We’re unabashed fans of the Suzuki Jimny here. It’s rough, it’s capable, it’s cheap, it’s adorable, and, most of all, it’s forbidden fruit for most of us over here in the United States. Because we don’t get to see them often, it’s always a treat to see one of these little Suzukis doing its thing. This weekend, we can give you a taste of that with ROAM Overlanding’s Botswana Adventure.
This trip took ROAM Overlanding’s Adrian Abrahams and a friend along with their newly kitted-out Suzuki Jimnys over the border from his native South Africa and into Botswana for an adventure of game-viewing, over-landing, and camping.
A little more than a year ago, Abrahams bought his new Suzuki Jimny. Already well-initiated in overland adventuring with his Volkswagen Amarok single-cab pickup (or bakkie as he’d call it), Abrahams was ready for something new. The Jimny’s small size and off-road capability drew him in, and after some substantial modifications, the truck was ready for an adventure.
So Abrahams set out with a friend for Botswana to see what his new Suzuki can do and whether all the gear he’d equipped it with would be up to whatever the trip would throw at it.
It seems to me that Abrahams’s machine is more than well-equipped for the kind of trip he put together, particularly when it came to camping. I am really impressed by the slide-out trays in the rear loadspace of the Jimny as well as the roof-top camper.
In the final of the four clips that make up the adventure, the Jimny’s advance is finally slowed down by an aggressive attempt to cross the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. The little car was too heavy to get across the mud and without recovery tracks, the team would have been in really tough shape. The whole ordeal only took a few hours, but it took a toll on Adrian’s back that would make the ride back a lot more painful than it would have been.
Adrian and his friend made their way back to South Africa safely with their Jimnys and managed to put together this little travelogue. Though the trip wouldn’t be without any heartache, it was a success. The Jimnys were up to the task and they’ll be out on their next adventure soon enough.