The 109 and the Defender have been dethroned. If you visit Tanzania, you won’t see boxy Land Rovers pressed into service on the Serengeti. Instead, you’ll find the simple yet capable 70-Series Land Cruiser. It’s a Toyota model we don’t get here in the States, but on a recent visit to East Africa, I saw almost nothing but them. Leaf springs. No turbochargers on the diesel engines. Simple. Yet wonderfully effective at allowing you to get to some of the most amazing places on the planet.
Our journey began at a Maasai Lodge set in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. At over 19,000 feet above the ground, Uhuru Peak stands as a breathtaking beacon in the sky, and it’s just the beginning of a beautiful adventure.
Our guide, David, introduces himself and our vehicle for the next few days. There are a pair of seats up front. A low partition then separates the front buckets from the rear six seats, a rear-mounted powered fridge, and a roof that we can open up when inside a national park. The trucks are brought into Tanzania and then rebodied right in Arusha. You’ll find great tall windows when sat and an amazing viewpoint when you’re standing up and the roof is open.
We head from Tarangire and transit to the truly astounding Ngorongoro Crater. It’s the vastness that blows your mind upon reaching the first viewpoint. It’s similar to the first time I set eyes upon the Grand Canyon, yet Ngorongo may be more magical. The floor lies 2,000 feet down, and the footprint takes up 100 square miles. Yet it’s not actually a crater but a caldera. The aftermath of a once great volcano that erupted and then collapsed in on itself between two and three million years ago. Today, it harbors an abundance of animal life and is staggeringly beautiful. Looking down from the upper viewpoint, you can see tiny specks roaming about the various areas of the crater floor… those are animals such as wildebeests, zebra, and even herds of elephants.
The Land Cruiser allows us to get close to things I’ve only seen in zoos, but now I’m not sure I ever even want to go to a zoo again. You need to experience these animals where they live. Where they hunt. Where they nurture their young. Where they die and return to the Earth, and continue the circle of life. You can see it all unfold before you, and it’s awe-inspiring.
Our journey continues, and the Land Cruiser shows no signs of slowing down. We leave the lush crater for drier land and wide open spaces. Arriving at the entrance gate to Serengeti National Park leaves an indelible mark on your soul. You’re entering 5,700 square miles of space that plays host to so many diverse and wonderful animals, it leaves you a bit breathless. While the sense of scale in the crater is astonishing because of the open space between the rising walls, on the Serengeti, it’s astonishing because there are no walls. Just endless African wonder in all directions for hundreds of miles.
After multiple game drives, I sit on the patio of our tented lodge and look out over the gorgeous world unfolding before me. I see a family of giraffes meander through acacia trees while a group of zebras joins in on their journey. The sun starts to set as I sip my glass of Pinotage, and I think that if this world were to come to an end, I would want to sit here and watch it happen. This could be my final view, and I’d be okay with that.
But we have more time, and more animals to see, and the 70-Series awaits. Over the next few days, we find gazelles, elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas, baboons, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, cape buffaloes, impalas, warthogs, banded mongoose, cheetahs, honey badgers, ibis, flamingos, and probably 15 other animals I haven’t named. The popped-top of our truck allows access to a world I’ve only seen in film or read about in books.
My face is slightly sunburnt, but my smile is as wide as the savanna that stretches before me. I take a sip of a beer that I’ve plucked from the fridge inside the truck. It’s a rather appropriate Safari Lager, and it’s light and delicious. But I have a weird feeling as David pilots our rig back to our lodge after our final drive. I’m excited and amazed by all I’ve seen. I’m tired from days of dust in my face and bouncing along dirt roads. But I’m also sad because odds are high that I’ll never be back here.
Tanzania is a glorious nation full of amazing sights and truly kind people. Much like how Tanzanite is a beautiful gem you can hold in your hand, Tanzania is a beautiful gem upon this planet, which I will hold in my heart. And it’s pretty amazing that a simple boxy SUV with a Land Cruiser badge can take you to some of the greatest places on this planet. In East Africa, the 70-Series is the true King of the Land.
[Images copyright Hooniverse/Jeff Glucker]