It must be said at the start that I am by no means an experienced 4x4 enthusiast, and have just started taking note of all the technicalities required since purchasing my own 4x4. I have however driven many of the modern 4x4 vehicles such as the Hilux, Triton, Fortuner and Isuzu in true 4x4 conditions, but always with someone who has the know-how.
This story will present an update account of the current condition of the Addo Nature Reserve and hopefully help someone else prepare for their own journey. Additionally the blog will discuss the capabilities of my personal Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.4A/T, a vehicle highly underestimated by most!
When we started our research to plan the trip, we started with the SANParks websites. Information on this site is extremely limited, additionally the information is somewhat dated, so much so that the directions to the Kabouga park entrance is not accurate. For reference, the Kabouga entrance is situated only 5 minutes outside of Kirkwood, so when you take a left at the four way stop as explained in the SANParks directions and end up driving 10kms out of Kirkwood, you are on the wrong road!
The directions on the SANParks website are as follows:
Directions from Port Elizabeth (PE)
Take the R75 towards Graaff-Reinet. Turn right at the signpost towards Kirkwood and Addo Elephant National Park. Proceed with this road, through the Main Road of Kirkwood. At the four way stop, turn left and proceed past the Kirkwood golf course on your right. At the T-junction turn right and follow the road past the cemetery. Turn left at park signboard “Kabouga Section”. Pass through a number of gates (please remember to close them) until you reach the park boom gate, where you will be assisted by staff.
However if you do not know the town of Kirkwood, this map of how to get to the gate and a picture of the gate should be more helpful:
When we were doing our research, we found on a few of the 4x4 forums posts asking about the road conditions on the trail and the amount bush that may be encountered that may scratch a vehicles paint work. The following photos show that the first part of the route has excellent roads and there is no need to worry about your vehicles paint work when traveling through this section of the trail:
Staying on the trail up to this point has been relatively easy. However what is not marked on the map that you received at the gate, is a route marker for a 4x4 loop. As any true South African male who owns a 4x4 would tell you, present a direction board for a 4x4 loop, it has to be taken. It is like presenting a big red button with a sign above saying "Do not push".
What you only become aware of later is that the loop is not a small loop, and it takes you back to the start of the 4x4 trail, which could add roughly another hour onto your trip. Unless you are willing to risk backtracking the route and encountering another 4x4 coming at you in the opposite direction, you will need to go through the loop and start near the entrance gate again. The marked route on the map does not highlight this loop, so if you do take it, enjoy the road, but be prepared for some added time on your schedule:
Once we were back on track, after our short detour, the drive was comfortable with the Vitara having only run in 4x4 high range at this point. We had seen quite a few Kudu already and encountered two warthogs who would not get out of our way. It was a rather interesting and amusing experience as we followed these two little guys for about 30 minutes while they stopped to eat, catch their breath in the shade and catch a swim.
The comfort however was short lived as we came to encounter a section on the map that is not marked or highlighted in terms of difficulty. At the bottom of one of the mountain areas you need to cross what used to be a rocky river bed. This was one of the sections the Suzuki did not enjoy as the ground clearance is not the best. It must be said through that the Suzuki handled the rocky obstacle with ease in 4x4 low range. Also considering I have fitted the Vitara with the nudge bar and side steps, which took a bit of a pounding through this section with the vehicle bottoming out on rocks:
Once we were out of this section we hit what seemed to be the half way point on the map, but were quite amused to see the following sign at this point:
Even more amusing was the fact that the sign was not entirely wrong. What we encountered after the sign was a very different 4x4 trail, one that either continues straight with the road you see in the picture, or there is a turn left to a river loop. We did not do the river loop, but I hear it is really amazing and you actually drive through a river in this loop. It is indicated on the map, but after the 4x4 loop experience we did not feel comfortable going on another trail that was not marked by the ranger at the start of the course, especially alone.
A quick bite to eat and we were back on the road, which was not the same comfort of the 4x4 trail encountered before the sign:
Once in the groove we were presented with an interesting dilemma: A fork in the road, with no route market and not marked on the map. So what else could we do, but continue climbing the mountain, right??
Luckily for us, it ended up being the right choice, and the views that were to follow were breath taking:
You then travel through a gate, and enter a second section of the park where I am told Rhino could be found. At the peak of the hill, which was such a fun climb in the Suzuki, Darlington dam became visible in the distance, an indication that we were on the home stretch and, more importantly, still on the right road. Additionally I am told that this area of the Addo national park is a natural habitat of a Cycad species, or as they call it in Afrikaans "Broodboom", and strangely enough it was only seen on one of the mountain slopes throughout the trip:
Once down the mountain the terrain settles down as you travel towards Darlington dam, and the exit to the park. All in all, we spend just on 6 hours on the 4x4 trail itself, and not 3 hours as told by the ranger at the gate. Once you exit the park gate it is about a 30 minute drive on gravel roads until you reach the tar road to go either back to Port Elizabeth or Jansenville.
So to close off this short essay, doing this trip has cemented my decision to buy a 4x4 vehicle and show my children this wonderful country we live in. I would recommend this 4x4 route to anyone who would want to do it, and it really is a good day out when traveling from Port Elizabeth. You leave Port Elizabeth early morning and will be back in time for dinner.
And my conclusions on the Suzuki? I am really impressed with this vehicle, and have driven a Fortuner through the Baviaans to compare. The Suzuki held its own and in 4x4 low range and really tackles obstacles with little effort. The vehicle is fitted with soft SUV tyres, changed from original equipment brand to Continental when I bought it; there was no sidewall or tread damage. The ground clearance is not the best, and if I do something more serious I will need to explore options to increase the ground clearance. Additionally fuel consumption is not what the manufacturer claims and we struggle to get anything better than 530kms from the 66 liter tank. The only plus is the consumption when driving slowly in 4x4 terrain is not any worse than driving in town, but a long range tank will be a serious consideration if we ever attempt a long 4x4 trip in this vehicle. Do I regret buying the vehicle, at this stage NO!
I hope this blog was informative to anyone who wants to do the route, safe journeys to all and happy 4x4ing.
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