The Camel Trophy: the original overland challenge

Tina Irving    overlandholidays     4x4, Adventures, Camel Trophy, Land Rover, off-road, Overlanding, overlanding holidays

The Camel Trophy, an overlanding extravaganza of adventure and exploration was launched in 1980, and there have been some fantastic expeditions to remote destinations such as the San Pedro Volcano in Guatemala, South America in the 1990s.

Overlanding needs a good 4x4! credit: Flickr/indigoprime

Robust vehicles were fundamental to winning the Camel Trophy, as well as committed participants with the relevant expertise and knowledge to keeping the vehicles well maintained, and of course good navigators!  When the Camel Trophy was first launched, the vehicles used were German Jeeps, Range Rovers and the whole spectrum of Land Rovers.

The Camel Trophy ran until 2000 and was superceded by the G4 Challenge in 2003,  using Land Rovers and supported by competitors from 16 nations.  Despite the large “gas guzzling” vehicles, overlanding does have a social responsibility and Land Rover supported the Red Cross Societies until the cancellation of the event in 2009.

Travel off the beaten track for adventure is at the root of the concept of overlanding.  Vehicles have improved over the years to allow more difficult terrain to be traversed and include safety device roll bars, under body protection and steering guards, enabling safer access to remote and beautiful destinations. Upgraded suspension and transmission components also ensure a more comfortable journey, without compromising the enjoyment of being close to nature and the elements. And vehicles are more reliable than ever before, providing the client with a better quality holiday and less chance of breakdown.

Let’s face it: if you want to really get away from it all, you need to leave the roads behind!

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Tina Irving wrote 4 articles on this blog.

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