Choosing a vehicle

There are many options, but they break down into these rough categories

2WD – standard car
4WD small – a Suzuki Jimny or similar
4WD pickup – a Toyota Hilux or similar
4WD specialist – a modified Toyota Land Cruiser

Your choice of car will depend on your route. However most routes will visit either Sossusvlei or Etosha. Visting eitehr will involve 100s of Km of gravel road driving. Of our 4,500km route, approximately 2,000km of it was on gravel or sand.

For the gravel roads between Windhoek – Sossusvlei, Sossusvlei – Walvis Bay, and inside Etosha National Park, 4WD is not 100% essential.

HOWEVER the gravel roads are not smooth, and are heavily corrugated in many places, the extra clearance and ride comfort provided by a larger 4WD vehicle will certainly pay off.

Our Toyota Hilux surfed the gravel roads with ease, and made travelling 4,500km seem comfortable and easy. I am not sure how the little Jimnys cope, but there were times when we were glad to have the bigger vehicle.

A specialist vehicle is only really needed when tackling serious off-road terrain, such as Van Zyl’s pass. You will not be insured to take your standard vehicle to these places, nor would you want to. (and if you’re considering serious off-roading, then this blog isn’t the right advice for you either)