The (almost) 4 000km road trip


By Justin Jacobs
Three thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six kilometres, the distance I recently covered traversing our beautiful country behind the wheel of the updated Suzuki Vitara. This is the story about that trip and why it is important for you to get out and explore this amazing country we call home.
Our trip started at the Caxton East Rand office in Boksburg on Saturday 23 February. What lay ahead was a trip that would take us from the Highveld to the picturesque Lowveld, along the Wild Coast and the Garden Route, followed by the Karoo before the journey back home.
Leg 1: Boksburg to White River
Our first leg saw us meander through my home province, Mpumalanga. It is said that some of the best roads can be found in the Lowveld and we sure discovered a couple. The N4 is what you will experience for most of the trip and that’s a good thing.
The toll gates are expensive but the highway is well kept, the surface is good and there is almost instant support for those who run into unforeseen trouble. Luckily, we were not a casualty.
The Vitara we had been provided with was the flagship 1.6-litre GLX equipped with a six-speed automatic gearbox, and whose list of standard spec included a new touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a panoramic sunroof, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, a leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel, rain sense wipers and suede seat inserts to name but a few.
As we got closer to White River, the terrain drastically changed. The wide open grasslands soon disappeared and gave to way to breath taking mountain ranges. Here the road wines down and the vegetation starts to change. We arrived at our overnight stop just in time to catch the sunset as only Africa could deliver.
Leg 2: White River to Shakaland
The second part of our journey saw us up early for the long haul to KwaZulu-Natal. We left White River and travelled to Barberton, eager to find out what we could expect. This section was one of my favourites as it offered up so much in terms of scenery; from the typical African bushveld of the Lowveld to massive tree plantations that spanned as far as the eye could see.
As we neared our destination, the terrain started to change again, this time becoming luscious, beautiful and with a more spectacular view than the last. The Vitara did its work as it not only had to battle the hills and mountain passes, but lost of logging trucks. We finally made it to our destination with a bug splattered windscreen and grille, which has been redesigned for 2019. A short gravel road ended this leg off, something which the Vitara took with ease.
Leg 3: Shakaland to Coffee Bay
Part three of our Odyssey was to be one of the longest, seven hours past Durban and onto the Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape. It is a small town of around 600 people nestled along the Wild Coast, but to get there lay many hundreds of kilometres compounded by arriving in Durban at rush hour.
Aside from its list of features, the Vitara was still sipping unleaded frugally at 7.0-litres/100km, not bad considering it had two of my colleagues and myself in it plus our luggage, as well as the fact that Suzuki has carried over the unassisted petrol motor that still produces 86kW/151Nm.
Much later, and in part thanks to a service delivery protest, we arrived at our endpoint, however, there was no time to waste as we found out that the famous Hole in the Wall heritage site was nearby. Between it and us was a rather badly kept gravel road, which presented not much of challenge to the Vitara though. We rushed along the gravel road and managed to experience it just before the sun went down.
Leg 4: Coffee Bay to Kuzuko Lodge
Another few hundred kilometres faced us the next day as we headed from Coffee Bay to Kuzuko Lodge outside Port Elizabeth. The drive was something special as the rolling hills of the Wild Coast soon made way for the arid, bushveld landscape of the Eastern Cape.
After many hours, the tarmac surface disappeared and soon, we found ourselves on a gravel road that lasted for nearly 100km. Luckily, the road was good condition and very quickly, the speed increased to 80km/h with little hassle.
A few hours later, the gravel become tar, only to become loose again a short while later. While it was only 30km long, the last stretch was dusty and the road not as smooth as before. The Vitara took everything in is stride though and as we reached Kuzuko, it somehow looked the part covered in dust and splattered with bugs unlike the rented sedan it was parked next to.
Leg 5: Kuzuko Lodge to Knysna
It was once again an early rise as we headed from Kuzuko up the N2 towards Knysna. This part of the journey took us through Port Elizabeth and along the very pretty Garden Route where the mountain meets the ocean between gorges, rivers and forests.
Down at the coast, the Vitara really got into its stride as its naturally breathing engine performed at its most potent despite its modest outputs. That side, it wafted us to Knysna where it managed to blend into the establishments of the area rather well.
Leg 6: Knysna to Oudtshoorn
The shortest part of our journey saw is leaving Knysna and heading more inland to the Klein Karoo town of Oudtshoorn with the speculator Outeniqua and Swartberg Mountains serving as a backdrop. While we managed to sneak-in a visit to the world renowned Cango Caves, my mind was focused on the next leg, a 727km cruise to Bloemfontein.
Leg 7: Oudtshoorn- Bloemfontein
It was yet another early wakeup call as we headed towards the N1, still taken aback by the incredible scenery that surrounded us. We drove through mountain passes and crossed countless small rivers with the picture-book landscape warranting us to stop time-after-time to take pictures.
Soon after, we hit the arrow-straight N1 that was, unexpectedly, quiet. With the aim of getting to our lunch stop, Colesberg at an acceptable time, I set the Vitara to work as balancing speed with fuel economy became the focus point.
Our rendezvous in Colesberg done and with us filled-up, we upped our pace on the run towards Bloemfontein. At the same though, we couldn’t up it too much as we still had to drive as economically as possible, while planning each and every overtake accordingly and avoiding unnecessary braking or accelerating.
Many hours later, we arrived in Bloemfontein. I was extremely tired but as has been the case throughout, the Vitara hardly broke a sweat and deposited us in Bloemfontein in complete comfort.
Leg 8: Bloemfontein to Johannesburg
The final leg of our trip and the earliest start as well, four o’clock in the morning. Despite this, we were again reminded of the hazards of our roads as we soon encountered a very nasty accident that cost us some 25 minutes.
As beautiful as our country is, the behaviour of many drivers still rates as shocking with some still overtaking on white lines, others being impatient and not adhering to the speed limit, while some are painfully slow and an accident waiting to happen.
When we eventually got moving again, the stillness of the night sky and the quietness of the road had ended and before we knew it, the road started to get busy again as the terrain soon made way for Johannesburg’s iconic skyline.
We arrived back at our office just before 8am on Saturday with the odometer reading 3 996km, the most I had ever covered on a single trip. Just impressive was the performance of our Vitara which was not only light on fuel, but also comfortable, well-equipped and spacious.
It was the ideal vehicle with which we could explore our country, something I urge you to do as there is lots see and discover of this place called South Africa.
