Very cool recovery of a stuck Unicat

[Antichrist]

The thing to note in Africa, you never fail to offer assistance to someone in the bush.

For me, that applies on the trails around here. In fact, often applies around town.

 

[luangwablondes]

DiploStrat

I drove on a few kalaharai sand tracks in Botswana behind these trucks at various times. The bastards had chewed up the tracks so much, it made it quite difficult to negotiate. I have no love for them. But then, that has been my experience, and if you owned one, why worry about who is following in your tracks.

 

[DiploStrat]

Good Citizen

Most of the tracks I drove in Botswana were so deep that I didn't need to steer. This was particularly true of the cut line road from Lobatse west. The road from Nata to Maun was not so deep. I remember the Botswana sand as incredibly heavy; almost impossible to raise dust.

As I am not likely to ever afford a UNICAT, you need not worry about me tearing up the track for you. If fact, quite the contrary; I once graded a road in Savuti once. A Toyota Corolla went out on a game drive (in a area where 4x2 was prohibited) and promptly collided head on with a Land Cruiser. Lloyd asked me to tow it out as my Blazer had a six+ litre engine and 12.00x15 tires. I did. As the front of the Corolla was completely destroyed, ended up grading a lot of kilometers of road back to Lloyd's Camp. It was nice and smooth when I finished. Made for nice war stories over dinner.

In the last century, crossing the Kalahari was a complex gamble:

-- No rain and the pans were dry and your oxen died of thirst - then you died.
-- Too much rain and the pans were too soft and the wagon bogged - then you died.
-- Travel too slow or by day and the Tsetse flies got your oxen - then you died.

(You'll note that the dying part was a common result.)

The combination of the Okavango Delta and occasionally flooded pans gave rise to the legends of the huge inland ocean that drew the likes of Livingston. Of course, the entire Kalahari is a prehistoric lake bed; one reason for the sand. I have never driven it in the wet, but the mud in the video looked nice and gooey.

All in all, Botswana is a unique country. One day I may get back, if only to see if there are still bees in the Tsodilo Hills.

 

[luangwablondes]

Then you know the Chobe National Forest track on the way to Savute. One morning in Kasane, I got up with the sparrows so I could beat the the midday heat and the 80kms of deep sand difficulties as a result. An Overland truck tried to get into the park and was ahead of me. With my 4 cyl petrol Series landy and it narrow axels, I battled nearly all the way to the Ghoha Gate, only to find they had turned around and were heading back- denied entry. I stopped them to give them a piece of my mind- no problem there, one of us had to go around the other. But when I saw the cute babe driving the truck, I forgot how angry I was. AWA

 

[Herbie]

OK, the recovery was cool, but I'm vastly more excited by the "GR Travel Tops" referenced by the Video's author.

Just checked out the website and they have a model that fits a Wrangler. Droool.

I know there are a bunch of people on this forum who are dreaming of a flip-pac style top for a JK Wrangler Unlimited, and these guys might be the ones to do it. I just popped 'em an email asking about USA availability and models supported...

 

[michaelgroves]

I gota comment here (which I don't normally do) cause some of these comment are buggin me...............for all you nay sayers here, "why did they do this, why did they do that , this wasn't safe , he had no gloves on, etc, etc, etc., for crying out loud....................

I grew up in Africa, and go back to visit every couple of years. So when it come to getting things done you do what you have to to get that vehicle going, to get that pump out of the well, to get unstuck, cause there are no 50 ton tow trucks in Botswana, just 50 Toyotas. The vehicles there don't have 37 airbags to keep you safe, infact the door may swing open every once in a while, the wipers may not work, infact most don't have wipers. But you know what at the end of the day stuff gets done cause if you didn't do it the way you had to with what you had , trucks like that would sit and rot right there if you did it the way OSHA always wanted you to, cause in Africa you do what you have to, to keep going and keep living. And that my friends is part of the reason why so many of you want to go visit, cause its the thrill of seeing the country, and the thrill of seeing if you can figure out what they all had too, to make it go.

If you thing I'm wrong, ask those on this board who've done it. Then get back to me.

Other than making ooh, ahh, noises about it being an exciting and very slick recovery, the interesting part of such videos (at least for some of us) is the discussion of what was done right and what wasn't.

Like you, I grew up in Africa, and there is more of a "can do" attitude, bred of necessity, than in Europe and North America. "'n Boer maak 'n plan", as the Afrikaners say. ("A farmer makes a plan", meaning that he makes do with what he has.)

So I'm not a subscriber to the "take no risk" school of thought, but I am a believer in avoiding pointless risks, i.e. those that don't have a good positive trade-off, or can be quite easily avoided. If anything, especially out in the middle of the Kalahari, where a small mishap can be a big disaster.

I didn't see any foolish practices in that video, nor could I see any reasonable additional precautions they should have taken under the circumstances. Vehicle bonnets up, people out of the way, rigging seemed competent. But if anything had occurred to me, I'd certainly have pointed it out. Not to take anything away from their success, but because thinking through other people's mistakes helps us all avoid our own.

Bottom line: I think you're a little bit wrong, at least in this case

 

[michaelgroves]

The road from Nata to Maun was not so deep.

You're showing your age, Fred That's been tarred for nearly 30 years!

 

[Explorer 1]

Well spoken or rather written!

And one who lusts after the big iron, remember the difference between "overlanding" and "off-roading."

Overlanding is a compromise, but once you get past three months and age 40, a dry bed and indoor plumbing has its appeal!

As always, YMMV! And thank goodness we don't all drive the same roads and we don't have to agree.

Except, perhaps, on being sure to stop and lend a hand. (If only to get enough room to proceed yourself!)

I stand corrected in my lack of understanding about "overlanding" I suppose one could desire to carry their house with them on a multi-month trip in a third world country. As I age, I can also see that bringing along some of the comforts of home allow one to travel further and longer than one's age might allow under different circumstances.

Perhaps, I just like as few limitations as possible when traveling off the pavement.

Thanks for your insights and correction,

Fred
Explorer 1 &2

 

[99wj]

that...... was awsome, great use of radios too, instead of just yelling like us dumb americans hehe

 

[Christian P.]

I couldn't agree more either.
You have to come to Africa to remember what is really needed...

But cool video. I wished there had been some other Land Cruisers around when I got stucked on the pan in a similar situation last month....but having a lighter vehicle, we got out by ourselves...after several hours digging and lifting...

 

[michaelgroves]

All-up weight, around 10 tons... Not nice to get unstuck! Here are two difficult ones:

 

[DiploStrat]

Nobody EVER tells me anything!

You're showing your age, Fred That's been tarred for nearly 30 years!

Well, the CAR is the size of Texas (that's France and Belguim for our Euro friends) and has well under 1,000km of paved roads. LOTS of opportunities to get stuck!

And "showing age" is generous - my staff tend to use words like "Jurassic."

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Perhaps, I just like as few limitations as possible when traveling off the pavement.

It's all about perspective. Even a small truck is a pretty big limitation compared to other methods of travel.

 

[Explorer 1]

Work for the locals..........

I have some friends who live in the Philippines and they tell of a stretch of road that is really bad. Just about every vehicle that takes this section needs some kind of assistance from the locals. Ed, my friend, says he doesn't like to carry cash but when traveling this road he always carries some smaller bills to hire the locals.

Finally enough people complained and the goverment sent out a crew and did repairs and even paved a section. What happen was the local village lost one of their main income streams. Seems mysteriously at night, parts of the road started to quickly deteriorate and soon drivers where hiring the locals again for their services.

Kind of reminds me of how our goverment sometimes acts with it plans to stimulate the economy. :sombrero:

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1