and communal showers — alongside the border crossings, breakdowns and encounters that shaped the ten-month trip. Albu died in 2021, aged 84.