One tough trip !!

[ViRuS]

I'm posting this here cause I'm not sure exactly where to stick it ... keep the "up yer arse" jokes to a min

It's also too long to do it in one go, so bare with me ...

Intro :



Once a year for the last 4 years or so, my brother and I take a week long trip to the north western South Africa, to a place called "The Richtersveld". The usual trips, or at least until this last one, were fairly easy i.e. 90% tar road and the last 10% loose sand and rocks, but fairly easy stuff.

This year we turned up the volume, and while the ratio remained the same, i.e. only about 10% offroad, we approached our route from a completely different angle in terms of destination, route difficulty and planning. This year we wanted to be as far as possible from people and technology (phones, ipads, internet, etc, etc, etc.) No fresh drinking water either .. unless boiled from the river ... you'll see shortly why this was important.

Our destination selected :

Kani Kaip

Route selected :

Cape Town to Eksteensfontein in the North, then approximately 20km's of dry riverbeds snaking down through the mountains and eventually meeting up with the Orange river that also acts as the border with Namibia. This junction, a small delta, has simply breathtaking scenery. The exit route is about a 20km section of rocky/sandy area running along the river to the east, to a place called Vioolsdrif (a border post - blink while you're driving and you may miss it !). Then back onto tar for the southward trip home.

Vehicles :

A) My very slightly modded Terrano II
B) My brother's slightly more modded Ford Ranger



The story :

The trip north:

We left my brother's place at 4am for the trip north. Other than the fact that we were fairly heavily laden, there was nothing too exciting about the 700 odd km's to the gravel/tar junction way up in the north. This is where things started to go a little sideways .... It was relatively hot about 38 C. I was carrying 90 liters of fresh water, and decided to get some H2O to hydrate ... NO GO ... In my haste to flush out the tanks at 3 am, I found that I had not drained them properly and that I had left too much of the Milton sterilizing fluid in the tanks before topping them up again (or at least that's what I think it was - heavy clorine/plastic taste that wasn't pleasant). Hey, at least we could use it to rinse the dishes

After about 55km's we were in Eksteensfontein. We managed to buy a couple of litres of water from a sparsly stocked "house-shop" before continuing out of the little dry town and Northwards. About 5 km's out and we were about to take it up a notch ... to the dry riverbeds we go !!!

I must just add in here - my Garmin said we had about 16 km to go, and we would be there in 53 minutes - the time was approximately 2pm at this point.
Yay we thought we'll be there by 3pm .. AWESOME !!

.......... many hours later .........

The distance actually ended up being about 22km and it took us 5 hours to navigate the soft sand, climbs/descents, boulders/rocks. Thats an average speed of just 4.4km/h
In this time, I found out the hard way, that even nature seems to hate my manly sidesteps ... she tried to remove them on a couple of occasions
I also found out that while I can grind along in 4L and have no issues, my 2.7TDI hates being floored in the soft stuff (momentum and all that ..) She would start getting hot under the collar and it wouldn't be long before I'd have to find some hard ground to let the temp return to normal.

Eventually we made it out of the earth's crack and into a quiet piece of heaven !

Setting up camp :



We set out selecting a camping spot based on old high water marks and then promptly started setting up camp. It was at this point that I started to feel rather ill. I normally do well, out and about, and don't too easily get done in by heat or thirst, but I think that the required concentration of the dry river bed navigation, and the fact that I had overlooked proper hydration and sunscreen had started to take their toll ... I looked like a tomato and felt worse! At some point, I remember feeling really hot (not in a sexy way) and then suddenly weak. I decided to take a quick dip to cool down, as I thought I might be at risk of sun stroke or something ... the heat was INCREDIBLE !!! I walked into the river and submerged myself for about 10 seconds in the coolish water ... I swear I could feel the heat escaping up my spine and out the back of my head. This seemed like the right thing to do, as I instantly felt better. As I tried to get out of the water, I was suddenly overcome with coldness, such as I have never felt before ... I was shaking so much, that I could hardly walk, and had to scream for the kids to bring me a towel to quickly try to dry myself ... I pretty much zoned out after that and have vague memories/snippets of my brother and the kids setting up my tent ... drinking some cold water ... getting into dry clothes ... laying down on my stretcher ...

Camping/survival :

I awoke the next morning around 4:30, feeling a 1000% better than I had the previous evening. All rested out, I was up and about as the sun popped it's head out over the mountains. The rest were still all asleep, so I enjoyed some quiet time taking in the scenery. The river looked like a mirror - It really was most spectacular!

The rest eventually joined me, and we set about making breakfast and survival plans.
My brother had 60 litres of water, and had used up about 6 litres that first evening. We were going to have to boil river water, cool it, sift it into containers, and then properly cool it in our fridges. That first day, the temperature reached a crazy 52C and we realised that water was going to be a huge issue!

And so the next 5 days melted into each other (lowest temp measured was 46C - HOT !!!) ... 2 CADAC cylinders, 2 kettles, a rigged funnel for filtering the water ... all working overtime, most of the day, and even then, we were just getting by !! At least the kids sorta had a good time ... I was often yelling at them to cover up for the sun or limit their swim time (again because of exposure to that relentless sun!) or to hydrate ! We originally planned to stay a full week (Sunday to Sunday), but the water shortage, and eventually a low gas issue ( from the continued water boiling), forced our hand.

I must pause here and just share with you how helpless one can sometimes feel ... one doesn't let any of it show, for fear that the kids or others might pick up on the actual severity of the situation, but I was seriously worried about our exit from this place! We have no means of communicating with the outside world - we have to be 100% self sufficient !!! I sat quietly on numerous occassions, contemplating our exit. Which way do we go?
My homework, when planning the trip originally, consisted of reading up on any and all stories of the area, so that I'd be in a position to make informed decisions when the time came ... maybe I had read too much ... was I overcomplicating the situation? The way back, if we followed the dry riverbeds that had brought us here, had me worried. One can drive even a faily standard car slowly down a flight of stairs ... the problem becomes infinitly more complicated, trying to drive it the other way, back up those stairs ... the other option .... take the unknown road east to Vioolsdrif as planned ... the reports I had read, advised that it was worse than the tracks that had brought us here ... oh damn !!!
Well ... eventually we decided to take the slightly shorter route east and take it slowly and carefully ... one step at a time.

The exit :

We worked overtime that Thurday to fill as many containers with water as we could. We prepacked what we could the evening so we could be on our way by 8am the next morning, giving us at least enough time to get out if we needed another day or two should any problems arise (as mentioned, we didn't know what lay ahead). First problem for the day ... my main battery had decided to spontaneously discharge itself over the course of the last couple of days ... it didn't show low on my battery monitoring system, but had no punch when trying to crank the engine. The 2 x 250 a/h batteries in the rear had taken some strain running the fridge non-stop, so while I could get the Terrano to crank from the rear batteries, it just wasn't enough to get it to start. My brother had packed everything up so well, that the jumpers we right at the bottom of the loadbin .. no stress ... a quick pull start ... 15 mins later ... we're officially on our way, battery charging nicely!

We were probably on the exit track for half an hour before we had our first and greatest problem of the entire trip. Getting stuck in the sand and the complications arising from that ... how bad can it actually be ... I have the answer for you ... It can be pretty damn bad !!! The temperature ... always that relentless sun heating everything to some stupid temperature. That sand though ... drop a spanner and it disappears into it, then give yourself third degree burns trying to quickly fish it out !!

[ViRuS]

Continued ...

It was a fairly short run sloping quite nicely off to the left ... enough of an angle, so as to tease the butt end of the vehicle to come out sideways and dig in. You end up at almost 45 degrees to the line you're supposed to take.



My brother basically dragged me out almost sideways to the safety of some rocks that threatened to rip the tyres to shreds .. but at least we were cooking on the hard stuff ... not molten sand making it's way into your shoes/sandals !! We packed rocks and basically anything we could find, to try to provide traction to prevent the back end from sliding out and then I attempted the section again. I managed to make it a little further this time, before the arse broke free and again left me sideways.



It's at this point that one's mind starts to play that irritating "what if" game ...
"what if" we go back the other way ... it might be easier than we think!
"what if" we get stuck because there's no place here to turn around and now we have to navigate this crap in reverse!
"what if" we can't get out of this hell hole ...

It's then that I remembered a video clip I saw on YouTube, that showed a couple of Arabs pulling a Landcruiser out of the desert sand, using nothing more than the spare wheel and some recovery straps ... you bury the spare wheel with the recovery strap attached ... the other end passes through the rim ... as the wheel starts to spin, it ends up "driving" on the strap ... anyways ... that's the basic idea! (p.s. Santa ... I WANT a WINCH for Christmas !!)



Let's put this into fast forward here, to cut out the 4 and a half hours it took us to get the Terrano 4 meters to the hard stuff ahead using that very principal (we used the huge rocks ahead as anchor points). In pulling far enough forward to give my brother space for his vehicle behind mine on the hard stuff, we noticed that I had bent a tierod end - this would need addressing, but we first went about prepping for his attempt. We re-organized the rocks and threw in the couple of bags of wood we had to make the tracks in the sand as long as possible for him!

I have to mention here ... he has the 3.0 TDI Ranger, and I'll have you know, that though there's just 300 cc's difference in capacity between his and mine, that Ford motor is a beast ... with a 4 inch lift, 32 inch tyres - almost flat, and plenty of horses he made it through on his first attempt - we did however end up collecting some of the wood that he had spun up, in the next country! He also had soooo much power, that the second that left front touched the hard stuff, it snapped the tierod like a toothpick !

While my repair was fairly straight forward, considering all the previously mentioned issues, heat, dwindling water supply, heat, the molten rocks I had to lay on (obviously with a blanket folded between me and good mother earth), more heat, desperation, and lastly ... heat!
My brother was behind me attending to his slightly more complicated repair ... he ingeniously, sawed the good end of the tierod off(he was very lucky I had an old hacksaw blade in my toolbox!!) and then used two of the same tierod ends to fabricate a temporary solution (all you petrol/diesel heads obviously know what I'm talking about here!) ... he's also damn lucky he had 2 sets of tierod ends, or we'd still be there now ... alot thinner and dryer than we are now !!

Right, so we're about 3km from our original camp, and the time is about 6pm. Awesome ... it's taken us 12 hours to move 3km - a staggering 250m per hour!!!
It's also about now that I hear a hissing sound coming from the motor ... I go to have a look see and just can't seem to find where one of the pipes must be leaking steam/water ... it turn's out that batteries hiss when they're fat .. whether due to alternator overcharging, excessive heat or whatever ... I immediately shut the motor off and got everyone out of harm's way ... put the fire extinguisher close, just in case ...
It ended up hissing for about an hour and a half, and fortunately didn't pop. I then had to disconnect it and run the car solely from the rear batteries.



Repairs effected and we decided to move on. I must confess that if we had had a winch, we would have spent an hour there max, but them's the breaks!
We actually made it to Vioolsdrif at a little before 11pm, and decided to camp at one of the local resorts to try and repair the vehicles, as we still had a long journey ahead on tar .. it's one thing driving on loose ground if there's a little alignment issue, you can't do that shit on tar !!!!

We ended up spending 2 days there to get the parts fixed/replaced, and actually had an actual brief (2days) vacation, before tackling the long haul home.

In closing, I'd like to add that one is never really 100% prepared, considering all the myriad of things that can go wrong on a trip like this! I would suggest that you be as best prepared as you can be, taking into consideration where you are going, and what you can learn from other's experiences.

Cheers
Paulo

[SilasStingy]

Thank you for giving me to most perfect start of the morning! Such an interesting story!
Am soon going all the way to The Gambia from Sweden and something tells me there is a slight risk of ending up in the same situation as you when going on some excursions in the sand. Your story gave me some new perspectives on the behaviors of the Terrano 2!
Keep up the good work, wish you better luck on your next expedition! Even though the "bad" ones are the ones to be remembered haha.

[macabethiel]

Wow what a fascinating experience, I bet you're glad it's all over now !

[jims-terrano]

Wow what an amazing adventure, we can all look back and wish we had done things differently but thats life. An experience you and the family will never forget and I have to say for what looks like a Terrano with little mods it goes to show just how good these trucks are.

Great post

[alectroll66]

Brilliant, i'm so jealous!! even with all the hardships!!

[Daemo]

Thats awesome, south africa scares the hell out of me as it would seem everyone wants to rob, rape, carjack or kill anything that moves. Not a destination that i could go to and enjoy as i wouldnt feel comfortable. Good on ya mate.. Respect.

[emjaybee]

Originally Posted by Daemo

Thats awesome, south africa scares the hell out of me as it would seem everyone wants to rob, rape, carjack or kill anything that moves. Not a destination that i could go to and enjoy as i wouldnt feel comfortable. Good on ya mate.. Respect.

Wife and I spent two weeks along the South Cape on honeymoon 13 years ago, never felt threatened once.

Like all unknown cities you take sensible precautions. Keep your car doors locked, don't pull tight up behind the car in front at lights, keep valuables out of sight etc.

Also, choose a sensible hire car. Had a 2.5 ltr Subaru Outback, plenty of grunt and four wheel drive incase you need to get out of a jam quickly.

Amazing place to visit.

Thoroughly recommend it.

[Paultrol]

Great read. All's well that ends well.
At least your remember that trip for a long while.

[rustic]

Originally Posted by Paultrol

Great read. All's well that ends well.
At least your remember that trip for a long while.

Certaily is a great read, what I am impressed about is, how well the Terrano performed in that temperature, goes to show, how over cooled they are when used in the UK.
I certainly couldn't take those temperatures lol, certainly a risk to life situation if not planned correctly, one issue would be dehydration.

Maybe I wouldn't have put children in that situation, , but certainly an experience.

[Mobieus_uk]

great writeup, glad you got out ok

[ViRuS]

Thanks for the replies guys ... it definitely was a trip for the books !!

[solarman216]

Absolutely terrific, would love to do a trip like that, but not in that heat, and yes very hard on batteries at those temperatures, very unfortunate incident with the water, bet you will not do that again, but nice write up and lovely pics, Rick

[quixote]

That was a seriously interesting read! Thank you

[Banshee]

Finally got round to reading this, what a story