King of all the jungles
The Dindingwe, the new flagship model from Tuff Cats, boasts the manufacturer’s first fully built-in bathroom, says
In South Africa, buyers can choose from a multitude of off-road caravans, but only a handful of them have a built-in bathroom. Tuff Cats has joined the club with its Dindingwe. A timely decision when you consider the COVID-19 pandemic. When you have your own private bathroom, you don’t have to share facilities in the campsite. But it’s not just the bathroom that appeals. The outdoor kitchen and sleeping area are wonderfully spacious, and the caravan is perfect for a couple or even a family of four.
Pride of place
As with the other three Tuff Cats models – the Nzudzi, Shumba and Mbada – the Dindingwe has a galvanised chassis and an aluminium hull. All have an indoor basin and space for a cassette toilet, and the three other models have a shower tent you pitch outside. The bathroom sits in the nose of the Dindingwe and follows the diagonal lines of the A-frame. It has two doors: The one separates the shower and the other the shower and toilet. The entire shower cubicle is made of fibreglass. The shower head is an extension that’s hooked to the ceiling. Both sides of the shower cubicle has a window that can open.
Die rest of the interior
The door is in the left panel at the back and has a mesh cover – an element that would be welcome on all off-road caravans. As you enter, there’s a couch on your right that extends down the rear end
of the caravan, which can also serve as extra sleeping space. For families with two children, there’s a suspended bed above the bottom one. As with the Mbada, the main bed pulls in capsule form from the right-hand panel, but this one’s bed is bigger. It is a queen-size bed (instead of a double bed) and you can sit upright on the bed. Opposite the bed, against the back of the outside kitchen, are all the interior cupboards (with hanging space next to you). The vanity corner is at the foot end, with a large mirror above the worktop.
External features
Besides the door where you enter, there are another six other doors in the left panel that all form part of the outdoor kitchen – with everything from grocery shelves to space for the fridge/freezer and stove. The fridge/freezer pulls from of the hull on a sliding frame as per usual, with the microwave in also in one of the shelves. The two-plate gas stove is not mounted on the worktop. It pulls out over the top of the worktop on a sliding frame. There’s a frame with a sink and drying rack – with space for two plastic sinks – that pops up at the tail end, and here you also have a tap with cold and hot water in the small cupboard above the frame. The pop-up laundry line is attached to the side of the bed capsule and you can open it as soon as the bed is pulled out.
Wat comes standard?
Standard items include the following: three 17” wheels (two alloy, and the spare wheel with its steel rim); a 120 ℓ water tank with pump; crockery drawer with six plates, six cups, eight glasses, four wine glasses and four dessert bowls; a Hansen gas/electric geyser; a 200 Ah lithium battery; a smart power system; indoor bathroom; L-awning; two-plate gas stove; pop-up laundry line; and 28 ℓ microwave oven. Among the extras are side panels for the awning (R18 055), a 160 W-12 V solar panel with wiring and clamps (R1 725), movers (R22 425), 12 000 BTU split unit air-conditioning (R12 650), sound system (R12 075) and a Tuff Cats duvet cover (R2 128).