WOMEN’S DAY 2007 – SOUTINE MOLOTOTSI
SAFARI
I was
contacted by Andre Janse v Rensburg to guide a troupe
of off-road 4x4ers through our trails in the Molototsi and Klein Letaba rivers
during the weekend of 9-12 August. As it is our custom to do these trails
during this specific weekend over the last few years we were very excited as we
did not plan a trip again so soon after our very enduring 125km Klein Letaba
safari of 2005.
The
possibility of being in the company of Andre and his friends got an immediate
yes to show them the trail that we have done a number of times already but it
is like being a first every time we set wheel in the riverbed.
I did not
know what to expect when we arrived at the Petroport rendezvous on 9 August
around 07h00 other that 11 vehicles will be participating. Andre was not sure
of the exact route in the rivers and I planned to tag along and show the
different important spots and let the guys sort out the area for themselves. At
least it was their weekend. Not being in the know of the participants’ levels
of expertise/outfits I asked Piet Roux to accompany us. Piet and Lindi has been our off-road mates for a number of years and I
trust their judgements, especially with larger groups where people can easily
get in trouble. But then we also wanted to see them again as they live far off
in Komatipoort.
From
Petroport we convoyed to Mooketsi where another
vehicle from
Maybe the
boys thought this is going to be an easy boy-weekend-away?
After looking
for the entry point through the dense undergrowth on the river bank we started
to enter the riverbed. This specific spot was the last exit
point
available during a previous recce of the river. The
riverbed is quite narrow and steep with very uneven surface due to the lie of
land as we were still in a mountainous area in the vicinity of Modjadji. Progress was slow when we entered at about 14h00
and we all knew we had to move to get a suitable camping spot before 16h00.
Fortunately the riverbed was quite dry and movement was steady. I entered the
river last to let the troupe get an immediate feel of how the conditions are
without previous knowledge leading.
About
30minutes into the river there was a sudden halt in progress and when we
arrived at the spot it has already happened…
At a water
hole Henri who was leading stopped to test the water depth and surface below.
He walked hip depth (cockheight) through and nearly lost his footing on the muddy
bottom. Still he decided to give it a go with his Prado
and reached the exact middle of the pool when the Prado
started loosing traction in the mud. The bow-wave was gone and the water
surface flattened… also to the inside of the engine compartment. The water
level was over the grill and the inside of the cabin was slowly filling up with
brown muddy water. With no snorkel the engine sucked water, straight through to
the cylinders. Oh shit!
Thanks for
a ’79 G-wagen that got around and towed the Prado to dry ground the big job started. Remove the
glow-plugs, without knowing if damage was done to the pistons and conrods. Onlookers were quietly waiting for whatever is to
happen. Eventually at the first crank the engine turned over smoothly with four
fountains of water spouting from the glow-plug ports. Mechanics OK! But then
the air cleaner element, intercooler and all piping had to be removed and
drained before the engine could run again.
Some of us
proceeded to a flat area in the riverbed where a few drinks got into the right
direction while waiting for the cripple Prado to show
face. In the end it was no cripple Prado but very
proud one, albeit very wet on the inside out. And a smiling
Henry.
Everybody
regrouped and we proceeded to the first camping spot where tents were pitched
and Theo with the G’s winch broke down a dry tree stump for firewood. He was
always available to do the near impossible. Was it just because he was driving
the best 4x4 ever built?
What was
wonderful of this troupe of guys was that everybody stayed in one group and
joined in all the fun together. There was no pulling away and distancing by
some members. Just one big family with Herman talking the
most. Nonstop!
Although
dry for most of the trail the Molototsi was regarded by the group as very
technical, mostly a 3 but at times when addressing the rock outcrops a definite
4…
Some
obstacles are just not to be…
We planned
to sleep over in the Molototsi only one night but the river won the battle. We
just could not cover enough terrain to reach the bridge at Dzumeri
before sunset and had to resort to another camp. Nobody complained as any place
is as good as another to camp. Where else than in the veld
when you can reach up and feels as if you can touch the stars, so many of them
that you are at a loss as to how many will you be able to hide in your pocket
to admire later when you are back in the city where these same stars are just a
faint glimmer of real nature.
This was a
special evening where Piet retrieved his guitar from somewhere in the Hilux and
everybody got very quiet when he touched our hearts with sole, love songs, and
of course a very good performance of “delarey delarey, sal jy
die boere kom lei????”…
We reached
the end when we exited the riverbed at Dzumeri and
all the vehicles parked in formation on the bridge for a Kodak moment.
Nobody
enjoyed the tarred surface on our way to Giyani for refuelling etc. As the
distance was only to be about 50km we decided not to inflate tyres and kept our
pace at not faster than 80km/h. Giyani itself was just a refuel and rebooze with only a few visiting the Spar before we
regrouped 30mins later for the second leg in the Klein Letaba river.
Soutine Trail.
This Trail
is our favourite and Piet and us have done it a few
times already – every time feeling as being the first. It is just impossible to
remember which line to take at difficult crossings. For the others in the
troupe it was obviously a completely new experience and so much different from
Molototsi. Where the first had mostly loose sand and rock outcrops to negotiate
the Klein Letaba had flowing water at different depths but never too deep for
another glow-plug extraction.
Unfortunately
we missed the spot where the local Shangaans are
mining salt from sand since at least a century. I also would have liked to show
the guys the hot spring in the area. But then, they can return next year.
Those
of you who doubt the salt extraction: Here’s the proof. Next time I’ll show
you!
By this
time Herman was totally out of control and tried to get stuck, to the amusement
of everyone around. He once hanged his Nissan on the chassis that not even a
winch could free it. It had to be lifted with a high-lift jack and had loose
rocks packed under the wheels. How is it possible to drown yourself on a rock
and have to be jacked up for buoyancy? Only Herman can accomplish that…
obviously with the help from a friend. But then who needs enemies with friends
like that?
The last evening
asked for the grand finale; the handing over of prizes for some
achievements/asshole tricks or just anything others saw that should not have
been seen.
-
Henri
for drowning his Prado and nearly ruining the engine
in the process
-
Johan
for not teaching his youngster how to operate a clutch in off road conditions
and nearly had it burnt out in his brand new Colt
-
Herman
for getting stuck out of pure daredevilish looking for shit.
-
Piet
for not taking out his guitar the first evening already and for ripping the
front bumper off his brand new Hilux
-
Andre
for letting his Colt’s alarm off every morning after sun up
-
Gert for overloading his Hilux with himself and for
nearly tipping it at a turn. Sjoe, that was close!
-
Chris
for riding into a ditch on his first off-road experience with his Prado
-
Andre
J van Rensburg for leaving poor Merle to do the driving while he is out viewing the progress of others
(The tall chap in the pics
is… my wife’s husband!!!)
The prizes for
the above – a dried piece of cow dung
-
Wollie received a sandwich for forgetting the bread
at home – poor guy. He had it coming his way the whole weekend
-
Theo
also deserved a miskoek for not letting Wollie forget the forgetting of the bread at home but made
up for always assuring that there was enough fire wood for a whole night’s bon
fire. He received canned mussels for his efforts
-
The
four girls, Trudie Maryna Lindi & Helen did a
wonderful job of guiding and looking for lines of travel. They received a
packet of Simba chips
The Soutine
Trail ended at Giyani at about
Everybody
got stuck one way or the other. Reasons are not important at this forum. Every
time there was someone near and ready for a recovery. From the no nonsense Prado 4x4 to the double difflock
G-wagen very little is to be said of the vehicles. Of
the drivers though, a lot!
Herman…?
With all of
you guys, anytime again. Thanks for letting me and Trudie enjoy in your fun.
Some more pics:
