Go! Drive & Camp Aug/Sept 2024

While putting together this issue, I couldn't help but think of an old TV ad for a well-known local beer. I reckon it aired about 25 years ago. In the advert, a group of friends arrives at a seemingly remote location where a man and his border collie are already waiting, with a fire burning, a South African flag planted and fluttering in the wind, and the opening notes of Boston's “More than a Feeling” begin to play. As the men offload and carry their coolers and camp chairs over, one asks, “Why here?” That's when the one who has been waiting connects a television to his bakkie's battery, and images of the final between the Springboks and the All Blacks in the 1995 Rugby World Cup appear on the…

We love hearing what's on your mind! Write to us at drivecamp@gomag.co.za and please remember to include your full address and contact details. Drive & Camp reserves the right to edit and shorten letters – and publish them in the magazine, on the website and elsewhere. My wife Elsa and I are avid campers and have been searching for a decent gas stove that can withstand the wind for years. We've bought and tested most of the stoves on the market but are always disappointed because the wind blows out the flame, and the quality is sometimes not great. At a recent gathering for ex-military members, I ran into an ex-colonel with an extraordinary Cadac gas stove they used in the military in the 1960s. I am from the older…

I'd like to share a sketch – it's like a checklist for birds, but one for campers. My husband Christo and I have been camping for 25 years, nowadays with a Land Rover Forward Control. The other day at the Ezemvelo campsite beyond Bronkhorstspruit, Christo wanted to show me a lilac-breasted roller in a tree, but my attention was diverted by a jogger with a peculiar running style, and I missed the bird in the tree. You could say I prefer watching the campers. That's how I came up with the idea to compile a camper list. I'm a graphic designer at a magazine and work on the computer all day, but I loved getting the chance to use my pen and brush again. First, I drew the basic sketch…

My husband and I love camping at different spots, and he always buys Drive & Camp. Then I get a bit annoyed because he reads it in one evening and completes the crossword. And then he can't wait for the next issue… We are part of a group of friends who always travel and camp together. My husband always does the bookings and planning. I asked our friends whether one of them would do it, but they refused because only my husband has the necessary knowledge, according to them. As we discussed our travel plans, including the list of necessities and menus for delicious camp food that can be cooked over the coals, I of course, wanted to know where all this information supposedly came from: “Drive & Camp,” was…

NEWS Namibia's plains stretch far and wide, so it is always a good idea to plan your trip there carefully. Campers wanting a stopover near Mariental now have an additional choice. Die Skuur campsite is just outside the town, on the farm Kachas where the owners Kokkie and Elzeth Adriaanse farm with maize, wheat and other crops. The campsite was built two years ago with a few stands, each with a private bathroom. Today, campers can choose from six stands with communal bathrooms, three with private facilities, and three slightly more luxurious ones, also with private facilities. There are dishwashing facilities at both groups with the private facilities. A donkey at each bathroom provides hot water. Elzeth and her team supply the wood and light the fire once a day.…

With 80 colourful summers behind him – more than 60 of which were in the caravan industry – you cannot help but tip your hat to Robbie Kerkhof. Alongside his youngest son, Reinhart, Robbie owns Skipper Tent Trailers in Park Rynie on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. Their focus is on lightweight caravans. In the early years, Skipper belonged to Robbie and his brother, Tom, until that came to an end in 1975. Robbie took over the manufacturing of Gazelle caravans from André du Plooy and even built a model with three axles – the first and only. In 1989, Robbie sold Gazelle, then moved from the Rand to Pennington two years later. Robbie then decided to breathe new life into Skipper and brought Reinhart on board as a partner. In…