Innehållsförteckning för May 2019 från Go! Drive & Camp

Today, there is a host of small off-road caravans in South Africa to choose from, and now Equipped 4 Africa has added yet another. The Raasblaar is the company’s first small off-road caravan – it reminds one of a teardrop caravan because it’s really a double bed on wheels, but that’s where the similarity ends. For example, even though the caravan is small, it has a pull-out kitchen and apantry. Andries Bruwer, the man behind the Raasblaar, says that after he toured a number of African countries for 10 years with his family, he knew exactly what was needed to build a true African off-road caravan. He designed the Raasblaar with three principles: it had to be affordable; it had to set up and take down in a jiffy; and…

Leisureland Caravans in Bellville, one of the oldest caravan dealerships in the Western Cape, celebrates a double anniversary this month. First, Kerneels Nortjé established Leisureland as a caravan dealership 35 years ago, and five years later his son Johan bought the business. So Johan has been in charge for the past 30 years. According to Johan, the caravanning in South Africa has changed significantly through the years. They used to have 60-70 caravans in stock and the caravans usually cost around R12 000. A trailer was  only R450. (A Sprite Scout cost R10 995 in 1990, and two years later it jumped to R25 000.) Leisureland started out as a Wilk agency, with Sprite added later. The early nineties were surely the industry’s best years when you look at sales…

Born-frees will probably be a bit too young to remember the very first RAV4, which was a teeny tiny little SUV. Picture a Suzuki Jimny with curves and a not-so-serious off-road reputation. Sure, the RAV4 had four-wheel drive with a centre locking differential, and came with protective cladding below the beltline to keep unsightly paint scratches at bay but the overall image was that of a fun-loving, cheap runabout in an era when SUVs were predominantly uber-luxurious vehicles. But as the popularity of the RAV4 and other vehicles of its ilk started to soar at the turn of the century, Toyota began taking a conservative stance toward its products. The result was that over the next three generations of RAV4, and a few other vehicles in its lineup really, Toyota…

Kouga is the Khoi word for “place of abundance”, and it’s indeed difficult to think of a better description for this piece of earth in the Eastern Cape. The Kouga region lies between the Tsitsikamma River in the west, the Van Stadens River to the east, the enchanting Baviaanskloof wilderness area to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south. Holidaymakers flock here to enjoy the seemingly endless golden beaches and a range of other attractions – this is a particularly popular destination for water-sport enthusiasts, as Jeffreys Bay’s waves are considered among the best in the world for surfing. But even though Jeffrey’s Bay is one of the most popular holiday towns in the country, the Kouga region offers so much more than just sun, sea and waves:…

South Africa’s longest river has many names because it winds its way through many regions and visits many cultures. At its source in Lesotho, its name is the Senqu, it then becomes the IGqili in the Eastern Cape, after which it is commonly called the Orange. And here in the Richtersveld where its great waters flow into the Atlantic Ocean, the Nama people call it the Gariep. When in Rome and all that, so for this story, we’ll stick to the ancient Nama name. The Gariep River forms the northern boundary of the Richtersveld, to the west lies the sea, to the east is the N7 highway, and the region’s southern border is the R382 regional road between Port Nolloth and Steinkopf. It takes one day to travel here from…

Suzuki South Africa loaned us a new Jimny with standard tyres and suspension. Because there were three of us and we had to be self-sufficient for a week, Front Runner fitted the Jimny with aroof rack and awning, four ammo crates, stratchets, a table with chairs, a 20 ℓ water can, and fuel-, spade- and spare-wheel mounting brackets. At the 11th hour we decided to take along sand boards, and although Front Runner also has a mount for these, we secured them to the spare wheel. Although the Jimny is a brave little vehicle, it couldn’t carry everything we needed if it hadn’t been for Front Runner’s accessories. Our driving impression of the Jimny appears on p. 32. Contact frontrunneroutfitters.com suzuki.co.za…

The Houwhoek and Mount Hebron nature reserves are situated on the southwestern tip of the Hottentots Holland Mountains and at the top end of the Botriver Lagoon near Hermanus. The posh Arabella golf estate is also nearby, but if you prefer off-roading to golf carting, you’ll be stopping on the opposite side of the R43 regional road. At Honingklip they farm with proteas, pomegranates and olives, but you’re here for the 4x4 route through the farm’s private nature reserve. Park your vehicle at the brewery shortly after entering the main gate. Across the parking lot is a kiosk where you can write out your own permit, sign an indemnity form and place cash in an envelope. This is where you also need to lower your tyre pressure – 1,8 bar…

“ You wouldn’t easily find a sturdier tow bar than the one that’s part of the Desert Armour bumper.” According to Japanese automaker Isuzu, it has built around 25 million engines since its inception in 1916 – this amounts to an astonishing 650+ a day, every day for the past 103 years. Two of these engines today operate in the D-Max double cab 4x4: the 2,5 ℓ and a 3 ℓ. The 2,5 ℓ engine delivers 15% less torque than its big brother (320 Nm versus 380 Nm) and the 2,5 can tow a weight of just 2 t compared to the larger engine’s 2,9 t. The tow bar is also standard only on the big engine, plus you get the added peace of mind with the trailer sway control…

Summit’s caravans are not an uncommon sight in South African campsites. This series has been built for the past 10 years by Frantel Distribution, a manufacturer that often comes up with new and unconventional ideas. Consider, for example, the Andes off-road caravan that made its appearance in 2013: with its low profile and atent that’s lower on the bodywork, this caravan set itself apart from its competitors. It was also a little longer and heavier than others but had much more storage space. You could say it was an off-road caravan that regularly went to gym. Now the Andes have outgrown their infancy and gained a lot more body – and also quite a few muscles. The genes are still unmistakable, but the design is brand new. The Andes now…

Three years ago, I started playing bowls, and it wasn’t long before a friend at the bowling club invited me to a camping weekend at the Lekkerbreek resort near Mookgophong. I camped with my tent… and in the meantime got totally hooked on the balls. If I don’t play matches on weekends, I play every day after work. I also started visiting Lekkerbreek often… and then took a big step: I bought my first caravan, a Sprite Swift dating back to the late nineties. Until then, I drove a Ford Bantam, but it was time for a proper towing vehicle that could hook up the Swift. I went looking for a bakkie – not using the Internet, but driving from dealer to dealer. And that’s how my path crossed with…

The dust of the recent Caravan, Camping and Destination Show, where the prototypes of Conqueror’s new range of UEV off-road caravans was launched, had hardly settled before these caravans were sent on a tough test run. According to Philip de Vries, the four caravans were towed for six days, covering 3 500 km along the Molopo River, including some rough dirt roads north of Vryburg in the Northern Cape. The sole purpose of the trip was a shake-down cruise to reveal potential problems. The biggest difference between the new series and Conqueror’s standard caravans is the building material of the hull. And this has passed the test with flying colours, says Philip. “We only got a dust leak at one of the bubble windows –it’s now been replaced with a…

Hoefer is the only caravan manufacturer to export caravans from another African country to South Africa, and according to Charles Hoefer, they were well received at the recent Caravan, Camping and Destination Show. Since the show, they’ve made some last-minute changes to the Azzero All Terrain caravan: to the left of the outside cupboard where the gas stove pulls out of the hull, a cupboard for your pots and pans with its own door has been installed. To the right ofthe door is an outside fridge inits own cupboard. Previously, the door opened all the way to the ground, but now it flattens out to form a worktop. From here, an aluminium strip runs on which you can hook a loose table. Two LED lights have been added to the…

Suzuki South Africa’s marketing team came up with the tagline “Giant killer”. This slogan stems from Jimny owners’ claims that the diminutive 4x4 can take on any big off-road vehicle. If you own a big off-road rig, you’re sure to scoff. How dare they make such statements? However, it is true that the Jimny has merits over large and expensive 4x4 vehicles. How does it compare? The Jimny’s turn radius is 4,9 m compared to a Nissan Patrol’s 12,6 m, and the Jimny is 3,48 m long and 1,645 m wide compared to a Toyota Land Cruiser 200’s 4,99 m and 1,98 m respectively. This means you can drive a Jimny through apine plantation rather than around it in a Cruiser. Furthermore: the most expensive Jimny costs R319 900, while…

The Bushveld doesn’t need an introduction – least of all among campers. The south of this region is especially popular with its concentration of camping sites. Sometimes, however, you need to remind yourself that the Bushveld extends far beyond the Bela-Bela area. Yes, you’ll be on the road an hour or so longer, but your reward is a whole bunch of decent campsites where you can relax in peace and quiet for the weekend. One of them is Eden Park, about 12 km northwest of Mookgopong. Pleased to meet you On arrival at Eden Park’s reception you meet Hannetjie Fouché. She is in charge of things and makes sure everything goes swimmingly. Hannetjie says it’s been dry here recently, just as in so many other parts of the country, and…

Man has been camping in tents for thousands of years. The Bible, for example, mentions in Genesis that Jabal is the progenitor of herdsmen living in tents. We also know that the Roman army camped in leather tents, and that the first expedition that reached the South Pole – led by Roald Amundsen – took hemp tents. But what kind of tent is best for you? A roof tent or one on the ground? Nylon or canvas? Nylon Nylon tents can be divided into two categories: lifestyle and expedition. Lifestyle tents will keep you warm and dry in moderate weather conditions, but expedition tents keep you alive in extreme conditions. Nylon tents poles are usually made of fibreglass. It weighs little and can bend quite a lot before it breaks.…

Bushpig 2009 ISUZU KB300 D-TEQ D/C 4X4 AT Not that there was an issue with his customised old Ford Ranger, but Louis Ackerman from Kraaifontein started feeling that there was perhaps something else out there for him. “Maybe it was that hard suspension system on the Ford, but just over two years ago, I picked up this used KB for R167 000 and it certainly helped twist my arm that it was almost as good as new. For me, seeing this was going to be my overlanding vehicle, it needed to be reliable, with freely available parts and not break the bank. All qualities this Isuzu had in spades. My only gripe with the Isuzu KB is that in standard guise it doesn’t come with very good ground clearance, but…

We’re ready for our annual visit to the Kruger National Park. Our spot at Satara is booked and we recheck the packing list to make sure everything’s loaded up. Aside from the meat, wood and those sort of things, we make doubly sure the sweets are packed. I have a bit of a sweet tooth… my wife calls me a chocoholic. We’ve been trying our hand on baking delicious chocolate biscuits for a couple of years now, and they’ve become an institution when we go to the park. We buy the chocolate the weekend before we leave, bake the biscuits, then carefully count and divide them up so that there’s two biscuits each with every night’s coffee. What could be lovelier than throwing another log on the fire and then…

In the late 1950s, I experienced an incident with my school friend Jannie Barnard that I remember to this day. It was a Saturday and Jannie’s father, Uncle Jan, went to trade in his car for another. Jannie and I went with him to Motortown in the long, straight Jules Street in Johannesburg. Uncle Jan was a big, strict man with a thick gray moustache and he was going to get rid of his Vanguard, a “rubbish English” car. The truth of the matter was that Uncle Jan had been promoted to superintendent and his wheels no longer fit his reputation. His blue Vanguard was no longer good enough, but the car also has a problem or two. When you geared down from third to second gear, the gears would…

The third generation Mercedes-Benz Sprinter has just been launched in South Africa. Three main versions of this bus are available: a panel van, a people carrier and a cargo truck. In addition, the Sprinter is available in three wheelbases, four body lengths and three roof heights. Thanks to a multitude of optional extras, more than 600 possible variations are officially available from Mercedes-Benz, but Mercedes-approved coachbuilders may, of course, offer countless further variations and create a rig that meets your specific needs. Mercedes-Benz hopes to build on its success in the long-distance taxi industry, but also wants to make a stronger presence in the motorhome market. The manufacturer believes that the popularity of motorhomes will increase in South Africa and, as in Europe, will ultimately outperform caravan sales. At the…

South African canopy manufacturer RSI adopted a popular concept from Australia. Its Smart Tray Canopy Combo consists of a flatbed that replaces your bakkie’s standard load bed. With this flatbed, you can load commercial ISO pallets with a forklift onto the back (not possible to do with most normal bakkies) and you can also fit dropsides if you want to transport building materials in bulk. When the week’s work is done, bolt RSI’s Smartcanopy onto the flatbed in 10 to 15 minutes and your work tray turns into a holiday tray. The flatbed has two built-in tool cavities that can be locked (one on each side of the flatbed), and a 1,6 m long lockable drawer behind the number plate that’s also water- and dustproof. The canopy has two large…

“ We chose the Platjan border post as our point of entry, and within 20 minutes we had completed the paperwork, got our passports stamped and were back on our way – what a pleasure! From there, you head southwest to get to the Limpopo River Lodge, about 40 km from the border crossing. What’s it like? The camp is clean and neat, as are the bathroom facilities. Although there is no electricity available, there are paraffin lamps that create plenty of atmosphere when the sun goes down and there are solar geysers or hot-water donkeys that ensure you  can enjoy a hot shower while watching the Limpopo River flow by and enjoy Botswana’s beauty. The caretaker, Isaac, stops by often to check that everything is going smoothly and always…

Can you travel through Botswana with a regular road caravan? Yes, you can, says Pieter van der Merwe of Riebeeckstad. A group of Goldfield friends started toying with the idea of exploring Botswana with their caravans. This got the group – Pieter and Annette van der Merwe, Jurie and Adriana Blom, Sarel and Ester Griesel (all from Riebeeckstad) and Callie and Santa de Jager from Hennenman – excited, but because most of them aren’t seasoned travellers to our neighbouring countries, they were reluctant to embark on this particular tour. Jurie, however, had already undertaken such a journey and offered to set up an “easier” tour of Botswana that they could handle with road caravans. The friends decided to go ahead – and their excitement spilled over to Montagu in the…

Heart vs Head Tuning vehicles has evolved much like sport. Fifty years ago, an athlete could get by with just an inkling of talent and sheer determination. Think of a boxer who is clearly outmatched but is still in the fight thanks to his sheer determination and grit. Or the rugby team who seem the least likely to win, eat junk food all the time and don’t train as hard, but get along when it matters most, have fun and are always capable of an upset. That’s heart. Your engine is much the same, and likely capable of much more than you think. But these days sport, particularly in the professional realm, is much more cerebral. Athletes are mindful about various factors: what they eat, how they train and how…

Is this a painting? A photo can get a second meaning if you intentionally shoot it differently, as John Christie of Pietermaritzburg did. “This photo looks like a black-and-white photo but is actually a colour photograph without any edits. I did decide to under expose the image before I took it. The blue sky on the far right and the coloured sections in the flare which the sun creates show that it is not only black and white. I took the photo on Herm Island in the English Channel – not too far from the French coast.” Instead of just a pic with two people on the beach, John turns his photograph into a work of art by under exposing the image even further. Because John is already shooting against…

At this year’s f.r.e.e trade show in Munich, Germany (one of the world’s largest leisure and travel fairs), Danish toy giant Lego had a display that featured a life-sized replica of Volkswagen’s Type 2 Camper Van and go! Drive & Camp caught up with the man responsible for the remarkable lookalike, Berlin-based René Hoffmeister. He is one of only 12 Lego-certified modellers in the world and has been building them since 1999. René and his colleague Pascal Lenhard used computer programs to create a digital model of the vehicle using pictures and info from Volkswagen – which told them exactly how many bricks and assorted pieces they would need to complete the project in time for the show. From the beginning they established that it was of the utmost importance…