Stream the episode here, or search for @overlandeurope on your favourite podcast platform.

Anton Poplett is back on the show — humanitarian, Land Rover enthusiast, conservationist, and open-fire cook. Our friendship has long been built on a shared passion for Land Rovers and the adventures they enable. But whether you drive a Defender, a Toyota, or something entirely different, one truth remains: we rely on our vehicles to take us into the wild and bring us home again.

In this episode, we talk about the tools that keep those vehicles alive when the inevitable breakdowns happen — whether it’s deep in the bush or in the middle of a French supermarket car park. From essential kit to hard-earned lessons, Anton and I share stories, practical advice, and a few laughs along the way.

If you’re into overlanding, expedition travel, or just want to be better prepared when the unexpected strikes, this conversation is for you.

The post Podcast #15: Tools and Breakdowns with Anton. appeared first on overland-europe.

Stream the episode here, or search for @overlandeurope on your favourite podcast platform.

Have you ever struggled with your vehicle’s electrical system? If so, you’re in for a treat today!

Anton Poplett, our man in South Africa, is back with us, and he’s diving into one of his favourite—and occasionally frustrating—topics: the auxiliary electrics in his Land Rover Defender.

Anton is the founder of 4x4outfar, an organisation dedicated to incredible humanitarian and conservation work in some of Botswana’s remotest regions. For him, having a dependable electrical system to keep all his equipment charged and running is essential.

Trust me, he’s faced more than his fair share of challenges over the years. His learning curve has been steep, but he’s narrowed down what works best for him.

Anton shares his hands-on experience and gives tips on how to establish what you actually need as opposed to what is nice-to-have.

Here are some of the tips and facts Anton refers to during our talk:

Remember your power draw in summer will differ from winter. In summer it’s possible the fridges will run for longer hours keeping temperature. In winter, you may use a diesel heater.

With my current setup in summer, I will average using 11% – 14% of my battery. In winter, I will use between 8% to 11%. It varies daily according to temperatures, sunrise, and sunset.

Anton’s current setup

• DCDC charger: Ctek 250SE (lithium) and Ctek Smartpass
• Inverter: Victron 500W inverter.
• Solar panel: 300Watt (plugs in around 16-18Amps depending on angle towards the sun)
• Battery: 305Ah lithium with BMS and bluetooth
• Charging ports: single Distribution box with USB, type c, cigarette light, Anderson plugs with breakers,

Calculating your power draw requirement
Add all of your devices you would like to use off the auxiliary battery. This includes laptop, lights, drones, Camera equipment, fridges/freezer, and so forth. Calculate as an average and when not driving.

Connecting points (like Anderson plugs)
ensure all connecting and joins our firm and cannot rattle loose or cause a disconnection. This will give you false readings.

Wiring
All wiring needs to be adequately dimensioned for usage. For example, the gauge for wiring from the Ctek to the auxiliary battery will of course be much thicker than wiring to charge a USB type C.

The post Podcast #11: Anton Talks About His Defender’s Electrical Sytem For Overlanding appeared first on overland-europe.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little skeptical of the true intensity that lay ahead. In just a matter of minutes my skepticism would be put to rest. Floating through the soft and sandy two track with the roar of the engine reaching a new level, the steering wheel resisted any sort of instruction as we weaved our way into the bush. No sooner had the words “Be on the watch for elephants” left Anton’s mouth when my knees hit the dash of the Defender.

“Elle! Elle straight ahead!”

My eyes strained to focus as I looked through the windshield, only to see an adult female elephant charging directly at us. As if from a scene in Jurassic Park, Anton calmly said: “Do not move. At all.”

The soft click of my camera lens was all that I responded with. I watched in awe as she came to an abrupt halt, digging in her front heels and shaking the dust off her now fully deployed ears. A few seconds later and the whole encounter was over, leaving the convoy at a loss for words. As Anton put the car into gear again and slowly rolled past the elephant tracks, I had gained a whole new perspective on what the word “wild” meant in Southern Africa.

Pushing through kilometres of increasingly difficult terrain revealed just how important each member of this team would be in the hours and days to come. Karl, the resident optometrist for 4x4Outfar, along with his wife Adi, often held the group together with a mixture of caffeine and light-hearted banter. Keeping spirits up across the radio as the height of water crossings went from lug nut, to over-tire, and at times over the hood, or as they say in South Africa, “over the bonnet.” Cam, our fearless videographer, was often running barefoot at full speed back and forth between rigs to capture the true nature of what we were getting ourselves into.

The farther we crept into the wilderness, the more the road began to turn to mud, Bogging down our extremely well-equipped vehicles and creating hour-long rescue missions. Ivor, a skilful man of few words, and his daughter Megan, took up the role of leading our pack through unknown water. Our routine of “walking it” became an all too familiar occurrence when staring down the 50-meter watering holes on our route. At times we even made the decision to cut a new road alongside the standing water, only to find stubborn mud, stumps, and the occasional downed trees. Hour after hour we made our way through the bush, until a moment came that felt uncomfortably quiet. 90 kilometres into our push, with another 60 kilometres still ahead of us, the engine in Anton’s Defender came to a sputtering halt. We were officially stuck.

The sun was shining down on miles and miles of wilderness in every direction, and we were right in the middle of it. Noticing our journey had gone from a confident yet progressive struggle to a much more serious scenario, Anton reached for the satellite phone to send out an SOS.

Not knowing if help would make its way to us before sundown, we made our best effort to pull the Defender with a tow line through mangled bush road. Ultimately, we realised that the Defender had to be left behind. Grabbing only the bare essentials, we packed Anton, his wife Melita, and daughter Cayla into the remaining three vehicles and watched Anton’s Defender disappear into the bush through the rear view mirrors.

It was clear with one vehicle down, the stakes became higher at each water crossing. Knowing that if something else failed, our likelihood of getting out would be close to zero. Chatter continued to come across the radio as we raced the daylight. As we watched the soggy green landscape pass by, our eyes grew wide hearing the radio crackle. Adi’s voice came through with the words, “rigs on the horizon!” A wave of relief washed over the entire team. We were greeted soon after by two safari patrols sent out from a lodge to respond to Anton’s SOS.

Hopping out of our vehicles we shared a moment of pure gratitude with our new lodge companions. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Anton with his head buried in a well-deserved moment of emotion. Knowing our journey wasn’t over yet, Anton joined the safari convoy retracing our path to recover his beloved vehicle. Let’s just say that the radio was full of light-hearted jokes as we pressed on.

On the final leg of our trek to the other side of the Okavango Delta, we found ourselves in another pickle. The safari patrol leading the way home fell to the same fate as we had so many times earlier. Wheels buried and high-centred in the mud. This was almost routine for them, and we watched the locals demonstrate their seemingly effortless recovery skills. In a fraction of the time we would have spent ourselves, they used the surroundings to their advantage and were back in action. As fate would have it, Anton’s Defender was able to be rebooted and he even managed to switch roles, giving an assist to the bogged-down safari patrol… Something I don’t think he’ll let any of us forget any time soon.

The rest of our community vision work with 4x4Outfar went off without a hitch. Each village we were able to visit and provide testing would become a testament to the resilience only to be found in a team that is truly committed to its mission. When all was said and done, this trip would see the 4x4Outfar team provide vision testing for over 2,000 children, and distribute 86 pairs of prescription eyeglasses to some of the most deserving and compassionate communities I’ve ever encountered.

On the return trip to the airport, Anton expressed how grateful he and his team have been for the love and support they’ve received from the iKamper community around the world. How much it means to them to be able to go out and do this work to Love People & Love Nature. I told him that one wouldn’t exist without the other.

As the plane took off, I got one last look down at that line in the wild I saw weeks ago. Returning my gaze to the seat back in front of me, I couldn’t help but write these few words down: “The wrong road for the right reasons…the legend of Anton Poplett.”

Text: Eric Gordon | Images: Eric Gordon, Cameron Stuart and courtesy of Anton Poplett

The post Anton Poplett – on the wrong road for the right reason (part 2) appeared first on overland-europe.

As I flew from Seattle to the unspoiled landscape of Botswana, I looked down and saw a single road cutting through one of the wildest places on Earth. Little did I know I would soon be standing in the middle of a road just like that one, thigh-deep in muddy water, wondering what I had gotten myself into.

I first connected with Anton close to a year ago. I had received an email about his work providing life-changing prescription eyewear to children in some of the most remote villages of Southern Africa. After a few calls back and forth with Anton, it was clear this was a story that needed to be heard. As a part of iKamper’s commitment to Love People & Love Nature, we dedicated our 2021 Giveback Giveaway to support Anton’s work with 4x4Outfar (4x4outfar.com). The iKamper community showed its true colours and donated more than US$20,000 to further 4x4Outfar’s work. Fast forward six months, and as I watched muddy water spill over the hood of Anton’s 2010 Defender, there was no doubt left in my mind…this guy, his team, and their positive impact on the community are the real deal.

Leading up to this trip, the word “wild” seemed to find its way into conversations with Anton quite regularly. As an avid adventure seeker in my own right, I took it with a grain of salt knowing that word can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I know now that I’d be leaving with a whole new understanding of “wild” by the time I left Botswana.

When I landed in Maun, Botswana after a leg-cramping 48 hours of airport travel, Anton was waiting to greet me with what I would come to know as South African hospitality. As we drove, Anton explained that possibly the most important piece of this adventure was situated right next to my luggage. A fully self-sufficient prescription eyewear inventory and diagnostic system that allowed him and his team to do what they do successfully. Over the next week and a half, I learned just how impactful this corrective eyewear system would be. As well as how essential the Skycamp 2.0 was to complete the 4x4Outfar team’s rigs.

We pulled up to the first school and established an order of operations that would become more and more efficient as each day of the trip passed.

• Step 1. Find the best-shaded area in the schoolyard to park our rigs. Almost always under massive trees in the middle of the property.
• Step 2. Measure out a four-meter distance from the side of our vehicles where eye charts were mounted. The classic ones you might recognise from your own childhood eye exams.
• Step 3. Greet the kids who have already spilled out of their classrooms with excitement, and separate them into lines with the help of the school teachers.

Starting with the large “E” at the top of the chart, a chorus of “Good!” and “Well done!” echoed throughout the schoolyard as the testing was underway. Followed by bursts of laughter and curiosity from children waiting in line. Eventually, a small group of children would form a new line for secondary testing.

This is when the real work begins. Often paired with a local teacher, Anton’s crew would take what they like to call the “You See” glasses, and gently fit them on a child’s face. USee glasses have one small opening for each eye with a dial on either side to adjust lenses and identify prescription strength needed. Once the initial confusion was sorted out, the children would turn the dial for each eye and watch as their world slowly came into focus for the first time. After a few minutes to set the prescription lenses into frames, we were handing the children a brand new pair of eyeglasses on the spot.

Like many youngsters, they were often shy at first and would calmly walk away, but as soon as they got back to their group of friends a big smile would appear on their faces and life would pick up right where it left off. Teachers at each school would share with us some of the struggles that certain students had been experiencing simply because they couldn’t see what was written on the chalkboard. Watching children struggle to discern even the largest letters on the vision chart, it hit home that they have been living with this issue every moment of every day. For many of us, an issue like this would be identified and dealt with at a very early age. 4x4Outfar’s work is giving these children the chance see clearly for the first time in their lives.

Anton and his team have been doing this work for close to four years now. They shared a particular story with me that was very similar to the schoolyard in front of me. On a previous trip, they helped a young boy with prescription lenses. After receiving his new glasses, he improved exponentially in school, and along the way even taught himself how to knit. Anton explained to me that over the past two years this young man was able to knit scarves and sell them to support his family. Eventually earning enough to buy himself a brand-new school uniform.

Stories like these, along with so many others, demonstrate the incredible ripple effect of this work. When a community of people comes together to spread love far beyond their borders, that is what it truly means to Love People & Love Nature.

Text: Eric Gordon | Images: Eric Gordon and Cameron Stuart

The post Anton Poplett – on the wrong road for the right reason (part one) appeared first on overland-europe.