‘79 Hilux to ‘14 Land Cruiser

In 1986, Juerg, 25, and his newlywed Doris, 22, took a two-year honeymoon and drove a ‘79 Toyota Hilux down the west coast of Africa from Morocco to Cape Town. Overlanding through still undeveloped West Africa in the ‘80s meant things could go wrong at any moment, and there may be no help for many miles.

Travel was sluggish and rigs were large and heavy, as you were forced to carry every spare tool and part imaginable, even an engine. With no GPS or cell phones, one had to think ahead more often than today’s traveller, and think far outside the box to improvise when challenges arose.

All these years later, Juerg is still adventuring. His new machine, a ‘14 Toyota Land Cruiser, has been on the continent of Africa the last few years, being used to guide his overland journeys. What is it about Africa that he loves so much? “With Africa, you either come once and never again, or once and always. There is no middle ground,” Juerg says.