Saab Pride - African Style
It’s time again for an entry in the Saab Pride of Ownership competition. Today we add another continent to the competition, with an entry from Danni in Namibia.
Ah, Namibia. Elkparts deliver to there, too!
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I thought I would shoot you a couple of shots I took whilst holidaying with the Mrs in South Africa. The part of the world include wine estates, the venerable Garden route from the mother city, Cape Town to Port Elizabeth (I suppose you need a map to see this) and a bit of the hinterland.
The first picture shows one of the wine estates where the cosmic blue color renders a perfect drop to the enlarged wine bottle and the rest basically encapsulates what a wonderful part of the world this is of the Western Cape Province - there is a lot of heritage here in terms of French and a bit of Anglo-Saxon background. We covered a distance of 5,600km without a single hitch. The trip also included a visit to the nearest GM service facility in Cape Town where the 9-5 go a shipload of new ECU updates to improve fuel consumption and the like and I must admit the uptake is now much better.
When we arrived at the border, the customs chaps could not believe their eyes of what was packed in the boot and he intimated that I must be having a very expensive wife. The return leg also included using the obligatory river crossing on a pontoon from South Africa into Namibia.
At the pontoon crossing we met tourists from Sweden who recognized the 9-5 from a mile away. I felt being in a unique group of enthusiasts as the 55-year old gentlemen said to my other half: your husband is a man of class with reference to the 9-5! Do I need to elaborate?
Enjoy the sojourn.
Danni
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Well done Danni, love those shots.
The Swedish man you met said it all. Nice car! You’re a superstar in the Saab community, Danni.
When Swade does a book - Danni’s pictures and words should be up there at the front.
Wonderful stuff. Makes my humble wander around Zimbabwe in a Land Rover 110 TD seem tame.
Knowing that you can drive a 9-5 aero on those beautiful namibian straight roads makes me envy you. I’ve been to namibia a few times doing the journey from cape town to okahandja and back and I just love the beautiful vast landscapes! From what I have heard you’re also famous under the ‘namibianen’ for driving a saab. So continue to spread the saabfever in Namibia, Danni!
Lahey - there is something about this country with the beautiful country scenes and vast panorama of constrasting landscapes to keep one glued to the road - more so in a 9-5. The southern part has a rich tapestry of history and is completely different from the rest of the country with its rolling hills and sparse vegetation which has an admiration of its own. Darn hot in summer and equally cold in winter particularly around Keetmanshoop, Aranos, Aus and Rosh Pinah. Anything from 38 degrees celcius around 11:00 am is no exception in summer. And the roads are equally splendid - which the 9-5 tends to like and end up with a persona of its own. I have renamed it “desert aero.” Next time when you visit, drive thru Springbok in South Africa up to Steinkopf, turn left to Port Nolloth and at the little gravel road of Lekkersing proceed with caution up to Sendelingsdrift (the border crossing via the pontoon) and you will be in Rosh Pinah after a mere 17km thereafter. You should spot the 9-5 aero from a mile of.
Great photos Danni. Beautiful 9-5! Looks fantastic in that color, and with those wheels. Well done.
Danni - Thanks for info! Well the funny thing is, I’m actually going to drive through Rosh Pinah this winter (around the 20th of July), coming north from Aus after a big trip through Namibia(5000 klicks). I’ve family ‘op die plaas’ a little north of Okahandja, that’s the raison I’ve been to Namibia so often. This year I’m guiding my friends around in a convoi of 3 cars (no saabs unfortunatly) If we find the time, I will surely pay a little visit, to admire the ‘desert aero’. For the time being I’ll enjoy ‘die grondpaie’ in my family’s faithful VW Jetta renamed ‘the jetmobile’. The best of luck to you, Danni