Logsplitter’s travels in his Grenadier.

After all the fun in Etosha I had to get the Grenadier cleaned before taking it to M+Z in a few days time for remedial repairs.

There are some cracking pictures there. I can imagine you were not popular with the Puff Adder. Recovering the game bus is one for the album!

The vast Etosha pan seems to go on forever

@Logsplitter - I am wondering if AN fuel line clamps could be used to fix the Bowden cables?
Examples from Amazon below…I think AN10-AN12 may be correct (but I have not yet measured cable OD’s).

Software update .
After Etosha we head back to Windhoek and take Liberty to M+Z to get repairs done and a check over.
What a great team and a lovely new Grenadier showroom . Whilst the Grenadier was in for works we were picked up and dropped off where we needed to go by a driver from M+Z. What a great service.
Dropped the vehicle off Monday morning and picked it up on Friday morning. New Bowden cables for transfer box fitted and additional support brackets fitted. They are definitely not going to fall out now!
Auxillary rads had new support brackets fitted that fit between chassis and bumper at the point where the rads fit into. Top brackets also bent slightly to form an even tighter fit, again they will not come out now. Subsequent driving over some very rough terrain and deep potholed tar roads can vouch for that.
A full software update was carried out which is a revelation . Not a single error warning any more. No warning sounds or tell tale lights. Over 3k km done since the works and software update over some pretty challenging terrain and all going perfectly. Thankyou team Ineos M+Z Windhoek.

En-route to Angola.
After getting Liberty the Grenadier fixed up in Windhoek we head north towards Angola. Calling in at the Waterberg Plateau for a couple of nights and going out on foot rhino tracking. White rhinos that is as they are more placid and less likely to charge than Black rhinos. What a great experience with really knowledgeable and dedicated staff. The rhinos are protected 24/7 by rangers to stop poaching for rhino horn. After the Waterberg we head to the Onguma private Game Reserve on the Eastern side of Etosha and do day drives into Etosha from here. Seems to be much more game in this region of the park than in the middle part which we visited a couple of weeks before. This is due to the rains and fresh vegetation allowing the game animals to spread out across the park and not being so dependent on the permanent waterholes. We saw big herds of Zebra, Springbok, Wildebeest, lions and a big breeding herd of elephant with lots of young elephant we saw even more as we drove up through the north east of the park towards the King Nehale Gate where we exited to drive upto the Angola border.
Overnight in a guest house in the town of Oshikango before crossing the next day into Angola.

What a fantastic update to an unbelievable trip!

Absolutely loving all of your photos! Such amazing places in this world. Glad you got Liberty all sorted out in Windhoek! Safe travels - looking forward to continued updates.

Logsplitter said:

En-route to Angola.
After getting Liberty the Grenadier fixed up in Windhoek we head north towards Angola. Calling in at the Waterberg Plateau for a couple of nights and going out on foot rhino tracking. White rhinos that is as they are more placid and less likely to charge than Black rhinos. What a great experience with really knowledgeable and dedicated staff. The rhinos are protected 24/7 by rangers to stop poaching for rhino horn. After the Waterberg we head to the Onguma private Game Reserve on the Eastern side of Etosha and do day drives into Etosha from here. Seems to be much more game in this region of the park than in the middle part which we visited a couple of weeks before. This is due to the rains and fresh vegetation allowing the game animals to spread out across the park and not being so dependent on the permanent waterholes. We saw big herds of Zebra, Springbok, Wildebeest, lions and a big breeding herd of elephant with lots of young elephant we saw even more as we drove up through the north east of the park towards the King Nehale Gate where we exited to drive upto the Angola border.
Overnight in a guest house in the town of Oshikango before crossing the next day into Angola.

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Dreamlike! You are to be envied.

Glad to hear everything is going well @Logsplitter,I am so envious.

I am currently in Cape Town and the guy at Ineos certainly remembers you passing through. I keep wishing I had mine with me, it just suits this place.

The Grenadier Heavily loaded up, was his description at Ineos of you

Been to Tougher today and got some dash board covers, unfortunately M&M have not been helpful at all with stock or communication !!

Shaky said:

Glad to hear everything is going well @Logsplitter,I am so envious.

I am currently in Cape Town and the guy at Ineos certainly remembers you passing through. I keep wishing I had mine with me, it just suits this place.

The Grenadier Heavily loaded up, was his description at Ineos of you

Been to Tougher today and got some dash board covers, unfortunately M&M have not been helpful at all with stock or communication !!

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That’s a shame about M+M. But the tougher covers are good to. I met the guy from Tougher covers at the Safari Centre in Cape Town.
I’m certainly well loaded but getting lighter as I seem to keep giving stuff away in the more remote regions to people who are in far greater need than me. It’s a nice feeling to be able to help people with most basic of needs , after all I can always buy more knives, water containers , training shoes, tarpaulins etc.

Logsplitter said:

That’s a shame about M+M. But the tougher covers are good to. I met the guy from Tougher covers at the Safari Centre in Cape Town.
I’m certainly well loaded but getting lighter as I seem to keep giving stuff away in the more remote regions to people who are in far greater need than me. It’s a nice feeling to be able to help people with most basic of needs , after all I can always buy more knives, water containers , training shoes, tarpaulins etc.

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Good for you buddy, as long as you as giving it away and not losing it at traffic lights then it’s all good.

Bizarrely quite a few people know of the Brit in an Ineos that passed through loaded to the gunnels.

Think the fact it was probably the only one they have ever seen makes it more memorable.

Keep up the good work and the updates. Enjoy the African sun, I am

@Logsplitter makes photos of elephants and rhinos feel so pedestrian

What a journey!

Into Angola.
The border gates at Oshikango/Santa Clara opens at 0800hrs so we were there early and one of the first vehicles in the queue although lots of pedestrians waiting to cross to. Exiting Namibia was easy.
First immigration desk then road tax/toll office then customs to get carnet stamped out. Then to the Angolan side and chaos. In the end we employed a fixer for £10 to guide us through the process. No offices have signs and no clear process. 3hrs of various different offices and then we’re through. The customs guy didn’t like my fuel cans on the roof so that took a bit of negotiating to. He was just looking for easy money but got none. We had already changed money and got some Angolan Khwanza a few days before , exchanging with a fellow traveller heading south. About 1000 khwanza to £1. And at 300 khwanza per litre for petrol ( 130 per litre for diesel ) cheap motoring.
The journey from Santa Clara to Lubango was about 425km but about 6-1/2hrs Mainly good tar road but many goats and cows just wandering across the road. One section of around 60km long was extremely badly potholed with traffic in both directions going everywhere to avoid the holes. Some holes deeper than a Grenadier’s wheel. It was like a dodgem track and driving on the wrong side of the road for me at least in a right hand drive not making it any easier. . Lubango a big busy city and chaotic traffic during rush hour , everyone craning their necks to look at the strange vehicle with its steering wheel on the wrong side.
Overnight in a lodge and then up early and away to go down the Leba Pass to the Namibe region of Angola. A sparsely populated region that starts with lush green vegetation at the top of the Leba pass leading to desert as you reach the coast. We were at over 2000m going down to sea level.
The Grenadier driving well and that automatic box is a dream on those mountain passes.
Our aim was to tour around the Namibe region and visit the coastal region that borders the north west part of Namibia. It was remote with amazing landscapes. The drive down the dry Flamingo river bed to Flamingo camp was amazing and a test of the Grenadier in soft sand. Love the power of the engine and ease of driving off road with the auto box.

The drive to Namibe

The drive to Flamingo camp and then into the Flamingo canyon was amazing. What an epic landscape

Logsplitter said:

The drive to Flamingo camp and then into the Flamingo canyon was amazing. What an epic landscape View attachment 7846351View attachment 7846354View attachment 7846354View attachment 7846355View attachment 7846354View attachment 7846355View attachment 7846355View attachment 7846356

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The truck looks
like a Tonka toy against that background!

chequer plate looks excellent.

BFG Tyres don’t like the heat.
I can’t air down too much for soft sand as they really over heat and get much hotter than this. When aired down to below 2bar for sand they’ve been upto 90c and I’ve had to find shade and stop to rest the vehicle to allow the tyres to cool in this extreme environment and heat. Temperature extremes don’t help. Check pressures when cool in the morning and I was 2 bar at the front and 2.5 bar on the rear.

Logsplitter said:

BFG Tyres don’t like the heat.
I can’t air down too much for soft sand as they really over heat and get much hotter than this. When aired down to below 2bar for sand they’ve been upto 90c and I’ve had to find shade and stop to rest the vehicle to allow the tyres to cool in this extreme environment and heat. Temperature extremes don’t help. Check pressures when cool in the morning and I was 2 bar at the front and 2.5 bar on the rear. View attachment 7846361

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Why is the oil temperature not showing on the console?

It doesn’t show on

TheDocAUS said:

Why is the oil temperature not showing on the console?

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the petrol models only diesel as far as I’m aware