Where will your Fortuner take you?

Pretty much anywhere! A Fortuner handles the school run just as easily as a rocky mountain pass in the wilderness with a camping trailer on tow. Get behind the wheel and feel the freedom.

Journalists Sophia van Taak and Toast Coetzer from our sister publication go! recently drove almost 4 000 km in a Toyota Fortuner while filming the latest series of Weg Agterpaaie. (Repeat broadcasts are shown on Via, channel 147 on DStv until 5 October: Fridays 5.30 pm and 11.30 pm; Saturdays 5.30 am.) The latest series focused on the West Coast, starting in Cape Town and ending in Alexander Bay. They also detoured into the interior and explored the Cederberg, Namaqualand, the Richtersveld and Bushmanland. You need a production team to make a TV show, which is why Chris Kritzinger and Louw Prinsloo also went along in their own chestnut brown Fortuner. ( Toast and Sophia drove a white Fortuner – the third star of the show!) Both Fortuners were excellent for the purpose. They were always comfortable despite some challenging driving circumstances and they were spacious enough for the array of gear required by the production team: tripods, cameras, duffel bags, braai wood, a bag of bokkems… The photographs here show five of Toast and Sophia’s favourite places they visited during their month-long road trip. Red dunes might be something you associate with the Kalahari or the Namib, but thanks to 4x4 guide Rey Janse van Rensburg, the team was introduced to the red dunes of Bushmanland on a farm between Springbok and Pofadder (photo 1). Rey gave everyone a crash course in dune driving and both Fortuners got through the sand without a hitch. The Richtersveld (photo 2) offered the toughest driving challenges, with terrain varying from precarious mountain passes to the sandy and rocky banks of the Orange River. Thanks to Rey’s expert guidance, both Fortuners effortlessly traversed the arduous route. The Gifberg Pass (photo 3) is an access route to a little-known part of the northern Cederberg near Vanrhynsdorp. The views from the top of the pass were incredible, looking out over the Knersvlakte. Naturally, the Fortuners turned heads wherever the team travelled. In Elands Bay (photo 4) Natasha Engelbrecht and Sylvia Cetywayo (chefs at the Wit Mossel Pot Restaurant) insisted on taking a photo with Sophia – and the Fortuner. The team kept returning to the wild waves of the West Coast. At Hondeklip Bay (photo 5) Toast parked the Fortuner at a scenic spot to snap what would become the magazine’s March 2018 cover image ( go! #141).