Go! Drive & Camp Oct/Nov 2025

I’ve always been a little besotted with this time of year. Spring has had a few weeks to show winter the door, and we’re well on our way to year’s end. There’s something almost magical in the air that makes you breathe differently. The soft scent of blossoms, the warmth of the sun, the promise of longer days that call for adventure. After a long, quiet winter, it feels as if the world itself comes alive again – and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to pack up, hit the road and head into nature. For people like us, these months are more than just a change of season. They’re an invitation – to places we’ve never been, and to dust off our tents, caravans and gear. Few…

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. After retiring this year, my wife Verna and I decided it was time to put the 2024 go! Namibia guide to good use and set off on an adventure through Namibia, Zambia and Botswana. We left at the end of April 2025, planning to camp wherever possible in our trusty three-man tent. Our Suzuki Vitara leads the way, towing a 5-foot trailer loaded with gear and topped with a mattress. The first stop is Augrabies Falls, via Keimoes and Kakamas. We pop in at…

In preparation for our first trip to Botswana, we did our homework – everything from YouTube videos to articles and camping stories. We came across advice from Jacques Greeff in the June-July 2025 issue: pre-order your meat in Palapye. So, we did. The fillet and boerewors were excellent, though the lamb chops didn’t quite pass muster. Let’s just admit it – we’re meat snobs. We crossed via the Stockpoort border post, which we can highly recommend: quick, easy and not crowded. The gravel road to Mahalapye was perfectly manageable, and the town even has a modern shopping centre and an impressive butcher we spotted from the road. Kubu Island at Xhumaga was beautiful. In Maun, it was meat time again. That’s when we discovered a real gem: Delta Meat Deli.…

A LONG ROAD WITH LONGER STORIES The R355 between Calvinia and Ceres is the longest uninterrupted gravel road in South Africa – and a notorious tyre killer. After a photo by @noel_cloete was shared on Instagram and reposted on our Facebook page, some of our readers chimed in with their own experiences. Heinrick Strauss Good childhood memories on this road. When my father was still alive, we drove it two or three times a year to visit family in the Northern Cape. It’s also where my brother and I learned to drive. There was never any need for a 4x4 or a special vehicle, just an ordinary car with the right tyres: 13- or 14-inch, with sidewall heights of 60, 65, 70 or 75. No low-profile tyres. Dad taught us…

I read Cyril Klopper’s article, “A secret in the Eastern Cape Karoo” – about the ten passes and one neck – in the June/July 2025 issue, and I’d love to drive that route. There’s one snag: I can’t plot it on Google Maps or in my Tracks4Africa atlas. We love tackling gravel passes and going through poorts while visiting small towns and settlements along the way. A few years back, we drove from Klipplaat over Swanepoelspoort, through Willowmore, all the way to the Prince Alfred Pass. Those ten passes look like a great route on the way to Addo. My question is: which maps does Cyril use to plan his routes? He refers to the P1852 farm road – which maps actually show these kinds of road numbers? The Tracks4Africa…

Just 20 km outside Montagu, you can now escape to peace and quiet at the Ouberg Reserve. It’s 900 ha of unspoiled Klein Karoo nature, where you can settle in at one of five brand-new campsites. At Ouberg’s new campsite, you’ll find a true getaway deep in the mountains, where not even cellphone signal can reach you. But you’re not completely cut off: free wifi is available right at your stand. Each site is cleared in the veld and fitted with a small braai (with a grid) and a tap supplying borehole water. A simple reed shelter on four poles provides shade, with two sides closed for extra protection. And the owners, Richard and Susan Gie, are busy building a plunge pool for campers. The stands line up along a…