Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Cool man love reading it also.....great report

Picasso wrote:Hi Rhett

Thank you for the well written and illustrated report...

I enjoyed reading it !

I realized with all the various accidents and breakdowns......... the only thing which broke down temporarily on you Patrol was the fuel-consumption from 7.8 to 5.8 km / l

.... I take that ...

Absolute pleasure Henning, It was a fun trip and I enjoy reporting the highs and lows... But I am quite impressed with the consumption (for a petrol Patrol) as I planned on a 5.5km/l average, but more on that soon

Tinus lotz wrote:Cool man love reading it also.....great report

Thanks Tinus Last report coming up

Final leg of the trip - Swakopmund to Benoni.

So on the following day, we did a few more interesting activities, namely:

Dolphin Cruise from Walvis Bay.

We saw the seal colony with ±180 000 seals which inhabit the area, and no natural predators mean that those number flourish every year. Apparently the female seals are pregnant from around 2 years old, and after each pup is born, they immediately become impregnated again, and continue this cycle for the rest of their lives.
We caught some live action, including seals on the boat, pelicans low-flying, and seagulls stealing fish from the boat..
We then went to the Kristal Gallery in Swakopmund, well worth a R20 visit for ±1 hour!!!
ANYWAY, after a lovely day, we all decided to meet at the Tug Boat restaurant in Swakop. We had an 8pm booking and decided to splurge on some cocktails and fancy starters while waiting for a few of our camping companions, when the waitress walks over to us and softly announces that a certain companion has broken down and is on the phone at reception...

That turned out to be the end of our holiday, as we then spent the next 2 days in Swakopmund getting a new prop shaft for the 110 Defender! This time the damage was not so easily repairable and we missed the next stage of our trip (Arhnem Caves) as we rushed around from dealer to stealer getting the parts we needed. We spent the last two days driving from Swakopmund to Kang, Botswana, which was a 1100km journey. It was also the scariest drive of the trip, as we hit rain at the Buitepos/Gobabis border, and anyone who has driven the A2 at night will attest to the dangers! We constantly came across cattle, mules and goats in the middle of the road whilst driving in the rain. We eventually arrived at Kalahari Rest Lodge at 10:30pm, and just managed to catch the bar. We left at around 9am the following morning for JHB, another long stretch @ ±880km's. The rain had not ceased and to make matters worse, the 110 Defender's windscreen wipers gave up before we even hit the border.

Regardless of the issues we experienced, it was an unforgettable trip. I will post a few videos on my YouTube channel in the next few weeks which give a much better idea of the fun we had.

Lastly, anyone interested in the fuel usage:

784l used
5700km traveled
R9046 spent on fuel
7.2km/l average
R1.60/km

Anyone needing info on places to stay, give me a shout and I can hopefully send contact details and ratings...

Trips where stuff goes wrong are the trips we remember. And it's always better if it's other people's stuff that breaks.

But I thought the one advantage of a landy was that there are spares under every bush and tree...

Rhett wrote:We saw the seal colony with ±180 000 seals which inhabit the area, and no natural predators mean that those number flourish every year. Apparently the female seals are pregnant from around 2 years old, and after each pup is born, they immediately become impregnated again, and continue this cycle for the rest of their lives.

Surely, that must be a place to go for the Great Whites?
Else the fish colonies prayed on by the seals will get under strain...

Thanks Rhett - Note to self - Do not befriend LR owners

Alex - There are Great Whites that prey on the seals. Very few though as it only the big ones. It is believed the smaller ones do not tolerate the cold temps too well and we also know the smaller ones (probably up to 3 to 3,5 m) do not prey on marine mammals.

Alex, an interesting fact: While in Walvis Bay, we saw some photo's of larger male seals actually hunting smaller sharks. Funny enough, Brown Hyena hunt the seals, and jackal target small pup's.

Epic trip Rhett

It cost me a little bit more than R20 at the Crystal Gallary as mg wife saw a new ring to replace her original wedding ring....... lets just say I had a pale face for a day or two