On a cold winter morning, there had being a bit of snow sleet the previous night, Danie Nel and Charmain in their CJ 2 Willys Jeep, Paul Larkin in his trusty 1996 110 tdi Land rover , Simon in his Datsun Tracker and myself in my upgraded TJ Jeep Wrangler went back to Bamboeshoek for the day, we left in convoy with Simon leading the way, on arrival in Sterkstroom, Danie had engine problems with his Jeep, he said it was due to the extreme cold conditions, his vehicle was running very cold, thus we placed a piece of cardboard in front of his vehicles radiator to help warm the engine to operating temperature and we all then proceeded on towards the trail head of this fantastic 4x4 trail.
Bamboeshoek is situated +/- 65 km from Queenstown. There are two very scenic trails, the one trail climbs up to +/- 7000 ft above sea level and gets pretty steep in areas. There is a hut at 6000 ft which can sleep up to 6 people, the hut is very basic but as close to nature as you will ever get. There is also a thatched bathroom which has a flushing toilet, when you are sitting on the throne you have a wonderful view of the country side, deep valleys snow capped mountains in the distance below. Or you can see an eagle circling high above. There is also hot and cold water for the shower and wash basin, you can also pitch your tent next to the hut if you dare, especially during the cold winter months, Simon and his friends camped up there last June, they said that it was rather cool. There is also a reed type lapa area with an old tractor rim and fire place to cook. There are also camping sites at the bottom of the mountain where there is also a basic shower and toilet available. On the farm there is a large selection of game such as Black Wildebeest, Blue Wildebeest, White and Brown Blesblok, Fellow deer, Reebok, Springbuck, Zebra and a few Eland, the sighting of Eagle is also possible.
There are also Bushmen paintings to be seen, but you will have to walk a short distance to the caves. On the farm there is also a chalet available if you have children and you do not wish to rough it with the men. At the end of the gravel road you enter through a gate, this is when you select low range 4x4 and diff lock if your vehicle has one.
Thus it was now time to prove to ourselves that Ronnys Jeep could conquer this trail without any problems, once we had all deflated our vehicles tire pressure to each drivers own individual desire, Simon once again took to the trail head, with his Firestone ATX 215x15 tires deflated to 1.5 bars his Tracker with its low growl of the small 1800cc petrol engine slowly wound its way up the mountain, Ronny in his TJ Jeep Wrangler automatic followed slowly behind, when was the last time you got goose bumps traveling at 3 kilometers per hour, due to the diff auto lockers in the front and rear there was no wheel spin just the grunt of his 4 liter fuel injection engine could be heard, the Mickey Thompson Baja Claw tires 31 x 11-50x 15 gripped whatever rock or sandy surface in their way, especially the side walls of the tires with their special tread design, its all in the rubber, the only thing that kept this Jeep from racing away was the old Datsun Tracker up front. Then we had Paul and his wife Melody in their outfitted African style Land rover that has been on many a trip across Africa and last but not least Danie in his CJ 2 Willys Jeep bringing up the rear.
We stopped off at the hut for some coffee and biscuits and then were on our way again to tackle the heart throbbing corner which is above the hut, this section is very dangerous due to there being just enough space for your vehicles width and nothing on your left, except the deep valley below, on your right there are a few rocks that jut out of the mountain above you, no escape route that way, thus with heart throbbing you just have to keep going forward, Simon had to climb out of his vehicle, on this corner and pack rocks to be able to drive up and over a small ledge, with Simons Tracker having no diff lock, he could not get up onto the ledge, he had to end up reversing back down the mountain to the hut with his wife Michele directing him so that he does not drive over the steep edge on his left. Ronny in his TJ went up and over the ledge without any problems, with the front axle articulation especially with the front disconnects disconnected none of his wheels were in the air and thus his vehicle did not loose any traction, Ronny did say that he would be fitting a hand throttle to his Jeep in the future for better control. As his foot kept jumping off the accelerator pedal.
Simon then again tried to drive up onto the ledge but even once again with the repacking of rocks it was not possible to drive through, thus with the angle of the upgrade of the trail and very limited space, above this ledge, Ronny managed to turn his Jeep to the right just far enough so that we could hook up a snatch block on our right to a rocky formation and then we connected the Mile Marker hydraulic winch cable through the snatch block to the front of Simons Tracker to one of the special heavy duty bow shackle anchor tow points. Once all the necessary safety precautions had been checked and using the fantastic wireless remote for the winch and of course the Companion radios for communication between Ronny and Simon and with the hydraulic winch selected to slow speed Simon and his vehicle were soon up and over the ledge, what a wonderful piece of machinery.
Paul and Danie did not have any difficulty of getting their vehicles through this difficult section. We then were once again on our way to the escarpment, on top of the mountain there are rocky water formations where water has collected from snow that has melted and the summer rainfall, however it was 12h00 midday and these water rock pools were still frozen from the previous night, the ice was so thick that we were able to only break it using a rock, what an awesome experience (see photos of ice) in these pools of water if a person looks carefully they might have the privilege of spotting some of the crustacean type fish that thrive up in these mountains, they are not tadpoles, they are fish, nobody knows where they come from due to the fact, some times these rock pools dry up and then, when the next summer rain fall comes these fish reappear. Maybe they have always being living up there since the beginning of time, maybe the Bushmen put them there.
On the other side of this mountain we drove towards the famous steps, this part of the trail is the ultimate section of this 4x4 trial, many 4x4 enthusiasts have driven far and wide to be able to drive this trail, one at a time we proceeded down the steps slowly, with the deflated tires curling themselves over the sharp edges of the different rocks, with the limited amount of rainfall in this area, when it rain it sure rains, thus the trail gets really washed away down these steps, rocks sometimes have to be moved out of the way or you have to pack other rocks against the big rocks that are in the way, like the Romans did when they were building their roads, just to get through, by the time we got to the bottom of the Steps, the front track bar conversion on Ronnys TJ Jeep, that we had modified using the old pitman arm had broken, the HT bolt had snapped due to the excessive torque that must have been put onto this weak joint, no problem Simon just bought out some thick cable ties and we just tied the front track bar to the front axle so that it would not drag on the ground, with the front track bar not connected all that happened was the front wheels just had more side ways movement making the steering wheel out of alignment, not anything to worry about. We were soon on our way, we then stopped when Paul waved to Simon and told him to stop, Simon had a puncture, thus out came the High Lift jack, the tire repair kit and once Simon had plugged the hole with some plugs, out came The Trail Blaster which is a CO 2 bottle which he bought from Takla Products and soon the deflated tire was repaired and re inflated to the correct pressure.
We all sat around and enjoyed our picnic baskets which we had brought with us, we had decided that we would not be making any fires for a braai due to two factors, the time limit and the dry conditions of the winter, we did not want to have a fire hazard. Sitting on the mountain, in the distance Hangklip Mountain could be seen in the distance, this is a well known land mark for all the over flying planes on their way to their different destinations. On our way down back towards the farm house, Simon was not concentrating and his right front wheel hit an outcropping rock which smashed into his front stabilizer bar, on the right ripping the bar out of the front chassis member, bushes and all. After inspection and finding that it was not a safety problem, his steering wheel was also out of alignment we just carried on down to the farm house.
What a wonderful day we all had on this trail, it has proven that The Land rover handled everything that was pushed in front of it without any problems, we proved that we would have to find another solution for the front track bar and that Simon would have to look where he is driving in future, not at his beautiful wife. Danie in his Willys said when will we be back Contact us if you are interested in joining us on this trail next year. If you can, maybe you will.
That evening Simon went onto some Australian 4x4 web sites and managed to get in contact with Mark who said that he could supply us with the correct 2.5 front track bar for the right hand drive TJ, thus once the correct monies were transferred, it took 6 days from Australia to Johannesburg customs for clearance and more than two weeks from Johannesburg to Queenstown, we used the normal postal service to get the parts to us, which also included a spare ball joint and bush. We then fitted the new front track bar and took the Jeep to the Imvani 4x4 Trail which is between Cathcart and Queenstown, to test the new track bar.
The Imvani 4x4 Trail is rated as a 7 out of 5, with 5 been tough, this 4x4 trail is not for sissies. You can break your 4x4 vehicle if you do not know what you are doing, but this is only on the rock crawling special optional sections of the trail The normal run of the mill 4x4 vehicles such as the double cabs would find it extremely difficult to drive through this trail, but there are other parts of this 4 500 hectare game farm where you can see some of the 14 different type of game that roam all over the farm. Scenic view, water flowing streams. This 4x4 trail is also a 4x4 Enthusiasts paradise there is also a thatched hut and A- frame type wooden huts for sleeping, a lapa type area for braai's, flushing toilet, hot shower, donkey to make fire for the hot water, it is very back to the wild type atmosphere but well worth the visit, Imvani also offer game drives, horse riding, the different 4x4 routes, fishing for fresh water fish in The Black Kei, walking trails and game hunting all year round, bed and breakfast is also offered back at the main ranch house on request and booking is essential some of the animals are wildebeest, zebra, springbuck, blesbok, water buck, fellow deer to name just a few. On this trail we had no more problems, Ronny has said that where Simons old Datsun tracker can go so will his Jeep. Ronny has now given his Modified Jeep the name of Long Drop due to the way that the front suspension drops in front. Simon calls his Tracker Mountain Tortoise due to the fact that a tortoise can go everywhere out in the wild. The Imvani 4x4 Trail is definitely rough country, possibly it will show the men from the boys, rocks and Karoo desert, steep inclines, shady trees, lovely evenings around the log fires all these wonderful things will call us back each few months.
Thus here in Queenstown live a few proud men, with their different 4x4 vehicles, that use them as 4x4 vehicles should be used. All 4x4 vehicles were designed for their off-road capabilities not for pavement parkers.
Remember "Real Jeeps are built, not bought"
Thank you
Ronny Rengers
Simon Morris
