Selling our beloved cruiser……

Money sucks but unfortunately without it we are in a bit of trouble, after a recent opportunity for me fell through at the very last moment we are now forced to sell Habibi while we find our feet, it does somehow feel like we are selling off a family member but here goes:

Toyota HJ60 Landcruiser UK REG - South Africa - UK Sale

Landcruiser is registered in the UK but is physically in South Africa looking to do UK Sale. Just completed overland trip from the UK to South Africa, we only had a few minor problems along the way– she’s almost ready for a return trip! Details below:

Specs:
Price:              £5700 or R80000 ono
Make/Model:    Toyota / HJ60 Landcruiser
Year:              1990
Mileage:          Bought at 64000 miles, odometer now says 84000 miles but it broke in Kenya, more like 90000 miles according to GPS
Engine:          4 litre straight 6 cylinder/ not turbo
Fuel:              Diesel
Electrics:        24 Volt
Name:            Habibi (means “my darling” in Arabic)

Body condition:
Small rust points on front doors, minor scratches/dents, rear right bumper dented, otherwise good condition

Extras:
•      24 volt split-charge (Brand: Antares), needs aux-batteries, starter batteries excellent.
•      Excellent ARB roof rack worth £1000
•      Old Man Emu shocks, one recently repaired
•      Bull bar
•      2 Spare wheels plus roof holder
•      Tow-hitch, but no electrics
•      Back seats (not shown!)
•      4 diesel gerries
•      Awning (one pole was stolen, easy to get in SA)
•      2 Spot-lights (need refitting as current position is useless)

NOT included:
•      Roof tent (but easy to get in SA)
•      Sound system
•      Hot shower system

You will need to do:
•      Worm gear for speedo-cable needs to be fixed
•      Replace at least 5 tires, spare (currently on) has excellent tread
•      New Aux batteries
•      Organise your own Carnet de passage

Owner’s honest opinion:
This is a beast of machine, strong as they come and starts first time. If you are looking for a fast vehicle then look elsewhere, if you are looking for a strong reliable low-tech vehicle then this is the one. She kept her temperature in the 51 degree heat of the Sudan and ploughed through the mud of Ethiopia. She is part of our family and if we didn’t have to sell her because of money we would keep her. Parts are readily available throughout Africa. Check out our trip that we did to see her experiences, www.africanfeet.com. Able to store her temporarily if needs be.

Please contact Simon at +27738038046 or register@comley.org if you have any questions.

South African Wedding Photographer

Now for something totally unrelated!

Jules is up and running with her new South African Wedding Photography site, if any of our readers are getting married or know of somebody that is and still need a photographer, please check out her sites:

• Weddings: www.julesmorganweddings.com
• Portfolio: www.julesmorgan.com

Thanks

did we forget to mention that we made it?

Well to Johannesburg that is!
We are currently staying at one of my many brother’s places… trying very hard to adapt to normal life. We’ve actually been in South Africa for 2 weeks now - they have just flown by. We keep getting asked if we’re enjoying the summer and chilling out, but the reality is that we’re actually pretty stressed out by reality and are are spending our time trying to make big life decisions, creating websites and looking at business stuff amidst spending time with my huge family. Seriously now, does anyone want to sponsor a trip up the West Coast of Africa?

Our introduction to our home country was quite uneventful… we were advised to take the Botswana route and so ended up in a little Afrikaner half-way town in SA near to the Botswanian border for an awesome sunset. We were stoked to order 2 savannahs at the dingy campsite bar, constantly having to stop our habit of talking about people in Afrikaans.

It’s great to be back “home”, to understand the local culture, the value of things and not be constantly ripped off. Awesome to have the support of family while trying to decide on what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives!

I think we’ll be ready for a break in a few weeks time when we do a bit more touring around South Africa. For now it’s grown up stuff so the blog may be quiet for the next little while.

a jump north again

After speaking to the Connollys we went to go and check what was in Vic Falls, the answer: A big waterfall, some very hospitable people, a beautiful island on the Zambezi island and a potential job oportunity for me.
We took one seriously touristy picture…..

… and headed home.

where else in the world?

Thats the websites slogan for antelope park (http://www.antelopepark.co.zw) where we spent 5 days being spoilt by Mrs and Mr Connolly. What an experience! Not only were we spoilt in having our own accomodation (ie. not a tent) but we were booked into every “activity” possible.

We went game viewing by foot, horse, carriage and elephant. I personally found the horse the most terrifying experience mainly because after walking along for an hour I felt I had graduated to taking the horse one gear up, unfortunately I chose to do this with a frustrated 16 year old Texan cowboy who had being itching to yell Yeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I had been well primed into how to sit up to protect family jewels etc but nobody, not even Mandy, mentioned that I had to steer the bloody thing as well so I went belting off at top speed into the veld towards a thorn bush. I did manage to stop, thankfully and I actually really enjoyed horse riding but I think next time I’m going to get a saddle with some more padding…. man it hurt the next day.

One of our favourites was the elephant swim, the idea is you climb on a elephant and take it for a swim…. they don’t tell you much until you are on the elephant and then it’s things like “you can hold your breath for 30 seconds can’t you?”. Comforting. Anyway this is how it panned out:

Si, does my bum look big in this?

Jules loses her elephant!

A close second to bathing with africa’s largest was the walk with lion cubs, now when you think of cubs you think of little ones like this:

Well so did we until you discover their cub status remains for a year and this guy is also a cub!

You are given a stick to point at them and yell “NO!” if they give you a naughty look, errr question : does I-want-to-eat-you classify as naughty? Anyway armed with what feels like a matchstick you are off for cub walking, no fences, no leashes just a few of you and 3 big cats. You are very quickly humbled by the fact that these animals are leaving you be because they have just eaten rather then the fact that you have stick in your hand. Anyway it was fantastic and although I didn’t know it was on my list I’m glad I can tick it off…..

Antelope Park is run by the Connolly’s (Mandys mom and dad) and if you are in Zim have a drop in, it’s got an awesome campsite and really good food. Unfortunately I’ve lost the GPS so for those that follow, go to Gweru and ask from there.