I'll never look at Hummers, Gelaendawagens, Land Rovers, Jeeps and those right nancy Land Cruisers Toyota pedals in the U.S. the same again. I just spent 10 days bounding across the Dark Continent in a "Real Man's" Land Cruiser. Devotees of the brand will recognize the cab as that of a sixth-generation 70-Series model that has been produced since 1984 but was never imported to North America. The rest of the bodywork was hammered out and grafted on in Arusha, Tanzania by Rajinder Motors, LTD.
The company starts with a Land Cruiser Pickup model, ditches the bed, stretches the chassis to accommodate three rows of seats in the back, raises the roof and installs four large removable hatches for wildlife viewing.
As equipped, ours could comfortably fit eight paying customers, their duffle luggage and a guide, with superb visibility for all thanks to theater seating and those hatches.
What impressed me most was how strong and solid the African bodywork felt as we pounded over volcanic effluvia en route to the Olduvai Gorge site where the Leakeys discovered Australopithicus Boisei and forded the Serengeti's croc-infested Grumeti River. And even at our top speeds of maybe 50 mph on smoothish gravel highways, passengers in the fourth row could easily hear the driver speak when the windows and hatches were closed.
Apparently Rajinder's Toyota Safari Cruiser 7X conversion is THE vehicle of choice, because it comprised most of the traffic we encountered in ten days on photo safari. There are Land Rover Defender 110s, some with similar high-roof hatch conversions, but our Kibo Guides driver, Moses Kihomwe says that Rovers are both more expensive to buy, less reliable in service, more expensive to repair and considerably faster depreciating in value than the Toyotas. He's put most of the 52,000 kilometers on this truck since the company bought it in 2006, and maintenance between trips is modest--thorough cleaning, lubrication of all joints, and repair of any flat tires (the trucks carry two spares and one of our two trucks sprang a slow leak).
This third-world Land Cruiser features live axles at both ends, coil springs in front, leafs in back, with anti-roll bars on both. The front hubs are manual-locking, the front and rear differentials can each be locked via a switch on the dash, and the rear diff is offset to the right to line up with the front diff. A standard snorkel keeps the 4.2-liter 24-valve diesel idling happily in water up to the driver's forehead. Moses says he's had water over the hood on some rainy-season drives, but for our dry-season adventure the hubs remained unlocked and we maintained rear-drive throughout--even when climbing impressive 40 percent grades with a full load. Fuel consumption improves by nearly 5 mpg in rear-drive mode, but rear tires last half as long as the fronts (using 4WD would equalize that, but tires are cheaper than fuel).
The Rajinder Land Cruiser offers few frills (A/C and a stereo cassette are about it), but it suggests a new meaning for the phrase "Creature Comforts:" the comfort that one takes in believing the vehicle will keep creatures out, should that nearby elephant, hippo, or rhino suffer a sudden attack of camera shyness.
The side windows slide shut quickly and are high enough to clear the horns of angry impala contesting for alpha dominance of the female herd.
Should the lions mating roadside or dining on cape buffalo take a sudden interest in a bi-pedal bite, however, there'd be little we could quickly do to keep them out, as the hatch covers remove to be stacked at the rear of the roof.
The alternative is a large one-piece roof panel that raises on scissors hinges or parallelogram bars. This setup provides shade when up but limits the view of monkeys in trees overhead, and since lions, leopards and cheetahs tend not to be much interested in clawing at fearful tourists through roof hatches, the removable hatch idea seems best.
This mid-price safari adventure was by far the most expensive pleasure trip I've ever taken. Cheaper ones are available for those willing to seriously rough it, and determined trust-funders can certainly spend a lot more. It was absolutely worth every penny, and worth stretching the budget a little for. I can recommend African Safari Specialists (safaris.com) as a booking agent in the U.S. that can help with airfares and pre- or post-safari side trips to Lake Victoria or the scuba/snorkeling haven of Zanzibar. But whomever books your trip, insist they enlist Kibo Guides as your hosts in Tanzania. Their team of highly trained guides is linked via UHF radios to tip each other off as to the whereabouts of ellusive animals, and we found their food, drink, lodgings and overall logistics to be utterly first-world and first-rate. Now the trouble comes in dreaming up a vacation to top this one...