Why are Bush Lapa's so popular?

[Grumbles]

as you have asked for advice,

Having a bushlapa and pulling into a caravan park is akin to buying LC V8 79 just to mount mall pavements in Sandton.

A Bush lapa is designed for rugged off road bush camping away from crowded caravaan parks with water slides and snoepies.

Its a bit out off place- but I guess it create a persona of rugged overlander and as mentioned already an ice breaker in conversation with fellow bushlapaians

Becoming a bit of an FUV, in caravan parks that is - Fashion utility vehicle

Maybe a FUV for some.

I can tell you in our case we are just as comfortable in those "slide & snoepie" caravan parks as we are at Doodsklip in the Baviaans.

Definitely a UV (that is... utility vehicle) for us (and many other Bushlapians)

That is the magic of a well designed, rugged, light weight off-road Hybrid.

Cheers

Grumbles

[Peter Betts]

Maybe a FUV for some.

I can tell you in our case we are just as comfortable in those "slide & snoepie" caravan parks as we are at Doodsklip in the Baviaans.

Definitely a UV (that is... utility vehicle) for us (and many other Bushlapians)

That is the magic of a well designed, rugged, light weight off-road Hybrid.

Cheers

Grumbles

Agree Entirely >> My new Summit Everest was the only Off Road Camping Contraption at Pine Creek Caravan Park Groot Brak River the last 2 weeks but as my Camping Neighbour said that his Beautiful Jurgends Classic Model Caravan could not make Polentswa , Rooiputs and the E Cape Farm camping Spots in the Karoo and Baviaans for example >> We can

[George]

At least the guys up north are 1-2 hours away from the bush. In the Cape we have to make do with grass and snoepies for weekends. It is however easier to setup and not as rough on our manicured nails.

[Paul Botha]

Agree Entirely >> My new Summit Everest was the only Off Road Camping Contraption at Pine Creek Caravan Park Groot Brak River the last 2 weeks but as my Camping Neighbour said that his Beautiful Jurgends Classic Model Caravan could not make Polentswa , Rooiputs and the E Cape Farm camping Spots in the Karoo and Baviaans for example >> We can

Exactly the reason we bought the Ratel 4i as we're going to do long stays for a couple of years and we now have the freedom of choice to virtually travel anywhere. With the 4i we have the option of a dinette or a 3/4 bed inside ...perfect for poor weather or sleeping inside the caravan en route to another destination

[tvdwaltventer]

I need to order my Boskriek this week but cant decide between Kaki or White. My vehicle is white and therefore white make logical sense, but Kaki is also nice.

Ant thoughts on this?

Now tell me this Khaki Boskriek does not work in this picture!

[Peter Betts]

Now tell me this Khaki Boskriek does not work in this picture!

How does that Fixed Roof Mounted Solar Panel FOLLOW the sun during the course of the day with the van being all pegged down during your stay particularly if its in the Shade as in Picture >>To me its just a convenient place for Transport (Travelling from A-B ) I prefer a Free Standing arrangement on a 7 metre cable with the Trailer in the shade and the Panel in the sun with me moving the Panel to face the sun full on all day long >it what I do with the Everest above .. My GP has a Boskriek and camped in the Shade with us in Tsendze KNP and he was so frustrated

[tvdwaltventer]

How does that Fixed Roof Mounted Solar Panel FOLLOW the sun during the course of the day with the van being all pegged down during your stay particularly if its in the Shade as in Picture >>To me its just a convenient place for Transport (Travelling from A-B ) I prefer a Free Standing arrangement on a 7 metre cable with the Trailer in the shade and the Panel in the sun with me moving the Panel to face the sun full on all day long >it what I do with the Everest above .. My GP has a Boskriek and camped in the Shade with us in Tsendze KNP and he was so frustrated

This photo was taken at Satara where I had electricity and wanted to face the view. When camping off grid I just make sure that the solar panels face north. I have stayed off grid for 3 days at a time without any issues at all. You have to be in the sun off course! I normally prefer not to stand directly under a tree. I am sure there are benefits to having free standing panels but so far it has not been a issue for me personally.

[Hendrik du Toit]

I need to order my Boskriek this week but cant decide between Kaki or White. My vehicle is white and therefore white make logical sense, but Kaki is also nice.

Ant thoughts on this?

Thanks for all the advise. Went to BL Centurion again today and looked at a few secondhand units; to see the impact of bush scratches and as advised, the kaki will be better to hide the scratches compared to white.

Order is going in tomorrow for Boskriek Kaki

Previously had a Baobab, looking forward to smaller Boskriek with new Z roof and new geyser/shower setup.

[Tedx2]

How does that Fixed Roof Mounted Solar Panel FOLLOW the sun during the course of the day with the van being all pegged down during your stay particularly if its in the Shade as in Picture >>To me its just a convenient place for Transport (Travelling from A-B ) I prefer a Free Standing arrangement on a 7 metre cable with the Trailer in the shade and the Panel in the sun with me moving the Panel to face the sun full on all day long >it what I do with the Everest above .. My GP has a Boskriek and camped in the Shade with us in Tsendze KNP and he was so frustrated

We have a Baobab which doesn't have an angled roof. We have a 190w fixed solar on the roof. We prefer not to park under a tree as we hate sap or bird droppings on the caravan roof and bushwing, in the open we have ample shade under the bushwing. We spent 9 months in the van living full time, with a mixture of powered and unpowered sites, longest unpowered was 12 nights in Richtersveld (also 4 nights in Tsendze), we never had a day when batteries failed to reach 100%. We also carry a 100w "mobile" panel that we use to charge to 2nd battery in the car (runs our 2nd 90l National Luna fridge/freezer), this could be used if required in the Baobab, we have never needed to use it for Baobab.

[Voyageur]

Our experience is the same.

BL Kewer flat roof 320w panel on the roof. We like to set up next to a tree but never under it for the same reasons - bird droppings, sap from trees etc etc.

Unless I feel like a Nespresso coffee, we never plug into shorepower. We can live like this indefinitely, even when there is rainy weather. I don’t have much experience with the slanted roof, other than a 2 week trip to the Richtersveld in a rented Miskruijer, but we prefer the flat roof because we can optimise our view without giving any thought to the sun. With the slanted roof, I used to drop the roof down during the day to make it flat to catch the sun if we had set up facing the wrong way. But maybe you don’t even need to do that - we had dodgy batteries on our Richtersveld trip so I really needed to watch the power I was feeding in.

We also have a fold up portable solar panel - 220w - which we can plug into the van when the tree we are parked next to, casts a shadow over the solar panel. I have done this very occasionally when we have been surrounded by trees.

[Voyageur]

To answer the OP re BL popularity, things we love are

• Can go pretty much anywhere - I do accept that not towing in sandy, wet areas would be preferable but even without towing, you can still get stuck
• its modular which means you can pop out your bed and roof for a sleep over or set up a base camp with awning, side panels etc.
• we have a normal vehicle to go on a game drive or tackle the local 4x4 trail - nothing more hectic than level 3 for me - or go shopping if we are soft roading somewhere.
• I don’t have to worry about rust given it’s 3CR12 aluminum construction or excessive weight for going through sand or tackling really steep terrain
• practical simple, less is more layout that works and keeps on working
• it is really well balanced and tows like a dream - no stabiliser bars or concerns about sway
• i like the fact that it is manoeuvrable in a campsite. Very rare that we need assistance to position if this is not possible with the vehicle.
• it is super comfortable- really big bed, daybed, hot water, fantastic galley area, we can live inside if the weather is lousy, excellent storm ready awnings that are easy to use
• excellent resale value by all accounts
• brilliant after sales service - the BL staff at Paarl all have a can- do attitude and genuinely want to help
• a network of passionate, experienced owners who you can turn to for advice

And despite the OP’s opinion, it looks really good

[HiluxRoux]

How does that Fixed Roof Mounted Solar Panel FOLLOW the sun during the course of the day with the van being all pegged down during your stay particularly if its in the Shade as in Picture >>To me its just a convenient place for Transport (Travelling from A-B ) I prefer a Free Standing arrangement on a 7 metre cable with the Trailer in the shade and the Panel in the sun with me moving the Panel to face the sun full on all day long >it what I do with the Everest above .. My GP has a Boskriek and camped in the Shade with us in Tsendze KNP and he was so frustrated

So obviously a fixed solar on the roof cannot follow the sun. So one compensate by increasing the size of the panel. I personally have a 300w panel , maybe a bit overkill but the price difference between a 190w and 300w is not much.
When camping off-grid I normally try to position so that the roof faces northish. If not like others have said I will lower the roof during the day making it flat, only had to do this once camping in June next to the ocean. (although new roofs are flat)
I also have a portable solar panel thats stored in my canopy of my vehicle. Used this setup when I add a second NL in my vehicle to charge its 2nd battery. (had this since before I had a BL) So I could use this as an emergency back-up for BL. Although I have never needed to.
Lets be honest taking along 2 x 120w panels takes a lot of space so I prefer the fixed to roof option. Actually did the same when I still had my Xplorer.

[Peter Betts]

How does that Fixed Roof Mounted Solar Panel FOLLOW the sun during the course of the day with the van being all pegged down during your stay particularly if its in the Shade as in Picture >>To me its just a convenient place for Transport (Travelling from A-B ) I prefer a Free Standing arrangement on a 7 metre cable with the Trailer in the shade and the Panel in the sun with me moving the Panel to face the sun full on all day long >it what I do with the Everest above .. My GP has a Boskriek and camped in the Shade with us in Tsendze KNP and he was so frustrated

A very nice Outfit your Boskriek all the same >>Yes of course Satara has power so does our fav Central camp Maroela and 2nd Fav Balule No Power in that area Enjoy

[Peter Betts]

So obviously a fixed solar on the roof cannot follow the sun. So one compensate by increasing the size of the panel. I personally have a 300w panel , maybe a bit overkill but the price difference between a 190w and 300w is not much.
When camping off-grid I normally try to position so that the roof faces northish. If not like others have said I will lower the roof during the day making it flat, only had to do this once camping in June next to the ocean. (although new roofs are flat)
I also have a portable solar panel thats stored in my canopy of my vehicle. Used this setup when I add a second NL in my vehicle to charge its 2nd battery. (had this since before I had a BL) So I could use this as an emergency back-up for BL. Although I have never needed to.
Lets be honest taking along 2 x 120w panels takes a lot of space so I prefer the fixed to roof option. Actually did the same when I still had my Xplorer.

Thanks for that Good tips for roof mounting >> I have 2 x 80W = 160W Joined in Collapsable Book form that goes into a Neat Canvas cover Wooden Sides inside (for Travelling) that powers my 2 x 105 ah Batteries in the Trailer ..Plenty for a Nat Luna 90 L and Combo and 72 litre NL freezer >> I turn it off after sunset to save power and drops from - 18 to - 6 overnight and we are off again the next day back to - 188 in an hour . Tell me as a fellow Hilux driver is it safe to have a lead (Done professionally by say LA Sport from Normal Truck Battery in Engine bay under bonnet al the way to the Tow bar to join up with the Brad Harrison Plug on the Tow hitch of Trailer to keep freezer running and batteries in Trailer charged while driving ?? I am always scared of Alternator Problems etc etc >> I battle with changing Light Bulbs at home !!. We accidently left the Freezer on when we fetched our new Trailer and supplied them with our 90 L We drove all the way to Gariep and stayed over and only realised then as we were about to plug in electricity for overnight electricity >> Plenty charge still left in Batteries from no charging all day !!Love to hear what you think of this Battery to Tow hitch setup

[HiluxRoux]

Thanks for that Good tips for roof mounting >> I have 2 x 80W = 160W Joined in Collapsable Book form that goes into a Neat Canvas cover Wooden Sides inside (for Travelling) that powers my 2 x 105 ah Batteries in the Trailer ..Plenty for a Nat Luna 90 L and Combo and 72 litre NL freezer >> I turn it off after sunset to save power and drops from - 18 to - 6 overnight and we are off again the next day back to - 188 in an hour . Tell me as a fellow Hilux driver is it safe to have a lead (Done professionally by say LA Sport from Normal Truck Battery in Engine bay under bonnet al the way to the Tow bar to join up with the Brad Harrison Plug on the Tow hitch of Trailer to keep freezer running and batteries in Trailer charged while driving ?? I am always scared of Alternator Problems etc etc >> I battle with changing Light Bulbs at home !!. We accidently left the Freezer on when we fetched our new Trailer and supplied them with our 90 L We drove all the way to Gariep and stayed over and only realised then as we were about to plug in electricity for overnight electricity >> Plenty charge still left in Batteries from no charging all day !!Love to hear what you think of this Battery to Tow hitch setup

Not sure if I understand correctly.
You have a thick wire (16mm2) running from crank battery to the back where you join it via BH plug to plug on a frame of boswa?
If it was done professionally than they would probably have installed a solenoid that would protect your crank battery once the ignition is switched off.
I had a solenoid system on my previous vehicle that did exactly this to charge my batteries in the Xplorer.

I’m no auto-electric expert but as I have it, it is better to have a dc/dc charger in the boswa.
This is what I have in my new bakkie.

[HiluxRoux]

O and this is the advantage of having fixed solar on the roof. Most Bushlapians will probably concur that when driving they charge batteries via solar and not via solenoid or dc/dc charger

[DiscoFrans]

O and this is the advantage of having fixed solar on the roof. Most Bushlapians will probably concur that when driving they charge batteries via solar and not via solenoid or dc/dc charger

Yes!!

[Gustav Preller]

O and this is the advantage of having fixed solar on the roof. Most Bushlapians will probably concur that when driving they charge batteries via solar and not via solenoid or dc/dc charger

And yes