Kgalagadi June 2024 trip

[Sakkie7]

Last year July we were lucky enough to book a trip that we have been dreaming about .

Wild camping in the Kgalagadi mixed with camping in the main camps . The planned trip was from the 2nd of June untill the 27th of June 2024.

Somewhere in April 2024 I got it into my head to buy an old road Caravan and convert it into a Bush Caravan.
More a spur of the moment thing .....and not well thought through....However ....I bought the sprite Sprint and a few weeks after that started to gut it . Thread on this forum with my escapades regarding the rebuild .

3 weeks before our trip my Jeep that I prepared for the plus minus 6000km trip decided that it did not like the brand new injectors I fitted to it 2 weeks before .

On my way back from Porterville vehicle just lost all power . Big cloud of white smoke . My heart sank into.my chest . ...
Had the Jeep towed back home . . Me and swambo were sweating bullets . Only one way . We can rig one of the other jeeps ....Or ...I can fix the Black Pearl.

Next morning after about 4 hours or so . The engine was stripped out of the Jeep . I had to hydraulicly pull the nr 5 injector from the cylinder head ...that after Not even a 5 kg slide hammer could get the injector out.
The tip of the injector was burst open . Never in my life seen something like that .
Nr 5 cylinder was burnt and there was no way I could get this resleeved and rebuilt before the trip.

Thankfully I had a block that was already fitted with new sleeves ...bearings etc . Swopped the cylinder head onto the new block and re fitted it to the Black Pearl. .
Started her up and then there was this miss . Just could not get her to idle properly . Scanned for fault codes...None at all . Checked all sensors and by chance had a look at the flex plate . There it was . One tooth missing on the tone ring that sends signal to the crank position sensor . Off came the gearbox and in went another flex plate .

Refitted everything ....started ...and she purred like a.kitten . With 5 days to go before the trip .

Back to the Caravan that was at this stage partially done ...and when I say partially ....it means about 50%

Worked from morning to late night for the remainder of the time .
The night before our trip started I finished with the Caravan at about 00:30

Had 4 hours of sleep and we were on our way to the Kgalagadi .
4 days at Rooiputs 4 nights at Polentswa 5 nights at Nossob ..5 nights at Mata Mata and then 5 nights at Twee Rivieren...or so we hoped .

My eldest son decided to throw a spanner in the works a month or so before the trip as well . He was getting married on the 22 second of June

That meant we had to leave on the 21st of June. Drive through to Potchefstroom . Wedding 22nd and them we would take a drive back to Cape Town .
So the journey started .

Swambo was just calmed down as we left .........

WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

[Sakkie7]

About 10 km outside Wellington I just heard this loud pop and next moment steering pulls heavily to one side. This was doing 110km h

Thankfully the old girl just kept it straight and I pulled off the road
Right front tyre decided it did not want to go with us .



Out comes the spare and then discovered that I never took the Bottle Jack. Only had a very bent scissor Jack. With lots of swearing 🤬 and sweating I got the wheel changed . Decided to get 2 new front tyres in Upington .

. We pushed on and everything went smoothly until just before Kenhardt

[Sakkie7]

Then the wind came up . Not just blowing ....Good heavens it was howling . A headwind straight on and then from left .. it was getting late and dark . We were supposed to be in Keimoes by late afternoon . Now it was already close to 19:30. When we eventually arrived at a bed and breakfast.

Slept like a baby 👶. The road was long and me a bit stressed .

Next morning early up and phoned around for tyres .
What a shocker Prices were on average a R1000 more expensive per tyre than what it would have costed me in Cape Town.

Eventually found a place and was quoted R5200 for 2 new Wrangler Kevlars . Fitted balanced etc. Catch was I had to wait for them to get the tyres.

Me and swambo explored Upingtons malls and looked for meat and a few groceries for the next few weeks . Another shocker . Meat prices is crazy in Upington . Lesson learnt . Buy meat before hand at my local butcher .

Anyway . Tyres were fitted and we only left Upington after 15:00 that afternoon . There was no way we were going to make it to Twee Rivieren and then to Rooiputs . We had to sleep over somewhere .

Found a Caravan park in Askam and we pulled in there for the night . Ablutions were very clean and neat. Well looked after . Can really recommend it if you looking for a sleep over stop before entering the park .



Up to here the Caravan towed impeccably. No swaying . She is light and you don't really feel her behind you . Very happy so far

[Sakkie7]

We made it . We safe and sound in the Kgalagadi with a jeep with a rebuilt engine and a Caravan that was just converted .

What could go wrong ?

Rooiputs was a blast . We loved every moment of it.

At Rooiputs there is a pit toilet and a cold shower with running water behind the toilet they had a wash basin with running water. In summer it could maybe work to shower with the cold water. Winter time you will have to heat up your own water and have a portable shower as you cannot use the existing shower to mix the water. So there is no need to fill up your water tanks before visiting Rooiputs. Drinking water is a must.

Just be warned ...There are many sly Jackal around . Waiting just for you to turn your back and then your food or whatever they fancy is gone
We were camping at site 3 😁. Neighbour's came a day after us . Left their meat out on a table . Walked over and warned them about the Jackal . He moved the meat to onto his rooftop tent ⛺️.

Later on same day they went for a drive me and swambo were sitting and just admiring the beauty of the Kgalagadi ..when I noticed the Jackal at Neighbours tent . They were busy tearing it open

Chased them off ...at the time there were about 5 of them. I too left around the tent ...another comes around and circles back to try get whatever they were after . For the rest of the afternoon I played security guard 💂

Also found a little bottle with a note in warning campers about the Jackal . From Braaibrooidjies to flip flops were not even safe . Even a complete pot went missing

[Sakkie7]

Last year between Twee Rivieren and Kij Kij we had the most amazing sightings . Lions...Cheetah ...honey badger you name it .

However this year that same area for the time we were there was very quiet. On the second day we saw a Big male Cheetah called Gustav .the resident Cheetah at Rooiputs to Leeudril in that area.

Even the honey badgers were gone . Started to focus on the smaller critters and what a blast we had .

The road between Twee Rivieren up to Melkvkei is not bad at all . Not sand. More a very hard gravel road . Sedan car can easy do this with no difficulty at all

It was time to go up to Polentswa. We said Goodbye to Rooiputs and took the road to the north .

At Polentswa there is no running water. I filled up my 70L water tank on the roofrack at Rooiputs for showering and dishes. Water was heated on the fire in an old jerry can.
Do take enough drinking water with. The closest shop is Nossob, a good 60km away and that will take you about a hour and ten minutes to drive the distance there.

Ablutions is primitive with only a pit toilet and a shower enclosure. Make sure to take your own portable shower with and something to fix the shower head to the upright post. A reusable cable tie works well.

From Melkvlei you starting to get sandy and heavy heavy corrugated sections .
Once again the Caravan behaved perfectly and nothing broke off ..or fell apart on our SandGogga.

There are a few patches where the Sand is very thick ....and the road is narrow. Vehicles approaching on these could get tricky . A few times had to slightly pull up the embankment into deep sand . Engaged 4 low and off we would go again .

Reached Nossob ...Bought some snacks . Had a brunch and then pushed on to Polentswa for our next stop . This part of the road between Polentswa and Nossob is hair raising. It will remove your fillings if you have any
Some places even at 30km H the road tossed the Jeep around as if it was nothing . Thick sand and corrugations that looked like small waves .

I would lie if I said I was not concerned about the Caravan.

At the turnoff to the Kousant waterhole we found this old dame lying in the road. Min dae. Sadly she did not look good at all. We went back the following day to look for her again but alas we did not find her at all. This was the only lion we saw up north.



At Polentswa we hooked off and I inspected Caravan inside and out . Everything was still perfect 👌

The first night we had a braai. Finished that and packed away whatever I thought the lions could get to during the night. Somewhere during the night swambo tried to wake me up because we had visitors.

The lions were scratching my bags of wood that was underneath the caravan. Swambo could not get me awake....
Next morning we had lion tracks all around the caravan.



For the next few days we had a blast . Drove all the way past Geinab in search of the elusive Cats.

But we had our best times right at the waterhole at Polentswa . We were spoilt with the Jackals catching birds . The Lanner falcons crazy speed and agility hunting the little finches and pigeons.
Many species if Raptors from Bateleur Eagles ...Tawny Eagles and A host of different vulture species. . From around 14:00 in the afternoons to just before 18:00 me and swambo sat at the waterhole all alone . Not another vehicle in sight .

[Sakkie7]

The road back to Nossob from Polentswa once again was really bad . I would not advise anybody to try and drive this road with a low clearance vehicle or a sedan type vehicle . The thing that we did notice is that the rental 4x4 vehicles drivers did not understand how dangerous that road can be at speed . Drive it like you stole it came up very often .

Anyway back at Nossob we checked everything again and stayed there for a blissful 5 nights.

In this time we managed to see 2 Cheetahs at Marie se draai just as we had to leave to go back to camp

They were way up the Dunes .

Once again the cats managed to evade us .
News right through the camp was the same ...No cats around.
There were plenty Oryx ...Blue wilde beest. ...springbucks in hordes. Just no cats ...But man we had great sightings from Raptors .
Cubitje Quap waterhole delivered the goods .
If you're a bird lover ...The two spots that has to be on the must do list will be Pollentswa and Cubitje Quap waterholes . The bird life is just phenomenal here

[Sakkie7]

Time to move off to Mata Mata . 16 June ....My birthday ...what can go wrong
Packed and ready to go . Checked wheels ...bearings etc. Off we go. Back to Dikbaarskolk and then onto the 54km long Upper dune road . The road surface was really badly corrugated and we kept the speed between 20 and 30km per hour .

Just as we hit the 22nd km on my odometer there was this sudden weight on the back of the Jeep and I could feel something is not right .

At first me and swambo was just sitting in the Jeep hoping someone comes past so I could get out to assess the damage . 10 minutes later I got out . Told swambo to keep a lookout for lions as we were right in a valley formed by the Dunes and you cannot see more than about 200 to 350m on either side .

The issue was very clear . The front shackle has literally torn out of the chassis on the right hand side wheel . The whole axle was pushed back on the right hand side . .

Started to to see what plan I can make to get the caravan and us to safety at Kamqua picnick sight that was still about 25 km away.

A German couple came past in a Rental and eventually stopped. I asked them just to relay a message to Mata Mata reception that we picked up trouble ..and that if we are not in camp at 5 they must please send the cavalry.

At this stage I found 1 x 8mm bolt and nut that was long enough that I could bolt the shackle sort of back onto the chassis after i drilled a hole . Thankfully I had a full Toolbox packed with cordless drill ...impact wrench sockets etc.

What I did forget was the rolled up welding rods and my small Tupperware dish with bolts and nuts that always tour with

In the time that I was lying underneath the Caravan there ..scrambling around to just get it mobile again it was weird how the one vehicle after the other just simply drove past. There were 3 vehicles out of about 12 that actually stopped and asked if we were ok . As soon as I said yes ..they would just roll up windows and drive off .
Swambo was at this stage in full on stress mode . Tears running while being my spanner girl as well as my lookout for lions 🦁.

Fitted the shackle as best as I could . Packed tools away and we crawled towards Kamqua. I felt it would be a bit more safe there to try and see if I could get the wheel not to rub on the chassis.

What I needed was a few welding rods. The bolt was not going to last the 56 odd km to Mata Mata Rest camp

Thankfully a gentleman I asked had 3 welding rods that he donated to me. He was very interested to know how I was going to weld without a welder.

Out came the home build lithium battery. It has 8 cells of 100ah each wired into a 12 v configuration.

Loosened the cells and wired into a 24v system took 10 minutes .
Out came my jumper cables and I had a impromptu DC welding machine. Rewelded the shackle ....and with the help of a 4 pound hammer got it to sit at an acceptable spot where it did not rub against the chassis .
A lithium pack welds like a dream .

At this stage I was full of sand . Had it literally everywhere .

We towed the Caravan to Mata Mata without any further issues . We were stressed out and the road was very badly corrugated. I knew that the repair job was just temporary and I would have to fit a bit of steel plate to reinforce the area.

But for now we setup camp and had a cold one on a long and trying day . Will not forget that birthday in a hurry

[Sakkie7]

Sadly no pics or videos were taken during this time . We were both stressed to the max and not for one moment thought about taking kiekies.

What would have been nice was for just one of those passing vehicles to actually stop there and just sit and help being a lookout while I am lying under the Caravan . I for one certainly would have done that.

Anyways ...we are safe and have arrived .

A day or so after our arrival I begged 2 x 50x5mm x 5cm pieces of flat bar from the Technical manager at Mata Mata . @Marius van Rooyen jy is n YSTER. Thank you for the help.

[

He even brought me a few welding rods and a helmet. Offered his own welding machine up to be used . I however had already my "welding machine under the Caravan.
Welded in the 2 pieces of flat bar. Reinforcing where necessary. I was confident that the repair would last

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[Stranger]

Very well done, that is far beyond my expertise.

[Krummelpap]

Sakkie jy is n yster . Sal enige tyd saam met jou gaan kamp. Hoe stadiger jy ry hoe meer gaan jou voertuig skud in die Kgalagadi..................

[Sakkie7]

Speaking To Marius it seems a regular thing for those roads to claim a victim or two. From diesel tanks that came loose completely . Trailers breaking etc. That roads do not take any prisoners .

Mata Mata was just as quiet on the Cat front . We saw many spoor ...but no cats at all .

The birds entertained us while we stayed there .
The amount of Giraffes were staggering . 20 plus animals in one area was not uncommon at all . They were all over the place .

Gemsbok ...springbok ...blou wilde beest were in top form....and plenty of them around .

The day before we had to leave for Twee Rivieren we eventually saw 2 female lioness with 4 cubs that we could see at Sitsas. Cubs must have been 6 months old or so .
Our time was coming to an end in a magical place

[Sakkie7]

The road back to Twee rivieren was baddddd...Really bad .

About 10 km from Twee rivieren we saw the tractor pulling the tyres . Thankfully we will have the last 10km a slightly better road .

Sadly the towing of the tyres behind the tractors only helps for 2 to 3 hours ...then it is back to very bad corrugations

But all those bad roads ...I will do in a heartbeat again
Man what a magical place.

That sand does not only get into your hair ....anus...nose... ears etc while you lying there on the ground ...It penetrates into your soul ...your blood....
And you can never get it out

it was a trip that we will remember for life.

[Sakkie7]

We left Twee rivieren the next morning and made.our way to Potchefstroom for the wedding . The roads outside the towns is really not too bad ....but what a hell hole did those small town become . Potholes and run down ...it is sad 😔

Well we made it safely to Potchefstroom that evening . Had a wonderful wedding the next day and the Sunday made our way back to Cape Town.

We slept over in the Karoo National Park. Kudos to the management there . The place is brilliant 👏

Last stretch home was a breeze. No further issues with the caravan and she has done everything I was hoping for and more. Many more camps will be had with Sandgogga.....

Most of the time I was towing at a comfortable speed of 120km h and had a return of 13.7l per 100km consumption for the trip worked out on paper.

[Sakkie7]

Sakkie jy is n yster . Sal enige tyd saam met jou gaan kamp. Hoe stadiger jy ry hoe meer gaan jou voertuig skud in die Kgalagadi..................

Dit is Baie waar .....maar die pad is redeluk gevaarlik .

On our 3rd day at Mata Mata we took a drive to dikbaarskolk for the day

On our return to Mata Mata we drove past a Ford Ranger that had a head on. RIGHT SIDE INTO RIGHT SIDE collision with a contractors truck about 10 km from Dikbaarskolk .

Those contractors in those trucks think they are F1 dri ers. Thankfully nobody was hurt in the accident.

Same about the Botswana registered bakkies . Those okes drive like maniacs on that roads