On trips that test both man and machine, Aslam Mxolisi Tawana has learned that your boots are as important as your vehicle. The Kalahari Desert, the rocky trails of the Namaqua, and the sandy riverbeds of Botswana are just a few of the places Aslam has put our boots to the test.
Other boots, he admits, didn’t survive the grind. “I’ve tested them on some of the harshest trails, Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve (CKGR), and Kutse Game Reserve, and they failed. His turning point came at the launch of a new SUV on the Namaqua Eco Trail in the Northern Cape, where he noticed fellow overlanding pioneer Tumelo Maketekete laced up in Jim Greens. If Tumelo trusted them in that terrain, Aslam thought, they had to be the real deal. Back in Kimberley, he searched high and low until he finally spotted a pair of African Ranger boots in a small hunting shop. That was two years ago, and he hasn’t looked back since. “They’re comfortable, tough, reliable, and built for the bush. That’s what matters to me. In addition, I also wanted to start with the African Ranger because of the project to donate boots to rangers on the ground.”
Born and raised in Kimberley, Northern Cape, Aslam’s path to the outdoors wasn’t straightforward. He’s an agricultural scientist by training, with a career spanning academia, agribusiness, banking, and government (where he served as Director for Farmer Support in the Northern Cape). Today, he runs his own ventures in farming and agro-logistics, while devoting much of his energy to his real passion: the wild.
That passion started young, with his father leading family trips to quiet, off-the-map spots around Kimberley. Later, long hours behind a desk drove him to reconnect with that sense of freedom. He began taking his wife and daughter on bush getaways, sharing photos online. What started as a personal escape soon became something bigger.
During COVID, Aslam had what he calls his lightbulb moment: why not turn these trips into something more? He founded Black Boy Adventures, an overlanding experience that blends exploration, education, and advocacy.
How does it work? The concept is simple but powerful. Clients bring their own vehicles (with plans to add a safari rig for those without). They camp, braai, learn bush skills like fire-making, setting up tents and vehicle recovery, and discover that the outdoors isn’t reserved for heavily kitted Land Cruisers. “We’ve had people camping with an Audi Q2, a VW Polo, even a Mercedes CLA,” Aslam says. “It’s about accessibility, not exclusivity.”
Aslam’s journey isn’t just about camping; it’s about reclaiming space. A lifelong activist (he was the first black SRC president at Pretoria Technikon in the late 1990s), he brings that same spirit to the outdoors. His personal overlanding trips carry a social mission too. On these journeys, he delivers food parcels, sanitary pads, or stationery to schools in Botswana and beyond, ensuring that he gives back to the communities it passes through.
Through Black Boy Adventures, he challenges the notion that camping and overlanding are “a white man’s sport.” He encourages black and Muslim South Africans to see the bush as part of their own heritage, one denied to many families through displacement and exclusion under apartheid.
“Nature is ours too,” he says. “It’s part of who we are as Africans.”
That message has resonated. Aslam has built organic partnerships with major brands like 4×4 Megaworld and Tracks4Africa, as well as local sponsors in Kimberley who’ve helped him kit out his Land Cruiser. In 2023, he became the first non-citizen member of the Land Cruiser Club Botswana. He also runs a podcast where he interviews figures in overlanding and the broader outdoor community. Furthermore, he also writes blogs and articles for media houses in the industry and general publications.
Ask Aslam what makes his home province special, and he doesn’t hesitate. “The Northern Cape is one of South Africa’s best overlanding hubs,” he says, reeling off its treasures: the vast Kalahari, the wildflower fields of Namaqua, the thundering Augrabies Falls, the giant telescope at Sutherland, the stargazing in Carnarvon (the place with the only mountain desert in the world), and the endless salt pans. “It’s all here, you just need the right boots and the right attitude.”
Cheers,
The Jim Green Team
