huts near a water source. Or they stumble
upon us, popping out of nowhere during
a driver swap to look curiously at our
Defenders—or more often than not, to
look at us, with our weird Western clothes,
hair, and tattoos.
The early undemanding conditions
allow me to take stock of the Defender.
Throttle response from the turbocharged
and electrically supercharged I-6 feels
a touch laggy at first, but I quickly
grow used to both it and the way the
engine pulls hard once it spins up.
The transmission, meanwhile, shifts
imperceptibly in the background.
Ditto for the light effort required of
the brakes despite being difficult to
modulate smoothly at low speeds. The
Defender’s steering and ride need no
such adjustments; steering is light, linear,
and accurate, with little if any impact
transmitted up from the tires to the
steering wheel. Ride quality is as supple as
a Ford F-150 Raptor with cushy Fox Shox.
We pull into camp as the shadows grow
long. Our very Scottish Land Rover trail
guide promises things would only get
harder. Good.East of Van Zyl’s Pass,
near the Marienfluss Valley:
17°39’ 2 7.7”S, 1 2 °41’48.6”E
We roll out of camp early the next
morning and immediately drop our
Defender’s transfer case into four low
as we begin the slow, tedious climb up
toward Van Zyl’s Pass.
Linking the inland to the Marienfluss
Valley, the pass was cut haphazardly by
a Dutch explorer, a Ford Model T, and
a hundred Himba in the 1960s. It first
climbs up to about 4,000 feet before drop-
ping 2,000 feet via a 35-degree slope intoFIRST DRIVE
Van Zyl’s Pass was
first crossed with a
Ford Model T. How?
It’s beyond me.SLICK WITH LOOSE
ROCK AND STEEP
DROP-OFFS, THE
PATH IS PUNCTUATED
WITH CARCASSES OF
TOYOTAS THAT HAD
GONE OVER THE SIDE.
Much of the
land in northern
Namibia is part
of a conservancy,
managed by local
tribes and designed
to help wildlife like
desert elephants
and black rhinos. The
Okahirongo Elephant
Lodge is located in
the middle of the
Purros Conservancy.42 MOTORTREND.COM JUNE 2020