Safari Vehicles

Game drives in safari parks are a rough affair. Everywhere the bumpy ride is referred to as an “African massage”. An ad hoc network of tracks generally consisting of two ruts through the bush, never maintained, made worse by traffic during the rainy season mud, treacherous in sandy soil.

The typical safari vehicle starts out as a Toyota Land Cruiser which is a rough, tough pickup truck, rear wheel drive that can convert to 4 wheel drive. On older versions you have to get out of the truck and manually lock the front hubs when you shift to 4wd. 

There is an African industry that converts this workhorse into a safari vehicle. There are two basic styles: Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia) and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda).

The Southern African style has the roof of the cab cut off, leaving only the windshield. Sometimes, a fold down windshield is installed. Three rows of 3 seats each are installed in the truck cargo bed. Nicer versions have 3 bucket seats in each row, cup holders (made out of canvas so your water bottle doesn’t rattle), even USB ports at each seat. A canvas canopy overhead and some arrangement of steps so the passengers can climb up and voilá, an open safari vehicle. 

The East African version is more elaborate. The truck bed is removed completely and replaced with an enclosed body that extends several feet farther back than the truck bed did. Inside, two rows of bucket seats, 3 along the left side and 4 along the right with a center aisle. Sliding windows line each side for visibility. In front of the left side is a door with two steps up into the cabin. The back of the cab is removed so the driver can communicate easily with the passengers. A large pop-up roof is opened during game drives so passengers can stand and get an unobstructed view. There is a trunk for storage space behind the seats and typically, two spare tires mounted on the back. That’s the anatomy of the closed safari vehicle. 

The open Southern vehicle provides an unobstructed view. There is nothing like looking at a pride of lions 12 feet away with nothing between you and them except the sides of a truck bed and an armrest. It is hard to climb in and out. It is not suitable for highway driving. It has no room for luggage.