Take a gander
* Tours - Katberg here we come!
* Lesotho - Updates and latest information
* Offroad Tips/ New Products
* Ben 10 Eco Challenge (Day 5)
* Featured Pass
ROUND UP & TOURS
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.
Katberg here we come!
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.
Although we might tweak the format of the tour after we have completed the recce trip next week, the dates are likely to be set from 3rd to the 8th of June, 2024. Pricing will likely be set at R14,950 for one vehicle/ 2 people. Accommodation/meals are not included. We organise everything and invoice you a few weeks ahead of the tour. Anyone wishing to pre-book can drop us an email at
Mountain Zebra National Park - Photo: John Vosloo / Karoo Heartland
MOUNTAIN KINGDOM
Some of you might have noticed that we've been making steady progress since January on the video production of passes in Lesotho (on the MPSA website). We have made some improvements to the style of production. We are now showing the entire pass (metre x metre) but at a slightly faster speed (150% of normal). This allows us to avoid having to do hundreds of clips with transitions and it offers the viewer a seamless viewing experience. We are sourcing royalty free music from the vast library of Epidemic Sound, which has definitely enhanced viewer enjoyment levels. Here are some of the latest passes:
Kotisephola (Black Mountain Pass)
Lekhalo La Thabo Putsoa (Blue Mountain Pass)
Lekhalo La Molimo Nthuse (God help Me Pass)
Guests booked on our next two Mountain Kingdom Tours (both scheduled for April 2024) are gearing up for a trip of a lifetime. We choose the months of March & April for these tours so that we can avoid the worst of the summer electrical storms, as well as snow and ice on the roads from May through to October. Guest safety always comes first. For this years' tours we are offering an extra 1 day excursion tagged onto the end of each tour to the Sethlabathebe National Park, which involves an easy 3 hour hike to see some of the most astonishing landscapes imaginable. It's a photographer's nirvana.
Sethlabathebe National Park - One of Lesotho's best kept secrets - Photo: Philip Rawlins
OFF ROAD TIPS / NEW PRODUCTS
Most of us think we know most things about off-roading, but the reality is that we learn new things on each trip. Here are a few snippets for you to glean from, save or discard - which we've picked up over the years.
TOWING A 4WD VEHICLE
When towing a 4WD vehicle out of sand, mud or any difficult surface remember to do this:
1. Leave the normal gear lever in neutral. Engine running if possible.
2. Put the short gear lever (HR/LR selector) in the neutral position
3. If its an automatic and you cannot start the engine, there is usually a blanked off switch on the side of the gear selector panel, which allows you to tow it even through you're in PARK. We recommend that you establish exactly where that switch is in case you are ever in that position. (Refer to your owner's manual if necessary)
Gear lever console for a Suzuki Jimny Automatic with the arrow pointing to the magic button / Photo: Trygve Roberts
By leaving the transfer case in neutral, it frees the entire drive train from both axles and makes the casualty much easier to tow. Another useful habit to get into is, if you're in a dodgy area and you're worried about your vehicle getting stolen, just pop that little lever into neutral - that car will not budge and it's unlikely the thief will have the time to figure out what's going on.
UNDERSTANDING AWD AND 4WD
MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE
Sailors understand this very well by adding pulleys into a rope system, it allows much easier application of arm power to pull sails in. Exactly the same principle applies to winches, cranes and so on. The diagram below illustrates a 1:1 system; a 2:1 system and a 3:1 system. The more pulleys you add, the greater the power/force that can be exerted. So if a rope on a 1:1 system is say 10m long, if you add one pulley, you will need 20m of rope/cable. Likewise for a third pulley, you will need 30m of rope/cable.
Did you know, that by turning your HiLift jack from vertical to horisontal, you can use it as a winch? Although you will only be able to pull a short distance of about 1m before re-attaching, it could just be enough to get you out of a difficult situation
Understanding the principle of how this works can save the day if you're stuck and you have a winch, but its not strong enough to pull your vehicle out. That's when you add in an extra pulley, which will double the winch's pulling power. A very useful piece of equipment is a snatch block (pictured below). It has free arms, which allows you to add it into a system. Once added, you simply close the arms and add a shackle to secure it.
SNATCH BLOCKS & HOW THEY WORK
Snatch Block in the open position. It can accommodate rope or cable.
Snatch block with arms closed ready to be attached to a shackle
Snatch block with soft shackle in position
SOFT SHACKLES
The modern trend is to use soft shackles (as shown below) rather than the traditional steel bow shackle when doing high stress recovery operations. They are as strong (probably stronger) than the steel ones; they are a fraction of the weight; easier to work with and infinitely safer. The only downside is the price, which is roughly 40% more than a steel shackle. We think its a worthwhile sacrifice and now only use soft shackles on our trips and tours. Another less obvious advantage is that you can never lose the pin (which we have done more than once!).
To close the soft shackle the 'fist' is fed through the eye and then pulled tight
THE ELECTRIC JACK vs HILIFT JACK
I watched one of these electric jacks easily lifting a heavily laden Land Cruiser on one of our tours and was impressed with everything about it, except its price which is just shy of R6000. Price must always be weighed up against convenience. Is it time to replace your HiLift jack with this unit?
It runs off your vehicle's 12v outlet (cigarette lighter)
It's quite heavy at around 12 kg but still lighter than a HiLift jack
It's much easier to keep clean and stow due to its compact design.
HiLift jacks are notorious for injuring people. This jack is very safe to operate.
It can't do everything the HiLift can, but we are giving this jack serious consideration as a more useful permanent replacement.
JACK HUB
Specifications:
DC 12v
Rated power: 360w
Max current: 25 amp
Fuse: 30 amp
Net Weight: 11.8 kg
Max loading weight: 10 tons (There is a 15 ton version available)
Price: R5,900
Size: 500mm x 300mm x 150mm (approximate)
Two sturdy carrying handles. One to carry; the other to push and retrieve the jack from under the vehicle
Prices for the products are approximate:
Jack Hub - R5900
Soft Shackles - R500
Snatch block - R1200
Suppliers: 1st 4x4 and Outdoor (Stikland, Bellville); R&D Offroad in Brackenfell.
SAND TRACKS
After 25 years of off-roading we have never had the occasion to use sand tracks, but we have noticed the increasing popularity of these devices in their various forms. We purchased a set of Max Trax (R3,800) recently and had the opportunity to put them to the test during our Atlantis Sand Training day a few weeks ago. I did NOT read the warning clearly embossed into the product "DO NOT SPIN WHEELS" which seems like something of a contradiction for vehicles that are marooned in mud, snow or sand.
To cut a long story short, the vehicle being recovered did spin its wheels and the Max Trax got hot roasted by tyre friction in just a few seconds. The photo below tells the story. That method of recovery proved singularly unsuccessful, so we recovered it with a kinetic (snatch) strap. I think I'll be leaving the Max Trax at home in future. They are big, ungainly and awkward to stow. The reality is that in soft sand or mud, spinning of wheels is extremely difficult to avoid. Verdict: Waste of money. Ah yes, you can get the one with steel studs for a cool R11,000
Max Trax bite the bullet and proves that friction really does cause heat!!
BEN 10 ECO CHALLENGE - DAY 5
We had a long, but relatively easy day for our final day. On the challenge pass menu was Naude's Nek and the Pot River Pass to be able to score a perfect 10 for all our drivers. However, as is our style, we chose a circular route to avoid having to double back.
Our route was over Naude's Nek, Elandshoogte, Pot River Pass, Maclear (renamed to Nqanqaru and like PE another difficult to pronounce name which will likely never catch on), R56 (tar) to the Katkop and Moordenaarsnek passes, then back onto gravel up Luzi Poort and the Pitseng Pass, after which an east-west traverse of Naude's Nek would seal the trip on a high note.
Our weather was close to perfect that final morning as the convoy rumbled out of the tree lined streets of Rhodes headed up the Bell River Valley. This prelude to the big pass is a wondrous place filled with steeply sloping grassy hills, fast flowing rivers and waterfalls, cattle in the meadows, all of this with a stunning backdrop of towering mountains.
Not a shabby view whilst fixing a puncture! / Photo: Bell River east of Rhodes by Trygve Roberts
Our first stop was an unplanned one, as one of the vehicles was registering a low tyre pressure. We had a short wait as the compressor was put to work. This allowed all the photographers to capture the lovely scenery at a point we don't normally stop.
Pressure on target and off we went stopping briefly at the Naude family monument next to the road. Despite it being a memorial to the deceased members of this well known family in Rhodes, the spot is idyllic right next to the burbling waters of the Bell River under shady oak trees. It's quite a nice picnic spot, but we were there early, so no-one needed to eat or drink.
Immediately after the memorial site the pass begins climbing at a gradient of 1:8 ascending up the foothills of the mountain forming the watershed of the Bell. The road was in a fairly decent condition when we drove it and was quite suitable for normal cars (providing it wasnt raining!).
After clearing Bobbejaankop, the well known hairpin section lay in wait to gather our convoy in its brown sinuous arms. No problems were encountered and soon we reached the summit of 2596m ASL. It's a bleak, unremarkable spot, marked by a small telecoms tower and a farm gate on a flat plateau. Most people are not even aware that it's the summit. All the glory is bestowed at the view site, adjacent at the Tenahead Lodge turn-off, where the altitude is considerably lower at 2500m and as can be expected most people (incorrectly) think that is the summit.
MPSA convoy easing up the hairpins on Naudes Nek Pass / Photo: Trygve Roberts
We have a green board there, which we refurbished a few years ago. The state of the board was so bad after we had removed all the stickers, that we had to respray it. This was attempted using three cans of green aerosol paint - applied in a fairly fresh breeze. I'm certain 50% of the paint evaporated into thin air. the result was not great, but much better than what it looked before. We had brought new decals with us. As soon as the paint was dry enough, we applied the decals and hit the road.
The views eastwards towards Maclear are fabulous as the road can be visually traced for a long way down the mountain, which was exactly where we were going. The descent went smoothly and we then drove a non-challenge pass, Elandshoogte, before dropping down to the final challenge pass - the Pot River Pass.
Most people are not even aware of the statistics of this pass as Naude's Nek steals all the limelight. The pass is 8.9 km long and displays an altitude variance of 461m and a summit height of 1783m. It's packed with twists and turns, narrow bridges and deeply shadowed forests (commercial plantations) and can quickly turn into a very slippery driving exercise during and after rain, as two of our guests discovered a day later, when leaving the area on their own after the tour in two 76 series Land Cruisers and had a torrid time staying on the road; one of them sliding into a ditch.
Naudes Nek Pass looking south east from the 2500m high view site. In winter these mountains turn a drab dun colour from the cold / Photo: Trygve Roberts
Navigating through Maclear is like most of the Eastern Cape towns, which have retrogressed badly over the past 30 years. Our attitude is to soak up the local vibe, smile, hoot and wave and look past anything negative. It took us a fair while to get the whole convoy through the bustling town.
The smoothness of the tarred R56 beckoned as we drove the Katkop Pass and a short while later the Moordenaarsnek Pass. (We still haven't uncovered how the pass earned that name!).
Before long, we were back on gravel - away from the crowds, the taxis and the trucks as we drove up the lovely Luzi Poort and then up the more challenging Pitseng Pass. Later the road connects with the R396 at Elandshoogte. We had a clear weather window ascending up the eastern side of Naudes Nek Pass, but that would change as we approached the true summit, when dense white clouds billowed over the ridges, enveloping our convoy in mountain mist. That required a reduction in speed as we worked our way over the summit and down the western side.
A little further we came across another breakdown. A 15 seater M/Benz tour bus had broken down. All the passengers happened to be staying at our hotel, so we offered assistance, but a local farmer had beaten us to the draw, conveying all the tourists back to Rhodes and like the locals do - expected no compensation
That final night at Rhodes was, shall we say, 'exceptionally festive' and those who have toured with us before will understand. And so another hugely successful Ben 10 Eco Challenge was completed and another 12 drivers added to the Ben 10 Hall of Fame. At the time of writing, there was one place left on the 2024 Ben 10 V8 Tour. If you want to book, the hyperlink will take you to the correct booking page.
FEATURED PASS
The Pot River sources in the Drakensberg, where the pass of the same name traverses its western flank. It's a surprisingly long pass, initially crossing over the Pot River about 22 km north-west of Maclear. This is a reasonable, gravel road and can be driven by normal cars in fair weather. In wet weather you are best off in a 4x4 or a 'bakkie' with decent ground clearance. Due to the dense forests the road surface remains in shade for longer than normal and doesn't dry out as quickly as a normal gravel road. In rainy weather you can expect lots of slippery mud.
Most of the pass consists of a fairly straight-forward ascent along the main spur of the mountain, with the only set of sharp corners, consisting of a set of double hairpins, being near the southern end of the pass. From the summit point at 1783m ASL the road displays an altitude variance of 461m over a distance of 8.9 km, producing an average gradient of 1:19 with the steepest parts measuring in at 1:6.
If you're driving between Rhodes and Maclear this is one of three passes you will traverse along the R396 - the other two being Elands Heights and the major pass is of course, the Naude's Nek Pass.
* * P O T R I V E R P A S S * *
Trygve Roberts / Editor
"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose" ~ Bill Gates
