All round the world with faithful Mercedes Benz G-Wagen 300GD

Gunther Holtorf is a man of the world – in more ways than one. This avid travel-enthusiast and explorer-extraordinaire is a one-of-a-kind German citizen who has been conquering the world, one country at a time, for over 20 years.

He has seen the sand dunes of the Sahara desert, come face-to-face with the ferocious carnivores in the jungles of Africa, traversed tension-filled Iraq, found passage through the dangerous mountains of Afghanistan – and has lived to tell the tale.

To Gunther, it’s as much about the journey as it is about the destination. And every single one of his escapades was made – surprisingly comfortably – on his trusty old 1988 Mercedes Benz G-Wagen 300GD, fondly referred to as ‘Otto,’ a 4x4 all-terrain vehicle that has stood the test of time – and put up with its owner’s rather unusual habit of going for a global drive every now and then.

After having travelled practically the whole civilised (and sometimes uncivilised) world, both man and machine are were on Sri Lankan soil, to take on our pothole-filled roads and highways and visit the four corners of the island nation in just two weeks.

“I am excited to be here. I have been through the airport a couple of times before, back in the day, but never actually got the chance to set foot on the land. We’ve been to Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Hambantota, Galle, the north and east and Jaffna and hope to cover other parts of the country before we move on to our next destination,” says Gunther.

He’s not doing it alone. Gunther is accompanied by his 30-year-old software engineer son Martin who is only too eager to join his father and see as much of the world as he can while he’s still got the chance.

“I have taken a year off work, just for this, and I’ve told my clients that this is something that I just have to do – while I still can. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Martin.

Before Martin had joined him, however, Gunther had a companion that was constantly by his side wherever he went, be it the romantic, beautiful streets of Paris, or the rough and sometimes unwelcome terrain of the African savannah: his supportive and understanding wife Christine. Until she passed away in 2007, Christine was with him all the way, from his very first trek onwards.

It all started in 1989, when, after a successful career as an overseas representative of the German airline Lufthansa and later as Managing Director of Hapag Lloyd, one of the largest container shipping lines in the world, Gunther decided that he had to see more of the world – the fact that he had already seen most of it as a man in the airline business notwithstanding.

Together with his wife, he stuffed Otto with everything that he thought he might need to survive in the wilderness, and set off, just like that…

“Starting from Frankfurt, my wife and I travelled through Africa, shipped the vehicle to South America and drove to the southernmost tip of that continent, and then went up North America all the way to Alaska,” he recalls.

That was 20 years ago. And he hasn’t looked back since.

The couple has been to the strangest and most exotic places.  Once they celebrated Christmas in a ‘mud-hole’ in the thick Brazilian jungle. On another occasion they were forced to cross a valley using a huge redwood tree trunk split in two into a sort of makeshift bridge.  The ‘bridge’ was made using their own hands, with the help of some locals who also assisted them in placing the heavy vehicle on the two ‘rails’.

The Holtorfs sleep, cook, eat, drink and even shower, in or around the vehicle. It is equipped with a comfortable folding double-bed, all kinds of apparatus, utensils, batteries, lights, clothes and other items required for a demanding life on the road.

When the weather permits, Gunther sleeps outdoors on hammocks with one end slung to the vehicle and the other to a tree trunk. It was on such an occasion that he came face to face with a hyena in the dead of night. The canine had become curious about the sleeping Gunther and had decided to investigate. It had to back off, though, as soon as he got up.

Incredibly, two people can ‘live’ comfortably in the vehicle without having to depend on any hotel or restaurant outside, as long as there is a steady flow of supplies, says Gunther. And the vehicle, too, is ready to face any emergency, he adds.

“We carry over 400 different spare parts – all original Mercedes – wherever we go, just in case. My policy is that prevention is better than cure – which is why I believe in preventive maintenance. We always make sure that every important part of the car is in mint condition. And it’s always a safe bet to be ready for any eventuality. If you break down, say, in the middle of the Sahara desert for instance, where are you going to find a garage?” he asks.

Thankfully, however, there have been no serious accidents or breakdowns so far, he says, not forgetting to touch the wooden table nearby as he says so. He insists that his faithful Mercedes G-class has never let him down, and is confident that it’ll continue to stay with him till he has finished his world (record) tour.

The fact that Gunther and Otto have clocked an unimaginable 725,000 kilometres in their 20-year journey together, in the toughest conditions at that, speaks volumes about the capacity of this amazing vehicle to withstand just about anything mother nature has to throw its way.

“After so many years, and so many kilometres round the world, it’s still in good shape. Most other so called all-terrain vehicles lose their touch after about 300,000 to 400,000 kilometres. And this car’s body is made of steel, as opposed to those of other vehicles that are usually made of aluminium,” says Gunther, explaining why he chose his Mercedes G-class over other, popular options.

Having visited over 180 countries, Gunther – and Martin who has been accompanying him since the death of Christine – has just a few accessible countries left to cover.  Next year, the father-son duo hopes to take Otto to China, Ghana, North Korea, and Liberia, among others and complete their totally self-funded world tour.

By 2012, Gunter will pull the brakes and hand Otto over to the world famous Mercedes-Benz museum in Germany – a request made by his late wife. Once he has finally called it a day, and has completed this adventure of a lifetime, this incredible man can rest assured that he has lived his life to the fullest.