Legends 2004 - Part 1
Below is a brief trip report of the 2004 Legends Tour. The Legends Tours are tours that I (Hennie Rautenbach) organize once a year for older 4x4 vehicles. In the past the tours have always been organized exclusively for Series Land Rovers and classic Range Rovers. This year we changed it a bit and invited Jaco (Jakes) Pauw along in his 1968 Jeep Gladiator. A good thing it was too because his vehicle turned out to be near unstoppable in the difficult terrain we encountered. Jakes performed many recoveries with the Jeep and towed Mike Ferguson's Range Rover and Jurgens Explorer caravan back to Pandamatenga from where we were stuck on the Huntersroad. But ! I am getting a bit ahead of myself here. Let me introduce you to the list of participants first.
| Dave Lehr & Mike Weight | Land Rover Series III 88 ragtop 2.25P |
| Dave Immelman & buddy Ken | Land Rover Series III 88 PUP 2.25P |
| Andre Goldshagg | Land Rover Series II 88 H/T 2.25P |
| Hennie & Ronel Rautenbach with sons | Land Rover Series IIIS 109 S/W 4.1P |
| Jacque Fernihough & Andre van Deventer | Land Rover Series III 109 S/W 2.25P |
| Willem Coetsee | Land Rover Series III 88 PUP 2.25D |
| Johan & Tineke van Staden with Johan junior | Land Rover Series III 109 H/T 2.25D |
| Jaco & Ina Pauw | Jeep Gladiator 4.1P |
| Mike & Liz Ferguson with son | Range Rover 3.9 EFI & Explorer |
The choice of venue was decided upon as the Huntersroad in Botswana and the trip took place during the first week in April up to Easter weekend. Details of the Huntersroad can be obtained form Mike Main's excellent guide to Botswana. It is a track that runs from Kazangula in the north of Botswana, all along the Botswana/Zimbabwe border, to just north of Nata. Mike Main mentions in his book that the track is impassable when wet. Botswana has had a lot of rain during the first quarter of 2004 and the Zambezi's level was at a 20 year high (and rising). It seemed foolish to attempt this track but we were in consensus that we had to try it at least. The idea was to venture as far down it as possible and then either bail out along a cutline or back-track if conditions prevent further progress southward.
The last weeks leading up to the tour was hectic as ever and everyone scurried and worked frantically to get the vehicles in road worthy and serviceable order. I was sad to see my brother cancel from the tour and expected a few others to bail out too. Hilton Benewith had to stay behind too and Andre Goldshagg phoned a week before departure and told me that a change at work prevents him to start the tour with us. But, he endeavored to drive up a few days later anyway to spend a few days with us on the return leg of our journey. Sadly this prevented him from participating on the Huntersroad itself which turned into a real adventure.
Our Cape Town friends started their trip on Monday the 29th of March. Their plans were to get up to Namibia and then head for the Caprivi as quick as the vehicles will allow them to. Tuesday the 30'th of March I received a SMS from Dave Lehr to inform me that they have made it to Keetmanshoop in Namibia on the first day but that Dave Immelman's Landy has developed an overheating problem. This turned out to be a blown cylinder head gasket and the subsequent repairs kept them at Keetmanshoop for another 2 days. By Thursday the 1st of April they were rolling again after conducting the necessary repairs in the Namibian heat and wind and amongst the dust and flies. Further reports indicated that with a new cylinder head gasket fitted the Landy is happy again and purring along nicely. It was also mentioned that Namibia was very very wet with the dirt roads turned into slush. They were aiming for Ngepi Lodge for a bit of a rest after their long drive and some Tiger fishing before meeting up with us in Kasane. I took leave on Friday the 2nd of April to buy the last stuff and to pack the vehicle. I wanted to hit the road no later than 14H00.
Day 1 - 2 April
Destination: Lapland Game farm 40km before Ellisras on the Thabazimbi Road. Jacques Fernihough organized us accommodation on the farm in an old farm house that is used by hunters during the hunting season. Picture below of the Landy packed and ready.
The drive to Lapland went without incident. Willem Coetsee only arrived at 03H00 the next morning. Mike Ferguson stayed over in Ellisras at the Ellisras Holiday Resort. We made a nice fire and everyone was excited about the trip. Went to bed early after our first braai and some socializing around the fire. Everyone was concerned about Willem, who at that time has not departed from Pretoria yet.
Day 2 - 3 April
I woke up at 05H30 and went outside to stoke the donkey for a warm shower. I was happy to see Willem's Landy outside. I never heard him arrive the previous evening. It was going to be a very long day for him. Pictures below of the vehicles at Lapland. All of them still shiny clean.
At 07H30 after a brief breakfast and a shower everyone was ready to depart for Ellisras and Stockpoort border post. The road was quiet and the air was crisp. We filled our tanks in Ellisras and some of the guys did some last minute shopping. Mike Ferguson and family met up with us and we headed for the border. Our destination for the day was Nata Lodge campsite.
We reached the border on a smooth graded gravel road. The border was very quiet and the formalities were easily dispensed with. Apart from vehicle checks on the SA side by the SAP there were no searches inside any of the vehicles. The recently introduced Botswana road tax was very confusing. I paid 90 Pula for a 2-way permit. There seemed to be very little consistency in the pricing between vehicles. Picture below of me and Jacques near Parr's Halt waiting for everyone to catch up.
The roads weren't very busy and the drive was pretty monotonous. We met up with Sean and Rhona Steyn during a fuel stop in Francistown. They entered from Martins Drift and reported that the border was slow and chaotic. They were on a business trip in their new diesel Citroen. Jacque and I were making the fastest progress. The area was clearly very wet with stagnant pools of water everywhere next to the road between Francistown and Nata. Near Nata Jacque called me on the radio to tell me that he suspects a loose wheel bearing. His vehicle had developed a wobble all of a sudden. Mike Ferguson stopped and assisted him while Jacque fitted a new bearing to a wheel. Jacque also checked the free play on the swivels. After the assembly and just a few kilometers further he had a massive blowout of the left rear tire. It turned out to be a problem with tread separation on one of his General SAG cross-plies. I was a big fan of SAG's in the past but due to the disintegration of the tread on these tires I have stopped using them. Mike F was stopped and fined heavily for speeding just before Nata. Not really a problem the Series vehicles are prone to :-) While we settled in at Nata we received reports over the radios that Willem is being towed by Johan. Willem's Landy had developed a crack just above the ferrel on the high-pressure pipe on the first injector. As night fell the mozzies started coming out in swarms. Despite liberally spraying with Peaceful-Sleep the mozzies got to us all. Picture below of our campsite at Nata Lodge. I was very impressed with Nata Lodge. The campsite ablutions are a huge improvement over the ones of a few years back. The only drawback is that no wood or ice is sold at the Lodge.
End of part one. Please proceed to part 2 !