Sadler enriched by Nambian Odyssey adventure

For Hillcrest resident, Christopher Sadler (30) the twelve day Ford Ranger Odyssey Challenge through Nambia was an amazing and life changing experience.

The twenty contestants were divided into 10 teams with Christopher being teamed up with Mark McIntyre (31) from Pretoria to form team 9. The two are still in touch after the expedition and have formed a lasting friendship.

“We formed a friendship at the Boot Camp in August, so to be teamed up with him for the Odyssey was awesome. He’s a genuine guy, who was his genuine self through the entire Odyssey, not putting on a show for the competition. His practical knowledge, coupled with his Springbok scouts status from school days, was a real asset to our team. I knew I could rely on him and trust him during any task,” said Sadler.

The teams travelled in convoy covering 2500km through Namibia’s Kaokoland. During the expedition the teams were scored daily by the instructors on driving techniques, camp craft, team work, vehicle maintenance, technical knowledge on the Ford Ranger as well as general knowledge on the areas visited.

Several special tasks were also staged during the trip including winching and vehicle recovery exercises; a 6km river trail walk and forming a laager with the vehicles at the Khumib River camp over, where night duty became even important as wild elephants and white lions roam the area.

Other more fun activities included a tug-o-war contest between teams, an 8km river rafting trip down the Kunene River, where they spotted a number of crocodiles, and visiting a local Himba Village, to learn more about the history and traditions of the Himba tribes.

Teams also had the chance to stop at the Dorslandtrek Memorial to pay their respects to the Afrikaaners that travelled across Namibia, many of them losing their lives in the harsh environment.

Day four was spent travelling 90kms on the Kunene River Trail.

“This was our first stretch of real challenging terrains – from soft dry river beds to rocky climbs and descents, it made for a thoroughly enjoyable and testing 11 hours of driving. The reward was the view of Epupa Falls upon our arrival at Epupa. This is something I’ll never forget.”

Another highlight of the trip for Christopher was Van Zyl’s pass, a notoriously daunting 4×4 challenge. Located between two very steep mountain ranges in Namibia’s Marienfluss, it is an extreme route made over the mountain by travellers over time which include a steep descent of dodging around boulders, rocks and ravines.

“The Van Zyl’s campsite allowed us to experience one of the most amazing night sky’s Africa has to offer, as there is no civilisation anywhere close to the campsite. The view from the top of Van Zyl’s pass is incredible.”

During the relatively short distance travelled on day eight from Khumib River Trail to Purros, contestants had the time to reflect on all they had seen and done.

“This had some of the most varied scenery all squeezed into one day. From river beds to flat grass plains, to arid rocky rolling hills, it was unbelievable what Namibia had to offer. The day ended with the instructors dropping each of us off in the middle of an open dry plain, 500 metres apart, and leaving us for an hour to relax and reflect on the trip thus far.”

“The Purros River Canyon greeted us at sunrise and was one of the most beautiful surprises of our trip in Namibia. It was totally unexpected that such amazing scenery existed just 5kms from a flat dry desert plain.”

The day continued with team physical and mental tests which included changing a tyres, performing a manual winch recovery, using a high lift jack as well as performing a vehicle PDI (Pre-Delivery inspection). There were two written tests, testing their knowledge of Namibia and the Ford Ranger. This knowledge would be invaluable later in the day when several vehicles got stuck along the way due to the fine sand travelling conditions.

The hardest physically for Christopher was the tug-o-war contest in a soft sandy riverbed in the blistering midday heat around 33 degrees, with no food since 6am that morning.

Mentally, the toughest thing was the second half of the trip. Driving for 10 to12 hours a day after five hours of broken sleep, having to perform spontaneous mental and physical challenges.

“After seven days no sleep, only three simple meals a day, and down 3kgs from the weight I started the trip, it became a mental battle where only the toughest would survive without making critical errors that would count against them in the end. Also having an unknown agenda for the whole trip and being watched constantly by the instructors was also mentally draining.”

Despite these hardships, Christopher said it was an experience of a life time that has made him passionate about doing more travelling and exploring.

” I will take away a number of great memories and experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life which include meeting and forming friendships with twenty amazingly adventurous, go getter people from all over Southern Africa; experiencing Namibia for the first time and learning a lot of 4×4 skills and how to apply them to protect your vehicle as well as the environment.”

He added, “It is hard to say what this trip meant to me, but I have come back a changed person. I have come back with an increased respect for our environment, an increased passion to visit more of this vast world we live in and a desire to make some changes to my life to allow me to live out this passion to travel and explore.”