What's Inside?

* Tours & Training

* Crowd Funding

* Seven Sisters Tour (Overview)

* Swartberg Tour (Day 3 Drama)

* Featured Pass


TOURS & TRAINING

  • 24th September, 2023 - Novice Introduction to the Basics of 4x4 Driving. Based on how quickly this training day sold out, it seems there are a lot of 4x4 owners who would like to up their game. We will be running a soft sand training day sometime in March next year at Atlantis Dunes near Melkbosstrand.
  • 11 - 15 October, 2023 - Kouga Baviaans Tour. We had a cancellation on this popular tour, but the ticket was resold within an hour, so that tour remains fully booked.
  • 1 - 11 November, 2023 - Wild Coast Tour V7 - This tour remains fully booked
  • 4 - 9 December, 2023 -  Ben 10 Eco Challenge V7 - This will be the first group that will tackle the new Ben 10 route with some exciting changes. This tour remains fully booked.
  • 3 - 10 April, 2024 - Mountain Kingdom Tour V2 Tour - We have 3 spots open on this tour. If you're interested, tickets are going fast. Book ASAP.
  • 13 - 20 April, 2024 - Mountain Kingdom V3 Tour  - Fully booked.

If you want to be put on the cancellation list for any of these tours, please pop us an email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


CROWD FUNDING

With a target of R20,000 for the first (of the five) signs to be replaced, we have so far raised R13,000. If you want to contribute to this worthy project, please use the link and make a donation. The first project is to replace the Kaaimans Pass sign at Dolphin Point. If you have a business and want some exposure, we will most definitely do that with our 153,000 followers and up to 20 milliion post views per month on our social media platforms.

KAAIMANS PASS SIGN PROJECT


SEVEN SISTERS TOUR (OVERVIEW)

Organising tours in the Western Cape during spring is always a risky business. Two weeks ahead of the tour the forecasts started changing and worsening as D-Day approached. Guests were warned to bring warm clothes, beanies, raincoats and umbrellas. Stormy weather awaited.

The weather gods were kind to us as we managed to avoid the worst of the rain over the weekend of 9/10 September and even managed to run exactly according to plan. It was however bitterly cold, especially on the Sunday, as pre-frontal winds of around 40 knots delivered another load of snow that night, soon after the tour finished.

We made a number of changes to this tour, which included a new starting, overnight and finishing venue - the Val du Charron wine estate near the western foot of Bain's Kloof Pass, where we received excellent service, lovely food, spotless and comfortable rooms - all of that set amongst the pristine vineyards and some wonderful history to boot, dating back to 1699.

Val du Charron was our venue for the 2023 Seven Sisters Tour and it was first class

Our 2024 version of this tour will be extended by a day, making it a Fri/Sat/Sun event, with more routes and points of interest added. To reduce the possibility of bad weather, the tour date will be moved to March or October.

We had a full convoy of vehicles - Toyotas, Fords, Jimnys and Jeeps, none of which gave any problems - not even a puncture.

Our thanks to our dedicated sweep, Kuba Miszewski from the MCSA, Deon Rossouw (head honcho from Cape Nature) and Petra Carolissen and staff from TOLCON for their combined efforts. We had VERY happy and impressed guests.

In the next newsletter, we will go into more details.


SWARTBERG TOUR - DAY 3

This ranks right up there with the most exciting days on tour ever. With half our guests enjoying the sumptuous comforts at the lodge, the adrenaline junkies went with me to visit the western side of the Gamkapoort/Die Hel via the 4x4 trail known as "To Hell and Gone". This is the spot where the footpath known as 'Die Leer' connects with the two spoor track which connects with the summit of the Bosluiskloof Pass. It's wild and remote. Just what the doctor ordered.

 Martin Pullinger smiling for the camera. He couldnt get out of his vehicle. / Photo: MPSA Tour Group

In the previous episode we explained how we managed to get the group of all 7 vehicles marooned on the wrong side of a large quagmire of silty sand, mud and water - some 300m x 300m in extent.

The first three vehicles drove through without a problem, but we had disturbed the surface of the road, which gave way into deep muddy holes when the fourth vehicle passed over. That was Michelle and Kevin Heyes in their heavily laden Toyota Hilux. I turned around (admittedly a little puzzled, as it had been a very ordinary and easy drive up till that point) to find the Hilux buried up to its axles in mud.

Recovery 1:

First I tried a normal tow strap recovery, but the MPSA Cruiser was digging holes for itself, so we upped the game by switching to a kinetic strap and got the Hilux out on the second attempt after deflating our tyres from 1.4  to 1.0 bar. 

Behind the Hilux we had two Land Rover Discoveries also badly stuck and leaning precariously over to the right. I reversed back toward the first Discovery and experienced the Cruiser wallowing into the mud like an old hippo. And there it sat; all 3 tons of it with the running boards level with the road and all four wheels buried in mud to the halfway mark.

Recovery 2:

The nearest vehicle to me was the Hilux, which I called back to assist me. Michelle did a great job, getting the Cruiser out of trouble with two tugs of the kinetic rope. 

It's not often Thirsty Kirsty gets stuck, but when it does happen, it's always mud / Photo: MPSA

Recovery 3:

The furthest vehicle in the queue was James Elphick in a new series Defender SWB. James suggested he turn around and recover the second Discovery by towing him backwards up the slope. Both were not great ideas, but we were running out of options. We got the Discovery moving back a few feet but the right hand side of the rear bumper looked like it might get ripped off, so we called a halt to that one and did some more head scratching.

 Stuck - Good and proper! / Photo: MPSA Tour Group

Recovery 4:

James then suggested that he drive through the veld in a wide arc using the bush for better traction to get onto the downhill side of the Discovery as the only way to get it out was to pull it forwards out of the deep hole it was stuck in. James didn't even make it 10 metres into the veld, when the Defender also got stuck. The whole area was like a swamp.

Recovery 5:

I decided to turn the Cruiser around to be able to tow the first Discovery (Roger) forwards and downhill, by joining four tow straps and one kinetic strap creating a length of around 45m. The MPSA Cruiser got stuck again as soon as I went off the road. Ken Goodenough in his Prado moved in behind me and got me unstuck on the first attempt.

At that stage Daleen Beukes offered to walk back to the only spot on the trail where there was signal ( a rough hike of 6 km and mainly uphill), to request the lodge to send a tractor to help us out. Time was marching on and we had been making very little progress over a two hour period.

Recovery 6:

Beukes (owner of the Ford Raptor) and Ken Goodenough came up with a suggestion of first bush-wacking a route on foot a lot higher up the ridge where the soil was firmer and try to cross the stream higher upstream where it was rockier and narrower. And so began a long process of clearing a path of rocks far up the hill. Ken took his Prado and followed the route mapped out by Beukes on foot. After about 150m steady progress, Ken got stuck. I followed his path and towed him back onto firmer ground.

Recovery 7:

Ken continued with his plan and got stuck a second time. I again towed him out.

A heavy starboard list prevented Martin from getting out of his vehicle / Photo: MPSA Tour Group

Recovery 8:

In the process of towing him out, I got stuck. This time Ken had to tow me out.

At that stage we hadn't even crossed the stream yet, but Beukes was fairly certain Ken would make it through. I would follow in case he needed another recovery.

Recovery 9:

Ken made it through the stream but just on the far bank, he chose a muddy section and bogged down again. This time I recovered him quite easily in reverse.

Finally we both made it back to the high side of the road after some very slippy slidey driving. At least we had more vehicles mobile than stuck at that stage, but still had quite a few issues to resolve. The first would be the Defender SWB which was facing off the track at 90 degrees and firmly in the veld.

Recovery 10:

Land Cruiser (out of pic to the left), towing the Prado, which is towing the Defender / Apologies for the blurry photo.

Ken reversed back down the track and attached a tow strap to the Defender. I connected the 45m long combined tow strap to the Prado  to ensure I was on solid ground with good traction and we performed a tandem tow, successfully getting the Defender back onto hard ground. We had three vehicles on the safe side of the mud which were fully mobile and we had the Hilux and the Raptor mobile on the bad side, with the two Discoveries still stuck in the middle. Time was marching on.

Recovery 11:

Beukes walked a suggested path through the churned up section and we collectively decided that the vehicles on the bad side should try and use as much momentum as possible to get through the mud. First up was Michelle in the Hilux, but she didn't get far and got bogged down a second time.

Just then we heard the Land Cruiser bakkie from the lodge coming down the hill. In it was Bruce, the lodge manager, (looking very embarrased) and Daleen, who had successfully raised the rescue troops. It was a welcome sight as the shadows were already growing long. Bruce told us the 4x4 tractor was on the way. That certainly raised the spirits. We were all muddy and wet. Some more than others. 

Bruce rebuilding the road / MPSA

Recovery 12:

After about 15 minutes the tractor arrived with two workers from the lodge. Bruce took command of the tractor and bulldozed the road almost up to the point where the Hilux was stuck. Then the unthinkable happened. The tractor also got stuck. All attempts at packing rocks and bushes under the wheels were in vain. Boslus 5 would be spending the night there. I was able to reverse the Cruiser back and attach the long strap to the tractor, but I was fighting gravity (going uphill) and the Tractor was about 4.5 tons. It didn't budge.

Stuck in the middle with you - And we didn't steal his wheel. (Cryptic)

Recovery 13:

Using our previously successful tandem tow strategy, we hitched the Hilux up as we could get much closer on the new portion of road the tractor had just made and got the Hilux out too.

Recovery 14: 

Next up - again using the double tow  - was Roger Hofer's Discovery.

We had two more to go. Martin Pullinger had been able to get through the mud and onto the new section, so he was also high and dry. That left just the Ford Raptor driven by Beukes, who roared through the mud unassisted; the only vehicle that never got stuck on the day.

We loaded all the muddy straps and left Bruce and his workers with the tractor, whilst our convoy headed back to the top of Bosluiskloof Pass (a 50 minute drive), which we reached just after sunset. It got dark rapidly and all of us were desperately looking forward to a hot shower and a cold beer, but Murphy was not done with us quite yet.

The last two vehicles in the group descending the pass to the lodge were Roger and Beukes. We were about 2 km from the lodge when the radio came to life. It was Daleen in the Raptor at the tail of the convoy.

"Robby die Land Rover se bande is moer toe"

It was said matter of factly, to the point where I wasn't quite sure what she meant, so I asked for clarification:

"Daleen, kan jy meer spesifiek wees?"

" Wag so bietjie. Beukes sal gou kyk"

20 seconds passed and Beukes keyed the mike:

"Robby die bande is moer toe"

He's a farmer, so I guessed the tyres were toast. He should know. I couldnt help it, but burst out laughing. You have to love Afrikaans - such a practical, down to earth language.

One of the two tyres on Roger's Discovery

Roger was very tired and was not paying sufficient attention. He clipped a sharp rock from a recent landslide, which sliced both his left side tyres. By the time he realised the vehicle wasn't behaving normally, it was all over. Two new tyres were totally destroyed. (aka moer toe!). Full credit to the Land Rover's suspension  that it was still drivable on only two tyres.

I was already pulling in at the lodge. The rest of the guys were ensconced in the pub. I managed to radio Martin still in his Discovery, unpacking. 

"Martin. Would you be willing to sacrifice your spare wheel for Roger. He has just shredded two tyres"

"Of course" said Martin. "I'm on my way". This is the level of team spirit that manifested itself on this tour. Heroes aplenty.

So back we went to the scene of the crime. It was pitch dark. Beukes had already removed the LF wheel and had the spare on and whilst busy putting Martin's spare on to the RR wheel, there was another problem. The Land Rover's jack was bending. I knew Ken had a trolley jack in his Prado, so I turned the Cruiser around on an impossibly narrow part of the road and went back to the lodge, hauled Ken out the pub and took Ken and the trolley jack back to the Discovery. Finally, the job was done. It was 19.15 and getting very cold.

At last we were all back at the lodge safe and sound. It was a merry bunch of adventurers with big thirsts and hearty appetitites that night. What a party!

Bruce and his team got back to the lodge after 8 pm well and truly beaten by the mud.

Bruce went back two days later with a bigger Case 4x4 Tractor from the neighbour's farm which also got stuck, but they managed to get it mobile with a little effort and the older tractor was also successfully recovered and is back at Bosch Luys Kloof doing more road maintenance work.


A proper Karoo lodge - Bosch Luys Kloof

The above story couldn't be broken up over two epidsodes, so we'll bring you the last part of the Wild Coast story in the next edition as well as the follow up story on the Garden Route Tour.

 

PASS OF THE WEEK

 

 * *   B O S L U I S K L O O F   P A S S  * *

 

This is one of the most spectacular gravel passes in the Western Cape offering stunning scenery of craggy mountains, vertical rock walled poorts, old-school engineering, game spotting, birdlife and a fabulous 4 star lodge to ease weary travellers into the bushveld way of life. The pass has 60 bends, corners and curves compressed into its 7,6 km length with an average gradient of 1:13 which is remarkable considering that the lower part of the pass where it becomes a poort is fairly flat. Yet there is no point on the pass which is excessively steep. There are some sections that reach 1:6 so this road with it's steep unguarded drop-offs, requires focused attention by drivers.

This historic pass dates back to 1862 and was completed by Thomas Bain's brother in law - Adam de Smidt. The road is named after the many fossilised ticks found in the rocks when the road was built. This used to be the main road between Laingsburg and Prince Albert up till the late 1960's when the Dept. of Water Affairs built the Gamkakloof Dam, which had a number of consequences, including making this road obsolete.


 


 Trygve Roberts/Editor

Confidence comes from discipline and training ~ Robert Kiyosaki