We got a kick for our upcoming overlanding journey to Arusha National Park when we ran into the competition while in the Cederberg. We were there filming snippets for the promotional video and armed with: the already legendary Go-Pro; a Sony Handycam; a Canon Mark2 DSLR and two Nikon DSLRs. Did I mention three mounts on the vehicle for the Go-Pro? Yup, we were kitted out. We felt like an Attenborough documentary unit cross McRae rally-cam crew. We were as excited as a couple of Meerkat Manor groupies who’d found a hole in the earth.
At our breakfast stop just before Citrusdal, we saw the relevance of our whole trip when the competition rolled in: an overgrown Landcruiser with the works. Rooftop tent; enough colour-coded jerry cans to fuel a container ship; two spare tires; a winch; suspension worthy of an ANCYL (ANC Youth League) justice hearing, and an interior packed with the complete catalogue of Outdoor Warehouse.
So we jumped up and started clicking away like paparazzi at an overlanding convention. We were trying to get a shot that had both their monster car and our little car in the same frame. The two occupants of the ‘Cruiser didn’t know what hit them. But when they saw our vehicle, a tiny Smart Car For Two with a 10-liter jerrycan mounted on the side with PVC piping and suckers; they laughed. And we got a kick out this because that’s what our upcoming trip to Arusha and back is all about – not just highlighting a need to think differently about what cars we drive – it’s about having a laugh.
As for all the cameras, did we get a good shot of that scene? Hell no. Too many cameras, too few fingers. And certainly not enough space in the Smart Car for the complete stock of Orms. How dumb are we?
Keep track of the build up to our journey, and the actual event which takes place in February 2012:
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Twitter: @smartinafrica
Photo by Robert W. Howington
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