* Voting done and dusted.
* Tours Updates
* Lesotho (Part 3)
* Technical / Engineering
* Wild Coast (Collywobbles)
* Featured Pass
The voting is over. Now we wait for the results. I have always been quite impressed with the IEC organization of elections, but this year they fell woefully short. They have had four years to prepare and no less than 8 previous elections to have learned from. How is it possible to stuff things up on such a royal scale?! You only had one job!
All the tours for the rest of 2024 are fully booked. We only have two tickets open for the Grabouw Training Day (11th August).
We had rain forecast (again) for the second day on tour and departed from Oxbow Lodge punctually in low cloud, heading for the infamous Moteng Pass. Personally this pass holds tons of allure for me for its raw energy, tortuous bends and dramatic scenery. I would rank as my number one tarred pass in SA & Lesotho.
Just after leaving Oxbow Lodge, we noticed a lovely thatched lodge being built close to the same river that Oxbow Lodge is built next to. We were informed that the government had ordered the builders to stop building, as the waters of the new Polihali Dam would be too close to the lodge. It will be interesting to see what the final outcome is.
The climb up to the summit of the Moteng Pass was no problem, but when we reached the spacious view site, we found several trucks occupying the space. We managed to wriggle our vehicles in between the trucks to enjoy the lofty views. Speaking to some of the truck drivers, we established that an abnormal load truck was stuck further down the pass and that only small vehicles could squeeze past.
Trucks breaking down on the pass is regular occurence. We descended slowly taking in all the drama as we lost altitude. We could see stationary trucks lined up for many kilometres down the valley.
* Out & About
* Tours Update
* Lesotho (Part 2)
* Local History
* Wild Coast Day 9
* Technical Topics
* Pass of the Fortnight
On a recent trip between Swellendam and Knysna, we counted 14 stop-gos over a distance of 145 km. Whilst it affects fuel consumption negatively, the traffic was managed efficiently and our ETA remained on track. It's great to see our roads being maintained. More please! We will happily live with the stop-gos.
June: The inaugural Katberg Tour remains fully booked. We are looking forward to this one - smack bang in the middle of winter.
July (7 to 13) Swartberg Tour: We have had a cancellation, so there's one ticket up for grabs.
August 11th Grabouw Training Day. There are two tickets left. This is a perfect way to brush up on your offroad driving skills or as a novice to discover your vehicles capabilities in a natural trail environment.
October (23 to 28): Kouga-Baviaans Tour. There is one place available.
November: Wild Coast Tour - Fully booked
December (1 to 7) Ben 10 Eco Challenge. There is one place available
The A1 road is taking strain with the volume of heavy construction vehicles that are plying back and forth to the Polihali Dam construction site. A large number of deep potholes have taken a foothold, so driving has become a sort of hit and miss story with trucks, buses and cars dodging the hazards and often appearing on the wrong side of the road. After a while we all got the hang of things and moderated our driving style to match the locals.
We passed the (unsightly) ore dumps of the highly profitable Letsing Diamond Mine. Apparently diamonds processed from the mine are transported away by helicopter as a security measure. The Letsing Mine marks the start of the Tlaeeng Pass. This is the big daddy of the Lesotho passes in terms of altitude. It tops out at a lung wheezing 3275m, but the pass itself doesn't hold the allure of Moteng or Mafika Lisiu in terms of scenery and dramatic driving conditions. The pass ends at the crossing of the Matsoku River, which sources at Mont-Aux-Sources close to the RSA/Lesotho border.
The next pass, which is the Pass of Guns starts immediatey after the bridge and ascends up the Mahlasela Hill (3220m). The Pass of Guns dates back to the previous century when a skirmish took place here to prevent invaders from gaining access beyond the hill.
* Tours Updates
* Lesotho Double Tours
* Technical Corner
* History Hoekie
* Wild Coast Tour (Day 8)
* Pass of the Fortnight
There are only a few places left for the rest of 2024. All tours are fully booked, other than the following:
August 11th: Grabouw Training Day. An ideal opportunity to learn the basics of off-road driving and recoveries and discover what your vehicle is capable of. There are 4 places open.
September 23rd - 28th: Kouga Baviaans Tour. We have had a cancellation, so there is one place open.
December 1st to 7th - Ben 10 Eco Challenge. We have two spots available on this epic adventure tour. Earn the badge!
We are going to be introducing some innovative concepts into our 2025 tours calendar. One of those will be a double tour of Lesotho (in autumn and spring) and a brand new Great Karoo Tour, which we are busy conceptualising at the moment. We will also be offering personalised bespoke tours tailored for your special group of friends and family.
Sixty one guests, thirty vehicles, seventeen days, rain, mud, sunny skies, but no Chevrolets.
For our Lesotho tours, we run a joint venture with Lesotho expert, Philip Rawlins. It is no easy feat, combining two leaders to reach the synergy levels where things work well for all the guests, but both of these tours were very successful, with the second tour enjoying considerably better weather than the first.
Instead of doing our usual detailed day by day report, I'm going to focus on some of the highlights of both tours in a combined story.
What seems like a lifetime ago (now that the proverbial dust has settled), takes us back to April 3rd, when the V2 group assembled at Philip and Elrita's spotless guest house, Resthaven, in Matatiele.
On this tour we only had one "new" couple in the form of Ras and Elizabeth Myburgh. Both of them slotted right in with ease and were soon an integral part of the extended MPSA family. Everyone else had toured with us before, which makes my life much easier. Initial forecasts indicated a fair weather tour, but two days before the start, things changed with a fair amount of rain in the forecast. This did not in any way diminish the enthusiasm of the group, but to put things in perspective, the temperature at Maletsunyane Falls was 4C for the V2 group and a week later it was a balmy 24C for the V3 group.
* Trips & Tours Update
* Lesotho V2 Tour (Overview)
* History Hoekie
* Technical Corner
* Wild Coast Tour V7 (Day 7)
* Pass of the Fortnight
June: Katberg Tour (1 spot available)
July: Swartberg Tour - (Fully booked)
August: Grabouw 4x4 Training Day (6 places left)
September: Kouga Baviaans Tour - (1 spot available)
November: Wild Coast V9 Tour - (Fully Booked)
December: Ben 10 Eco Challenge - 2 places available)
In our last newsletter we indicated the next newsletter only being released on the 25th April, but we have had a few days to pen a shortened newsletter from the lovely grounds of Resthaven Guest House in Matatiele, surrounded by roses and tall trees. I can vouch that it was a boisterously noisy final night. The mountains had worked their magic bonding all the guests into one big, happy family.
The tour kicked off a week earlier on the 3rd April in pleasant weather after a night of solid rain, leaving the countryside wet and refreshed and the moment we hit the gravel road to Underberg, the mud puddles gave a foretaste of what was to come in the days ahead.
Clearing through the SA Border Control was seamless and soon we were enjoying our first pass, the timeless Sani. The weather was kind and we were able to enjoy the amazing views down the Mkhomazana River Valley from the 2867m high summit at the highest pub in Africa, where a warm fire welcomed visitors for a light lunch and hot chocolate.
For first time visitors to Lesotho, it was something of a wake up call to have to change down to first gear in places to ascend the Black Mountain Pass, which summits at an ear popping 3242m ASL after a climb of 1066m, making Sani Pass look like a poor cousin. All that altitude gain is swiftly lost as the road twists and turns its way into the north where it ends some 32km later near Mokhotlong, where we joined the A1 route northwards towards Butha Buthe.
It's quite a reality check having to tackle such a massive descent and learn to stay off the foot brake, using mainly engine compression to slow our vehicles down, but one soon learns that overheated brakes often leads to brake failure as can be attested by the many car wrecks rusting away down the ravines. Afriski had a few vehicles parked alongside the chalets and were to have their first snow of the season exactly one week later.
The passes got ticked off one after the other in a blur of incredible scenery as we traversed the Tlaeeng Pass and Khalo La Lethunya (Pass of Guns). The rain held off as we worked our way to the New Oxbow Lodge, which has been closed for a few years since Covid and only recently reopened. The lodge still looks the same which has a dated, rustic, traditional Lesotho dolerite stone look about it, but we were pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness of the rooms and the delicious food. It was cold up there in the mountains, but fires in the pub and dining room kept the vibe going. It rained hard throughout the night.
* Newsletter Advisory
* Wild Coast getting wilder
* A bridge too far
* Website Improvements
* Lesotho
* Technical Corner
* Trip Report (Wild Coast - Day 6)
* Featured Pass
We will be out of office until 22nd April, whilst on tour in Lesotho. This means the next scheduled newsletter will only be issued on the 25th April.
In the last year the Wild Coast has taken a hammering on social media. It started with the floods which damaged the major roads and decimated some of the smaller roads. Bridges were washed away (one of them on our route, at the Mthakatye River) and some of them have yet to be repaired by a recalcitrant Eastern Cape Government, who seem to be oblivious to the value of tourism to an impoverished area. People have taken to social media complaining about bad roads. Another bit of bad news was the closure of the Mazeppa Bay Hotel, where the owners cited a litany of reasons (bad roads, Covid, lack of government support) for their failure.
That led to an out-bursting of social media negativity. Strangely there are neighbouring hotels (Kob Inn, Trenneries, Seagulls, The Haven) that have rallied and are doing very well with the same bad roads and Covid issues, so perhaps there were some management issues in the Mazeppa Hotel case?
Now here's an odd thing. Our November Wild Coast Tour is fully booked, yet the May tour was poorly supported. We have run the two tours in the same months for the past 5 years, so what is going on? We did a bit of head scratching and the only conclusion we could come to is that the May tour falls just ahead of the 2024 general election. We took the bold step of cancelling the tour and slotted the new Katberg Tour in it's place, one month later. That tour is almost fully booked (1 place left).
We are planning another two Willd Coast Tours in 2025 which will fit into our best practice box of 6 nights/5 days. Those tours will be more affordable as well.
Speaking of bridges, the one in Baltimore this week has made headline news and it's inconceivable to think that a bump from a ship could bring that giant Meccano set down in a few seconds. The captain is being hailed as a hero for timeously calling a May Day, which allowed authorities to close the bridge, resulting in a low death toll. Imagine the amount of organisation cleaning all that up and rebuilding?!
* A lifetime in 14 days
* Tours availability & information
* Technical - How to winch safely
* New products
* Trip Report - Wild Coast V7 Tour - Day 5
* Pass of the Fortnight
So much has happened on the last two weeks, that it seems like we've been in a whirlwind of non-stop activity. In this newsletter we have a lot to cover, so let's start at the beginning. Thank you for the many compliments received about the new format of the newsletter. There wasn't a single negative comment. You speak, we listen! Ons bouw zo voort!
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Most of the last two weeks went into our recce trip of the new Katberg Tour. Many people ask why we do a recce trip. The answer is simple, there is simply no substitute for hands on real-time experience of a route. There are a host of things that you can never assume from a map or Google Earth. The original version of the proposed tour was simply too long and tedious to cram into that perfect tour time frame of 6 nights/5 days, so we put our heads together and came up with some neat solutions.
We clipped off 3 days of the original design (at the start) and will now start the tour at the Mountain Zebra National Park. We discovered a lovely boutique hotel in Bedford called the Duke of Bedford, which we have woven into the tour and we have extended the stay at the Katberg Hotel by an extra day as the places we want to take our guests are bountiful in that area.
Never before have we created a tour that has garnered so much interest. We opened bookings yesterday and already 11 of the 12 spots have been taken. By the weekend this tour will likely be fully booked and we will most certainly be running it again in 2025. The booking link is supplied lower down. The Katberg Tour will include:
* 2 nights at Mountain Zebra National Park in self catering chalets;
* A guided 4x4 route within the park; game viewing; a visit to Egg Rock near Cradock;
* A drive over the completely unique and isolated Tarka Pass (based on tyre tracks no-one has been over that route in a very long time!);
* A drive through a disused train tunnel (we'll tell you about the resident ghost when we get there);
* Drive the huge descent down the Waainek Pass to Somerset East;
* Spend a night at the Duke of Bedford boutique hotel:
* Drive De Beers Pass, Browns Vale and Post Retief
* Drive De Waalskloof Pass - another remote road less travelled with amazing views
* Visit Devils Bellows
* Descend the 4x4 only Katberg Pass with its big boulders and landslides to add some adenalin
* Katberg Hotel and Golf Estate for 3 nights to replace the adrenaline with red wine
* Hogsback, waterfalls, forests, hobbits and fairies and the Wolf River Pass
* Sindile Dam, Keiskammahoek
* Drive some proper two spoor routes through the Hogsback Forests
* Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve - Fullershoek Pass
* Mpofu Nature Reserve - Blinkwater Pass
* Katberg Forests over private land.(with special permission)
* Tours - Katberg here we come!
* Lesotho - Updates and latest information
* Offroad Tips/ New Products
* Ben 10 Eco Challenge (Day 5)
* Featured Pass
In this issue we have deviated from our normal style of content (a change is as good as a holiday, they say!) We have included some 4x4 advice and new product reviews - none of which are sponsored - so you know we are being honest and not influenced by an advertiser. Tell us if you like the new format by sending us a WhatsApp to 083 658 8888. After all, there's no point in producing a newsletter that doesn't attract an audience. If you don't tell us, we don't know.
This Saturday we are trialling the new 5dr Jimny on a wide ranging recce tour from Cape Town to Katberg with plenty of gravel travel along the way. We've been mentioning the creation of this tour for about a year and now it's finally happening. Here is a foretaste of what to expect:
Day 1: Start at the Kronenhoff Lodge in Kirkwood heading north up the Doringnek Pass with a stop at the Zuurberg Mountain Inn for refreshments, before tackling the historical and gnarly Zuurberg Pass. This road was once the main wagon route north to the interior from Port Elizabeth. We follow a good gravel road over the wide open plains of the Karoo before reaching Somerset East. Our route heads west down the Bruintjieshoogte Pass and on to Pearston. From there we ascend north over the Buffelshoek and Swaershoek passes before approaching Cradock via Maraiskloof. Our second night will be spent at the Mountain Zebra National Park in self catering cottages.
Day 2: This day will be spent inside the Mountain Zebra National Park for guests to enjoy the game viewing. MPSA willl lead the group on the 4x4 route inside the park for those wanting to test their skills. Our second night is also spent in the park.
Day 3: This is a day of true gravel travel exploration as we head south on the R337 to Mortimer, where we split away from the main road and tackle the Tarka Pass, which is a long winding pass following the course of the Tarka River. At the mouth of the canyon our route continues southwards to the Witmos settlement, after which we head for Somerset East down the big Waainek Pass. We skip past Cookhouse and on to Wienandsnek, heading north east via Cameron's Glen, where we will gain altitude as we ascend De Beers Pass. More gravel awaits as we traverse many game farms and continue east up De Waalskloof where we get to the summit of the Katberg Pass, which is a fitting way to end the day as we descend slowly through the hairpin bends and forests to reach our next overnight stop - the Katberg Golf Estate and Hotel. It's a real gem in the heart of the most exquisite scenery.
Day 4: We've created an easier day where we will explore the Fort Fordyce nature reserve via the beautiful Fullershoek Pass. We drive a big circular loop descending via Browns Vale and the Mpofu nature reserve via the Blinkwater Pass. It was here that Andrew Geddes Bain uncovered a famous fossil in the mid 1800's, locally known as the 'Blinkwater Monster.'
Day 5: The tour ends on a high as we head up the tricky Michells Pass to Hogsback to explore some waterfalls and follow the long and winding Wolf River Pass all the way to the Sandile Dam. We return via Keiskammahoek (our most easterly point on this tour) via Red Hill Pass and Debe's Nek and do some cross country driving through the forests below Hogsback. We ascend the Pefferskop Pass and return to the Katberg Hotel for our famous Chappies Awards.
The group departs for home the next morning after breakfast - refreshed, invigorated and ready to face the rest of the year.
* In the heat of the night
* Lesotho Passes
* Garden Route Signage
* Ben 10 Eco Challenge (Day 3)
* Wild Coast V7 Tour (Day 4)
* Pass of the Fortnight
Some would say: "Well it is summer after all"
But the whole country has at some stage over the last six weeks, experienced sweltering heat waves. We are looking forward to some cooler weather in autumn, so we can 'unfry' these creative minds! We are not going to discuss going from stage 2 to stage 6 load shedding. That subject has already been beaten to death by news channels and social media. Just saying!
Our tours for 2024 are steadily being booked out. We have some spaces open for most of the tours (except Lesotho). You can use this link to view what's on offer and still available: TOURS & TRAINING
TEST REPORT ON THE NEW SUZUKI JIMNY 1.5 GLX AUTO
We traded our kinetic yellow 3 dr Jimny manual for a 5 door auto and are most impressed with it so far. We've only done just over 1000 km but here are the test results:
Improvements:
1. A far smoother and more comfortable ride on the longer wheel base. Gone is the jumpiness typically experienced in the 3 dr. The vehicle feels much more stable and safer.
2. Much better sound insulation - therefore far less road noise.
3. High definition rear view camera with PDC and a bigger, higher quality infotainment screen.
4. Much more packing space. The 5 door can accommodate 4 adults in comfort, plus it now has a decent sized boot.
On the downside:
1. Fuel consumption is worse. (We went from 12.6 km per litre in the 3 dr to 11.1 in the 5 dr - admittedly the automatic is obviously heavier on fuel than the manual), but its still acceptable for the size of vehicle and its capabilities.
2. The turning circle is not as small as the 3 door. So its not as nippy to squeeze into small spaces like the 3 dr.
3. It does feel a little underpowered on the highway (like the 3 dr). The little 1500 engine is very willing and is quite comfortable with the higher engine revolutions, but it's the 4 speed automatic gearbox that is somewhat wanting. This requires regular and judicious use of the overdrive switch to maintain a decent speed and good economy. Every vehicle has a unique cruising speed where everything feels just right. In the 5 dr Jimny it's 110 kph. Suzuki really could have fitted a 5 speed auto box to this vehicle. It would have made it an almost perfect offroad/onroad small vehicle.
Overall
When buying a Jimny, don't expect it to perform like a car on the open road. It's still a boxy 4x4 and it doesn't like crosswinds. Drivers have to adapt their driving style to the Jimny's quirks. When you get that right, all will go well. Just on closing on this subject, Suzuki out-sold Volkswagen in the month of January 2024. That's a first!
We will be taking the new Jimny on our first offroad venture later in February to do the recce for our proposed Winterberg Tour and we'll let you know how it performs. From videos posted by professional testing centres, they are raving about the new 5 door. We think so too.
LESOTHO PASSES
During May last year, we filmed about 10 passes in Lesotho. We have finally gotten around to producing those videos, which will appear on this website progressively over the next 4 weeks. You can find them under the LESOTHO tab under the FIND A PASS menu tab.
Not every attempt at filming was up to scratch, so we will make use of our two tours coming up in April, to film those that escaped our attention last year.
* Upcoming Tours
* Kouga-Baviaans Tour (Day 5)
* Signs of the times
* Ben 10 Eco Challenge (Day 2)
* Wild Coast Tour V7 (Day 3)
* Pass of the Fortnight
17th February: Atlantis Dunes Training Day. We've had a late cancellation, so there's 1 spot available if you fancy trying your hand at soft sand driving or simply brushing up on your skills. It's a fun day in the dunes with everyone doing their best not to get stuck. The sand will be soft, so it's a perfect time to get out there and have some fun whilst learning. The course includes a hard-copy training manual as well as a certificate of completion. BOOK HERE.
During March we will be heading off to the Hogsback/Katberg/Winterberg area to recce the proposed tour. Creating a new tour involves a lot of groundwork, so bear with us as we set things up for what promises to be a spectacular and popular tour, based on the volume of inquiries we have already had. The launch date of this new tour is likely to be in the second half of 2024.
In April we will be running back to back tours to Lesotho. Both remain fully booked with waiting lists.
May: Our 8th Wild Coast Tour will take place from the 14th - 25th. The tour will be run on our tried and tested routes and if you're one of those that doesn't like mud, the May tour is usually the driest time of year. ITINERARY AND BOOKINGS HERE
July 7th to 13th - Swartberg Tour. Our ever popular Swartberg Tour marks our midwinter offering with dazzlingly clear skies and if the weather plays along, there's a good chance of seeing some snow. The tour covers the very best of the Swartberg range. There is 1 ticket left. ITINERARY & BOOKINGS HERE
11th August - Grabouw 4x4 Training Day - This course comprises a full day covering all the aspects of offroad driving, safety and recoveries. You'll receive a certificate of completion at the end of the day. BOOK HERE
September 23 - 28th - Kouga-Baviaans Tour. For the 2024 version of this tour we will be reverting to our traditional format starting in Kareedouw and ending in Steytlerville. We have also added an extra day into the tour, taking in some new passes and fabulous scenery. ITINERARY & BOOKINGS HERE
November 5-16th - Wild Coast Tour V9. The wet season tour offers more challenging driving as well as mud to up the ante. The route remains the same covering all the very best the Wild Coast has to offer. ITINERARY & BOOKINGS HERE
December 1st - 7th: The new Ben 10 Eco Challenge includes Joubert Pass, Heuningneskloof (new), Otto du Plessis, Bastervoetpad, Lundeans Nek, Dangershoek (new), Volunteershoek, Carlisleshoekspruit Pass, Naudes Nek & the Potrivier Pass (new). This is a wet season challenge, so expect rain and mud and challenging driving. Earn your badge and enjoy the adventure of a lifetime. The Ben 10 is not just about challenge passes. There are a host of other attractions to enjoy including some fantastic birding. ITINERARY & BOOKINGS HERE
With the convoy punctually ready to go, we started the final day at the Doringkloof farm, where we stopped briefly to pay for our permits to drive the 4x4 Rus en Vrede Trail over the Kouga Mountains. Farmer Chris Lampbrecht was on hand to arrange everything and off we went in excellent weather.
The first bit of drama came when the lead vehicle (your scribe) mistook one of the signs on the farm and headed off in the wrong direction, having to stop periodically to prune the fast growing thorn trees. It's not called Doringkloof for nothing! Theo Hammond wielding his impressive DeWalt portable chainsaw made short work of the job, allowing the convoy to drive along scratch free. We ended up at Joachimskraal - one of the outlying guesthouses on the farm, where we realised we were on the wrong track. A quick turnaround saw us heading back the way we had just come, but for Ian Teepe in his Toyota Fortuner, a slight lapse of attention saw his vehicle getting stuck in a sandy ditch.
* Trips & Tours in 2024
* Ben 10 Eco Challenge (Day 1)
* Wild Coast V7 Tour (Day 2)
* Kouga Baviaans Tour (Day 4)
* Pass of the Week
Welcome to our first newsletter of the year. We wish you good health, happiness and lots of travel adventure. It is with sadness that we have learned of the sudden passing of Magriet Kruger of Zandvlakte farm. Piet and Magriet Kruger have hosted our groups over many years. Our condolences go to Piet and the family as all the communities of the Baviaanskloof. Magriet was a smart lady who wrote books on the flora and fauna of the kloof. Her influence in establishing tourism to the Baviaanskloof is immeasurable as well as her efforts to bring literacy to the locals via a schooling system Rest in peace.
Our tours for the year have been launched and here are the details.
February 17th - Atlantis Training Day (Soft sand tuition) - 1 place available
April 3-10th) - Lesotho V2 Tour - Fully booked
April 13 - 20th - Lesotho V3 Tour - Fully booked
May 14-25th - Wild Coast V8 Tour - 8 places available
July 7 - 13th - Swartberg Classic - 3 places available
August 11th - Grabouw 4x4 Training Day - 8 places available
September 23 - 28th - Kouga Baviaans Tour - 6 places available
November 4 - 16th - Wild Coast V9 Tour - 4 places available
December 1 - 7th - Ben 10 Eco Challenge - 4 places available
With an upside down weather forecast, we had to make some decisions. The name of the game is to tackle the notoriously difficult Bastervoetpad on the driest day. Despite the forecast of 5 days of rain, the volume of rain was the lowest on the first day. We made the announcement early that morning that we would be swapping some of the days around in the interests of group safety. Bastervoetpad here we come - with no preamble or soft introduction!
I was concerned about the Mercedes Benz GLE 400d as it's not a true 4x4. It does however have a 9 speed automatic gearbox and plenty of power to spare. It also has the ability to raise it's suspension below 20 kph. To be safe I slotted the Merc in just behind the lead vehicle, as I was fully expecting that I would be recovering the vehicle. My fears would prove to be futile as the Merc completed Bastervoetpad without any problems.
We left the hotel at 08.00 after breakfast heading west on the R58 for a short drive, turning onto gravel towards the Bottelnek Pass.
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