Go! Drive & Camp Apr/May 2025

Regular readers of our magazine will notice that Mic van Zyl's column isn't in its usual place in this issue. Mic has been part of our editorial family for a very long time, having written over a hundred 4×4 and off-road columns for Drive & Camp and its predecessor, DriveOut. He's a great person with a deep passion for the outdoors and his profession – two elements that, coincidentally, go hand in hand, as he is a director at Ironman 4×4, one of the biggest and most well-known brands in the industry. It's an absolute pleasure to work with Mic. I have great respect for his ethics, his honest and decent way of doing things, and his infectious enthusiasm for everything related to 4×4 adventures, off-road gear, technological advancements and…

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. A year ago, I shared how a group of us have been camping together at Tietiesbaai every December holiday for the past 15 years or so. We set up camp, and our camping friends come and go as their schedules allow. On our return from the West Coast in 2023, I met Willie Dreyer. He's also a camper but hadn't yet joined our traditional camping holiday. I told him about our annual getaway and asked, “Are you coming, or are you staying behind?” The…

I was thrilled about the article“Kosi's David and Goliath”in the October-November 2024 issue. The Kosi Bay estuary's northern tip is just a few kilometres from the Mozambique border, and it is possible to walk from the estuary to Ponta do Ouro in only an hour or three.This is a town in the extreme south of Mozambique, and the name is Portuguese for“tip of gold.” The bay is noted for its aggressive bull shark population, and it is these sharks that are locally known as the Zambezi shark. These bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas, are also informally known in Africa as the“zambi shark.” As for their preferred habitat, they are commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers. While as for the dangers to man, it is known…

Local caravan and 4×4 accessory manufacturers were in top form at the annual Caravan Show at Gallagher Estate in Midrand. Most manufacturers use the show as a platform to unveil their latest models and it was great to see some new faces in the mix. This year, more than 30 caravan manufacturers showcased their products and we feature 29 of them on the following pages. This time, we're casting the net wider than just caravans, including all sorts of equipment and 4×4 accessories - a fitting way to celebrate the show's coming of age. OKTO Okto is well known for its road caravans as well as its ever-popular Gravellor dirt-road caravans. The manufacturer, which has been building caravans for just over six years, has now expanded its range and showcased…

It's scorching outside – 44°C, according to the bakkie's gauge – and mirages shimmer restlessly on the horizon while cicadas buzz in nervous unison. What are we doing here, on gravel roads that devour tyres for breakfast and in a place where water is more precious than gold? Join us on a journey to discover how the Visagie, Pieterse, and Shephard families – along with a dozen others – made a living on 55 farms before the land was consolidated into a national park. We depart from Ceres, just under two hours' drive from Cape Town. Fill up your tank and follow the tarred R46 regional road over Theronsberg Pass, then Hottentotskloof Pass. Eventually, the R46 veers sharply to the right, but we continue straight on the R355 dirt road,…

It's a highway with many faces: the 666 km-long N7 between Cape Town and Vioolsdrif doesn't just take you to the heartland of the country's most beautiful flowers, but also gives you access to the entire West Coast. It's an alternative route between the Cape and the north of the country and pulses like a lifeline it is between local campers and Namibia. We're about to head off for a holiday of camping under the stars along the Orange River – a planned trip that couldn't come soon enough. But we don't want to rush from the Mother City to Vioolsdrif in a single day. The rubber boats can wait a day or two because we're going to camp our way there. Citrusdal is barely 200 km from Cape Town,…