Safari fare

Standard safari food, Kenya.

What happens when . . .

 . . . you park your Hilux near a bunch of Maasai kids.

In Olkirimatian, in Kenya's South Rift Valley.

Working for a living

 

I’ve always thought my 1973 FJ40 lived a vigorous working life in the three times I’ve turned over its odometer. It’s pulled sailboats, loads of premixed concrete, and, once, a 12,000-pound mobile home absurdly beyond Toyota’s published tow rating. It’s yanked and winched out stuck vehicles heavier than its two tons. It had over 200,000 miles on it when I started a guiding business, leading clients to remote beaches in Mexico for sea kayaking trips, hauling a trailer filled with boats, kit, food, and water for up to six people (not once did it fail). And for much of the time I’ve owned it our “driveways” have been anywhere from seven to ten miles of high-clearance dirt road. 

However, that FJ40 is a pampered garage queen compared to the average Land Cruiser or Land Rover used on field-research projects in the African bush. 

Most safari lodges and tour companies use their vehicles hard, but replace or at least refurbish them fairly regularly. Big NGOs and the UN seem to buy all-new fleets of white Troopies about every three months. 

But then there are the hundreds of underfunded biologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists living in tented camps scattered around the continent, each struggling to stay in operation while doing the kind of field work essential to our understanding of the world. They scramble for grant money and make every penny or shilling count. 

The vehicles on which these researchers depend are usually the cast-offs of tour operators who’ve decided they’re not worth fixing. They’re then expected to go right back to work and operate day in and day out in the worst conditions. Repair shops can be days away, new spares are often unavailable, or unaffordable thanks to usurious import duties. Repairs are made with whatever is at hand—or simply not made at all unless the problem actually stops the vehicle in its tracks. Lastly, while the researchers themselves are sometimes sympathetic to the vehicle and at least try to drive conservatively, this rarely applies to their field assistants and staff, who simply have never been taught proper technique. Oh, and might I add that the tool selection available at most of these camps is, um, minimal? I asked at one and was shown, not making this up, two rounded-off standard screwdrivers of exactly the same size, and a pipe wrench. 

Last week we spent several days in the Laikipia region of Kenya at the camp of a friend, Dr. Shirley Strum, who has been studying baboons for 40 years (see National Geographic magazine, November 1987). Her 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser Troopie is a testament to the fortitude of Toyota’s premier working vehicle.

The non-turbo 2H diesel is as basic and reliable as an engine gets. Its real mileage is unknown and utterly irrelevant, although the odometer is working at the moment. The six-cylinder 2H diesel (a minor update of the early 70s H, itself a minor update of who knows what) starts from cold after three or four cycles of the glow plugs, but pulls bravely through the four-speed transmission with whatever is left of its original 103 horsepower. Tires are a smattering of brands on the split-rim wheels. The horn honks gratuitously when the wheel is turned to a certain angle—which invariably occurs just as one is easing past a nervous herd of elephants or a crowd on a village corner. Brakes? Present, but not paying much attention—a slowly sinking pedal indicates a master cylinder on its last legs, and stopping power in reverse just isn’t there, making failed hill climbs an invigorating experience.

The Land Cruiser's interior hasn't seen a detailer in, well, forever.

But a few mechanical issues are nothing to this Land Cruiser. From the driver’s seat I noticed the inside sheet metal above the doors looked creased and crumpled. It developed that a staff member driving back to camp from Nanyuki took a turn off the tarmac on to dirt a bit too fast, and rolled the vehicle through a full 360 degrees. A Nairobi body shop was enlisted to simply straighten the exterior and give it a fast respray, after which it went right back into service.

Severely rumpled interior sheet metal is a clue to the Troopie's travails. The Troopie’s companion at Chololo is an early 80s short-wheelbase Mercedes G-Wagen, which belongs to the current camp manager, David Mascall. It’s led as hard a life as the Toyota (minus the roll), but showed its still-rattle-free build quality when David took us to photograph an experimental lighting system designed to deter lions from breaking into bomas. Some time ago the G’s original underpowered four-pot expired, and David managed to bodge in a used non-turbo five-cylinder Mercedes diesel with exactly zero access to proper mounts or ancillaries. The intake system now comprises some PVC piping and . . . plywood? Yes. But it starts and runs perfectly.

A Mercedes engineer's nightmare - but it works. Any British MOT inspector would fall over laughing at the sight of these two vehicles. Yet I wouldn’t hesitate to head for Cape Town in either one. Somehow, you just know you’d get there.

 

Tom Sheppard's new vehicle . . .

. . . is a Jeep.

Those who are familiar with Tom's many significant expeditions into the Sahara (including the first west-to-east crossing from the Atlantic to the Red Sea), and his subsequent articles and books (especially the seminal Vehicle Dependent Expedition Guide), will remember his Land Rovers and more recent Mercedes G-Wagen. Tom sold the G-Wagen when it appeared he might not be able to return to his beloved Algeria; but recent developments have rekindled hope. So this time around he decided to try a Jeep Wrangler.

The vehicle is a short-wheelbase model - another departure for Sheppard - but is of course equipped with the fine 2.8 VM turbodiesel, and an automatic transmission - interestingly, the same transmission fitted to the Mercedes, and the praises of which he sings highly. When we visited him this week (and attempted vainly to keep up on a brisk five-mile walk to nearby Hitchin), he showed us the modifications he's done so far, all of which are oriented toward Tom's preferred method of travel: solo vehicle, solo driver, with off-tracks sections sometimes hundreds of miles in extent.

Obviously the requires meticulous preparation and calculations in a landscape as remote as the Algerian Sahara. I'll be reporting in depth on some of the changes to the Jeep as soon as we're back from Kenya.  

 With the passenger seat removed, Tom gains storage space - and the floor is now long enough to sleep on if necessary.

iPhone LifeProof Case, part 1

For more and more people, our phones are not just devices with which to phone home, they are also our primary GPS, pocket camera, video recorder, notepad, music player, book reader, dictionary, translation tool, and complete mobile office. In fact, I am writing this review on my iPhone 4S.

With so much at stake, especially while traveling, protection is key. Not only are these pricey electronic gadgets averse to water and fearful of heights (i.e. made from slabs of glass), they are for the most part uninsurable.

At the Outdoor Retailer show in August I selected a few of the newest crop of rugged iPhone cases to test during our trip to the UK and Kenya. Plenty of rain in one place and dust in the other; I figured on some perfect testing conditions.

First up is the LifeProof Case ($80, Lifeproof.com). I found it highly attractive because it is not only fully waterproof to 2 meters, totally dustproof, and shockproof to 2 meters (full MIL-STD-810F-516.5 = 2 meters/6.6ft drop on all surfaces and edges), it is so streamlined it hardly changes the profile of the phone. It adds 1.5mm to each side and weighs less than an ounce (28g).

But wait there's more: the covers for the camera lenses are double AR-coated optical glass and the speaker covers are gas-permeable waterproof membranes (I believe Gore-Tex but I haven't been able to verify that while on the road).

So here are the first impressions.

- Passed the "at-home" wateproof test as specified in the instructions (to seal, sans iPhone, and submerge in water, weighted, for at least an hour)

During (above) and after (below) the dunk test. No water in the case or at the gaskets.

- The fittings snap together very tightly. Unlike the Otterbox case, they actually are very tough to put together and the company includes a long list of "must-do" actions to ensure the case is sealed properly. While fussy at first, you soon realize it's serious protection for an expensive gadget. However, after sealing in my iPhone 4S, the first thing I noticed was that the screen protector was warped and stood proud of the screen by about 1mm or more. This made it nearly impossible to use as anything but just a "hello" phone. Texting or manipulating photos (which I do a lot) was just silly—the fingers don't meet the screen and there is no contact, so nothing happens.

I searched forums and found this to be an intermitent problem, so after a call to the rep the company agreed to send a new one. This one fit very, very snugly and the screen protector very close (if not 100%) to the screen, so I found it easy to use, if not perfect. The Otterbox fits flat to the screen with no warping, but it's not 100% waterproof to 2m.

Extensive instructions and warnings accompany the LifeProof case.

- The only charger you can use is the factory Apple charger / cord. My spiffy retractable cord won't work with it, nor will it work with my Griffin iTrip.

- To use headphones you must use the adaptor (so it seals) or use Bluetooth.

After 10 days on the road taking photos, posting on Flickr (see Flickr.com/photos/conserventures), Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and here, I can say I really like this case. However, I admit to an unfair gripe. The replacement test model came in blue rather than the original (and my favorite) black. I hate blue. I just do. There's no logic. So when our friend Duncan in Scotland admired the blue case, and showed me his new black LifeProof case, I jumped at the chance to switch. Interestingly, the black case does not fit as well as that blue one, but it fits better than the first one I had. So lesson is: you might have to try multiple models to get the best fit.

So far the screen has not scratched. I have not dropped it, but I've used it in foggy spitting rain in Scotland, and it sat in a wet pocket for most of a half-day walk round a village. I noticed a little bit of fogging when we went from cold/wet to warm environments but it cleared quickly.

Next up: we're flying to Kenya, where we will fully test the LifeProof in the dusty, dry Rift Valley.

Special report: Adventure Overland UK Show

Those of us in the U.S. overlanding world have always assumed that our English counterparts were well ahead of us. They invented the Land Rover, after all (not to mention those awesome MOD water cans with the little brass chains to secure the cap and breather). And they can take the Chunnel to Calais, turn right, and be in Morocco in about 24 hours, or continue straight on to the Silk Road. Plus, South Africa—which was of course a British colony for ages—is the source for much of the premier overlanding equipment on the market, from such stellar names as Howling Moon, Front Runner, Eezi-Awn, National Luna, and a host of others. 

It seems, though, that while the English did get a head start on us Yanks in terms of access to proper equipment, their overland community has until now lacked any sort of real cohesion. Four-wheel-drive shows have tended to focus on hard-core abandoned-quarry rigs, the corollary to rock-crawlers here. The venerable Horizons Unlimited meets were dominated by motorcycles.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Overland Expo—which will celebrate its fifth anniversary in 2013—has brought together an extended overlanding family that now views each year as much a reunion and a chance to catch up on each other’s news as an educational and product show. (And our number one source of foreign attendees? Great Britain, of course.) 

That’s at least partly why Tom McGuigan, who owns Off Road UK and has promoted several other vehicle-related shows in Great Britain, decided to put together the Adventure Overland Show, an overland-specific event in Daventry, a few hours northwest of London. He generously invited Roseann and me to attend, and put us up in a tent at least as big as our cottage at home—it could have effortlessly doubled as a garage for one of the dozens of nearby Defenders. [And Tom's partner Shiela made sure we had extra comforters and pillows against the cold—much appreciated.]

[SEE OUR COMPLETE PHOTO SET ON OUR FLICKR ACCOUNT, CLICK HERE.]

We felt right at home situated between Overland Expo regulars Austin Vince and Lois Pryce on one side and Toby Savage on the other. Just behind us was Jens of Wohnkabinencentr.de, who is importing Four Wheel Campers into Europe, modified slightly in interior decor and names (the Wildcat is the Fleet in North America).

Not far away was another friend and Expo alumnus, Chris Scott, who’d borrowed a car to bring boxes of his latest Overlander’s Handbook, samples of which were laid out on—could that really be?—yes, an ironing board wrapped in a bit of colorful cloth. Chris, we know you’re skint, but . . .  

If what we saw in this first event is any indication, the Adventure Overland Show has a bright future. There were dozens of vehicles set up for long-distance travel, vendors of equipment (including those MOD water cans—tragically no room in our Kenya-bound luggage), tour companies (including Transylvania Tours, whose logo is—what else—a smiling cartoon Bella Lugosi with fangs), and, set off in a corner, a booth for the Parrot Rescue Association (no idea, but a worthy endeavor). One delightfully British genre is the bushcraft community; there were several vendors of volcano kettles and proper scandi-grind knives, and a spot where kids of any age could learn how to use flint (well, okay, magnesium) and steel to start a fire.

Much on offer at the Adventure Overland Show was identical to what we see at the Overland Expo, happy confirmation that dedicated overlanding equipment has made a nearly complete transition to U.S. suppliers—in fact I’d venture to say we might just be edging ahead in terms of variety. But there was some interesting exotic kit. Did I mention the MOD water cans? Right.

Long-distance travelers wanting a compact home on a Land Rover chassis could look at the L’Azalai campers. Built of a 20-millimeter-thick composite, the L’azalai fits either the 110 or 130 Defenders, and incorporates a complete galley with sink, stove, and fridge, a dinette, a hanging closet, and a large bed. Since it’s chassis-mounted, there’s even a (tight) pass-through into the cab. The L’Azalai just manages to avoid the Queen Alien look of so many add-on campers; especially on the 130 chassis.

David Bowyer of Goodwinch claims to have taken the Chinese-manufactured winch to a higher level, with better waterproofing, stronger motors, and cone brakes that eliminate the overheated line that can be caused by a drum brake. He’s one of the few—no, strike that, he’s the only winch importer I’ve seen happy to display the internals of his Asian-made winches.

If I had to pick a favorite product at the Adventure Overland Show, it would be the Cap Lander camper made for Defenders and Japanese pickups. Constructed of a honeycomb composite that’s not only light and rigid, but also insulative and partially translucent to brighten the interior, the slide-in unit comprises an astonishingly space-efficient portable home—bed, sink, shower, stove, porta-potti, etc.—in a 600-pound package. Look for a more in-depth review of the Cap Lander soon in Overland Tech and Travel.

[SEE OUR COMPLETE PHOTO SET ON OUR FLICKR ACCOUNT, CLICK HERE.]

Overall, Tom McGuigan did a wonderful job bringing together the British overland community in this first event. We wish him all the best in the future, and we look foward to being at the Adventure Overland Show 2013 in an even greater capacity. 

[We also just heard from Iain Harper that HUBBUK will be hosting an expanded show in late May 2013 in Leicestershire, incorporating more 4x4 overlanding as well—great to hear!]