58 |Caravan& OutdoorLifeMagazine July 2019
LATEST GENERATION
So, let’s get down to the latest
Discoverer 4. Dennis and Tim Bouwers
started Bobo Campers back in 1991 as
a motorhome hire company.
Bobo Campers showed steady
growth using light-weight
motorhomes, and they soon learnt
that a hire company required more
durable motorhomes. The run-of-the-
mill motorhomes available in those
early years were ideal for private
use, but not well suited for use by a
constant flow of tourists who, perhaps,
didn’t always treat a hired vehicle
with the love it required.
So in 2001 they built their first
prototype, the Discoverer 1, under the
watchful eye of a local motorhome
builder who hired out his entire factory
to the Bouwers brothers.
They built two prototypes and
moved into a new factory in Atlantis,
just up the Western Cape’s coastline.
To date they have built some 600 units,
including a few specialised caravans.
Every four years or so they give their
models a makeover or an upgrade,
and introduce major design changes
to the motorhomes.
Some changes are brought about
as a result of experience in what
works and what could be better,
sometimes it’s simply new technology,
colours or styling.
The Discoverer 4 that we drove is
the latest version, it is Version 4 of
their most popular model and it is a
revelation of just how far this company
has progressed in motorhome
manufacturing in its 17 years.
THE BUILD
Motorhome-World is run by Dennis,
whose prime focus is manufacturing
motorhomes for the 150-strong hire
fleet as well as for private buyers. The
hire fleet models are more basic than
those built for private customers who
desire all the bells and whistles.
To this end there are many options
in accessories as well as some layout
changes to the interior, but at the core
it’s the same vehicle, built tough.
The body panels are imported and
made from a combination of fiberglass,
high density foam core and inner wood
panels all bonded together to prevent