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Waves of anxiety and anxiety woke me up at 3:30 a.m. M. And I quickly realized that today would be the day that I would drive a Land Rover, or any 4X4, for the first time.
This day marked the first of a three-day, roughly 900km journey along the northern part of the Lesotho border in a shiny new Land Rover Defender.
In previous experiences of abuse, there was always someone else driving. Some prefer to be behind the wheel to better control the situation, but I pride myself on being a first-rate passenger. Do you need a snack, sanitizer, jokes, and random conversation? Then count on me!
But do I need you to drive a beastly vehicle up a rocky hill through weathered dongas and rocks? Before my adventure with Land Rover, this was a difficult pass.
So I opted to remain a passenger on day one and luckily the gentleman I teamed up with on our trip handled the terrain like a professional off-road driver. However, to say that I was surprised by the Defender’s intelligence cannot be understated.
Potholes covered the road along the northern part of the Lesotho border on the Land Rover Defender expedition.
As I looked to my left at the steep drop below, a Land Rover wheel in the air, I realized that the car knew exactly what it was doing: camera technology that allows you to see under the vehicle, multiple buttons on the dash for it climbed and descended what looked like a mountain as powerful tires gripped the rocks like cycling shoes.
There was really no need to worry about driving this car, and even the amateurs did this obstacle course, I thought in hindsight.
The large number of cameras in the car itself ensured that there was always as little uncertainty as possible, something very useful when tackling the road that is rarely traveled, or even crowded roads are traveled too frequently.
This is the exact appeal of the new Defender, due to 70 years of trial and error.
70 years of Land Rover innovation.
Land Rover calls it the “strongest and most capable vehicle we have ever created.” The three-day trip put this theory to the test, and over the three days, the demands of the trip that sometimes made it seem like an insurmountable task were easily met.
The roads I opted to explore with the Defender were more “safe” – long stretches of potholed asphalt roads and muddy, dusty steps, and I found this vehicle to be the easiest I had ever sat in the driver’s seat of. .
To add to my initial list of problems, I was used to a manual hatchback, so the automatic look and large size of the Defender scared me too.
It quickly became second nature, as did most of the Defender’s functions.
For someone who has never put a foot on the gas pedal of a vehicle like the Defender, it really was the easiest 4X4 to drive. If there were doubts, the technological genius of the car guided him. You only need to lift a few fingers and toes to take control, and the Defender does the rest.
Steep drops simply required changing the Defender’s settings to adjust the vehicle’s height.
The anxiety of the first day dissipated as the scenery grew more impressive. And when I was being obedient
passenger, I had plenty of time to examine the odds and extremes within the Defenders of the urban and rural herd.
Water and snacks stayed cold in the car’s mini fridge, and there was plenty of room for my incredibly long legs, snacks, and more.
A large interactive screen kept us on track as the speakers delivered forgotten hits as we made our way through the Free State and into KwaZulu-Natal. With the guidance of Land Rover staff, fans on the journey conquered shaking hands to scale rocky hills, dodge rocks dipped in mud, navigate eroded roads that are constantly changing due to heavy rain, and make turns that sometimes force us to hold onto the edges of our seats.
I quickly learned that the task that seemed impossible on the first day of the marathon drive in the Land Rover Defender became something I now yearn to repeat. If there was a next time, I would struggle to be in the driver’s seat for the duration of the trip.
And if the car is good enough for Kingsley Holgate and his family of adventurers, it sure is good enough for me.
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