SA4x4

The scale of the COVID-19 pandemic has surprised us all. As has the severity and impact of the lockdown restrictions imposed in South Africa since late March. It was the right thing to do but, as with any severe action, the medical gains in containing the potential spread of the virus are slowly being outweighed by the massive costs in lost business. It shows just how fragile both our health systems and our economies really are. A brief pause in the large scale of time is a healthy thing, but for all of us involved in meeting human demand, from manufacturing cars to offering great tourist escapes, that pause is weighing heavily on lost income. We can’t make the usual decisions or go about planning to expand or reinterpret our…

KUKONJE & BOTSWANA’S RIVER FLOWS I was most interested in reading the article on Botswana’s Hunter’s Road in the April issue of SA4x4. It certainly is a challenge with all that black cotton soil in the rains! In the article, the author mentioned that they visited Kukonje Island. Although more people are familiar with Kubu Island, I agree with the author that a visit to its sister Kukonje Island is worthwhile. Although both are located on Sowa Pan, the two islands are very different. Kubu is much smaller with rounded outcrops, boulders, and small cliffs of granite which are dotted with massive baobabs. In contrast, Kukonje is much larger and is made up of a flat horizontal sheet of dolerite, a blackish igneous rock. This has resulted in the formation…

The writer of this month’s winning letter receives one of the most useful recovery aids you can carry on your vehicle – a set of two Total Traction by Treds recovery tracks from Ironman 4x4. That’s quite a mouthful, but these bright green Australian-engineered and manufactured tracks will get your vehicle out of trouble in a hurry, whether you are mired in sand, mud or snow, or hung up on a rocky patch that has got your wheels scrabbling for traction. Treds are 1.1 metres long and feature a four-channel underside for rigidity and stability, aggressive ramp entry teeth, and grippy hex nodules along the length of the track. The set is valued at R4795.…

In response to a growing number of complaints about how we conduct ourselves in the wilderness, we decided to draw up and promote a code of conduct for overlanders. We’d like to include your input, comments and debate, so please send your suggestions to editor@sa4x4.co.za. FIREWOOD Take your firewood in with you; don’t chop down trees or gather dead wood within parks or wilderness areas. KEEP QUIET We go to the bush to appreciate the sights and sounds of the bush. No music, and nothing louder than a spoken conversation. RESPECT LOCALS – LAWS AND PEOPLE Obey the rules of the place you’re travelling through. Respect locals and their traditions; if they don’t like having their photos taken, don’t take photos. SUPPORT LOCAL TRADE Your spending money at the local…

It seems that a ‘must-have’ piece of equipment, which is often mounted on peoples’ 4x4s, is a winch. It most certainly has that ‘wow’ factor and makes you look like the ultimate adventurer. This piece of equipment has been available for decades, yet many owners have no idea how to operate it safely. Winches are used for lifting in industrial applications, as well as for pulling; think of overhead cranes lifting containers in the harbour, and the tow truck or flatbed that comes to pick your vehicle up after an accident or breakdown. In this series we keep on stressing that you should attend a recovery course for a reason; the last thing you want is for a mishap to happen in the middle of the wilderness that results in…

Whilst ‘growing younger’ sounds like the sales pitch for a new anti-ageing cosmetic, it is indeed a scientific fact. Well, in some insects at least! One of the weirdest phenomena in all of nature is the ability of certain insects to grow younger, or put another way, age in reverse. Termites are one such example; honey bees another. Termites practice division of labour via a caste system, with each caste having a specific task. Only the ‘royal couple’ are able to reproduce, whilst workers and soldiers forgo this ability in order to perform the tasks of foraging and protection for the good of the colony. Ants often raid termite nests, killing many of the soldier termites. This results in a disproportionate ratio of worker to soldier termites. The colony can…