The journey is part of the adventure for David and Sue Gelling, who love exploring Africa in Red Devil, their Chevy Trailblazer. The Trailblazer apparently often surprises fellow travellers with its off-road prowess…
As an avid camper and overland explorer since childhood, David Gelling’s passion for back country travel shines through in his conversations. He is so passionate, in fact, that he started DG Overlanding as a platform to share his passion with a wider audience. “Overlanding is genuinely one of my greatest passions in life and we spend most of our free time travelling,” says David, who has embraced “forced retirement” courtesy of the C-word as an opportunity to explore even more destinations in our beautiful country.
Having travelled all over southern Africa, David highlights a trip to the Central Kalahari with Ultimate Adventures for his 60th birthday as an all-time favourite, with a month spent traversing Namibia as a close second. “The Central Kalahari is truly incredible,” he enthuses. On our trip we were blessed to see a magnificent black-maned lion – what a special birthday treat!” It was on the Central Kalahari trip that the 2013 Trailblazer showed its mettle. “Upon booking and planning for the trip, I was told there was no way Red Devil would be able to pull our big off-road trailer through the thick sand of the Kalahari. But we surprised everyone, as the 2.8-litre Duramax diesel never missed a beat,” says David. Fact is, the Trailblazer has been central to David and Sue’s overlanding experiences in Africa.
“There is a saying that the best overlander is the one you have or the one you can afford – somehow, my Trailblazer is both. It’s a true underdog and an underrated performer in this industry,” says David, adding that it works perfectly alongside their Rogue trailer. The vehicle only has basic modifications, which include a Front Runner Slimline roof rack, Front Runner fridge slide and National Luna dual-battery system. “I also have a Garmin with Tracks4Africa installed. Apart from that it’s still basically a factory Trailblazer,” says David, adding that the dualbattery system has been the most useful since they prefer off-the-grid wild camping wherever possible.
On the Gelling’s bucket-list is a trip to both Liuwa Plain National Park to witness the second largest wildebeest migration and Kasanka National Park to witness the largest bat migration, in the world. We are sure their trusty fourwheel partner will be more than up for the task!
Follow David and Sue’s adventures on Facebook and YouTube. For more on their rig and trips go to: https:// dgoverlanding.wixsite.com/ dgoverlanding.
