BEHIND THE SCENES
Photographer, writer and our very own map maker, François Haasbroek has been a part of the team for 11 years. During that time, he has had more car drama on assignment than all the other writers combined. His trip to the Wild Coast (p 40) was no exception…
What’s your tally?
Off the top of my head, I can think of 13 incidents, ranging from getting stuck on a muddy road in the Kruger Park for two hours, surrounded by elephants, to filling a diesel car with petrol in Bitterfontein.
Scariest incident?
In 2011, I was driving a Suzuki Jimny on a farm near Patensie in the Eastern Cape after heavy rain. At one point, the road simply gave way beneath me, causing the vehicle to roll and end up on its roof. Luckily I wasn’t going very fast – the farmers don’t like it when you drive more than 20 km/h near their orange orchards – and I escaped without serious injury.
And the funniest?
It’s never funny while it’s happening, but afterwards I can usually find something to smile about. Like the time the magazine’s old Toyota Condor broke down in a parking lot in Nelspruit on New Year’s Eve in a deluge. I was stranded in Nelspruit for three days without a vehicle. In the end, a mechanic repaired the Condor with a hairdryer and some new wire insulation.
What happened on the Wild Coast?
In Dwesa Nature Reserve, there’s is a sign that indicates a road to the Kobole estuary. I was curious and took the turn-off. I was in a two-wheel-drive Mahindra Scorpio SUV with decent ground clearance. I thought I’d be fine. The road goes through a forest and down a steep hill to the river, where it comes to a dead end against the beach – with nowhere to turn around! I tried to reverse up the hill, but it was too steep and wet.
The only solution was to turn around on the sand. I got stuck, of course.
After struggling for a while, I abandoned the vehicle and walked down the coast to find cellphone signal. I called the park office in East London and they sent someone stationed at the park gate to help me. I found out later that if I’d left the Scorpio there for an hour or two longer, the tide would have taken it…
Do people help you when you’re stranded?
Even in the middle of nowhere, a Good Samaritan usually pulls over to help. (Except that one farmer north of Noenieput who just drove right past me…) I’ve been helped by an aircraft mechanic from Betta in Namibia, fishermen from Hondeklip Bay and gospel singers from Philandersbron.
What do you never leave home without?
My crate of essentials: spade, tyre pressure gauge and air compressor.