Tag: Undiscovered Balkans

Nothing says 4x4 adventure tour quite like a Land Rover! There’s something about the classic shape that has a timeless appeal, the promise of going boldly where no VW minibus has gone before. If you want to head off into the undiscovered wilds of the Balkan back-roads, there's only one vehicle that's going to do it for you - the one and only Land Rover Defender. Africans and Australians will now be snorting in derision and jumping up and down about Toyota “Troopies”, while actual Land Rover owners will be sucking in their teeth and apologetically admitting the Defender’s less-than-stellar reliability record. To which I say: Pah! The great thing about Landies is that the design hasn’t changed for 50 years, so old bits fit newer Land Rovers just as easily as old Land Rovers. Plus, when your Landy eventually dies it becomes a donor to other Landies, so there are parts everywhere. And if you've reached the limits of your mechanical knowledge, no matter where you are in the world, you are never more than 50km away from someone who can fix it for you. This is how one of the worst-built cars in the history of the automobile has become the go-to 4x4 adventure tour vehicle anywhere where the tarmac has run out – and therefore an integral part of our multi-activity adventures, whether in Montenegro or Kosovo! Ten people and six kayaks? That's not a problem for the Land Rover Defender! Land Rover owners love these vehicles despite their foibles. We forgive these hulking tanks their brittle plastics, noise, crude ventilation and enormous turning circle. We forgive them for the cramped and offset driving position, the doors that never quite shut properly and the panel gaps that can be seen from space. We forgive the lack of