Fridges, Showers and Shade Now at Cloud Camper Summer Sites

Most of a camping holiday is spent awake, not asleep. Once the rooftop tent is folded away each morning, campers still have to keep food cold through 35°C afternoons, get out of the midday sun, rinse off the road dust and see what they are doing after dark. This November, as South African families pull together their gear for the December break, Johannesburg's Cloud Camper is putting the spotlight on everything that happens around the vehicle. The company supplies rooftop tents, awnings and vehicle camping gear.

Cloud Camper was founded by a group of keen adventurers and camping enthusiasts who wanted camping to be both practical and comfortable. Its range is anchored by Rooftop Tents, which fit onto a vehicle's roof rack and open within minutes. The catalogue has since expanded into the equipment that turns a parked car into a working campsite, and that complete set-up is what the business wants travellers to think about before the year's busiest travel weeks.

A fridge built for hot weather

Keeping food and drinks in good condition is usually the hardest part of a long summer trip, particularly when a family spends a week or more on the road. One answer in Cloud Camper's range is the AR-ON FSS-95, a mobile fridge and freezer with 95 litres of dual-zone capacity, made for both serious storage and daily use. Because the two zones run side by side, meat can stay frozen in one compartment while drinks and fresh produce stay chilled in the other. A customer review on the company's website points out that the doors open from either side and that the unit has power points on both sides, so it adapts more easily to different vehicle layouts.

Getting out of the midday sun

Across much of southern Africa, December camping means fierce heat in the middle of the day. To create shade beside the car, Cloud Camper sells two vehicle side awnings: a 270-degree free-standing awning, and a 180-degree free-standing batwing awning that comes with a side wall. According to reviews on the company's site, the 270-degree model goes up quickly, has lighting built in, and has pull-down support legs that add stability when the wind picks up. Buyers can also get a quick-release steel side awning mount to fix an awning to the vehicle.

Somewhere private to wash

Some campsites have no ablution blocks at all, and the ones that do can get crowded during the holidays. Cloud Camper's tent shower offers a private place to clean up. One customer calls it sturdy and well made, and notes that a lid can be added on top for more privacy. On a long trip to a remote area, or an overland route that crosses borders, a shower tent can add a great deal of comfort.

Comfort after dark

Once the sun sets, the small things tend to matter most. Cloud Camper's portable camping fan is also an LED lantern and a 20,000mAh USB rechargeable power bank, so it helps on warm nights and keeps phones topped up. For a better night's rest, the company stocks a self-inflating camping mattress made for overlanders that works inside a tent or on the ground. For routes where the next filling station could be far away, there is a heavy-duty metal jerry can for fuel with a locking cap, a triple handle and mounting holes.

Where the tent fits in

Every one of these products is meant to work alongside the tent. The company's selection of Roof Top Tents for Cars covers a two-person quick set-up tent with a solar panel bracket, as well as the Kalbarri Z, a four-person hard shell tent for 4WD camping that ships with a solar panel bracket, a mattress and a ladder. Cloud Camper's FAQ says rooftop tents work on SUVs, trucks and cars that have sturdy roof racks. It advises buyers to weigh up vehicle compatibility, how many people will sleep in the tent, the tent's weight compared with the vehicle's roof capacity, and the climate they plan to camp in.

Fitting is another thing to plan ahead for. The company says most rooftop tents attach to the roof rack with mounting brackets and, given how heavy they are, take two people to install. Customers can speak to the Cloud Camper team about compatibility before buying, which is especially useful for vehicles with wider load bars or a non-standard rack.

Care on the road counts too. Cloud Camper recommends cleaning a rooftop tent after every use to get rid of dirt and moisture, keeping it somewhere dry when it is packed away, and checking it often for damage. Following that routine after a holiday on dusty or wet roads keeps the tent ready for the next trip.

Feedback from the road

Reviews on Cloud Camper's website come from customers who have taken its gear into very different conditions. One buyer describes two Karoo trips of around 1,000 km in which no dust got inside, the rain stayed out and no bolts had to be retightened after the first fitting. Another took a Cloud Camper rooftop tent to Tarangire National Park in Tanzania, while a customer in Namibia said the tent was made to cope with harsh weather. A number of reviewers also mention useful support over the phone and fast delivery, with one Cape Town customer receiving their order three to four days after it shipped.

Think beyond the sleeping space

With the school holidays and year-end leave getting closer, Cloud Camper suggests that campers plan their complete set-up now instead of leaving it to the last week before they leave. Fitting and testing the tent, awning, fridge and shower at home first means a more relaxed first night at camp. Anyone looking at Rooftop Tents For Sale this month may find it helpful to write down each part of their daily camp routine, including cooking, washing and charging devices, and put together a kit that covers all of it.

To see Cloud Camper's complete range of tents, awnings and accessories, visit https://cloudcamper.co.za/.

About Cloud Camper

Based in Johannesburg, Cloud Camper is a South African supplier of rooftop tents, vehicle awnings and camping accessories. It sells two-person and four-person rooftop tents, 180-degree and 270-degree free-standing awnings, mobile fridge freezers, shower tents, camping mattresses and other vehicle camping gear, and delivers across South Africa.