This is the final episode in Pete's series about his travel adventures in Africa. I hope everyone has enjoyed them as much as I have. The book is even better!

I’ve precariously canoed past watchful crocodiles and anxious hippo pods on Africa’s Zambezi River.

Mere feet separated me from a skittish Black Mamba, a snake so deadly its venom is 100% fatal to a bitten man within an hour.

Unpredictable elephants, always-opportunistic lions, and stealthy leopards demanded your full awareness when spotted in the African bush.

But as stress-filled as those truly memorable moments of my African journey were, nothing compared to the trials of group travel.

Don’t get me wrong-- signing on with a group travel tour, just as I had to visit southern Africa (and later Egypt and Jordan), is an effective way to navigate across a country while taking in its highlights. You not only eliminate the hassle of getting from Point A to Point B, but it’s generally much more cost effective than if you were to attempt it by yourself.

The challenge, though, arrives when your tour takes you through a less-developed country like Africa, where personal safety, and few diversions like museums and shopping, dictates the group spending time together for seemingly every waking moment. It is then that a strange, almost magical transformation occurs-- you stop acting like a group and start acting more like a dysfunctional, slightly manic family, filled with just enough underlying tension to drive one another crazy. In Africa, we fought over food, relaxed every ambition imaginable a little too much for comfort, and almost purposefully got on each other’s nerves. Though I can’t share all of the sordid details here, suffice to say I did start to wonder, after that whole experience, how any of us could once again function in normal, everyday society.

OK-- so I exaggerate a bit. Then why, you’re probably asking yourself, after my trying experience traveling with a group through Africa, did I participate in another such trip shortly afterwards through Egypt and Jordan? Because Africa taught me what I refer to as essential ‘mental survival strategies’ for group travel, essential to enjoying your trip and dealing with the sometimes difficult group mentality.

The following, then, are my 5 tips for mentally ‘surviving’ a group travel tour:

1. Grab alone time (when you can get it!). There’s nothing wrong with retreating to your tent or room for a little bit if you need a break. Don’t think that just because others always hang out that you are required to, also.

2. Protect that personal space! In Africa, the seat you grabbed on the truck that first day was yours for the next six weeks. It sounds crazy, but on group tours, your instinct is to protect all space in that immediate vicinity as your own, so you don’t feel too crowded and have room for your gear. Only remove gear from the truck that you need for that particular moment, using the rest as a personal space holder.

3. Stay connected with family and friends back home. Receiving an email, video chat, or just hearing the voice of a loved one has a way of bringing you back to reality, especially when you need a break from present company. And best of all, you can find an Internet café in even the most remote places in the world (though you may have to deal with a dial-up connection).

4. Zone out. Bring that music-loaded Ipod for those long road trips when you don’t want to spend another 4 hours (again) talking to your seat mate. Or be really devious and only pretend you’ve fallen asleep.

5. Go with the flow. Will the group annoy you at times? Absolutely! So expect that you may not get along with everyone, and accept that you’re personal freedom may seem compromised from the outset as you (often) follow rigid schedules and full days to take in all the sites. A mantra may help, too. Whenever I wanted to strangle someone, I took a deep breath and repeated to myself you’re on vacation…you’re on vacation. It usually did the trick.

Hopefully, after reading this you aren’t scared off if you were considering signing on with a group tour in a less-developed part of the world. Following my own advice on my Egypt and Jordan trip proved extremely helpful, so I’m confident, if you have any such concerns, these same strategies can work for you, too.

This is third in our series from traveller and author Pete Mandra. If you're planning a trip to Africa, you might want to take a look at the first two posts, here and here. Today Pete is being very practical for us:

I like to think of guided overland travel through Africa-- where you travel with a group from Point A to Point B in a customized vehicle-- as a rustic (sometimes VERY rustic) take on an all-inclusive vacation.

Exploring South Africa to Kenya? Nothing for you to do but sit back and enjoy the scenery. Need overnight accommodations? Typically included in the cost of your tour package, along with meals and some attraction entry fees.

Using the Web to find a list of Africa-based overland tour operators is never a problem. But finding the best fit for you personally, as operators and packages vary wildly-- is the challenge. So if you’re considering such a trip, I offer the following related advice, based on my personal experience:

• Follow the leader. When I first signed on for my overland trip, I naively imagined my tour truck situated in the middle of nowhere, solitarily navigating across the vast expanse of Africa by its lonesome. The reality? Not so much. In truth, my route (South Africa to Kenya) is wildly popular and followed by many similar tour groups, all stopping at the same locations to take in the same sights. Do your research, but know that with few exceptions, most itineraries along major routes are essentially the same.

• Comfort is king (or not…) The biggest difference between overland tour operators? Level of comfort, which naturally directly impacts overall price. Remember how I described overland travel as a ‘rustic take on an all-inclusive vacation’? It didn’t get much more rustic for me, spending most nights in a tent (with the opportunity to upgrade indoors to a hostel bed about once a week). I didn’t mind it too much, but took some pity on the elderly Canadian couple traveling with me who experienced the same (the hard ground did nothing for the old guy’s back!) Conversely, other tour operators treat their groups to warm beds every night. The lesson? When you factor price into your decision, keep in mind your desired level of comfort. That dirt ground can feel pretty hard after a few weeks…

• Not all meals are created equally. Ever heard of a TLC sandwich? I didn’t either, before overlanding through Africa, but the Tomato-Lettuce-and-Cheese sandwich quickly became THE (largely unsatisfying) lunch staple of my trip. No matter the operator, meal choices will be limited, but like choosing your level of comfort, meal treatment also varies widely. On our trip, the guides provided staples for simple, self catering breakfasts (bread, cereal, fruit) and lunches (the ‘glorious’ TLC sandwich, along with the occasional tin of sardines). Dinner was slightly different-- cooked by the guides and limited to pastas, hamburgers, and local fare like pap, a traditional maize-based porridge. Though it was nice to be cooked for, we’d often not eat until well into the night, after the guides performed all of their tasks to prepare for the next day on the road.

Though I believe other tour operators handled breakfast and lunch similarly, one group put a very interesting spin on dinner, where travelers partnered up and cooked dinner for the entire group on a given night, purchasing more premium ingredients from local markets with a collected ‘food kitty.’ So do you prefer being cooked for, or a little more variety to your meals? Again, just something to be aware of so you can make the decision that’s best for you.

• Know what’s NOT included (and bring enough money for it!) Snacks during those long truck rides and special excursion ‘add-ons’ (like helicopter rides over Victoria Falls, or special game preserve drives in the wee hours of the morning, when animals are most active) are typically not included in package pricing, so make sure you bring enough money to splurge when you feel like it. Many tourist ‘hubs’ exist throughout Africa that offer everything from hot air ballooning to ATV driving to bungee jumping-- the more commercial an area is (like Victoria Falls, for example), the more choices you will have-- and the more you will pay. My personal advice? Always opt for a game drive at dawn for the best animal viewing. And for the best soft drink on the planet, pick up a bottle of Stoney Tangawizi, a crisp and refreshing ginger ale I would love to see available in the States!

• Don’t arrive empty-handed. This last piece of advice is not so much specific to overland travel, but don’t overlook the power of barter-- it almost always gets you a better deal on that souvenir you are bargaining for. What you barter with doesn’t have to be anything special, but I find that sports team merchandise like logo-branded shirts do best (plus they can usually be had for cheap and are easy to pack!) Or better yet, bring some pencils and pens for gifting to young children, who may not have access to adequate school supplies, to spread some goodwill and joy along your travels.

camping next to a termite mound

This is the second in a series of posts intrepid traveler and novelist Pete Mandra is doing for us. In way of a little background, Pete began his writing career freelancing for various Chicagoland publications before settling in as a news reporter at the famed City News Bureau, where covering breaking crime news proved the perfect compliment to the dark sense of humor you see so fully developed in Overland. Always more of a homebody who had only left the country once for a stay in the Bahamas, Pete's world turned upside when he met his future wife, Jessica in 2000, who shared with him her infectious spirit of travel and adventure. In short order, the two left their corporate jobs, cashed in their savings and gave up their apartment to backpack around the world, including Africa, the Middle East, Alaska and Europe.

-by Pete Mandra

As a travel destination, the African continent offers much in terms of thrilling excitement, though taking certain medical precautions is an absolute must. Spotting a pride of lions stealthily creeping through the savanna grassland? Absolutely exhilarating. Needing medical attention after contracting an unusual parasite or virus? Not so much.

After participating myself in a six-week tour through Africa, I offer the following medical advice to anyone considering a similar trip through Africa, with the goal of making your experience as memorable as mine with as little health-related stress as possible. My advice is not designed to scare-- only to encourage you to use common sense. And if you happen to be the ‘paranoid’ type, the one who relies on the internet to diagnose their ever-changing ‘life threatening’ symptoms? Take a deep breath and read on. Calmly.

Prior to your trip, seek out a travel clinic for necessary vaccines. By law, you are only required to be vaccinated for Yellow Fever before entering many African countries. However, if you visit a travel clinic (usually affiliated with major hospitals), a medical practioner will review your itinerary and advise you on other potential medical risks and recommend additional vaccines when appropriate.

Malaria medication-- choose wisely. In most cases, you will be prescribed antimalarial medication, which vary greatly in terms of side-effects and dosage requirements (some, like Lariam, require taking once a week, while some, like Doxycycline, require daily dosing). Based on your medical history, you may be allowed to select your medication preference. Results vary, but my own experience with the drug Lariam made me wish I had opted for an alternative. With potential side effects of eliciting strange dreams and hallucinations, Lariam did not disappoint-- many nights I’d wake up from a sound sleep inside our tent convinced it was moving!

A water filter can be your best friend. Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharziasis, is a snail-transmitted, water-borne parasite found in sub-Saharan African fresh water (lakes and rivers) with severe consequences of infection, including bladder cancer and renal failure. So imagine my dismay, on my group tour, when the guide created a lunchtime fruit drink by dunking the empty pitcher into Namibia’s Orange River, the ideal habitat! Additionally, other parasites also exist in African fresh water that do not play very nicely with ‘Western’ immune systems.

Though filtering drinking water is a personal choice (my wife and I were the only ones on the group tour who brought one), I had peace of mind in doing so (though filtering enough water every night for the following day got old in a hurry). It’s also very hard to resist the temptation to dunk yourself in a stunning, African lake to cool off on a hot afternoon, but that, too, increases your risk.

I can’t link drinking filtered water with my staying healthy my entire six weeks in Africa, but I did learn post-trip that some of my fellow travelers ended up being treated for a variety of symptoms later on.

If you need medical attention, beware of ‘local’ cures. Lastly, in terms of medical advice, if you aren’t feeling well during your Africa adventure, be wary of any ‘cures’ offered by the locals to treat your symptoms. Though well-meaning, such ‘cures’ can lead to more issues. For example, during my group trip, a woman unable to have a ‘movement’ for several days (!) took the advice of a local man and consumed a strange root rather than seeking the immediate medical attention she should have. The result? The root made her nauseous, even more miserable, and did nothing to avoid her being air lifted to the nearest hospital to remove the intestinal blockage.

So there you have it-- some practical medical advice for your trip to Africa. It’s hard and stressful enough trekking through the rugged Africa terrain-- anything you can do from a health-related perspective will make life that much easier.

Pete Mandra is an experienced Africa traveler. He's the author of the humorous novel describing a real life, 6-week overland tour through Africa-- Overland. Here's the first of a series of posts he's agreed to do for us about his adventures:

The day my future wife Jessica and I had finally arrived in Cape Town, South Africa will forever be burned into my mind.

Cape Town is a city of contrasts, contrasts that appeared even sharper after our brutal flights to get there (14 hours in the air, from Chicago to Amsterdam to Johannesburg to (finally!) Cape Town). I see shanty-type huts, constructed from wood and sheet metal, crowding the main road, eventually giving way to the pristine, gated communities of those better off. Pollution and trash exist here as in any other city, yet seem markedly out of place as Table Mountain towers overhead, glowing in the setting red Africa sun.

We visited Africa, which led to the inspiration behind my book Overland, to get a taste of adventure and to see this beautiful continent for ourselves. In a way, Jessica and I were a contrast as well-- at a time in our lives when most couples are worrying about what school to send baby Timmy to, we were ending our apartment lease, cashing in our savings and quitting our jobs (since US firms NEVER give you enough time off!) to see the world.

Our plan was simple-- we had given ourselves three full days to explore Cape Town before meeting up with our tour group-- a full, six-week overland junket that would take us and an entire truckload of strangers from South Africa to Nairobi, Kenya and all points in-between. And as a launching point for our Africa odyssey, Cape Town proved perfect, a mix of majestic beauty, soaring landscapes and proud people.

Table Mountain? Magical (though take a cab back to your hotel, if you plan on hiking it!) Looking out from Cape Point, you can imagine how it earned its deserved reputation as the ‘point of no return’ for many a sailor. In the Cape Town area, I also had my first African wildlife experiences-- first spotting the playful Jackass Penguins near Port Elizabeth (again-- more contrasts!), and then foolishly slowing the car when I spied some baboons who interpreted my actions as a lunch delivery.

But as much as I loved Cape Town-- and I am very looking forward to returning one day-- I am very grateful that we didn’t decide to make it our only stop on the African continent. Africa is a very rich, very diverse land that can’t be represented by a single country within its geographical space, as we quickly found out as we moved through Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya. One would not visit Greece thinking they’ve seen all of Europe-- South Africa is much the same way.

For strictly selfish reasons, though, I am certain staying put in Cape Town would not have afforded me the material for Overland, as the book, which I describe as ‘Bill Bryson meets Generation X’, is as much of a celebration of traveling through Africa as it is the trials of ‘joys’ of group travel. Travelling through a constantly churning continent like Africa will provide its share of anxiety from time to time. Throw a group of strangers into the mix, each one stranger than the next, and THEN you’ve got something...