Camping in Comfort
Self drive safaris are very tiring especially in the hotter times of the year and if you are camping. Heat, dust, rain, and mud combine to sap your strength and…
Article in Land Rover Owner
Baring the soul in a high profile magazine was a little daunting. This is tough reading for anyone that loves Land Rovers and at the time accounted for many years…
How dangerous is the wildlife on a self-drive safari?
Given that many camping areas are completely unfenced and inside National Parks what are the real dangers for a self-drive family in Botswana or Namibia? The answer may surprise you…
Why self drive?
Why you should consider taking a self-drive safari for your next visit to Africa and start to enjoy the real rewards of the bush When I first went to Africa…
10 Ways to Stay Safer
As Andrew Pierre White succinctly put it on a safety video about driving the roads of Africa, the easiest way to stay safe is to …. Slow Down! This simple…
Zambia update C19
Paul Barnes reports from Zambia Tourists are now entering Zambia again. It is a requirement that they have a COVID negative test certificate no older than four days prior…
Essentials to Pack
The leatherman is my single most useful and versatile piece of kit – just remember not to put it your hand luggage. As someone who only packs at the last…
Low Season is best
Why Travel in the Low Season? Firstly its a better experience The “low” season is simply travelling when other people don’t which can be for many reasons. It might be…
Getting around Namibia article in Travel Africa 96
Great edition of Travel Africa magazine focusing on the practical aspects of self-drive journeys in Namibia. To coincide with this we are launching our own back to Africa project that…
Travel Rescue is a better bet, article in Travel Africa 93
Don’t you just hate paying for travel insurance? I would rather spend the money on a flight over the Okavango Delta or splashing out on the honeymoon suite at Cottars…
Self Drive Safari Resource
Self Drive Safari Resource is a free content web site that offers, information, planning, inspiration and on the ground knowledge to fully independent travellers that are driving themselves on safari…
Why travel rescue is better than travel insurance!
When you have a serious problem overseas; the medical emergency, the car accident, the crashing fall off a mountain bike, the mistimed landing on your paraglider, the rockfall, or the…
Animal Tails, the tuskless elephants of Ruaha
When I was a small child my Mother mistakenly took me to the cinema to watch what she thought was a child-friendly film about elephants. It was, in fact, a…
Free Spirit article in Travel Africa 92
When you have to explain to someone who has never been to Africa what you do and why driving your own vehicle on safari is the best experience and it’s…
Tjaart Smuts
For more than 30 years Tjaart has been involved with the development of the self drive industry in Namibia. He has also been involved with the motor trade and in the early days of Safari Drive he ran our local operations meeting and taking care of the clients.