Tabla de contenidos para Issue 18 (Apr 2022) en Adventure Afrika

Raw excitement and anticipation for the impending adventure brimmed over in me. And boy, was it worth all the hype! I was not disappointed in my very first Bush Run and I’m already counting the sleeps until the next one. Located around 12km southwest of Volksrust in the transitional region between the Highveld Grasslands and the northern reaches of the beautiful Drakensburg Mountain Range, the three provinces of Mpumalanga, the Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal converge and meet at a height of 2 200m in an area locally known as the “Versamelberge”. Throughout the day and into the evening on the first day of our adventure, 14 Land Rovers from four different provinces – each carrying a cargo of avid adventurers, allweather camping equipment and loaded toolboxes – ambled their way…

The Kruger National Park is often described as the “best place on earth” and as sworn Kruger addicts, we concur. We have both travelled quite extensively and have been privileged to reside in other countries, and we loved every adventure that came with it. However, South Africa – and particularly the country’s crown jewel, the Kruger – beckons us back, time after time. “Three days in the park is too short,” says Anton when we started planning. “Thirty days would be too short for you,” I quip and immediately notice the longing in his eyes. Longing for days gone by, when his parents would pack the VW Microbus and the Ventertjie to the brim and traverse the park from north to south for up to three weeks at a time……

The Sprite Tourer SP is the perfect little caravan when you prefer to take the back roads to your destination. This sturdy caravan is the smallest in the Sprite Tourer range but can certainly take on the big boys when towing it over the gravel roads of Southern Africa. Its stiffer suspension allows you to tackle roads and even do some mild 4x4 and off-roading with it behind your vehicle, ideal for the roads of the Kgalagadi or even the cutlines of southern Africa. Setting it up is relatively quick and easy, and the sturdy legs provide piece of mind that your caravan will be level wherever you park it. The first thing you notice on the Tourer SP is the bigger wheels. The stiffer suspension and 30 x 9.5…

It is no secret that the compact crossover segment is a rapidly growing category within the local vehicle market. As such it came as no surprise that fast-growing Chinese brand, Chery, picked this segment as its relaunch platform in the South African market when it introduced the Tiggo 4 Pro towards the end of last year. To be fair, the Chery brand doesn’t have the best rap sheet locally. You might remember this brand for uninspiring vehicles such as the original Tiggo and the Chery QQ, which were slated for their general lack of quality and refinement as well as reports of poor aftersales support due to a very small dealership footprint. However, the Chery vehicles making their way to our shores under the “new and improved” brand promise in…

When Suzuki South Africa announced in 2018 that it was launching the Gen 4 Suzuki Jimny, Ismail Suder knew instantly that he had to have one. Early in 2019, when he put down the deposit, he was warned that the wait for delivery of the Jimny was going to be long, perhaps two years or more. He had no choice but to endure the agonising wait. “Every day after that, the adventures I would go on across southern Africa and beyond occupied my mind,” says Ismail. Then in 2021, at the height of Covid-19, the Suzuki dealer in Johannesburg called, informing him that his Jimny had arrived. It was a bittersweet moment as it was around that time that he was losing many relatives and friends to the pandemic. “I…

Only three hours’ drive from Gauteng, near the small town of Volksrust, lies a gem of mother nature that is well worth exploring. It’s a place that has been blessed in abundance, with waterfalls elegantly finding their way to the streams below and black eagles soaring in the skies above. The farms, Waterval and Schuilhoek, are situated at end of the great Drakensberg escarpment, called the “Versamelberge”. It’s here, on top of a sheer cliff, where the boundaries of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Free State come together in a spectacle of nature. Bring the whole family and enjoy one of the scenic 4x4 trails as a day outing or spend a weekend – or longer – enjoying all the thrills, challenges and fun family experiences on offer. Apart from the…

Normally big people movers tend to be expensive, thirsty, and difficult to manoeuvre. However, with the Kia Carnival we were pleasantly surprised. The Carnival SX Limited we drove was an absolute delight! It came as no surprise that this well-rounded vehicle took the top honours as AutoGuide’s 2022 Family Vehicle of the Year, with its impressive interior capacity, modern design and extensive safety features hailed as a winning recipe. This vehicle is all that – and so much more. The Carnival is designed to make any drive a pleasure, be it on the long road or for urban driving – and the fuel efficiency impressed, comfortably sitting between 7 litres/100km on the highway and a respectable 8.1km/100km for city driving. For a van of this size, that’s impressive in anyone’s…

For the long time, i have itching to get to ponta do Ouro, the coastal village on the southern border of Mozambique and just north of Kosi Bay, to swim with dolphins in the open Indian Ocean. This magical experience finally came to fruition in March this year. I had often read about this little piece of untouched African paradise, a mere five hours from Durban… blue skies, warm turquoise water, white sandy beaches. Surely this is only true in marketing brochures? Turns out it’s even better! Many die-hard Ponta visitors will say it’s just not the same since the roads from the South African border were tarred. In the “good old days”, you needed a 4x4 to get there. I’m told that was half the fun, driving in the…

Our fifth Ben 10 Eco Challenge was simply epic. If you wanted adventure, stunning scenery and technical driving, then this was the tour to be on. It rained every day, which kept the mud factor high and everyone on their toes. It also meant no dust, which is always a bonus! Six punctures, multiple recoveries, deep water crossings and lots of road building kept everyone challenged and busy. At the first drivers’ briefing of every Ben 10 tour, I remind guests that they have entered a challenge; that it’s going to be tough; that they’re going to get irritable; disgruntled and start complaining. And that’s truly how it always goes. This is much more than a mountain pass tour. There is a huge amount of pressure on everyone to achieve…

Fact file Full Name: Spotted skaapsteker (Psammophylax rhombeatus) Other Names: Spotted grass snake | Rhombic skaapsteker | Gespikkelde skaapsteker Classification: Mildly venomous Psammophylax is the genus (similar to your surname) name of widespread African snakes commonly referred to as spotted or striped skaapstekers, so named for the incorrect belief that they regularly bite and kill sheep. While both species have a mild cytotoxic venom that poses little threat to large animals, as well as relatively small fangs set quite far back in the jaw (which means it is highly unlikely that they have ever killed a sheep), they are abundant grassland species that may be found in the vicinity where a sheep is found dead from snakebite, either before or after the event. This, of course, has led to the…

Send yours to us on: info@4x4afrika.com (Subject: My Ride & I) Brad Hunter 2021 Suzuki Jimny “The fourth-generation Jimny is certainly the underdog of the off-roading and overlanding community, constantly punching above its weight class. A true trooper that just gets on with the job at hand – hence my nickname for my Jimny, Trooper – it always surprises everyone when out on the trail. While many people may say it’s too small, it’s perfect for my needs and the accessories available for this little giant are endless, ensuring you can adapt it to make it your perfect adventure partner. Our vehicles get us to our destinations and often we depend on them and all the accessories we have fitted in order to survive. The journey is amazing, the destination…

A set of camping chairs up for grabs! How to enter? Simply send an image of you and your vehicle, out and about on an adventure to info@4x4afrika.com (subject: Four-Wheel Partner). Include the following: Driver details Year model and derivative of the vehicle Any modifications made (and which has been the most useful) Vehicle’s nickname (if relevant) Favourite memory/trip with your vehicle Your bucket-list trip Top expedition/adventure tip Why you love your ride T&C’s: The decision regarding featured entries rests solely with the Adventure Afrika team, and no correspondence will be entered into. | Should the promoter (Tentco) withdraw the prize sponsorship, Adventure Afrika reserves the right to publish any entries without awarding any prize. | Adventure Afrika and Tentco retain the right to use any image submitted in promotional…

Opel introduces new people mover The latest Opel Zafira Life MPV is now available in South Africa in two derivatives with seven-or eight-seat configurations. The Zafira Life Edition offers eight seats and the versatility of a comfortable cloth interior. The second and third seating rows each contain three full-size seats on rails, with individual seat belts. The Zafira Life Elegance is a more luxurious offering and receives full-leather treatment. The second-row seating is reduced to two individual seats with armrests and a VIP sliding and folding table in the centre. Zafira Life models are equipped with sliding doors, with the Elegance model featuring electric handsfree sliding door versions that allow the driver to open the doors remotely. Both derivatives are fitted with halogen headlamps, front fog lamps, and automatic headlight…

Increase your range It’s no secret that the Suzuki Jimny is a formidable offroader and genuinely a good affordable overlanding option. It does, however, lack some important features with regards to overlanding, one of the biggest being the size of the fuel tank. The standard Jimny is only available with a 40-litre fuel tank, which is not sufficient for crossborder or rural travel (where fuel stations are often few and far between). Fortunately, Opposite Lock has now come to the rescue with an aftermarket long-range fuel tank for the current and most recent (from 2018) Suzuki Jimny models. The long-range tank is installed in front of the rear diff over the axle and gives an additional 40 litres, upgrading your fuel capacity to a more-thanadequate 80 litres. *Available at Opposite…

Ever since I guided my first tour to the Serengeti in 2012, Tanzania has captured my heart as my favourite overlanding destination, and my love for this beautiful country in East Africa has grown over the past decade. Maybe it’s because it is a real expedition to get there, with plenty of arduous border crossings and red tape to work through, or the fact that there is a vast array of wildlife destinations scattered across the country. Whatever the reason, nothing ignites my passion for travel more than the mention of places like The Great Rift Valley, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti. This is why I wanted to create an ultimate overlanding experience in this garden of Eden that would tick off a great many items…

When we talk about future classics, we almost never talk about the Porsche Cayenne. Perhaps it’s the fact that, even though it put the German automaker’s books firmly in the black and kept it there, purists still have a problem with its existence in a catalogue otherwise full of teardrop-profiled sportscars. Then came 2022 and with it the 20th anniversary of the original Cayenne, and a lightbulb moment for me – I had to have one. I’ve always been a fan of the pioneering Porsche, so the hunt began for a mint-condition “957 chassis”, essentially the facelifted version of the original car and my ultimate favourite Cayenne of the lot. I lusted for one. And with great joy, found a 2010 V6 turbodiesel model, ripe for what was to come…

The hyperbolic use of the phrase “chance of a lifetime” has become a rhetoric device, often overused. Nowadays, almost everything is a chance of a lifetime, be it an excellent job offer, a chance to meet someone famous, or even going on a trip to a great tourist destination. Flock to Marion by BirdLife South Africa – initially planned for the end of January 2021 but postponed due to the dreaded C-word – had the same phrase connected to it. Although this was not the first of its kind (and hopefully it won’t be the last), “chance of a lifetime” again seemed to be an enticing way to describe a great trip for cosmopolitan birdwatchers. This, however, was the real McCoy! A true bucket-list item. When you open any bird…

here is something special about Alfa Romeo. The Italian brand has always been the dark horse of the automotive world, doing everything differently, with more flair and more quirkiness. The Stelvio is no different, delivering on the brand’s promise of putting the ‘S’ in SUV. The luxury compact crossover segment is quite popular in the local market, with some outstanding players enjoying a strong following. The likes of BMW pioneered the segment, and Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Jaguar, Porsche et al have galvanised it with their offerings. Alfa Romeo arrived to the party a tad late and, as a result, struggled to gain momentum in the South African market. Still, the Stelvio recently received an update, and we had a chance to sample it. Pretty as a picture As I mentioned, Alfa…