On the 26th of January 2013 our official involvement in the Hand Me Down project began. Clothing had been donated from far and wide and we had a mammoth task ahead of us sorting and repacking more than 100 bags of clothing into black bags to be distributed in Lesotho in April.

An entire day was spent doing the packing by 8 of us, needless to say after we had finished we were all a little pooped. Further donations on clothing have since been flowing in at a steady pace and we will have to have another packing day soon i am sure!

The 19th April was the date for the first redistribution to Lesotho for the year. Leaving Johannesburg at 12h30 on Friday afternoon, we travelled in a 4 strong convoy, 3 landy’s and Toyota Fortuner (In Ryan’s words, “there is always one”). Arriving in Lesotho with very few stops and an extremely easy border crossing some 5 hours later. We enjoyed a very social evening at the Maliba Mountain Lodge’s restaurant. I had special surprise from everyone, they had organised an awesome birthday cake and everyone to sing happy birthday to me…thanks guys that was too cool!! It has to be said that Lesotho is breath-taking, its exactly what you would expect to see, lots of people on donkeys/horses wrapped up warm in blankets and the snow-crested mountains in the distance. Arriving at Maliba Lodge just after dark we had no idea the amazing setting that the lodge was situated in, this view would have to be soaked up the following morning.

The temperature was in single figures and we were all hoping for snow as well. This would be our families first experience ever in snow and we were all for snow as well as extremely excited about the Hand Me Down project! The 19th April was actually my birthday and this year instead of having a massive party we went on a distribution for the Hand me Down project instead. So instead of getting presents for my birthday, this year I was giving for my birthday which made it even more special.

We all woke a little later than we normally would have, some blamed the Maluti, I put it down to the tranquility of the raging river only a few meters away from our window. We scoffed down some breakfast and headed up to the main lodge to make all the arrangements with Peter and Alwyn at Maliba Lodge for the days distribution. After all the bits and pieces had been sorted out we jumped into the 4×4′s and headed to the Ha Mohale community center. Not very far from the lodge we turned off the tar and headed up the mountain. Well, when i say headed up the mountain, we did this at a very steady pace, thick mud, bogged us down and the going was … AWESOME! I would guess that the entire distance from the tar to the community centre was no more than 3-4kms, but don’t let this fool you on how long it takes to drive on very slippery, very muddy dirt tracks and while doing it all in rainy conditions. We took in the region of 4 hours to get to the community centre, followed all the way up the mountain by happy cheerful and very excited children who would be receiving clothing from the project. While the clothing is distributed at no cost to the community, Hand Me Down does things a little differently:  Clothing is not given, it’s exchanged for litter, the idea is brilliant, trash for clothing, it’s a small idea that makes a huge difference to not only those receiving clothing but to the people and the community as a whole.

Arriving at the community centre after some fighting with the mud, the number of eager faces was growing by the minute. The local community leaders spent a couple of minutes deciding on which bags and how many of them would be going to the various communities that were not represented at the actual community centre. We unpacked (ripping my own pants, looked like I needed a Hand Me Down as well) and got all the clothing up the hill. As it happens in Africa, everything is on African time, so waiting for the leaders to organise how they were going to distribute the clothes and organise the kids took some time. No problem for us as we were snapping pics of just about everything as well and Michele and Ryan providing much entertainment trying to figure out a clapping hand game…the children that surrounded us sounded like a choir of sniffs, yes sniffs, shame poor kids all seemed like they had the flu

I was blown away by these kids, I simply cannot believe that these kids are orphans, they are well mannered soft natured children that literally steal your heart. You want to pick every single one of them up and give them a big hug. I could not believe at how well some of them spoke English, clearly although orphaned these kids are still keen on an education and learning English!

Our reasoning for doing Hand Me Down is quite a big list, but a few major points stand out:

1. We are fortunate, we need and want to help those less fortunate than ourselves
2. My daughter, I would like her to realise that not everything in the world comes easily to everyone and how fortunate she really is
3. Giving, there is no better gift than giving someone in need and that it’s appreciated with a smile second to none, it’s heart warming and fills you with worth

Anyway, back to the distribution, Skyla my daughter at this stage had a mini breakdown, being blonde haired and blue eyed she seemed to have found the fascination of all the children. They continuously poked, pulled and laughed at what they had never seen before. Skyla not understanding why they were doing it burst into tears, understandably overwhelmed at the goings on. After we explained why they were so curious about her she understood.  Skyla’s biggest concern, after finding out that some 80% of those children had no mommy’s or daddy’s was, “who hugs them and cuddles them at night and when they are not feeling well?”. We had to explain in the nicest way to her that this was the reason we are here doing Hand Me Down, as these children cannot pay for clothing and don’t have money for food or anyone other than themselves that they can fully rely on. These kids, some younger than her are the adults in their families. It really is saddening to see and difficult to really comprehend without seeing it first hand for yourself!

Organised now, the community leaders started to read out names of children and began giving them clothing. No rush, no pushing, no fighting,  everybody glad to be getting something. No matter how small, no matter how many, the joy on their faces reaffirming why I wanted to be part of Hand Me Down. Sadly we could not stay for the entire hand out, as the hours of daylight were growing fewer and we still had to get down the mountain and collect the rubbish which was at the bottom. Michele said a few words to the community and Peter our guide from Maliba Lodge translated it from English to Sesotho, some words were also said by a representative of  the community, again translated. The concept of rubbish collection for clothing was again emphasized to the children and community alike. Sad to be on our way but our departure was a joyful one with songs of thanks being sung by everyone there. I must add here that the weather was cold and rainy, but this dampened no ones spirits at all, children, adults, and everyone there was in a fantastic festive mood, with smiles laughs and jokes all round.

Back on track down the mountain we went, not as long to get down as the trip up was, but still had to be extremely cautious in the very slippery conditions. We still had to get to the bottom of the mountain and pick up the trash collected by the locals in exchange for the clothing, as well as drop off some more clothing to another community a little way down the road. After collecting the trash and exchanging more clothing for it, we were on our way back to Maliba Lodge for some competitive cooking (Tim and Ryan going loggerheads on a Potjie – oxtail and springbok respectively). Before we left the last community, and all of us now completely in the spirit of giving, we noticed that Gail’s brand new jacket and scarf were no longer in the back of the Fortuner….looking high and low we realised they had been “Handed Down” so to speak, by no one other than my daughter Skyla who gave it away being completely wrapped up in the spirit of the Hand Me Down day…hahahaha. We managed to convince the lady that Skyla had given the items to that they were not Hand Me Down items and got them back (everyone except Gail found this extremely entertaining…of course).

Grinning from ear to ear we went back to Maliba for our “debriefing” from Tim, who gave us (what I deem my wings, just like a pilot gets) the SA Adventure Hand Me Down Initiative Expedition stickers, which I proudly now have on ‘Potjue’ (the only Toyota in the bunch). It was now time for the Tim & Ryan Potjie cook off, going head to head, pot to pot for what would ultimately be one of the toughest culinary choices of a winner ever…Ryan somehow managed to to pull it off. I put the winning pot down to a hot fire and a cable tied bouquet of spices
The rest of the evening I can only describe as a solid work out for my cheeks and my stomach muscles, I haven’t laughed that much in a very long time! One particular story comes to mind which I will let Tim tell first hand rather, ask him about Ben on Christmas day

Sunday morning our adventure started again, we had a leisurely breakfast while watching some of the SA Adventure Northward Bound Zambia expedition videos Tim, Michele, Sue and Ryan, your sense of  adventure and enthusiasm for life is incredibly inspiring. Your passion for enhancing lives of those around you is contagious! Having never seen snow, we could have packed up in the morning and headed home, but Tim had other plans for us. We decided to go up to the ski lodge Afriski to check out the snowfall, before making much headway however, we stopped on the side of the road to fix ‘Matilda’ one of the SA Adventure Land Rover’s, “DIE PROP HET AFGEVAL” (the prop-shaft broke). A quick fix and knowledge of what you are doing helped us lose no more than 30mins while Tim changed his vehicle from a 4×4 to a 4×2, no problem….

Some two hours of picturesque driving and watching the temperature dropping from 12 to 1 degree we arrived Afriski. The snow-covered landscape is blinding, the whitest white I have ever seen,  like kids, we climbed out the 4×4′s and immediately started a snowball fight. Snowballs flying all over the show, laughing and running around like loony people. Clearly I had not packed properly for this part of the journey as I only had a pair of shorts on to protect me from the cold. Skyla and I built our first ever snow man, small, but awesome, we were so proud of our work

With time ticking by and still needing to do the drive down the slippery and wet mountain road, we headed off around 4pm, just in time to be caught in a mini blizzard which reduced our visibility to about 3-5m between the vehicles. Of course we had to stop to experience what it was like, Ryan and I took up snow diving, it was so deep when you landed you just sunk into the snow….EPIC!!! Back in the cars and homeward bound arriving at the South African border at about 6pm and easily through again, we got home around 23h00 on Sunday evening!

I am so glad to firstly have met the SA Adventure team as well as becoming part of the Hand Me Down team, our first experience with you guys was amazing. I cannot wait to do another packing, sorting, and distribution for this worthy worthy cause.

Pictures say a thousand words, but faces tell a story, here is their story…

Follow the Hand me Down Initiative @ https://www.facebook.com/hmdown

See you guys soon

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Our 4×4 instructors will be there to assist you and they will be in two-way radio contact at all times to safely make the most of this experience. One-on-one personalized 4×4 training is also available for those that seek more personal attention. Our aim is to teach you more about your vehicles capabilities, the lifestyle that it can offer you and your family and finally, to equip you with knowledge that will help you to enjoy the bush in a sensible eco friendly and responsible manner.  Your 4×4 off-roader is the ultimate adventure vehicle, so make sure you don’t just drive it  in the towns on tarmac! Try venturing down the road less-traveled. We have designed a 4×4 course which covers both the practical and theoretical aspects of off-roading and at the same time teach you about the conservation of both the fauna and flora surrounding us. The 4×4 course has been specifically tailored for Southern African conditions. It was developed by us in response to off-roader’s wanting to maximize their enjoyment whilst off-roading on a wide variety of terrain and varying conditions. The 4×4 training is personalized (maximum of 8 drivers per course), interactive and takes place on natural terrain. We boast some of the most dramatic and rugged wilderness areas in Gauteng, which makes it a perfect environment to learn more about your 4×4 vehicle and its amazing capabilities!

Our off-road 4×4 eco-training course is designed to help you practice with others so that you can improve your 4×4 off-road driving abilities and skills. We offer one-day intensive 4×4 driver training course for all makes of vehicles such as Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Jeep and Dodge, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Mahindra and Honda as well as for all other vehicle manufacturers.    It is an adventure packed and fun day out for you and your family to enjoy, with interaction between the family and loads of fun. 4×4 Off-roading is about the family and the joy it brings, the understanding and appreciation of negotiating the road less-traveled. The course is suitable for all types of off-road vehicles including 4×4s, 4×2s and also vehicles without low range.

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• Saturday 8 June 2013 (Level 1 Introductory  Training)
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Series I, the first production vehicle from Land Rover

Every cloud has a silver lining, but for those living in austerity Britain after WW2, that silver seemed very tarnished.  After the euphoria of victory, Britain was counting the cost – an audit that didn’t make pretty reading.  The nation was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.  We desperately needed foreign earnings, but to make goods to sell for export we needed raw materials which, like everything else in ration book Britain, were in very short supply!  It was a dilemma the Rover car company knew only too well.  Although its main factory in Coventry had been destroyed in the infamous blitz on that city on the evening of 14 November 1940, its premises in nearby Solihull had survived intact! During the war that factory had been kept busy building engines for Stirling bombers, but in peace came a slump!

Rover wanted to resume production of its plush saloon cars, which had proved hugely popular with Britain’s professional classes – bank managers, solicitors and the like – in the years leading up to the war.  But because they were unlikely to sell many abroad, the government would not allocate the company the steel needed to build them. So Rover had a big factory, with nothing to make in it!

Land Rover inventor Maurice Wilks

It was a dilemma that worried Rover’s engineering director, Mourice Wilks, who would escape to his farm on Anglesey at weekends and try to work out a solution.  By chance, Mourice had bought a US Army surplus Jeep to get around the rugged terrain of his estate – and one day he realised that it could be the answer to Rover’s woes!  What if Rover was to build a similar 4×4, he wondered, using aluminium  alloy body panels instead of steel?  Aluminium was not rationed – there was a huge stockpile from the aircraft industry – and a simple chassis could be made by welding together scraps of steel.

Maurice put his brainwave to his brother Spencer, Rover’s managing director, who agreed that the proposed new vehicle would be a useful stop-gap until rationing of steel ended.  But that isn’t quite how things would pan out, of course.  In 1947, Rover began work on a prototype based loosely on the Jeep.  The first example had a steering wheel in the middle, in the hope it could be sold without having to make separate left and right hand drive versions. But by the time it had gone production in 1948, the centre-steer concept was abandoned in favor of a more conventional layout.  The Wilks brothers decided to call it the Land Rover.

It was launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April 1948.  In keeping with the austere times, the new vehicles ‘creature comforts’ consisted of simple, padded driver’s seat. A passenger seat, heater and even door tops were optional extras.  Roof’s didn’t even exist, nor floor mats!

The original centre-steer prototype

But nobody minded the spartan Land Rover once they had encountered the new vehicles amazing capabilities.  They didn’t even bat an eye lid when the original purchase price of 450 pounds was jacked up to 540 pounds in October 1948.  The first years production was 3048, but this more than doubled to 8000 the following year, doubling again to 16000 in 1950.  What had been a stop-gap exercise, cobbled together from Rover car components, was now a very important vehicle in its own right!  Ironically, it achieved what Rover cars couldn’t and sold in large numbers abroad, greatly helping the nations balance of payments deficit!

The first Land Rovers were equipped with a 1595cc engine that had been designed for the Rover P3 60 saloon car.  In August 1951 that was replaced by a 1 997cc engine, which delivered a 26% increase in power.  In 1953, the wheelbase was extended to 86 inches and a long wheelbase version at 107 inches was introduced.  In 1956, these were further extended to 88 and 109 inches to accommodate the bigger 2 052cc diesel engine, which became available for the first time a year later.

The very earliest Land Rovers were available in light green only.  Legend has it that the company managed to secure a bulk purchase of war surplus paint used to decorate the interiors of RAF bombers.  It was only when that ran out that Land Rovers were sold in the familiar dark green now synonymous with the marque.  It was some years before further colour options – blue and grey – became available.  Although paintwork was limited, the sky was the limit as for as other options went.  The simple, bolt-together construction of the vehicle and its generous prevision of power take-off points, meant that it could be readily adapted for industrial as well as agricultural use.  In fact a fire engine variant had been included among the original prototypes, proving that the company was on the ball from the start.

An original Land Rover Brochure

Mobile welders and compressors were among the special vehicles available directly from Solihull, while the 1948 coach built Tickford station wagon offered a touch of luxury.

The series II arrived in April 1958, with a bigger 2 286cc petrol engine and restyled body panels to hide the chassis and exhaust pipe and accommodate a widened wheel track and, consequently, an improved turning circle.  That minimalist styling created the classic utility Land Rover look, which has defied the whims of fashion ever since.  Solihull’s production lines were now working harder than ever before. The quarter million mark was met just over a year later, yet the company never got complacent.  By 1961 it had yet more improvements in the pipeline, and heralded them to the world by re-designating the vehicles as the Series IIA. The most significant difference was a diesel engine option.

By the 1960′s, the Land Rover’s role was also changing.  What had started life as an agricultural vehicle based upon a military design had come full circle and was now in demand on the fields of conflict as well as the fields of hay!  The British Army had bought its first Land Rover’s (fitted with power-full Rolls Royce engines) in 1949.  By 1956 it was the standard light weight 4×4 utility vehicle in the services, and the armed forces of other countries quickly followed suit by buying Land Rover’s!

Another agricultural development that was to prove significant for the military was the introduction of the first Forward Control Land Rover, launched in September 1962.  It had been developed to answer the demand for a greater payload, which the company addressed by shunting the cab forward and upward.  The drop-side vehicle, based on the 109 inch chassis, had an enormous 1,5 ton payload.  Land Rover’s engineers later added a 2,6 litre six-cylinder engine, stretched the chassis by a further inch to accommodate the engine and, in September 1966, re-launched ti as the Series IIB Forward Control.

In April 1966, the 500,000th Land Rover left the Solihull factory.  By now, Land Rovers were to be found in all corners of the globe – most often in parts that other vehicles could not reach.  It is said that the first motor vehicle seen by most of the worlds developing population was a British built Land Rover!  As the 1960′s came to an end, Land Rover had become a massive success in its own right.  In 1970 the company would launch a more luxurious 4×4, The Range Rover, and the Series IIA would be replaced by the Series III in 1971.  More models and greater success would follow in subsequent decades, but none of them could match the impact of those very first vehicles built by necessity after World War II.

Zimbabwe is a great country to travel in, I always feel welcome and safe there, this time it was no different, we had a rest day in the small town of Victoria Falls, where the shops are very well stocked with food and Zambizi, arguably the best lager in Africa! Most of the team relaxed, walked around town and checked out the Victoria Falls which were in heavy flood.

The crossing into Zambia from Zimbabwe was a long one! The system at the border post on the Zambian side was down and everything had to be written out manually which for 5 vehicles took what seemed like an age, no point pushing this is Africa and things get done on African time! A baboon managed to get into “Juho” the Landy at the border gate, stole an apple out of the cargo net and left me with a very nasty smell to deal with for the drive into Lusaka! Nando’s Zambia had come on board as a sponsor of the expedition so we had a late lunch of peri peri chicken at the Manda Hill store before we headed to our campsite on the outskirts of Lusaka for the night.

It’s time for the Northward Bound Zambia team to head out of the capital city and towards the expeditions goal destination, Mfuwe and Project Luangwa, we had about 600kms to drive and the T4 out of Lusaka is excellent tar and we made great time heading through the great rift valley.  We left the tar just after Katete onto what was initially a good gravel road and we were able to drive it very easily, Dace, one of the team members came in on the radio reporting that there was a huge noise coming from under her Landy and that she was sure the exhaust had fallen off, turned out it was just a stick that had caught underneath and was dragging along the gravel road making a loud scraping noise! We had about 60kms to go before we reached our camp, Croc River Valley, and then the good gravel ran out! We were assaulted by a two spoor dirt track with heavy black cotton soil and lots of standing water, we pushed through at very slow pace in low range, Dace and Williams both doing 90 degree spins in their Land Rovers on one of the more difficult areas! At dusk with about 30kms to go we reached the Lupande River, about 200 meters wide and coming down in flood, I walked it with some locals crossing with bicycles and although not that deep it was sandy on the bottom and with night fast approaching I was not willing to risk one of the vehicles getting stuck. A local farmer told us there was a fork on the road a little further back and it would lead us to a low water bridge that would allow us to cross the river. We turned around and continued down the road to the fork, at this point it was dark already and the road was getting worse, we pushed on through the deep mud, water and potholes, the Gabriel HDP shocks and Bridgestone mud terrain tyres coming into their own and handling the hectic African conditions brilliantly.  We eventually reached Croc Valley Camp at about 9pm that evening, each one of the expedition team members drove fantastically and supported each other over the radios, it made me really proud!

Over the last few days we have been working with Karen and Dave from Project Luangwa, they have a number of projects and support many of the schools in the Mfuwe area by raising funds to build new buildings like classrooms and libraries as well as getting overseas sponsorship to pay for some of the student’s tuition fees! Our Reel Gardens sustainable vegetable patch was planted at the Katapila school which is about an hours drive into the bush from Mfuwe. The grade 5 class had come to the school for the day to help us and to learn about how to plant and maintain the garden, they greeted us with songs and dancing and worked really hard on the planting of the seeds. A harder working bunch of well-mannered kids I have yet to see anywhere in africa! After the garden was finished it rained. We went into the classrooms to seek shelter and also gave Ireen the teacher all the stationary we had managed to collect for the school, she was overwhelmed. While we have been in the Mfuwe area we have done some 4×4 training with a few of the guides from the various lodges around the South Luangwa Park, it’s a little different to the training we give in South Africa and the guys wanted to specifically  learn about driving in black cotton soil, river crossings, tyre pressures and how to recover a stuck vehicle, the team helped me to train five guides driving Land Cruisers and Land Rovers under the watchful eyes elephant, hippo and puku. They learned a lot and had great fun, as did we, I was however supprised at their initail lack of knowledge about the vehicles they were driving, but now armed with their new understanding, I hope they will teach their fellow guides the do’s and dont’s!

Tomorrow we leave Mfuwe and head out on the second part of the expedition, west and onto Namibia and the infamous Van Zyls Pass. The view from the office this morning as I type this blog is over the Luangwa River and no more than a 100 meters in front of me are about 20 hippo, a massive crocodile and a few yellow billed stalk, on the expedition so far we have seen a great deal of wildlife, including  lion, elephant, hippo, buffalo, zebra, numerous antelope and birds, we are however yet to see a rhino! I will update again with news from the second part of our intrepid journey ASAP, in the meantime from all the members of the Northward Bound Zambia Expedition team, Tim, Michele, Sue, Dace, Freese, Jacques and Carmen, have a great Christmas, remember to be cool and have a nice day! PS. BOB and BEAR ON THE GRILL are fine!

By Tony Carnie of IOL News

A view from the top of the Sani Pass, on rocky gravel roads.

KwaZulu-Natal – An environmental impact report on the future of the Sani Pass is to be handed to the government shortly amid complaints that a proposed tarred road would destroy the sense of adventure for tourists visiting one of the KwaZulu-Natal’s most scenic mountain passes.

The proposed upgrade involves building a new 19km tarred or concrete road to replace the winding gravel road to the summit of the Sani Pass in the southern Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg.

A final environmental impact assessment (EIA) report by Gibb consultants, sent to stakeholders last week, suggests there are no fatal flaws to the proposal and recommends that it be approved by the national Department of Environmental Affairs.

However, a social impact report by the Institute of Natural Resources recognises that tour operators who run 4×4 adventure trips to Sani Pass and several tour lodges could be hard hit.

The report says that 75 percent of the regional and international tourism operators and agents surveyed on the proposal indicated that they would remove the Sani Pass and Southern Drakensberg from their itineraries if a tarred or concrete road was built.

“(Tour operators) are of the opinion that there are many other more spectacular mountain passes around the world, but that most of these are tarred. The key feature that attracts international tourists is the 4×4 experience of the Sani Pass.”

Russell and Simone Suchet, representing tour operators in the Southern Drakensberg area, argued that the Outeniqua Pass between George and Oudtshoorn was one of the most scenic tarred routes in the country, but very few people travelled along this route specifically for the scenery or wilderness experience.

Yet the nearby Swartberg untarred pass between Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert remained a major tourist and wilderness attraction.

The Wildlife and Environment Society (Wessa) also voiced fears that replacing the Sani Pass gravel road would erode the wilderness experience for visitors.

The society said the plan appeared to be a “classic case of someone in an office drawing lines on a map and making a decision without having any idea of the situation on the ground”.

Merely adding tar to a road did not magically produce tourists, it argued.

One of the few letters to the consultants indicating support for an upgraded route up Sani Pass came from Jonathan Aldous, owner of the Sani Top Chalet.

Aldous said he recognised that the Sani Pass was a popular 4×4 adventure route, but it made little sense to keep repairing a gravel road that was frequently eroded by rain.

“Don’t let greedy tour operators and old sentimentalists cloud your decisions. We will all survive, whatever happens, because there are plenty of opportunities out there. Fix the road!” he told the consultants in an e-mail.

According to the EIA report, about 13 500 Basotho a year travel into South Africa through the Sani Pass border post, compared with about 25 000 South Africans who travel up the pass, about 90 percent of whom were tourists.

The report says that the route is an important business route and link for people living across the border in Lesotho.

Gibb consultants conclude that a tarred road could open up the eastern Lesotho region to tourism development and strengthen trade links between KZN and Lesotho. – The Mercury

***The deadline for public comment is November 25. For more information, e-mail: Sani-phase2-EIA@gibb.co.za or contact Gisela Fechter at 031 267 8500.