Logsplitter’s travels in his Grenadier.

[Logsplitter]

A few more pictures. It’s not very often that the Van Zyles Pass or the Kunene region is green.

 

[Logsplitter]

Marienfluss
After safely navigating Van Zyles Pass we head north up the Marienfluss all the way back up to the Kunene river bordering with Angola. What an epic drive. A huge wide sandy valley where you can give the Grenadier some welly along this vast open space. Slowing up now and again to cross the washed out but now dry river valley. We stayed at the community campsite at the north end camping on the banks of the river. I loved driving the Grenadier on this smooth hard sand. Very stable over the corrugated sections and plenty of power through the deep soft red sand sections. What great fun.
Namibia has it all from a4x4 perspective. Remote wild and all sorts of terrain. .

 

[Logsplitter]

Marienfluss community camp site on the banks of the Kunene river Very hot but unfortunately can’t cool off in the river as too many crocodiles

 

[Logsplitter]

More action photos from Van Zyles Pass As you can guess my underbody protection plates are working hard.

 

[Logsplitter]

Gravel and rock roads taking their toll on the side steps and bash plates. Bash plates doing a great job Some underbody treatment is going to be required at some point

 

[Jean Mercier]

More action photos from Van Zyles Pass As you can guess my underbody protection plates are working hard. View attachment 7847850View attachment 7847851View attachment 7847852

I also notice that you use quite some toilet paper ;-)

 

[Pat-Ard]

Logsplitter I really hope you track all the waypoints and will upload them as a tour book...
Your journey is really amazing!!!

 

[MidnightCamper]

Keep 'em coming! They are sublime. You deserve a special photo award for the series. Thank-you so much for sharing them. This may sound dumb but how many photo backups are you making? Is one of them on a rugged SSD or equivalent device? Cloud storage is nice but the bird in your hand...

 

[NoMoTaco]

View attachment 7847861

Im glad to see the rear bash plate is up to the task! This entire thread is a proper shake down of the Grenadier in the 'Real World'...Bravo Logsplitter

 

[stickshifter]

View attachment 7846331Into 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. View attachment 7846333View attachment 7846332View attachment 7846334

Great photos and write up - as always! Your photo of Serra da Leba Road brought back memories. I did a lot of work in Angola back in the 90s. Safe travels!

 

[Logsplitter]

I also notice that you use quite some toilet paper ;-)

Good job I don’t still have a colostomy bag I say. That could be real messy

 

[Logsplitter]

Keep 'em coming! They are sublime. You deserve a special photo award for the series. Thank-you so much for sharing them. This may sound dumb but how many photo backups are you making? Is one of them on a rugged SSD or equivalent device? Cloud storage is nice but the bird in your hand...

All backed up OK Thanks mate.

 

[Logsplitter]

I also notice that you use quite some toilet paper ;-)

When you look over the edge it makes your arse pucker

 

[Jean Mercier]

When you look over the edge it makes your arse pucker View attachment 7847877

I have to admit that I am impressed and love it, because I have also done some things in my life that "afterwards" I thought: "stupid" or "I was lucky" ...
But that makes life worth to live.
I understand that both of you don't want to spend their lives in their couch in front of their television!
Go ahead, be careful, and let us be jealous!

 

[bigleonski]

Mate I’ve noticed you’ve mentioned the grenny as being at the dealers/workshop a number of times so far on your journey.

I’d love a bit of a summary around how much of that was warranty related issues / poor design etc, versus general maintenance or fixing breakages / damage that just happened as a result of bad luck or extreme usage you would have had with any vehicle.

Thanks, and keep it coming, we’re loving it.

 

[Tazzieman]

 

[Shaky]

As everyone says, I am impressed by the pair of you, to have the guts to go out there in the first place, although I know you have been there before so that takes away some of the trepidation of travelling alone.

I along with virtually everyone else is jealous and at this time living our dreams out through your trip.

 

[Logsplitter]

The times at Ineos de

Mate I’ve noticed you’ve mentioned the grenny as being at the dealers/workshop a number of times so far on your journey.

I’d love a bit of a summary around how much of that was warranty related issues / poor design etc, versus general maintenance or fixing breakages / damage that just happened as a result of bad luck or extreme usage you would have had with any vehicle.

Thanks, and keep it coming, we’re loving it.

A quick summary of the issue I’ve had that are in the thread somewhere.
Time at dealerships were all related to the transfer box cables and auxillary radiator fixings. I made other visits to both the Windhoek and Gabarone dealerships but that was for social reasons. Initially I had to have transfer box Bowden cable replaced in Gabarone as seized. Parts were shipped from Belgium all fixed along with some software updates. Over Christmas break I left Liberty with Ineos Kavango in Maun where they did the first service . Auxillary radiators fell out of their fixings on various occasions and held together with my fixings and final temp fix held for over a month on rough roads using very big cable ties and fencing wire.
After transfer box cable got stiff again I identified it had come out of its fixings again and rubbing on prop shaft. I did a temp fix with cable ties and wire on this also. So after about a month of travelling with these fixes I visited M&Z Ineos in Windhoek where they checked over the vehicle and ordered parts. A plan was made to come back in a week when parts would be there. I visited M&Z a week later where they did a belt and braces job of replacing and fixing transfer box cables and re fixing auxillary radiators inc new support brackets. I can attest that neither the transfer box cables or the auxillary rads will come loose again. They did a great job and did everything they could to get us back on the road as quickly as possible. A full software update was also carried out. No more error codes excepting for the occasional tyre pressure warning which I can live with.
The only issue I need to be rectified is the loose /sloppy coolant pipes which I have secured for now and M&Z could not fix at the time as needed new brackets and time to make. They confirmed my fix was good enough for now and has certainly held up so far and now over 23,000km in.
So on my return to the U.K. I’ll be looking at a full service and check over and any outstanding campaigns seen to.
So in summary so far I need coolant pipes fixings sorted, one door seal coming loose at bottom , front diff seal sweating/damp but not dripping , TPMs warnings sorted and I would like to get some spring lift spacers fitted to raise the vehicle. But I like the suspension set up as is so hopefully can keep current suspension set up and just add spacer blocks.
I also need to clean off underneath the vehicle and treat exposed metal areas. Nothing serious and to be expected given what I’ve been doing with the vehicle.
Throughout all this Ineos support in the U.K., Ineos Southern Africa and the dealerships have been fully supportive and trying to get us fixed and on our way as soon as possible . So hats off to them as one of the reasons I bought the Grenadier was the technical support and back up should I need it !
I’m ery confident I could go around the world in the Grenadier in standard spec. There’s lots of extras you could add to it but it’s super comfortable and capable as is. The one thing I would really like for overlanding is an auxiliary fuel tank and waiting to see what the aftermarket comes up with. If not I’ll live with Wavian explosion proof Jerry cans I have. !
Big plans ahead for us. And we trust Ineos will support us further if we need it.

 

[anand]

Big plans ahead for us. And we trust Ineos will support us further if we need it.

Ship it over the big pond and come say hello to the States

 

[Logsplitter]

We intend to along with South America. Looking forward to it.

Ship it over the big pond and come say hello to the States