For love of the LAND
Matthew Savides joins a weekendaway gathering of romantic souls, all mad about their machines
THE dust rises as a howling wind pumps through the Maluti mountains. Tent poles creak like aging, wooden floorboards. Gazebos threaten to roll around like tumbleweeds in an old Western movie.
But like the mountains they’re surrounded by, the fleet of Land Rovers is unmoved. It’s like they belong here, at a dusty game farm in Clarens, no matter what Mother Nature has in store for them.
“Land Rover people are friendly people,” one of the Landy owners tells me in between sips of whisky.
We are sitting around an indoor braai at the Rebellie Game Farm, as about 20 people laugh and talk and smoke. This is the first ever Clarens Trophy, a “Landy Fest” to allow enthusiasts to gather.
I borrowed one to go along but there are more than 50 vehicles there for the Human Rights Day long weekend — even after the wind, which damaged some tents, sent some people home early.
“What’s the attraction?” I ask my whisky-drinking friend.
“They like to come to places like this where they can catch up with old friends and meet people who share their love of Land Rovers,” he says. “They want to be in nature, where it’s beautiful. They also want to see what their vehicles can do.”
Clarens ticks all the boxes. It’s beautiful, with restaurants and stores dotting the tree-lined streets. Art galleries are everywhere. Outside town are the landscapes perfect for those wanting to push their machines to the limit. The 4x4 track at Rebellie is short but tough, as evidenced by the massive patch of oil at the first of the three challenges when a driver’s misjudgement resulted in the underside of his vehicle smashing into a rock. Another obstacle has vehicles tilting 45° towards a sheer drop-off as they trudge up a steep incline.
These challenges left my hands sweaty and my nerves shattered — and I was on photo duty outside on the side of the rocky, single track.
But it was worth it for those who finished; the top of the mountain is spectacular. With the broken and rusty fence that divides South Africa and Lesotho just metres behind and with a panoramic view in front, it makes perfect sense why these Landy and 4x4 owners come. — Savides was a guest of Clarens Trophy Landy Fest and Land Rover Hillcrest