REGIONAL TRIP
Celebrating the Namib
When Toyota twenty years ago decided to change the designations of its venerable Land Cruiser 70-series, the leading local automaker introduced the updated and upgraded 79 pickup-model with a challenging trip through the shifting sands and towering dunes of the Namib Desert.
It was one of the first official excursions into the Namib after tour operators received the necessary concessions from government, and it was on this trip – from Lüderitz to Saddle Hill, an abandoned mining settlement in the middle of the desert, and Spencer Bay – where I met Volker Jahnke and his trusty Land Cruiser, Strandwolf.
Since then the tough Cruiser 70-series did not change much – like the Namib, and
Jahnke. Yes, it did receive some engine and suspension upgrades, with a 4-litre V6 replacing the legendary 4,5 EFI straight-six, the 76 four-door wagon and double-cab 79 models being added, and the recent introduction of V8 diesel models, but that’s about it
10 million Cruisers
The Land Cruiser family, consisting of the 70-series, the Prado, and the Land Cruiser 200 derivatives, meanwhile commemorated 60 years of uninterrupted production, and in September this year the range reached cumulative global sales of 10 million units.
To celebrate this milestone, as well as its new Namib edition, based on the Land Cruiser 79 double-cab V8 model, Toyota recently embarked on a Cruiser adventure to the Northern-most point of the oldest desert in the world – near a harbour town in Southern Angola, now aptly named Namibe.
According to Toyota the special edition Namib with its distinctive front grille presents a turn-key package for serious off-roaders. It is outfitted with many utilityenhancing accessories, including a steel front bumper with an integrated heavyduty nudge bar and headlight protectors, a tubular rear step with integrated tow bar, protective load-bin skins, heavy-duty interior seat covers, and roof console.
The Cruiser convoy – consisting of 200s, Prado’s and two 79 Namib models – awaited us at the Chinese-built Namibe airport, and the two special editions led the expedition to Flamingo Lodge, nestled on the coastline about 70 km South of Namibe and our home base for the next two days.
From here we drove through impressive and striking sandstone formations, shaped over aeons, and passed some huge welwitschia plants before visiting some old Cuban storage bunkers in the desert – remnants of the Angolan war – and the imposing Red City rock formation in the Iona National Park.
We then selected 4WD to tackle the infamous ‘Doodsakker’ (Acre of Death), a beach track only accessible during low tide, keeping up the speed in order to avoid the waves continuously crashing onto the narrow stretch of coastline … Having conquered this treacherous passage, we crossed 10 km of open sea in a rubber dingy to visit the ghost island of Baia dos Tigres ...
The last. And the first
As we approached the island, the forlorn and forgotten buildings of Saint Martinho dos Tigres rose out of the sea mist. Much like Kolmanskop, close to Lüderitz, the empty colonial style buildings, dominated by the imposing tower of the Saint Martin chapel, formed a surreal, post-apocalyptic picture.
The island and town were abandoned in 1975 but the remnants of a Land Rover – the last vehicle left on the island – is still there. Since the Landie roamed the island over four decades ago, no vehicle has set a wheel on the island. Until now.
You see, as part of the celebration Toyota commissioned the construction of a special raft to transport an Ivory White Land Cruiser 79 Namib onto the island – becoming the first vehicle to leave track marks there since 1975. We used
the vehicle to explore some of the more remote areas – and found a shipwrecked deep-sea trawler rusting away on its most Northern extreme.
Back on land we crossed the ‘Doodsakker’ again – scary, as this time it was at night – before returning to Flamingo Lodge. The next day the convoy set off for Lubango. We drove the spectacular Serra da Leba pass, a high mountain pass at an elevation of 1 845 m and one of the most famous hairpin roads in the world.
The pass, built in 1970, was designed by a Portuguese woman and legend has it she died after she viewed it on the very day the project was finished. Since then, it has been the scene of many road fatalities, leading to the longassigned name ‘the beautiful precipice’.
Having visited both the Northernmost and Southern-most points of the Namib, the similarities in scenery and tales of human suffering and endurance in the hostile environment, are startling. So too are the subtle differences; the rock formations in Angola are even more spectacular than down South, and so too the huge welwitschias.
It was also resoundingly evident that Southern Angola, particularly the coastal region and the Northern reaches of the Namib, is certainly worth a visit. To ensure you enjoy a trouble-free journey over some of the roughest terrain imaginable, take a Land Cruiser. It is not called the Master of Africa for nothing.