Legends 2004 - Final
Day 9 - 10 April (The day we back-tracked...)
At 06H00 the camp was stirring into life. Quick coffee and rusks. I had a cold shower and then started to break up my campsite. Everyone was busy. At 07H30 we were ready to roll out. This time we chose a drier route back to our campsite of two evenings ago. No one got stuck and we were all ready to make some good time. Willem reported that his body and mood was in "low range" and that we shouldn't wait for him... :-)
Mike's Range Rover started overheating almost immediately. The water pump was now completely toasted. Driving it like this will be too risky. These are tough engines but a blown cylinder head gasket will be no fun. Jakes hooked up the Range and towed it to the first mud obstacles while I towed the caravan.
We made incredibly good time to the first mud obstacles. A few of the vehicles ahead of us got stuck but they were soon recovered. When we reached the obstacle Mike hooked back the caravan to charge the obstacle under his own power. The obstacles were conquered with some amazing spectator value... :-)
The rest of the track back to Mpandamatenga was such smooth going it was almost an anti-climax. Jakes decided to tow both the Ranger Rover and Caravan at once. Nowhere did he get stuck. The mud from two days before were almost completely dried out and it was plain sailing all the way. We reached Mpandamatenga at just after 11H00. What a relief. We bought some cold beers and re-grouped for our individual remainder journeys. Mike F decided to head down to Nata to fit a new water pump that was pre-arranged through the excellent help of Clem Daniel, Paul Oxley and Brian Cotton (Thanks to the Drifters guys too...). Andre Goldshagg arrived as we were saying our goodbye's to Dave Lehr, Mike Weight and Dave Immelman. They were heading home and their destination for the day was Maun. We decided to stay over at "Touch of Africa" north of Mpandamatenga. What a lovely setup. Pool, thatched bar, green lawn, and ice-cold drinks. Not before long we had ourselves a party going...
Day 10 - 11 April (Homeward bound...)
After a nice served breakfast we all packed and headed out. Jakes planned to spend another 2 nights up north to offer Andre the opportunity of a "mini legends" seeing that he missed out on all the fun. Jacques, Willem, Johan and myself headed for Maartinsdrift border in the hope to reach it before closing time. Willem and Johan were skeptical of reaching it in time. We reached the border at 18H15 and were happy to find that times were extended to allow passage through until 20H00. There were no traffic and it took all of 15 minutes to clear both sides. A very friendly SAPS guy told us of nice farm accommodation 10 km's down the road. I can thoroughly recommend "Bua Nnete" of Oom Willie and Auntie Gerda Vos. (on the Ellisras intersection 10 km's from Maartinsdrift border). We cooked a meal and finished the remainder of our beers. We received a report from Mike F that his cooling problems are something of the past and he is heading for Jhb.
Day 11 - 12 April (The final leg...)
We headed for home via Ellisras, Thabazimbi and Brits to avoid the N1 traffic heading back from Morea. Willem SMS'd that Johan's Landy had run bearings somewhere near Francistown and that he was busy towing Johan at a princely 45 km/h. They were aiming for Vaalwater. Offers to come and fetch them with an A-frame were declined. They successfully reached Pretoria the next day. The verdict is still out on what is wrong with the Landy.
End !
Thanks very much to all participants for the fantastic spirit in which the difficult circumstances were handled. This was truly an amazing group of people. I salute you all and look forward to the next adventure with you guys !
Hennie Rautenbach
hennie@overland.co.za