The week that was...

* Changes in tourism

* Great South Africans

* Visible policing

* Reinstating Road Signs

* Podcast

* Pass of the week

Changes in tourism

Covid 19 has changed the face of tourism. It's going to be a long time before things return to what they were before. For those businesses that catered only for the overseas market, it's going to a major adjustment trying to capture the local market, which is tough and demanding when it comes to value for money. Those businesses that have always aimed at the local market will benefit from increased bookings from South Africans who can no longer travel overseas and are now rediscovering South Africa. Every business in the tourism sector will need to adapt and innovate.

We believe this trend is here to stay for a long time. With all the hoops and hurdles one has to jump through on an overseas trip, a local trip is just so much more attractive. 

Great South Africans - Ian Player

Born in Johannesburg, Player was educated at St. John’s College, Johannesburg, South Africa and served in the 6th Armoured Division attached to the American 5th Army in Italy 1944–46.

His conservation career started with the Natal Parks Board in 1952 and whilst Warden of the Umfolozi Game Reserve, he spearheaded two key initiatives:

• Operation Rhino - that saved the few remaining southern race of white rhino.
• Protected status for the Umfolozi and St. Lucia Wilderness Areas (now known as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site)- The first wilderness areas to be zoned in South Africa and on the African continent.

Dr. Player was the Founder of the Wilderness Leadership School, which still runs the original wilderness trails to this day.

This led to the formation of the Wild Foundation, the Wilderness Foundation SA, Wilderness Foundation UK, Magqubu Ntombela Foundation not to mention the World Wilderness Congresses, first convened in 1977.

Amongst many orders and awards he counts Knight of the Order of the Golden Ark and the Decoration for Meritorious Service (the highest Republic of South African civilian award).

He was the recipient of two honorary doctorates:

• Doctor of Philosophy, Honoris Causa from the University of Natal.
• Doctor of Laws (LLD) (h.c.) from Rhodes University.

Player died on 30 November 2014 of a stroke. He was the brother of professional golfer Gary Player.

His archives and legacy are owned and managed by his nephew Marc Player, who has initiated several projects including books (Into the River of Life) a feature-length movie, a TV series built around Operation Rhino and the PLAYER INDABA which seeks global "PLAYERS' to raise funds to fight the extension of various threatened animal species.

Dr Ian Player

The famous movie director and producer Howard Hawks, wanted a movie about people who catch animals in Africa for zoos, a dangerous profession with exciting scenes the likes of which had never been seen on-screen before. The name of his blockbuster movie is Hatari!, starring John Wayne. Hawks increased his knowledge on animal catching from the humane work of Dr.Player. In 1952 South Africa was disastrously embarked to eliminate all large wild animals to protect livestock, and only 300 white rhinos survived. Player then started his famed rhino catching technique to relocate and save the white rhinos. Player’s humane project was called Operation Rhino and the renowned film documentary named Operation Rhino was produced. Hawks studied this film documentary repeatedly to help incorporate aspects of it into his film Hatari!.

In June 1964, Player appeared on the panel show To Tell the Truth as himself, highlighting his role as warden of Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park and his work protecting white rhinos. Host Bud Collyer noted that scenes of white rhinos shown at the beginning of the episode were from Ivan Tors' movie Rhino!, released a few weeks earlier, and for which Player acted as a technical advisor.

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The week that was

* Trips & Tours

* Road-sign vandalism

* Wild Coast Tour 2020 - Final chapter

* Great South Africans

* South African Cities

* Pass of the week

Trips and Tours

We've had a few Covid related cancellations for our tours but all the tickets have already been taken up by new clients.

For those waiting for our winter schedule, we are working on it and will soon be publishing the new tours.

Road-signs and vandalism

As we are steadily making progress revamping the 54 pass summit information boards that we inherited when we took over Cape Mountain Passes, the level of vandalism on some of them (especially along the more popular tourist routes) is appalling. There are levels of vandalism that we now categorize for the sign boards:

1. Wilful damage to the sign which include bullet holes, vehicles being rammed into the signs, and rocks thrown at the signs.

2. Names and messages that are scratched into the brown painted background with any available sharp object.

3. Spray-painted or hand painted graffiti

4. Stickers.

A good example of one of our information boards that has been vandalized / Photo: Trygve Roberts

We have been actively appealing to all the motorcycle groups to have a rethink about their sub-culture of leaving a mark on everything. (This started in the USA and is now universally entrenched in biker culture) The campaign is starting to bear fruit, but there are still bikers who feel it is their right to put stickers wherever they want. One such motorcycle group is Proudly Meerkat, where the founder/owner/chairman is actively encouraging his members to add new stickers to our signs as fast as we remove them. It is extraordinary to come across people with this level of mindset. 

Our appeal to all our members, is to remove as many stickers as you can, from any road-sign, regardless whether it is a state sign or one of ours. We are trying to create a culture of masikhane and to make South Africa a more beautiful place for all tourists (both local and foreign).

We have reached the halfway mark already and are currently working in the Garden Route, where we have refurbished the following signs: Montagu Pass, Outeniqua Pass, Kaaimans River Pass, Kaaimansgat Pass, Silver River Pass, Touw River Pass, Hoogekraal Pass, Karatara Pass and Homtini Pass. 

Wild Coast Tour – Day 9

Kob Inn to Trennerys

The drive out to Trennerys was via Willowvale, then south west over the Kobonqaba Pass and on to the village of Kentane. This village was the scene of a number of skirmishes between the British forces and the Xhosa. The De Villiers Bridge at the lowest point on the pass withstood an impressive flood level of over 10m during the 1970 flood, where its safety railings were bent horizontal by the raging floodwaters. It is still like that today.

The town of Kentani is often in the news around initiation schools and dubious medical standards with a number of initiates losing their lives each year.

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The week that was

* Trips & Tours

* Wild Coast Tour report back (Day 7)

* Montagu Pass in a rally car (reader submission)

* Great South Africans (Series)

* South African Cities (Series)

* Pass of the week

Wild Coast Tour – Day 7

Circular Route from Kob Inn to Collywobbles and Mbashe River Dam Wall returning via a northerly option to Kob Inn.

We got the convoy rolling a little after 0830 and headed back up the main gravel road to Willowvale. The biggest mistake most people make touring the Wild Coast is to estimate time based on distance on a map. It invariably takes much longer than planned. We turned off the main road at Willowvale to cross the Shixini River gorge via a scenic pass (still to be processed and filmed by MPSA) and traversed village after village as we did the (by now familiar) split fork, split fork type navigation eventually arriving at the ridge to the south of the Mbashe River gorge, at an area known as The Collywobbles. I was very glad I had plotted the route meticulously before the tour.

This rather odd English word dates back a century or more and was used to describe an upset tummy. There is a story that is well documented that Maj-Gen Sir George Pomeroy Colley during a visit to the Eastern Frontier, surveyed this amazing scene of the Mbashe River winding through the hills like a snake and remarked that it gave him the collywobbles. One if his subordinates made the remark: “Look Sir Colley has the wobbles” and the viewpoint earned its name in perpetuity.

We followed the spine of a long ridge offering marvellous views on both sides. Here we pulled off and enjoyed a peaceful lunch break in lovely weather as vultures soared overhead. After lunch we followed this same road as it descended very steeply down to the river. The gradient along the one section reached 1:4, which had been concreted to aid traction. The track terminated right on the banks of the Mbashe River where we had a close up experience of just how big and powerful this river is.

We had to then drive back up the very steep pass and turn north to descend towards the Mbashe Dam wall. This was also a fairly steep and interesting little pass, which ended right at the dam wall. All the sluices were open disgorging water that looked much more like a chocolate milkshake than water. Two local security guards greeted us and waved us through. The dam wall itself is just a little wider than a car. On either end are large steel cylinders painted yellow which determine whether your vehicle will fit on the wall/bridge or not. I noted it had many scuff marks on it, so the cylinders were doing their job!

We crossed first (having the widest vehicle) and the rest of the convoy followed one by one, camera shutters clicking and video cameras whirring. One of the guards as an afterthought, dashed over the wall in ankle deep water to catch up with us, looking for a handout. Someone obliged and so our informal bridge tax was duly paid.

The drive back to Kob Inn was very long and quite tiring, but the scenery remained beautiful. We arrived back at Kob Inn close to 1800 and were delighted to find Jim and Zen Rankin in the pub, having made their way to Kob Inn in their rental Nissan Almera.

At that stage the errant VW Touareg had been collected by lowbed and transferred to the agents in East London. An elated Jim bought everyone in the group a drink to celebrate their reunion with the group and the safe retrieval of their vehicle. It was completely untouched by the locals. 

Next Week: Kob Inn to Trennerys / Kei Mouth

The week that was...

* Trips & Tours

* Wild Coast Tour 2020 - Day 6

* Great South Africans

* South African Cities (George)

* Podcast - Finding waterfalls in the mist

* Pass of the Week (the oldest unaltered pass)

* Moment of Mirth (New)

Trips & Tours

All our tours are fully booked up till the end of May. We are currently working on some new tours for the period June through to September, which will appear on our Shop & Tours page in due course. We have had many requests to repeat our training tours and as a result we will offer these introductory courses over the next 5 months, which will include 1. Basic off-road skills including dealing with ruts, washaways, side slopes, steep inclines/declines and recoveries. 2. Rock climbing techniques for beginners 3. Soft sand driving for novices. Those of you in the Western Cape that missed out on the first series, can now look forward to a repeat of these courses, which will empower you to venture off on your own with new found confidence.

We still have 4 tickets left for the Ben 10 V4 Tour, which takes place over the Easter weekend. With things starting to return to normal, this is a perfect opportunity to unshackle those city chains and Covid lockdown regulations, as you breathe in the crisp mountain air with so much incredible scenery, you will wonder why it took you so long to discover this remote part of South Africa.

You can get all the details, costs and itinerary on this link: BEN 10 V4 TOUR

Wild Coast Tour 2020 - Report back Day 6

After solid overnight rain, the next day turned out to be a perfect weather day. We had engaged a local guide by the name of Mzo - a smart, well spoken local young man operating a tourism business in Coffee Bay and surrounds, which included a kayak rental service.

Mzo was supposed to take us to the infamous Mpuzi Caves, where at the height of 'the struggle' the ANC apparently stored weapons. The heavy overnight rain put paid to that part of the excursion as the approach to the caves is tricky even in good weather. Instead Mzo took us to a beautiful view site on the top of a large grass covered hill providing us with a 270 coastal view of Coffee Bay. A few Nguni cattle grazed nearby and in short order some local ladies arrived offering beaded hand-made products for sale. With the major falloff in tourism due to Covid, they seemed almost desperate to do business. Our group supported them handsomely.

Whilst bead trading was in full swing, Abie got his drone airborne for some interesting group photos. From the hilltop we drove through to Hole in the Wall, where Mzo engaged four local Xhosa youngsters to look after our cars. These 'car guards' looked like they would give you grief at the drop of a hat, but Mzo assured us all would be OK.

We took as easy walk to Hole in Wall, where we were blessed with perfect weather and spring low tide. This allowed us to get really close to the famous 'hole'. The mountain hosting the hole is said to be infested with snakes. The photographic opportunities are endless and everyone had a field day taking photos and videos.

On our way back to the Ocean View Hotel, we stopped in the White Clay Pub. We had booked well in advance and it was as well as we would otherwise not have been able to get a table. The food was fabulous and the beer ice cold. The pub sits on a small hill directly overlooking the ocean with tall cliffs rising on either side. We highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting the area. It is really excellent.

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WHATS INSIDE

* Beating Covid

* Tours Update

* Wild Coast 2020 Tour - Day 5

* Great South Africans

* South African Cities

* Pass of the week

* Words of Mirth

Beating Covid 19

I am happy to report that MPSA has survived Covid 19. All of the team (and we all caught the virus thanks to a visit to the local hospital by your scribe) are now almost fully recovered and officially part of the herd. Happy days!

Tours Update

We have four tickets left for your 2021 Ben 10 Tour which takes place over the Easter Weekend. It's a perfect opportunity to get away from the city, Covid and all its negatives and breathe in some fresh mountain air, whilst tackling the technical driving, adventure, amazing scenery and country hospitality. For full details, pricing, itinerary etc, take this link:

BEN 10 TOUR 2021

Wild Coast Tour 2020 - the story continues....

The Wild Coast is always full of surprises. After our lunch break not far from the Gologodwini River, we got our convoy going and very soon arrived at the river crossing. The old concrete bridge had been mostly swept away in a flood many years ago and the entrance and exit of the road on either side of the river indicated clearly the correct line to take, leaving the remnants of the old bridge to the left.

Always practising what we preach, we sent the youngest male in our group to walk the river. The honour fell on the shoulders of young Russell Watkins. As the rest of watched, Russell waded in first crossing the proposed right hand track - text book style - whilst using a hiking stick to probe for rocks and holes. The deepest side was on the far side, where the water reached his upper thigh, with the width of the river measuring in at about 30m.

If we decided to turn around, it would have meant a very long drive back to the R61 then up to the N2 and again down to Coffee Bay. It also would mean the group would miss out on the rest of the fabulous passes along our proposed route. I decided to play guinea pig and take the Land Cruiser through the river (a) as a real time test and (b) to give the other drivers some motivation to attempt the crossing. The Cruiser went across effortlessly.

We then coaxed the rest of the drivers across one by one. At that stage we had an audience of locals sitting up on the hill watching the fun amidst much cheering from those that had made it safely across. Our biggest concerns were the two Suzukis - one being a Grand Vitara and the other an old level Jimny 130, but typical of Suzuki, they both crossed successfully. Finally there was one vehicle left. Jim Rankin's VW Touareg.

Jim drove the line perfectly but as the water reached the vehicle's wading depth, the motor cut out. We towed it out with the Defender and then all the mechanical minds started figuring out how to get the vehicle going again. We spent well over an hour there, but the VW stubbornly refused to start.

The decision was made to distribute all the luggage amongst the other vehicles and Jim and Zen Rankin took up passenger seats in one of the other 4x4's. We marked the position on the GPS to ensure the recovery crew would be able to locate it. One of our guests, Tony Nicholas, had a satellite phone which Jim used to call his insurance and the VW agents in East London.

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