A Cinderella Story

Having been born into a safari-loving family, I have had the wonderful fortune of clocking hundreds of hours on the back of a safari vehicle. All the vehicles were more or less the same to the untrained eye but there was one, unfortunate, standout in the 1970s ‘oyota’ (the paint of the T had worn off) that we had on our family’s farm. After one too many breakdowns from my mom and the car, we bid farewell to the ancient and unforgettable oyota, and replaced it with a flashier model.

It turns out that the humble base of a bakkie (if you’re South African) or pickup truck (if you’re American) is what is transformed into the moveable mountain of a vehicle that can make the most unpassable track a pleasant little trundle up the road. It’s the modern-day Cinderella’s pumpkin-turned-carriage story. Bits and pieces are welded on here, stuck on there and painted all together in safari-esque colours… Now might be a good time to point out that I’m not a petrol-head, if you couldn’t already tell, and that they probably should have asked somebody else to write this blog.

Never minding that, with my so-called 'first-hand experience' of safari-vehicle-creation, I gamely took a trip to the outskirts of Nairobi to visit Rob’s Magic (also known as Magic Mike — but not to Rob’s face) where I planned to take a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of how a safari vehicle is made. I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher; Rob’s been working his magic for 35 years and has been making bespoke safari vehicles for just under 10 years. Before that, he had been filling his days at rallies racing (and winning) in cars he built himself, flying planes (I didn’t ask if he built his own planes… probably) and cuddling his mother’s pet lion — now there’s a book crying out to be written.

Nowadays the safari vehicle business keeps him on his toes with a small fleet of vehicles from safari lodges across Kenya boasting his creations. Rob describes each lodge as having 'a unique flavour', and his purpose is to be sure that his vehicles speak to that flavour. After visiting us and seeing our views, he described Angama’s flavour as being light, open and fresh. Therefore, our new bespoke Magic Mike vehicles have unusually thin pillars holding up the roof, a windscreen that can be pushed flat and doors that can be clipped open — the only thing left unseen from the vehicle is the road beneath you. He said, 'I wanted guests to feel like they were sitting on Angama Mara’s veranda with its uninterrupted panoramic views'… A mechanic and a poet.

Along with our stupendous views (if I do say so myself), Angama is also extremely generous with space and our guests’ comfort is always front of mind. Naturally, Rob included this in the design of the car and expertly figured out a way to extend the chassis by a metre, creating a long-wheeled base that allows more breathing room for passengers to recline their seats, grab a Tusker beer out of the inbuilt fridge, charge their phones in the 240 voltage plugs or even do a little jig in the central passageway — the options abound.

It must be said, there are some practical issues when it comes to having an open safari vehicle in the heart of Africa (much the same as having a convertible in London): an occasional, beautiful and oftentimes thoroughly drenching downpour. Not to fear, Rob waved his magic wand and designed roller blinds with a see-through mesh imported from Italy that completely encloses the vehicle, keeping guests snug on the inside whilst still being able to see everything on the outside... just like magic.