Overland Journal – August 01, 2019

OVERLANDJOURNAL FALL 2019

98

I

n theearly1970s,ToyotabeganproductionoftheLand

CruiserinSouthAfrica.Atthetime,myfatherwasliv-

ingintentsinBotswanaandZululand,workingasa geologist’s

assistant.HeusedmanyofthoseearlymodelCruisersbefore

buyingonefromhisemployer,whichweusedforyearsonfamily

trips.Fortyyearslater,I gotmyfirstjobasa geologistandsoon

foundmyselfin Zambiabehindthewheelof a 79-SeriesCruiser

pickup—theprogenyoftheearliermodelsmydadhadusedin

thesamework.I spentseveralyearsworkingalloverSouthern

Africadriving Cruisersfromswamp todesert,livinga life I

couldneverhaveimaginedduringmyearlydaysinthegeology

lecturehallat RhodesUniversity.

AroundthetimemydadwasdrivingaroundBotswanain his

earlyFJ-Cruiser,SouthernAfricawasa wondrousplace.Thou-

sandsofsquaremilesofdiverselandscape,fromparcheddesert

tolushriverdeltaslayuntouchedat one’sfeet.Biggameroamed

asfreelyastheyhadformillennia,andnobodytoldyouwhere

youcouldorcouldnotputyourtent.Fromthosewhohadven-

turedintotheselandsfromtherelativelydevelopedSouthAfri-

ca,storiesbegantodriftin of riverbanksfilledwithalluvialgold

inMozambique,anddiamondsasbigasgolfballsbeingpicked

upbyherdboysintheKalahari.Thesewerenoteasyplacesto

travelto—roadswerejusta bearingthroughthebushdodging

trees and anthills. For 20 years, Britain’s Land Rover had been

themostcommonvehicleseenin theseconditions,andarguably

remainstheromantictravellerofAfricatothisday.Butwhen

localproductionoftheLandCruiserbeganin1972,it quickly

begandevelopinga reputationformoreserioustrips.Keeping

themechanicsbasicandreliableovertime,Toyotaensuredthat

fromtheearlyFJ45tothecurrent 79 Series,theCruiserfound

itselfa comfortablenicheas theworking4WDof Africa.

TheLandCruisertookrootinfarming,forestry,and civil

service.It alsogainedpopularityinmineralexploration,asthe

remotenatureoftheworklentitselftoa vehiclethatperformed

wellwitha fullloadanddidnotbreakdowneasily.Mineralex-

plorationcompaniessearchfarandwidefornewdepositsof Af-

rica’srenownedhiddentreasures:gold,copper,anddiamondsto

namea few.Withtherightcombinationofresearch,acumen,

and luck,theymightfinda deposit bigenough andsuitable

enoughtobecomea mine.

Forthosenotfamiliarwiththiswork,it entailsanoddassort-

mentofexplorationgeologistsandfieldassistants,theirvehicles

ladenwithspecializedprospectingandcampingequipment,and

months’worthofcannedtunaandbeans.Theysetoffonthose

remarkableroadsonlytoturnoffatsomepointmarkedwitha

beercanina tree,followinga bearingthroughthebushuntil

theyreachtheirtargetarea.Here,geologistsandfieldieslivein

tents for months on end, conducting their work and slowlylos-