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…
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…
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…
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…
Health on the Road
It’s especially important that you take your own health seriously when you are a long way from home in countries that have no National Health service, no Ambulance service, and…
Botswana self drive tips
Is Botswana a viable self-drive destination… Botswana is an adventurous and challenging driving destination so be prepared for the conditions. The roads vary from sealed tarmac with some pot holes…
Why Tanzania is a tough self drive destination
Self drivers in Tanzania struggle with finding decent vehicles, making National Parks bookings and the high prices everywhere. Whilst there are the traditional car hire companies out of the main…
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…
How to Spend your safari budget wisely
The game viewing experiences at a waterhole are often the same whether you are paying £500 a night staying in lodge or £25 a night staying in a campsite and…
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…
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…
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…
8 Pre-Departure Checks
Setting out for the remote bush in Africa needs some preplanning so that you are self-sufficient and in the event of breakdown or incident you have a plan in place.…
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…
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.