The plan conceived around a camp fire four years previously was realized on the 14th of March 1998. Fifty four Land Rovers pulled away from Land Rover Headquarters in Midrand, Gauteng. This marked the start of the 50th celebrations and of the Land Rover 50th anniversary tour organized by the Land Rover Owners’ Club of Southern Africa in conjunction with the other Land Rover clubs. The tour route went right around South Africa with a short stretch in Swaziland and a sortie into Lesotho. It lasted 55 days and we drove over 9000 km through some of South Africa’s most magnificent scenery.
The First Night on Tour
At the first overnight stop at Gwala-Gwala in Mpumalanga there were 35 vehicles of which 12 continued on the tour the next day. An indigenous tree planting ceremony and a thought provoking talk reminded us about the ‘golden thread’ that unites all Land Rover owners. We were served a scrumptious dinner consisting of warthog potjiekos” and mealie porridge, bean stew, assorted fresh salads and about six varieties of barbecued meat. Followed by ice cream and fresh fruit salad and GwalaGwala Vuurwater, a potent local spirit distilled from peaches. All this in the light of several blazing camp fires. Truly a grand start to what turned out to be a grand holiday.
The next day we set off on the tour, heading over The Berg, the highest point in Mpumalanga (2090 metres) to Lydenburg
(Town of Suffering). So named because many people who traveled through the lowveld contracted malaria and died there during The Great Trek in the 1830’s.
Descending the Escarpment
Along the way, curios made of wood and soapstone entranced everyone, especially the foreign Land Rover owners in our group. Daniel and his wife Julia, from California and Pim Kielen and his wife Thandie, from the Netherlands. Daniel shipped Kermit, his Series Il SWB, fitted with roof tent, kitchen and refrigerator, to South Africa. Pim hired a Series Ill SWB diesel and camping equipment locally. We stopped en route so often, that Pilgrim’s Rest, an old gold mining town now restored to it’s former glory, received only a cursory visit.
The sun was almost setting over the spectacular Blyde River Canyon when we descended from the Escarpment down to the lowveld and Klaserie where we camped on Henk’s farm thirty kilometres from the Kruger National Park. Lions roaring during the night startled and thrilled us and further enhanced the magic of our first stop in the wild. A particularly loud roar at dawn brought everyone out of their sleeping bags wide awake.
Land Rover 50th Anniversary Tour Camper Setups
All the tour members were completely self sufficient and equipped to camp without any facilities whatsoever. The sleeping accommodation ranged from the popular roof top tent to ordinary pitched tents to sleeping in the vehicle. Terry and Ina ( South African, Series I SWB Station Wagon) and Pim and Thandie each had a “30 Second OZTENT” which really took no time to pitch. Jochem and Marianne (German South African, Defender Tdi) who were retired for three days at this stage, had a beautifully planned and executed camp procedure, with dome tent, kitchen area, dining area and storage area, all on about ten square metres of neatly pegged ground sheet. This they pitched with efficient German precision at every camp. A large percentage of the tour group was retired and they were a cosmopolitan lot as well, representing nine nationalities. They were interesting, varied and entertaining and got on well together. It remains a fact that all Land Rover owners are the same no matter what their nationality.
Kruger National Park
We entered the Kruger National Park at Orpen Gate in dribs and drabs. It was easier not to drive in convoy on this Land Rover 50th anniversary tour except for special occasions or difficult sections. We employed a “buddy system”, which meant that two to five vehicles would travel together and look after each other and the total group would meet again in the evening at the camp site. This generally worked very well as people traveled at different speeds and a breakdown would not delay the whole group.
As usual on entering the Kruger Park we saw impala, giraffe, blue wildebeest and zebra almost immediately and there was a flurry of excited camera clicking. Later, of course, everyone became more selective. We spent an exhausting but marvelous four days game viewing in temperatures peaking at 400 C during the day. We would be up at dawn, in the veldt just after sunrise and drive around till it was time for breakfast, which we cooked at one of the lovely picnic sites where cookers are provided and eat in a hide overlooking a water hole or a large expanse of bush. Then more driving, with lunch at a water hole, sitting very quietly and speaking in hushed tones, trying to identify the many birds that come to drink.
Perry (South African, 110 V8, roof tent) saw a leopard at a water hole and Daniel was confronted by a huge bull elephant which made him very happy to be in a Land Rover! A dead buffalo had washed up against the bridge at Lower Sabie and attracted •enormous crocodiles that spun it and themselves over and over in an effort to tear bits off.
We went on a night drive which climaxed when we suddenly came upon a commotion. In the bright stabbing beams of the rangers’ spot lights the air was thick with swirling dust. A heavy odour of buffalo pervaded the air and the tension was almost palpable. A huge herd of buffalo had just been stampeded by seven lions that were still hovering on the outskirts of the milling herd. We saw them again the next morning but there was no evidence of a kill.
Swaziland
Too soon we had to move on to Swaziland and Hlane Royal National Park where we were entertained to pulsing African drums and blood stirring dances at dusk. Hlane has thick shrubbery with twisting overgrown roads that are fun to drive but makes game viewing difficult. Nevertheless we spotted rhinoceros, impala, kudu and duiker. The superiority of the Land Rover as a game viewing vehicle because of its elevation was again apparent. The usual evening camp fire, Cargo Mountain Resort.
After a line-up for a photograph the next morning, we moved on to Mkuse Game Reserve in Kwa-Zulu/Natal, passing through picturesque Zulu villages on the hill sides. Pim, who is a professional photographer, was into his tenth spool by this time! Mkuse is a smallish reserve with lovely camping and lots of nyala, a beautiful striped and spotted antelope a little smaller than a kudu. Two wood owls entertained us with a duet in the evenings. A walk in the Fig Tree Forest proved exceptionally rewarding provided you kept moving to discourage mosquitoes. Ancient and huge fig trees towered overhead and thick tropical vegetation obscured the raucous trumpeter hornbills fluttering amongst the branches. The crossing of a rickety suspension bridge over the river added spice to the outing.
The First Mishap
Our first mishap occurred when a tree bumped into the back of Jochem’s Defender while he was reversing, bending the door and shattering the glass. His buddy group came to his rescue. They straightened the door and designed and fitted a hardboard window which he kept for the next seven weeks – it shaded his refrigerator he said. Daniel came to a screeching halt when smoke poured from behind Kermit’s dashboard. The wires charging the cellular telephone had melted together.
We arrived at Mapelane on the North Coast of Kwa-Zulu/Natal late in the afternoon two days later. Clean empty beaches of golden sand stretch up and down the coast. The sea was clear and warm and soothing and the entire contingent spent the afternoon frolicking in the waves, until Susan got stung by one of the numerous bluebottles which we had been trying to ignore.
Willie and Susan drive a Defender Tdi. They had removed the rear seats and fitted two storage boxes on which a double bed rests, with a freezer mounted next to the back door. A roof carrier and a tent which extends over the back door completed their camp set-up.
Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands
After two blissful days of rest we moved on to Kranskop, which is set amongst lush forested mountains on the way to Lady Grey in the Kwa-Zulu/Natal Midlands. From the top of Kranskop, shrouded in mist, you can sometimes see Rorkes Drift where the British Royal Engineers courageously defended themselves against a massive Zulu force in 1879. A steep, narrow and winding dirt road led down the Kranskop pass to our night stop on the banks of the flooded Tugela River.
This was exhilarating, as was the “coffee with a space” (the space being reserved for good Cape brandy) served by the Cape Contingent: Brian Hogg (Scottish South African, 110 Tdi), Dave Pike (South African, 110 V8) and Kurt and Hans (German and Dutch, Defender Tdi). They had roof tents or slept in their vehicles and Dave prepared scrumptious meals for them every night. All his cutlery and kitchen utensils are mounted on his back door, with a fold open table underneath it: very practical and convenient.
Headed for the Drakensberg
The rough camp on the banks of a raging river contrasted markedly with the next one on a rugby field in the centre of the metropolis of Durban. We were entertained, firstly and generously, by the Land Rover Owner’s Club of Southern Africa: KwaZulu Natal and then, very boisterously, by the rest of Durban for a more or less sleepless and extremely noisy night.
Nevertheless we lined up bright and early for our Land Rover 50th anniversary tour convoy drive to Pietermaritzburg 80km inland on the way to Sani Pass. Before attempting the pass we stayed at Murray’s farm in the foothills of the Drakensberg (Mountains of the Dragon). On arrival at dusk we found a swollen river to cross. This provided our first bit of driving fun as the water was washing over the floorboards, and everyone had visions of wet bedding and soggy foodstuffs.
Jan and Leone (South African), Steve (South African) and two New Yorkers arrived even later in the dark in two Forward Control Overlander Motor Homes and a Discovery. Naturally the Forward Controls surged through the river with ease but the Discovery looked quite weird with its lights shining through the water.
In part 2 the Land Rover 50th anniversary tour the group heads into the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho where they forge more rivers, cross scenic valleys and treacherous roads before relaxing on the Transkei coast and sharing their experiences
by Ina Cotton
Watch the video at The Overland Legend on YouTube
