Can anyone who has been on safari tell me thier experience with the pop-up or pop-off roof on the Land Rover. Our TO has given us the choice and we are not sure which way to go. It is a 17 day Northern Circut (Tanzania) safari in March and we will be using digital SLR camera's....I am wondering if the sun becomes too hot with the roof off (or if the dust is too crazy)and if there is enough head room to stand tall with the pop-up. Any thoughts?

Hi,
We had a pop-up (minibus) for two days in Lake Nakuru and a pop-top for 4 days in the Mara. We had the pop-up to ourselves and it was good. The top helped to keep the dust down and there was no trouble standing up. With the pop-off you get more dust and more sun but there IS a little shelter at the back and very front and you just have to be careful with sunblock. Personally speaking I would opt for a pop-off especially if it will be a shared vehicle as you can see 'over' any people in front. One thing to note though - we had two different pop-off vehicles in the Mara - one a 6 seater and one an 8 seater - I found the larger of the two to be higher , ie because I'm small, it was harder to see out but standing on the seat solved that

Imelda

We traveled with a pop-off roof and were pleased. Never had to worry about bumping heads (more worrisome if you're standing on seats or are "very" tall). But if you're going with a pop-off, check to see if they have some form of sun/rain shade. We had just a piece of canvas, but that did the trick to block the sun and light mist.

I don't know that there would be much difference with dust, other than it is a lot easier to open/close the pop-up roofs when driving.

You are driving from one safari camp to the next safari camp? IF the vehicle is for game drives only, I prefer no top, no windows, totally open back seating. But if you are driving miles and hours to the next camp then comfort will be an issue.
regards - tom

I was asking myself exactly the same question a few weeks ago in Kenya, after 5 days of pop-off and 7 days of pop-up. My conclusion was the same as Tom's....if you're going to be doing quite a lot of driving a pop-up is probably preferable. The pop-off roofs can be put on, together with sides, but then you have plastic windows which are hot and not very good to look out of.... In the rain I found it a bit claustrophobic after half an hour. Ideally you'd have a pop-up option for long drives, all-day drives and drives in changeable weather - if rain is likely pop-up wins by a mile - and a pop-off for your early morning and evening drives in good weather. Not likely, eh?

ASSUMING the pop-off your TO is talking about is the same as the pop-offs in my experience (i.e. an open vehicle with very low doors and no side windows), from my limited experience, for photography alone if you have the pop-off completely open (i.e. you're not protecting yourself agains dust, rain or sun at all) it is much, much better since you cn shoot from all sorts of angles (although if you're like me you'll stand up automatically, shoot from the high angle and then think "damn, I should have shot that from lower down" once the moment has gone ) However, once the roof goes on, you can't shoot anything in front of you or behind you...and you are also slightly limited in what you can shoot out the side (although I can only think of giraffes and mountains offhand as something I missed because of this). Pop up means you are limited to shooting out of the windows for lower angles... and they may be a bit high for some shots. However, you have permanent 360 degree vision - at least in the parks - from the higher angle.
What do others think from the photography perspective?

However, the pop off is waaay cooler (if you're not a utilitarian sort) ;-)

Are we talking about the same kind of pop-off?

I've been on safari in both closed and open 4WDs (though not minivans or buses). I prefer the fully open vehicle...no glass, low sides, open doorways...even for long journeys. A useful and/or necessary compromise is one equipped with canopy supports so that a fabric shade or rain roof (the latter with roll-down sides) can be attached when required. I rarely find a high vantage point afforded by a pop-top roof to be needed for photography...the lower the better on most occasions...and I dislike being closed in anyway. It's bad enough having to stay in the vehicle for safety reasons; the less separation between wilderness and me, the better.

John
www.afrigalah.com

If traveling by road, the type of vehicle used in either case (pop-off or pop-up) would be a closed vehicle. I don't think any TO uses open sided vehicles on driving itineraries. These are primarily used as camp vehicles.

You might want to ask if a canvas canopy can be put over the open hatch of the pop-off. Then you'd have a choice in case you wanted shade.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about http://www.kiliwarriors.com/images/safari_vehicle2.jpg

Ah... so it is really a pop-off roof... only.

In that case does it actually make any difference? Are pop-ups perhaps an evolution of the pop-offs? Or do the different kinds of roof come with different kinds of vehicle?

So much to know.......

Open-sided vehicles for road journeys can't have gone fully out of fashion in southern Africa, though I'm prepared to be corrected. And surprised, for they are so much fun and many people enjoy them.

That's what WS used in Botswana for my first safari...game drives from Savuti bush camp in the Linyanti, followed by a road journey to Chobe (a full day), more game drives, then another road journey to Vic Falls. It had a metal canopy but no sides. That was so long ago that yes, things could have changed. Is there anybody on the forum who's done Savuti-Kasane-Kazangula-Vic Falls with WS lately and can enlighten us?

I also had an open vehicle for day-long road trips between locations on a walking safari in Zimbabwe...it was a ute, with a canopy and bench seats along the sides of the tray. Genteel safari-goers would not have appreciated it, but it was most enjoyable. And a long road transfer between camps (4 hours) was done with open vehicles in Botswana in 2005. It's not practical for remote camps using open vehicles to keep a closed vehicle just for the occasional road trip.

John
www.afrigalah.com

In Southern Africa, i think almost all vehicles have the open tops. Even when it rains, more often than not....you have to gut it out with ponchos.

I have seen some vehicles from the Selinda with the canopy top (left to the clients to keep them on or off). In Mombo, i remember having the canopy top.......

But yeah, like John i like an open-top jeep and nothing like it......

Hari

Silverparrot, I would be MUCH MUCH more concerned with the age of the vehicle than with pop-off vs pop-top. However, if photography is important and you use SLRs, pop-off is better.
Cheers, Chuck

John,
I should've added <i>in East Africa</i> to my earlier post. Don't know about Southern Africa but suspect you're right that they do use open vehicles on road journeys. In Tanzania I believe there are some restrictions that prohibit this.