Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2017 i Go! Drive & Camp

The new, improved Isuzu KB300 LX is a bakkie that turns heads. “Wow, that’s a cool bakkie” is something you hear often when you get behind the wheel of this trusted steed – everyone from farmers and owners of 4x4 obstacle courses to petrol attendants and buff boikies at the gym. The 2017 model isn’t drastically different from its predecessor, but with a few improvements, it looks like Isuzu has made its dependable vehicle attractive to the modern market. Outside appearance Even though this is a bakkie, the KB looks streamlined with its new, more prominent grille. And the shiny chrome is also jazzed up with LED daytime running lights that are neatly integrated into the nose and don’t create the impression that it was added as an afterthought for…

A new off-road caravan on the market is always good news because it gives buyers more variety. And, in a new caravan you can generally expect a few clever ideas and innovations. An off-road-caravan can be built in only so many ways, and the secret to a comfortable and practical caravan is the layout and how everything fits together. Eko Veld Gear’s Armadillo is well laid out and has a few built-in tricks up its sleeve. Until a year or two ago, father-and-son partners Fanie and Riaan Botha from Cape Town specialised in the building of canopies, but then decided they also wanted to build caravans. And their Armadillo, with its galvanised chassis and body that’s made mostly of aluminium, has quite a few innovations. We hitched the very first…

1 Maloutswa, Mapungubwe National Park, Limpopo The animal life at the Maloutswa waterhole is almost too good to be true. It’s as if Mapungubwe’s own reality show is playing out in front of your very eyes once you’ve positioned yourself in the hide and taken off the binoculars’ lens covers. The elephants are the stars of the show, with hundreds coming to drink here. At times they are so close to the shelter it almost feels as if you can touch them. The supporting cast are various species of impala, warthogs, zebras, blue wildebeest, vervet monkeys, Egyptian geese, brown snake eagles… you name it. You can sit here for hours taking photos or simply just watching. The animals come and go, and there is usually a bit of action. Especially…

“We are members of Bloemfontein’s 4x4 eco-club. We are an eco-friendly 4x4 club that enjoys visiting places that are not accessible in an ordinary vehicle. We are more than 50 members – family people who often hit the road together. It also so happens, without us planning it, that most of us now tow camping trailers or caravans. We recently gathered at Die Sandgat at Vanderkloof Dam and had an excellent time. We will definitely go there again. Tell us more about Die Sandgat. The campsite is approximately 7 km from Vanderkloof Dam, on the banks of the Orange River. You camp beneath the dam wall – in the late afternoon when they open the turbines you see the river’s water level rise. I tell you, the water rises with…

Upside down, inside out 2006 MOTORHOME-WORLD DISCOVERER 4 Sometimes you meet people who hitch their vehicle to the back of their home-on-wheels. People like Linda du Plessis from Bultfontein. “We’re different from many people who tow because our vehicle is hitched to our house on wheels and not the other way around. We tow our Suzuki Jimny with our 2006 Motorhome-World Discoverer 4. We bought the Discoverer new for R250 000 in 2012 , and in the five years we’ve been camping like this it’s only been a pleasure. We especially like its power when driving uphill and the fact that we sit nice and high when we drive. Its performance is excellent, we drive in comfort, and it tows the Jimny without any problems. We easily drive at 120…

WHERE & WHEN? • Dwarsberg Trout Hideaway, Rawsonville, Western Cape • 8 – 10 September 2017 HOW MUCH? Base rate: R950 per person for the full weekend. Book your spot and bring your own caravan or tent at no additional accommodation rate. Or choose one of these options: Cottage* Add R1 300 per person for the full weekend (various cottage options available – enquire when booking). Basic tent* Add R1 350 per tent (sleeps two) for the full weekend (includes two mattresses). Medium tent* Add R2 250 per tent (sleeps two) for the full weekend (includes two beds with linen, bedside table and two camp chairs). Premium tent* Add R4 950 per tent (sleeps two) for the full weekend (includes two beds with linen, bedside table, two camping chairs and a shower…

Fleetline all the way In his letter in the June issue of WegSleep , Johan Hattingh asks where all the old caravans are. Our 33-year-old Jurgens Fleetline 5S gave my parents years of service – from 1984 to 1995. Afterwards my younger brother Werner Muller and his wife Celeste camped for another 12 years with the Fleetline. And 10 years ago I took it over and I still often camp with it. Over the years the Fleetline has been towed by about 15 different vehicles – from 1600s to V6 bakkies. Everyone who used the caravan reupholstered the couches and changed the curtains. When we got it we had couch cushions cut and covered, and replaced the curtains with PVC blinds. The small Consul Junior fridge had…

The words “body kit” conjures images of old BMWs and Subarus with Tupperware for wings and plastic bumpers that look like ploughshares. But if a manufacturer itself launches a Sport package for one of its models, it can be a stylish affair. And that’s the case with the new Hyundai Tucson Sport. The exterior The Tucson Sport is a combined project between Hyundai South Africa and South Korea. The bumpers are imported from Asia, while the new wheels are designed in conjunction with Tiger Wheel & Tyre locally. With its low bumpers, pitch black 19-inch alloy wheels, and four exhausts, the new Sport looks a whole lot more aggressive than the stylish standard model. The bumpers are mostly the same colour as the rest of the vehicle, with chrome and…

A few months ago we were given a brand new Mazda BT-50 3.2 4x4 SLE double cab automatic as a long-term vehicle. Every month we make a new off-road modification to the Mazda and talk about the importance of said modification, how and why it was done, and how much it costs. The first modification was a set of tough BF Goodrich T/A tyres, because the replacement of a vehicle’s standard tyres with proper off-road tyres is the first thing you need to do if you want to say goodbye to tar. Over the next two months we’ll replace the bakkie’s standard bumper with steel bumpers, and because the bakkie will be doing a lot of towing, we’re starting with the rear bumper. Why a new bumper? A steel back…

The longest night and shortest day have come and gone, which means summer is on its way. But August is still more winter than summer. Ask any camper: If you want to camp in winter like it’s summer, there’s only one place in the country and that’s the KwaZulu-Natal coast. Hluhluwe lies 270 km north of Durban and 30 km inland. This small town is more famous for its pineapples than for its campsites, but if you want to avoid a busy beach resort this time of year, Hluhluwe is your answer. (By the way, the tongue-twister Zulu word, Hluhluwe, is pronounced “shloeshloewê”.) The town is next to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, and it’s difficult to believe the day’s temperature forecast: Cape Town 8–15 °C, Pretoria 7–21 °C, Bloemfontein 2–20…

Before you embark on a long tour abroad, you probably prepare your vehicle thoroughly to prevent any possible problems that might occur on or off-road. You have it serviced and pack a set of recovery equipment, a toolkit and spare parts. But what happens if some sort of trouble or illness befalls a member of the tour? Did you make the necessary preparations or pack the right things? And what will your medical aid say if an air ambulance has to come fetch you? The chances of something serious like this happening might be fairly slim, but remember: Prevention is always better than cure. Get your paperwork sorted Firstly, find out how things stand with your medical aid, because there are numerous conditions and restrictions surrounding coverage when you’re outside…

“We ask if he has an import permit for the gun, especially considering he wants to drive home through Botswana and over Savuti.” It’s spring 1993 and we find ourselves on the banks of the Zambezi River. It’s a quiet Saturday afternoon and we’re relaxing in the campsite of the Hippo Lodge. The army colours have disappeared; it’s only the dull brown of the river that flows by. We’re a party of four guys with a Land Cruiser farm bakkie that Willie de Graaf from Maun was kind enough to lend us. We arrived last night in the dark after a customs official (on the Namibian side nogal ) decided we were too late. He just didn’t care that the ferry operated on Africa time. After a…

In April my wife Drienie and I went on holiday to the north with my brother-in-law Daan Botha and his wife Linda in our 4x4s. The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is our first destination and the first three nights in the Nossob camp fly by. From here we drive the Nossob 4x4 eco-route, and the first night we sleep in the Swartbas camp. The evening becomes a night of terror because a group of lions held us captive in our roof tents for 12 hours. After that we camp in Twee Rivieren and then we head off to Botswana over Matopi and the Bosobogolo Pan into the Moremi Game Reserve. We visit, amongst other places, the Khwai River as well as the Savuti region and Linyanti. The trip is nearing the…

Let’s be honest: Few people actually know what goes on in Sweden, and fewer still are able to converse about the country’s economy or biggest exports. But as long as you can name ABBA (or Roxette if you’re younger), Absolut Vodka and adult “exercise videos”, it’s okay. Before 2015, most Volvos had you pouring a stiff drink to make you forget about them, but since the launch of the seven-seater XC90, Volvo has become a manufacturer to watch. Last year the XC90 was (rightfully) named South Africa’s Car of the Year, and now his brand new younger brother, the second-generation five-seater XC60, is also chock-full of this champion technology. Keeping up appearances The first thing you need to know about the XC60 is that it has a lot of the…

The first Amarok double cab bakkies with its 2 ℓ diesel engines were greeted with a lot of skepticism. It was one of the smallest diesel engines in the bakkie market and many people thought it wouldn’t be able to deliver, especially not while carrying a load or towing. But here we are, two years later, and these two-litres still proudly lead many caravans and camping trailers from the one destination to the other. This year the German motor manufacturer again caused a stir with the Amarok. This time it was because of the only six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, now officially the most powerful, in a South African bakkie. The V6 turbodiesel in the new Amarok is a tried-and-tested engine that’s given years of service in the Volkswagen Touareg, Audi Q7,…

I’m standing in a short-sleeve shirt and sunglasses at the bottom of the Sani Pass. There’s not a breath of wind or a cloud in sight, even all the way up at the top of the winding dirt road pass. It confuses you slightly because it’s June and you left an icy Cape Town fully expecting to freeze here in the north. But who knows: Maybe it’s waiting for me at the top of the Drakensberg, where the journey actually begins. At the top of the pass sits the Lesotho border post – from there I’ll be driving through the small country in search of all its treasures. Through snow and ice, if necessary. Sani is still dirt road Since 2014 there has been talk that the Sani Pass will…

“The garbage camper is the start of my camping trailer, the Tora, but it is still a long way off.” In the four decades that he worked as a surveying engineer, a huge caravan and the bush were Nick Smith and his family’s home for many years. And even though the family lived in a caravan full-time, they also spent their annual holidays camping. Nick might be retired but camping is still a part of his family’s existence. He and his wife Nerina live in Potchefstroom and camp with their smart Tora II camping trailer that he built himself. Tora II and its forerunner, Tora I, came about from Nick and his friends’ erstwhile camping experiences in Namibia and from his self-built garbage trailer. The Tora II compares favourably with…

Few things beat the shade of a large tree, but when you’re on a spot where there aren’t any, you are definitely in desperate need of a gazebo. It’s one of those things that you’re always glad you have (and remembered to pack in) and you’re always slightly jealous when your camp neighbour unfolds his while you’re sitting in the boiling sun. Today’s gazebos are very different from the ones you found years ago, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to find one that suits your needs. We take a closer look at these seven models. COLEMAN EVENT SHELTER PRO Make yourself at home Whether you’re hiding from the sun or the rain, you’ll be equally at home under this dome gazebo from Coleman. And with a space totalling 4.5…

DID YOU KNOW? Something fishy Fresh fish is delicious, but fish also gave rise to canned food. Two centuries ago, Frenchman Nicolas Appert experimented with ways in which to preserve fish in jars. (It was the time when the French government investigated the possibility of pre-prepared rations for its troops.) Nicolas’s plan worked, but the next challenge was to get the jars to the soldiers intact. An Englishman, Peter Durand, solved the problem with cans. Today canned food is still with us and it typically has a shelf life of one to as much as five years. But there are also exceptions. The canned food aboard the steamship Bertrand, which sank in 1865 in the Missouri River, was apparently still safe to eat when it was found 109 years later.…

“Sure, our green Autovilla might have seen the light of day in the early ’70s, but it behaved just like a young man when we hit the road with it. I’ve had the Autovilla for roughly 20 years, but only started paying attention to it about eight years ago. We’d heard enough horror stories about this vehicle’s original engine, so we decided to replace it with a Volkswagen Jetta 1.8 ℓ engine. Since then we haven’t had any mechanical problems. There hasn’t even been a sign of the engine overheating. On the inside I modified it to suit our needs, neatened it up, and renovated the sleeping quarters. I also made the living space bigger by building a canopy over the driver section. At the rear I built a stand…