Cruiser Country

Toyota lays on an action-packed few days in south-western Angola with a trio of Land Cruisers

- Angus Boswell

It’s taken Angola a long time to emerge from the civil war which ended in 2002. Its effects have dragged on for more than two decades. When war broke out in 1974, tourism effectively stopped. That’s changing. The old ruling elite are being sidelined, minefields have largely been cleared, and officialdom is letting go its cranky and slow Soviet practices when it comes to getting things done.

One great aspect of the new spirit of glasnost is that South Africans no longer need a visa to enter this vast country. Its sheer size and mixed road network makes it a challenge for even the hardiest overlanders. The rewards are a chance to explore Angola’s rich cultural heritage and natural attractions, which vary from sandy desert to tropical forests.

The perfect country, then, for Toyota to launch the Namib special edition of its 79 Series double cab, and to bring along two other key members of a vehicle family that has justly earned a reputation as the ‘Master of Africa’. We only have time to explore the highlights of the Namibe province in the south-western corner, but what a great region in which to compare back-to-back drives in the Prado mid-sized SUV, 200 Series full-sized SUV, and the 79 Series double cab 4.5-litre V8 diesel.

Namibe and the desert

A group of journos cheat a bit on the long drive through Namibia, flying into Windhoek and taking a late afternoon charter flight to the town of Namibe with its brand-new airport. It’s very remote in Angola’s south, the view from the air dominated by seas of sand dunes broken by deep canyons. The crew from Will of Africa Safaris are waiting with the Land Cruisers, and we hit the freshly-tarred and traffic-free EN280 south as darkness closes in. Clearly, money is being spent on infrastructure.