Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 25 (Nov 2022) i Adventure Afrika

Yet another work cycle in the bush has come to an end – and wow, what a cycle it has been! From watching leopards taking down scrub hares, to a pangolin crossing the road right in front of us… yes, the change of season has been nothing short of amazing. With some rainfall it has been breath-taking to watch the bushveld transform from dry thin scrubs to lush green thickets. This, however, means that game viewing does become slightly more challenging, as animals can hide themselves a lot easier during the wetter months. With that being said, the number of amazing sightings in and around Elephant Plains, Sabi Sands has been nothing short of spectacular. There was an average of 700 leopard sightings a month from August to October of…

This year has seen the local introduction of numerous Chinese products, the newest one being the Beijing X55, a compact SUV focused on elevating the BAIC brand in countries where it isn’t all that well known. The X55 has all of the latest in tech and luxury that BAIC has on offer. According to Hugo Hu, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at BAIC South Africa, the company has invested heavily in developing intelligent cars under a new brand, Beijing, underpinned by cooperation with its partners on intelligent connected vehicle technologies. “We’re bringing the best of innovation to the market, supported by Daimler’s technology. The latter has been our main partner in China for years, operating Mercedes-Benz factories in Beijing through the joint venture, Beijing Benz Automotive.” Once you see…

As the sun melted into the horizon, the sky awash with pink and gold, I found myself at the wheel of a small automobile. The manic lyrics of a Talking Heads song came to mind. In fact, it was as if David Byrne himself was next to me exclaiming: “This is not my car. This is not my beautiful wife. How did I get here?" In truth, it wasn’t even my country, nor its sunset. This was Botswana. And the car belonged to Suzuki because we were the brand‘s guests for what was pitched as an unforgetable Suzuki Jimny Safari. It was my wife though, and we were on this particular adventure together. We started in the parking lot of Maun International Airport, the Jimny already seducing us with its…

For me, a big and heavy off-road caravan is somewhat of an overkill. I want something small and easy to tow and set up. And to be honest, what do you actually need when you go camping in the bush? A kitchen? Check! A comfy bed for two? Check! Ample packing space? Check! The Vagabond Rogue, available from Outdoor Campers, delivers on all of that and more. We opted not to take the additional room along as Roger slept in my OZtent RV5 and the 60-litre water tank was more than adequate for both of us. This little trailer boasts a fully integrated kitchen that includes a 12v/220v 50-litre SnoMaster fridge, a two-burner gas stove, plumbed tap and basin, a grocery and utensil cupboard, and an ammo box locker. There’s…

Sometimes I wonder if we truly appreciate how fortunate we are to live on a continent where adventure is on everyone’s doorstep and around every corner. Fortunately for my wife and I, this is how we were raised by our respective parents and a love for the outdoors was instilled in us from a very young age. Camping, fishing, hunting, overlanding, beach holidays, hiking and even the occasional lodging… it was as if our parents colluded to raise us for each other. However, there is also the reality of life and making ends meet. This, for most, makes it impossible to be free all the time and often we get consumed by the proverbial real world. Thankfully, our spirit of adventure, mixed with the grace from the Almighty, afforded us…

Day 1: Harare – Karoi – Magunje – Gache Gache It was great to finally get going. This was one of the longest days on our itinerary, but it was necessary as we were eager to reach the Zambezi Valley and get off-road. Our route included 55km of tar from Magunje. Although the road was in fair condition down to Gache Gache, there very some very bad sections. Caution is advised if you’re towing a trailer and be on the lookout for motorcycles and vehicles coming out of the valley. We spent a wonderful evening at a great campsite. The facilities are still being developed, but the hot showers and flushing toilets were a treat. Day 2: Gache Gache – Kariba – Matusadona (Kanjedza via Fothergill Island) After a hearty…

When we first planned this tour, we wanted to give our guests an action-packed experience of a lifetime. As such, the route started in the Little Karoo, ended at Storms River Mouth and – avoiding the N2 where possible – criss-crossed the mountains from west to east. It included both gravel and tar passes, as well as a Grade 2 4x4 trail to add some adrenaline to the mix. We allowed 4x2 vehicles to do the tour, providing them with an escape route option on the 4x4 leg. The group of 12 vehicles – representing Ford, Toyota, Range Rover, Suzuki, Volkswagen and even Subaru and Honda – converged at Rooiberg Lodge for the start of the tour. Everyone really enjoyed the venue, to the extent that our next Garden Route…

Stocking fillers Use it (sustainably): A versatile, eco-, and budget-friendly alternative to single-use plastics, this 1 000ml stand-up pouch is perfect for hikers and adventurers wanting to use boiling water to heat and rehydrate their meals or keep their stuff fresher longer. Weighing in at only 124g, it’s easy to clean and resistant to damage from extreme temperatures. Find it on www.foreverfresh.co.za from R169. Charge it: As an overlander, you are bound to find yourself in a campsite without an outlet for your devices at some point. For this, the Romoss Simple 10 is the ideal portable power bank. It uses a lithium polymer battery with a capacity of 10000mAh and is compatible with most devices, offering a Micro USB port, an Apple Lightning Port and a Type-C port. Check it…

Aparty on the Makgadikgadi pans! Why even? Won’t it destroy this very sensitive ecosystem? These were just some of the questions I had. I mean – can you imagine people doing doughnuts all over the pans? Well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t see it happen even once! And you can be sure that if anyone had tried it, they would have been in for a proper tongue-lashing! We heard about the OppiPanne festival through family members, coincidently the same family members who had teamed up with former Stormers rugby player, Joe Petersen, and Bok van Blerk to make the event happen. So, we decided we had to go and see it for ourselves. The folks from Kia South Africa were happy to loan us the recently introduced third-generation…

When my dad bought his first double cab bakkie back in 2015, he decided on a Toyota Hilux D-4D Legend 45. The first thing he did was to change the tyres to General Grabber AT3’s which were, at the time, highly underrated. It turned out to be a great choice and we have been recommending the brand to overlanders ever since. So, you can imagine how excited I was when General Tire invited me on a what they billed as an #AnywhereIsPossible adventure to Transkei, for the reveal of its all-new ATX tyre. A flight into the unknown It was late-afternoon, when I boarded a flight to East London, alongside a few motoring scribes. I had only been to the Eastern Cape once before, and had never been to Transkei…

“The Khakies are approaching from the south! Guys, we’ll have to make a plan.” General Ben Viljoen gave the order after the English, with the greatest force to ever wage war under the imperialist banner, began to threaten the commando very close to the Biyamiti camp. After the beatings that the boere had inflicted on the English on various battlefields, they had deployed more than 60 000 soldiers to quell the tide. Genl. Viljoen had no choice but to destroy the ammunition and the Long Tom cannons still in the possession of the boere to ensure that they did not end up in the hands of the English. The plaque commemorating this battle is still visible just south of Biyamiti. Biyamiti was a staging post for transporters on the trade…

Finding a buffalo that needed to be darted for medical or other reasons had eluded me for quite some time. But as always, God sent the right people… and buffalo… at the right time. Turning the Bush Babes into proper soldiers was also a bit of a challenge but giving them a real boots-on-the-ground anti-poaching ranger experience seemed good enough. My idea was to set up a real-life poaching simulation and have the ladies deployed to the poaching scene by helicopter, with at least one K9 of the anti-poaching unit joining them on the flight. I knew that Anke Kruger, anti-poaching manager of the Hoedspruit K9 Conservation units, was my go-to gal. We had worked together on a previous adventure, and she was just perfect for this mission. Once Anke…

Kleine Windpompie is located about 6km from Barrydale on the R62 on the way to Ladysmith. This working farm offers breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and the Karoo landscape. Besides the campsite, a variety of attractive self-catering options are also available. But for now, our focus remains on the stunning campsite. There are only two private campsites. The one we used is called Botterboom and boasts its own ablution facilities, covered braai area and kitchenette. The braai area offers shelter and has a tavern-type table and benches where you can sit and kuier until late at night while your meat is tanning on the braai. Needless to say, we spent many hours there. The kitchen has a sink, gas stove, kettle, and a small fridge, making it very convenient…

Following several short overlanding trips in rented vehicles, Dave and Nicki Brown had come up with a set of requirements for their own vehicle. So, they bought their 2015 Toyota Hilux – affectionately called Wanda – as a pre-owned vehicle in July 2020. They had found a company to help them with the build, and slowly but surely their dream started taking shape. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic there were some delays, but Wanda was completed in about six months between January and June 2021. The modifications made include a Rival front bumper with a winch, air locking differentials, under armour, a 140-litre fuel tank, Gobi rock sliders, an Alu-cab canopy, and a Front Runner double roof rack, which carries the Tuff Trek rooftop tent. There’s also a drawer system…

Try before you buy Are you considering buying a Land Rover but not sure if it’s the right vehicle for you? Then you’ll be glad to hear that Jaguar Land Rover Experience in Johannesburg now offers so-called Taster Drives, giving potential customers more in-depth test drives than are possible in dealership environments. Each Taster Drive includes an introduction to the Experience facility, a short vehicle safety briefing and the drive experience itself – all totalling around 90 minutes. The new Taster Drives are offered alongside the Experience centre’s half-day, full-day or bespoke luxury travel driving experiences which are available in a wide range of current models, including the new Defender and Range Rover. Taster Drives start at R1 520 per person and are hosted by Jaguar Land Rover’s globally accredited…

With the strides made in the development of Lithium batteries, just about everything is going cordless and battery powered nowadays. This means that the choices in equipment available to overlanders has also grown exponentially. It wasn’t that long ago that only battery-powered drills were available and now you can get anything from a battery-powered fan to a full-size chainsaw. We recently got our hands on a DeWalt 54V chainsaw and thus far we are very impressed! We’ve used a battery-powered chainsaw – albeit a small one with a 12.5cm blade – on some of our trips in the past and the time we saved on chopping and clearing debris from roads was considerable. The DeWalt 54V chainsaw has a very handy 40cm blade and it’s a beast. Its ability to…

SUVs usually don’t have much packing space. For me, a double cab bakkie is the preferred option for overlanding. But if it’s an SUV that the wife wants, there are some options out there for you. Front Runner has a line of roof racks specifically designed for ‘softer’ SUVs and even compact crossovers. This includes a roof rack with a dynamic load capacity of over 100kg for the Kia Sorento. It offers enough space to take a bunch of extra goodies along on your trip, from bicycles to canoes or – in our case – some essential accessories for overlanding. It’s also relatively quick and easy to fit. In less than 40 minutes the roof rack, with all the accessories, was on top of the Sorento and it even gave…

The Craft Braai Bag is, in my opinion, a must-have for any overlander. It’s small, lightweight, and easy to store, but still big enough for a roll of boerewors or four braai broodjies. The bag is made of a teflon material and can withstand heat up to 300°C. The best part is it is easy to clean. You can even chuck it in your dishwasher! *Available from Ready4Adventure for R220: www.r4a.co.za Find out more… For more information on Oppi Panne Musiek Festival Botswana check out their Facebook page: @OppiPanne >> For some Botswana insights and travel tips, scan the QR code.…

Border crossings in Africa can admittedly be a pain and in Zambia it is no different, but if you are well prepared and know what to expect you can mitigate the frustration to a certain extent. For our Zambia tour, we crossed the mighty Zambezi from Kasane via the Kazungula ferry. This border crossing can be rather overwhelming for newbies who are not used to the seeming chaos caused by runners and others wanting to help… at a cost, of course. Making the experience even more nerve-wracking is the fact that you will find yourself in four countries simultaneously as you reach the spot where the borders to Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, and Zimbabwe meet. You’ll be forgiven if you forget which country you’re in! Let the fun begin The south-western…

It all started in Cambodia when I met a Polish lady named Kinga during an unplanned visit to Koh Ta Kiev Island. She is a true backpacker and already had 35 countries under her belt at the of 45! Her next quest would be Africa and that got us chatting. Given my passport was about to expire, I made plans to return to South Africa, but we continued to communicate about a possible month-long trip to explore South Africa’s neighbouring countries. How would we go about this trip though? Should we rent a fully equipped vehicle for around R1 000 a day? Should we rather do the easy thing and go on an organised safari? Or should we find a travel buddy to share the cost? The latter made the…

One of the first vehicles I drove as a motoring journalist was the WK2 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the experience stuck with me. The platform was quite aged and had been on the market for a decade, so I wasn’t expecting any fireworks. With that being said, I loved every second behind the wheel. The 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 was silky smooth and well paired with the eight-speed auto. And even though it was a ten-year-old design, it still felt relatively modern. As such my expectations were sky-high for the fifth-generation Grand Cherokee L. Looking big and fresh When you see the new Jeep Grand Cherokee L in the flesh, you will realise that this is not a mere facelift. It is, in fact, all new. The first thing you notice…