Submitted by SafariADV on Thu, 2017-09-21
Well, well, we bought online a used car from Bushlore, one of Johannesburg's biggest charterers who is changing its car park, but of course we had never seen it before today.
What an emotion! Finally!
We arrive at the car park and our car, a Toyota Hilux accessorized with a canopy made by Alu Cab, is there in the middle of the square with several people around it who are cleaning and arranging it for us; we recognized it from the plate, one of the few things we've seen before, along with some pics.
Dieter, the manager we've been dealing with, offers us a nice hot coffee that, with the sparkling air of this morning is perfect, and takes us to the office to pick up all our off-road documents.
From now on this car will be our travel and expedition partner, so we called it "Dr. Livingstone ", one of the most famous explorers of the African continent.
In the next 2 hours we see all of the car's features, they show us how to open and close the roof where our bed is, how works the gas to cook, where is the water tank and its faucet, the fridge, the various compartments that were created inside and outside the car's exterior to store objects and supplies; not less important they show us where to find the shovel, the towing straps, the plates to get out of the sand, the rope, a giant crick to lift the car if we lean, the compressor to inflate the tires and other tools we hope to never have to use.
We take the satellite phone we rented, as for most of the trip our smartphones will only be a camera; cellphone coverage will be almost non-existent, so both to call home, and tell them we are alive, as well as to update the blog, the satellite phone is a must.
Well, we are ready to leave; certainly Dr Livingstone is not small, especially for us who are used to driving a Smart in the city, and here you drive on the left side of the road, in short for the first 100 or 200 meters we are a bit nervous; but then, all in all, it's not the first time we drive such a big off-road, though, in reality, in the savannah there is usually a little less traffic than in Johannesburg.
Tracks4Africa has abandoned us, it has no destination in Johannesburg and so, to find our hotel, located near the airport, we go a little for attempts; up to the airport it is easy, there are directions everywhere but here comes the funny part.
We ask at least a dozen people, all very kind, and they always send us to different directions; but this is the beauty of Africa, people often do not know what's at 500 meters from their home but they always try to help you.
In the end, we find the hotel and park our Dr Livingstone, it occupies half of the parking lot and, next to the other cars, we realize how gigantic it is.
In the afternoon, we optimize the car spaces a bit, tomorrow we will go shopping and everything has to be put to perfection
