This year’s competition has been a tight tussle with only a few votes separating the top 5. We have watched and waited with baited breath as the placings changed when the votes came in. The Bush Lapa Bosluis has done the hard yards, so to speak, and they are worthy contenders in this year’s competition. It’s clear from the reviews we received that they have made a positive impression on their customers who are keen to impart their love for the Bush Lapa Bosluis.
The Bosluis 4 is built tough and is designed for double cab vehicles. The unit’s dry weight is 560kg and the nett weight added to the bakkie is less than 400kg. The Bosluis is designed for overlanding and offers an extremely quick and user-friendly set-up. It sleeps 4 adults and offers a spacious kitchen layout with additional fridge drawer various storage spaces for all your holiday accessories. The total width is 1750mm with two double, sleeping 4 Adults. The body and chassis are manufactured from stainless steel and aliminium is used in the interior and for the doors. Each Bosluis comes standard with a 1 year guarantee (ex factory) on material and workmanship. Other items are as per manufacturer’s guarantees.
Standard features are a 90° x 270° awning, a spare wheel bracket on rear, a kitchen with stainless steel working table, cupboards for clothes with canvassing and zips. The unit has one deep cycle batteries and there are 9 LED lights throughout the Bosluis to add to the comfort when travelling. There are two 12v outputs, a 220V inlet caravan plug, a 220V plug (3 point) outside at the kitchen, a 220V plug (2 point) inside with a built-in circuit breaker and a 220V plug (3 point) inside the unit with a built-in breaker. There is also an intelligent charging system, with monitor and Bush Lapa power panel with a USB connection.
Other standard features include mud flaps, 220V caravan extension lead for mains, a fire extinguisher and a heavy duty aluminium fridge drawer system. There is also a 2-plate gas cast iron burner fixed in a stainless steel stand and a side-mounted gas bottle bracket. Added to this there is a 100L stainless steel water tank with automatic pump, filler cap outside and drain plug. There is a crockery set housed in a foam holder in the kitchen, an inside floor carpet and a double wash basin at the rear with aluminium frame. Optional extras include 140W solar panel with controller and aluminium roof rack and a choice of a National Luna 90L, a Engel 60L or a SnoMaster 70L fridge on request. A variety of other accessories are also available.
Bush Lapa was started in 2010 by Jannie Oeschger when he realised there was a need for a high-quality, well-equipped offroad caravan for adventure-loving South Africans. Jannie, being a qualified mechanical engineer, loves the outdoors and camping and soon started to design his ideal off-road caravan. Jannie’s vision is to build off-road caravans that enable all the Bush Lapa clients and their families to experience the beautiful nature that is common to Africa. By constantly seeking to perfect and evolve their products, they have endeavored to manufacture the best quality off-road caravans that are easy to use and maintain. The first Bush Lapa unit was completed in 2010 and a lot of travelling and testing, in various extreme environments took place, including Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia. After Jannie and his design team were satisfied that the unit was good enough to put on the market, they went ahead and started with production and have not looked back.
We asked Jannie Oeschger, the owner and founder of Bush Lapa about his feelings on the 2017 and 2018 caravan year and what he thinks we could expect from the market in 2019. “We have enjoyed good growth over the last two years but there is some insecurity in the market due to the political arena and other factors such as fluctuations in the world markets.”