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Getting started:
Once we got the idea rubber stamped in our minds, our planning started by reading up on
the accounts of other Overlanders experiences. We found
The Africa Overland Network as
a great source of information for past, current and future trips. If your
planning your own trip register with them, it opens up opportunities to
network with other Overlanders.
Building a basic website for our trip was very useful. It provided us with an informal checklist
and also allowed our friends to track our progress with the occasional
reminder for updates, refocusing your attention on the job at hand.
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Choosing the wheels:
We are an independent website and have no bias.... but.... The only wheels
to do a trip through Africa in is a Land Rover.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure land cruisers, Hi Ace bakkies/taxis or
even the jeep lookalike Fortuner are good cars but you just can’t
trust a manufacturer that can't get the accelerator or brake cable sorted if
you know what I mean Toy - o - ta. For us it’s all about the experience and
Land Rover comes with buckets loads of character and accentuates the African
exploration feel. It’s not like Livingstone rolled up in a land cruiser....
did he? Ok so he didn't roll up
in a landy either but at least he was Scot-English... i presume?
Back to business, after finding out about carnet the plan changed big
time, £30K vs. £3K landy became a no brainer.
Searching the used car section in LRM and LRO we finally found Mabel.
Funny enough the owner also a Scot-English fellow who doesn't have an
eye for rust or oxidation
call it what you want brown stuff on metal that makes you chassis
super strong and durable NOT.
Any way rust in moderation = discount in excess = happy us and = happy bank
manager.
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Mabel's Profile:
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Make & Model
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1995 Defender 110
300TDI (Hard top)
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Mileage
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81 522 miles on day of
adoption (in Landy
terms she’s still an infant)
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Appearance
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Mabel came with a heavy duty roof rack and some swanky looking
alloys. Other than than that I’d say she was bog standard.
The interior has some
carpets and back seats fitted to make a 12 seater, which as quite
worrying as any covering in the back normally means something is
being covered. Front bumper had a ding, and her body had some
indents resembling punch holes which indicated that Waxoil was
applied to help prevent rust.
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Engine and Mechanical observations
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She started straight away from cold (snowy January) with the
standard puff of smoke from the exhaust.
Quick look under the bonnet
showed no real concerns of overheating or serious work being done.
The test drive proved all the gears were engaging smoothly, the
transfer and main gearbox and diff lock working
as expected in the
different modes. After
heating up we spotted a mandatory oil leak which turned out to be a
power steering which we never knew we had.
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Service History
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We were given 2 pieces of paper for the work done in the last 2
years but other than the past service records were non existent
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Price Tag
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£3000 on the button after subtracting £1.5K for rust and dodgy
looking oil leak and over playing “the boss wont like
the heavy price tag "card a few times.
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Sorting the cooling System
After having all the fun at the 4x4 track mud got stuck in the
radiator grill and intercooler. The key is really to get it cleaned
out before the mud gets backed in. Me not being so informed when to
the local jet was and thought giving it a good old blast would do the trick,
it sort of did, but it took the radiator with it.
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Loading up the Accessories:
The Fridge / Freezer
The Engel, directly translated to English means "Angel" . how does
that saying go?
"Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, Teach him to fish
and you feed him for life? Giving a man an Engel guarantees a super cold
beer every time and by the reviews almost forever. In temperatures
expected between 34ºC - 48ºC it makes life a little more bearable. Our
fridge came from MPS trading, we
place the order on the Friday and by the following Tuesday it arrived. There
are other makes around and much cheaper so it up to your personal
preference.
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The Tent
There are loads of tents to pick from so to make it easy we just decided on
a budget and stick with it, if you don't you might find yourself
chasing your tail. The tent is pretty expensive but considering the
fact that we will be using it everyday you really want ease of setting up
and some comfort. We went with the Echo 4x4 tent supplied by Brit part as
the cost was lower than the main stream items. After erecting it a few times
I have to confess its not the easiest tent to erect as the ladder system
does not stay within the tent when its folded up. I'll do some modifications
to make it easier to erect.
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The WC - Fully bundled with retirement plan
 Browsing on eBay this classy piece of equipment popped up in the search
results. At the bargain price we couldn't resist and bought Humpty. The shipping cost
were more than double the item
value and this was only for shipping from Northampton to Milton Keynes. By this
calculation we should be able to resell the it for £6750.81 by the time we
reach South Africa. We'll also take Digger our trusty shovel, unfortunately he could not make the
photo shoot.
Kitchen stuff
We could not fit in the old AGA cooker, chest freezer and farmhouse kitche
table so we decided to scale down a bit. The kitchen stuff included standard items such as pots, pans a gas burner
with the usual. We got this compact little
pots & pans set
(comes packed in the bag on the left) which, when unpacked contains the
items shown on the right. Further we got a we also got a #2 cast iron Potjie from Cruga
thanks our mate Gary
for working us a cool deal. If you catch Gary on the right day be sure to
check out the boerie rolls, two words describe them .....yum ..&
.. yum! The Gas cooker Terry fixed it to Mabel's back door
and also made us a handy gas cylinder holder which you need if you are
planning to catch a ferry or two. Tables we managed to get two tables from
Argos, the same as the ones they sell at blacks only half the price :) They
nice compact and lightweight so easy put up, carry around and pack away.
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