Mario James, Gleaner Writer

Gunther and Christine (bottom, right) sit atop Otto at EuroStar motors. The map depicts the areas where the Holtorfs have travelled; a solid line indicates routes already traversed, and broken lines indicate places yet to go. - Contributed

Gunther Holtorf, retired Lufthansa general manager, cartographer and full-time nomad, has shoe'd his 1990 Mercedes GD300 'Gelandewagen' (Off Road vehicle) an incredible 622,000 thousand kilometres around the world. He has done the Africa thing. He has done the South America thing. As a matter of fact, if you were to really probe the underside of his wundervagen, you would probably find crud from all 150-odd countries that he has driven in around the world.

Kitchen fully transformed.

His wife, Christine Boehme, doesn't talk a lot. But she has been assaulted by baboons in Central Tanzania, waited on by a pride of coati (a ring-tailed, ferret-looking animal) near Iguazu Falls, Brazil, and held at gunpoint by thugs in Ethiopia. So maybe it takes a lot to excite her ... the couple has lived this nomadic lifestyle for about six months out of every year since 1990.

They have transformed their G Class into a mobile home, complete with cooking facilities and a double bed! They sleep outside in hammocks, weather permitting, and in wet times they use the bed inside the car.

The Holtorfs avoid hotels during their travels, preferring to 'bounce it' off the land.

When Automotives asked him if he feared the wild animals at night, he responded "The animals are the best human beings [laughs]. Certainly, one must know how the animal behaves, but when you know that, then it is OK. No problem."

Having been in aviation for the better part of his life and having travelled extensively by air - both as a private pilot and in an airline seat - Gunther realised that he was spending too much time in the air and not enough time enjoying what this world had to offer at ground level.

And in 1990, around the time he turned 50, he set off to tour Africa in his new GD300 with his wife.

His intent was, at first, just to traverse the continent from north to south, which took them nine months.

But the couple was so taken up in the beauty and grandeur of this great continent that they had to see more, and by the time they had finished five years had elapsed and some 38 African countries had been 'rediscovered' by the intrepid travellers.

World's most-travelled SUV

South America was next, which was like home to the Holtorfs, as Gunther has resident status in Argentina and Uruguay, and he also speaks fluent Spanish.

It was here that the bug bit, and the tour went global. The rest, as they say, is history. By the way, this endeavour is funded totally by the Holtorfs.

It started out as a sort of male mid-life crisis and has blossomed into this wonderful effort.

There are no other sponsors, although when Gunther's wanderlust has been sated, what is arguably the world's most-travelled SUV will have a permanent berth at the Mercedes Museum in Germany.

Gunther chose the GD300 for two reasons. First, the Mercedes Benz is German (like him), and second, for the simplicity and ruggedness of its construction.

"And I'm so glad I chose it. In 622,000 kilometres of motoring, I did not have a single major failure. The axles, engine, gearbox and transfer case are all original. Even the paint has not been touched. Being a pilot, I have a proactive nature and tend to change parts before they become worn. So I've changed the water pump, all wheel bearings as well as the oil pump and head gasket on the engine, but this was to bolster my sense of security, not because they were failing... 'Otto' always started, no matter what the conditions. We were always able to keep going!"

Extensive travelling has made him wise as well.

"When travelling in Africa, fuel was always scarce. We had to buy diesel on the black market, which meant that often we had to suck the fuel from drums. I used a filter to make sure that the diesel was clean and inspected it to make sure that it was free from water," he said. "Also, I have a set of fuel treatment pills, Otto's vitamin pills, that I never go anywhere without."

Gunther is saddened, though, by the state of the human condition around the world.

He is very sympathetic to the plight of the world's poor, and he fears that at the rate the human population is growing global resources will not be able to satisfy the need that is coming. "There are hordes of people globally that have no access to water and shelter, much less electricity," he laments. "These people have serious difficulties. India is especially bad, as they have approximately 700 million people living without these basic necessities. Pakistan, Yemen and Bangladesh are overpopulated as well ... when the tour is over I will devote my energies to raise an awareness of this problem, and maybe then people can do something about it."

The Holtorfs are now touring the Caribbean, with Martinique and Montserrat being their next ports of call.