Game On
From the moment I saw the Donkerpoort 4x4 website, I suspected that this 19km track would provide some challenges. And, when I saw farm-owner Ernie Griessel’s customised Toyota Legend 45 3.0 D-4D Hilux, I felt that these suspicions had been confirmed. It was game on.
What concerned me more than the bakkie’s ability, or my own, was my brief rather to err on the side of caution with the long-term Mazda BT-50 4x4 ‘camper’, and if I was in doubt about a particular section, rather to leave it out. Trouble is, you never really know how difficult a section is until you’re in it. Besides, after what I’d already been through with this vehicle, I was confident that it could take on all but a Grade 5. I hoped I was right.
“Okay, Nick, should I take it over this first obstacle, or would you like to?” Ernie asked me about five minutes after we’d left his farmhouse.