1 Meet our Toyota troopy

20/02/2013 15:50

 

This blog entry and the previous one, Lima and lama´s, relate to “expeditions” in 2010 and 2011. Because it all happened a while ago, I am posting a lot of photo´s, for which this blog is better suited than “bloggers”. We left Lima by plane early 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

In the time it took to get the car from Lima to Durban, we flew to England to have a look at the Toyota troop carrier. It proved to be all we wanted: pop-up roof to sleep under, large fridge with freezer, GPS, enough storage space for our belongings (no home to go to every now and again to replace/repair equipment), reinforced suspension, two spare wheels, built-in air compressor and battery charger, water tank and long range fuel tank. A solar panel on the roof to charge the auxiliary battery, businesslike sand ladders on the sides  and an Ebenspäger heater built under the hood as we found out later. It  was even more than we had expected but, to be fair, the price was accordingly hefty.
Our previous experiences during years of driving over good, bad and worse roads in all kinds of conditions and planning to travel to regions where conditions might be more demanding than we had seen so far, made us decide to go for it.
We took the car to family in Holland and stored it for the time we would be in South Africa to sort things out and sell the Toyota Condor after which Ann would be in Australia for business.
Back in Holland I had to buy equipment I could not bring from South Africa because of weight restrictions, made changes and adjustments to the interior of the car and eventually, because of Ann´s prolonged stay in Australia, went for a camping trip in Holland.
It was beautiful. Although I had seen a lot of the country before I immigrated to South Africa, somehow I had never enjoyed the views as I did then.
I had been warned in Holland you are not allowed to wild camp as in less populated and less over-regulated countries, but that rule proved to be full of holes. I found remote places and quiet niches in deserted locations and even spend a night in the parking aria of a housing complex; with only a few eyebrows raised.
I had a lovely time!

 

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