Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

I think a few of us should see if we can join these guys for a weekend:

http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/sho ... p?t=111282

What do you guys say?

I looked, drooled and ............booked????

Think it can be a fun weekend. Shall we start looking for a date?

I will skip on the Baboonspass part as I do NOT like rocks and boulders but the water part looks like a lot of fun.

Stuffing up a riverine system like that is not something i'd like to parade on the World Wide Web.

Due respect given to ALL members of this forum as i have not seen ONE picture of this kind of behaviour from any of us here. But this is total bullsh*t. Prancing around in a eco system as divers as a tributary/creek/river like this is just not on.

Im 32 years old, i'd like to be able to still drive a 4wd vehicle when i finally have a child old enough to sit next to me and point at beautiful scenes like the one in those pictures (sans 4x4 hooligans). This image is the type that will end that dream for many of us.

Dont like what i say, delete it.At least you read it.

Best
Russ.

Hello Russ

If you drive in a riverbed and you stick to the riverbed and on existing paths, entry and exit at existing points, how does that impact negative on the riverine system? The tracks in the river will be obliterated by the flow of the river.

Maybe you read the article in more detail and looked at more of the pictures than I did and thus have another opinion but from what I have seen, and I will look again tonight, but until then, I beg to differ.

Regards
Izak

Hi Peter en Alex. Het al self so uitstapie al gedoen in die Olifants rivier, en dt was erg sports gewees. Ek sal met graagte wil deel wees van so naweek. Sit vir ons datum uit,dan gaan ons. Daar is paar reels wat opi forum,en 1 van daai reels is taalgebruik. Is dit nie hoekom daar reels is ni? Daar is beslis beter taal wat gebruik kan word!

O K gents - oompie just have ONE thing to say: Do not over react [both ways] and get the FACTS before jumping to con clusions...[O K - said TWO things there ]
Keep it cool Bru ... rerrag
ek is op hierdie site omdat regtig plesier is want dis beskaafd en nognie EEN wetter het sy Tyotta in my keel probeer afdruk nie..

Russ, this is a trail that has been in existence AFAIK for a number of years.

It has also been featured in at least one magazine article.

Gerrie from WegRy drove it and published an article some time late last year if I remember correctly. Perhaps he can give us his inputs? Most trails in our area have river crossings, and if the entry and exit points are well chosen and managed, there should be very little damage? This also counts for every single farm in that area, although obviously the traffic there is lighter, which helps.

I will however do some more research.

Right, (cue the violins)....

I drove with the Elands4x4 guys last year on the same trails (did not do the Ossewa-part, though). And we did the same trails.
Day 1 - Makhoya - an existing trail on farm land that runs through some donga's and up and down some big rocks.
Day 2 - Piet se pad - an informal trail that runs right up to the Swaziland border with about 1km stretch going up a very steep incline with rock, mud, you name it. No damage to the environment (these guys actually use trunk protectors when they winch from a tree - something that not everybody does...) And other than that, it is driving on a two spoor in the veld - where everyone follows the guy in front on the same track - no new ground is broken.
Day 3 - The Nsikazi-rivier. - now this is the part that creates some unhappiness. After we published the article (June 2010) we got a letter much on the same level as Russ's rant (no offense) which we subsequently answered as well. I will paraphrase some of that answer because for the life of me I can't find the letter and the answer now.
You drive into the river, drive up a few km's and drive out - and go home. The trail that we drove in the Nzikazi-river has one entry point and one exit point that is in brush - all the other points where we may have gotten out of the river to bypass an unpassable section was through sand and bush. The whole time that we were there the guys mentioned a couple of times that the river changes constantly and every time that the drive there, it is different. So let's look at how that works. The river rises and falls with rainfall and water levels from it's source - as any river does. The banks, riverbed and area around is sand. Sand, sand and more sand. (There is even an area where and is mined that we passed on our way down to the river).
So the thing with sand is that it does not need a huge force of nature to change/move/do a summersault (they talk about dunes "walking" in some parts of Namibia and the Kalahari...). Same thing with that river and that is why it changes constantly - the broad path stays the same, but between the banks, it is in a constant fluctuation. So how many vehicles driving up a riverbed will not do any damage to the river's eco-system (by the way - just up river is a small community - and as it goes with small communities - they do much worse in rivers than drive there). So, if the 4x4's drive there - the river will change and wash away their tracks with the next rain - it will not wash away valuable top soil because the tracks leading in is an existing trail - the top soil in any case is sand (same as the bottom soil). If the 4x4's don't drive there the river will wash away all the cattle tracks (that drink from the river) with the next rain. With just as much sand (which is very loose - hence getting stuck so often).
So what I am trying to say (rather stumbling over words here) is that the 4x4's does not (in this instance) influence the river's eco-system. When they get stuck - it is in the river bed and even before they are unstuck - the tracks are washed away.
I am as concerned about the environment as the next guy and would also like to one day have my kids next to me and show them the beautiful scenery (my wife as well - because I go on most of these trips alone - and always promise to take her there some day!) In another setting with a different eco-system and riverine setup - I would not drive in it and I would not go with guys who do and I will strongly condemn it (I asked the Elands guys before-hand when they told me about the river and I checked that it woudl be ecologically safe - most of the guys works for Sappi or used to work for Sappi - they know about ecological conservation and they pride themselves on practicing ecologically safe 4x4ing.
That is my and I don't expect everybody to agree - but such is life.

So maats wanneer gaan ons?

Spoedig !!!