Few things excite me more than being able to drive a Land Rover through the bush. Especially if it is an old, beaten up warrior-vehicle that has seen it’s fair share of action in the wild.


Meet WildEarth’s field vehicle and the powerhouse behind the Gosa gang crew: The Ganda. Our mean green meerkat machine. Lacking a roof, windscreen, side mirrors and driver’s door, this Landy legend was hauled across the country from it’s old haunt in Djuma Game Reserve to come brave the escapades of the Kalahari. The stories behind this vehicle are innumerable and can be likened to the old Grandfather whose battle scars and war stories engulf the mind of the curious child at his feet. Mud, sweat and gears is what the Ganda is built from, and heat, dust and dreams is what it delivers!


Now, for those of you who do not know much about a Land Rover in the bush, it’s simple: If it works, it works well. If it doesn’t work, burn it and do a rain dance around the blaze. Luckily, the Ganda works. But I use the word ‘works’ in the broadest possible sense. The fuel gauge doesn’t work, and the Ganda arrived up here with two flat tyres already. The tyres weren’t a problem as they were easily replaced, and the fuel gauge wasn’t such a big issue either….until we ran out of diesel… in the bush… miles from camp. And yet we were not worried in the slightest. Had we been in the city, we would have been sharpening toothbrushes and building a fort against any would-be assailants, be they uniformed or casual, in order to defend our gas-less machine. But here, in the kalahari, we simply opened up a few cold ones, took some photos, and watched the sunset. Easy, simple, no worries. For you see, in the bush, time means nothing and has no real value because Africa and its occupants run at their own pace, and this has happened for a million meerkat years and is highly unlikely to change. A wise man once said: The Swiss may make the watches, but Africa owns the time, and this is the absolute truth.


And so as we waited for help to arrive, we smiled and watched another amazing sunset glimmer on the horizon and toasted our drinks to another day in the Krazy Kalahari.


Ranger Rob