With a love for the great outdoors and a yearning to explore South Africa, Armandt Rossouw, from Ross Outdoor Adventures, finally took the bold step and undertook his first overlanding trip. He shares his story.

Ready at 07:00, we set off to the local filling station with the rush of adventure pouring through our veins. Fuel tank filled up, tyres properly inflated and oil checked we were ready to head down to KwaZulu-Natal. You see, back then Bosvark (our Suzuki 4×4) was still equipped with a petrol 4Y engine, which had the bad habit of consuming more fuel than your average Land Cruiser.
Anyway, we hit the road quite early that morning and headed east towards the glimmering sunrise. With good pace we made our way through Bethal, followed by Ermelo and up to Piet Retief, where we had to fill up Bosvark again. We decided that this was a good time for a quick breakfast break and as we headed back to the vehicle, I noticed with a shock that it only had four out of its six lug nuts on each wheel. Loaded with all the camping gear it was best practice to see if I couldn’t find an open spares shop where I could buy the required nuts, but my search was futile.
We had no choice but to push on to Pongola, which was a haze of traffic and local market activity by the time we got there. There wasn’t a single spares shop in sight… I figured I had already done 300km or so with the missing nuts and if I just kept the speed to 100km/h for the rest of the way, we should be fine.
We made our way past the Jozini dam, which stretches along the N2 highway on the route to Sodwana, Kosi-Bay and St Lucia. As we reached the small town of Jozini its vibrant local street market buzzing with early morning in activity. We carefully made our way through the crowds in the street and headed down to the dam wall, which is a very impressive structure indeed! It’s not very long but definitely very high, and we got out of the vehicle to take a few photos before travelling further north to Ndumo Game Reserve, right in the upper corner of KZN between Swaziland and Mozambique.
The route was narrow and bumpy and there were no visible signs of civilisation, with nothing but dry scrubby bushlands to see on either side of the tarred road. ride both sides of us. Driving like this for hours on end does kind of give you the feeling that you are getting lost and a true sense of adventure set in.
After what felt like an eternity, smallholdings and plots of cultural farms started to appear and we eventually reached the small town of Ndumo. With some directions from a local villager, we were heading straight to the gates of Ndumo Nature Reserve.

By the time we arrived it was late in the afternoon. After signing in we headed to the campsite, we pitched the tents and got a fire going. With one of most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen, the day and its long drive came to a peaceful end.
Two days in the reserve
We were all up early the next morning and just in time to catch the bright sunrise heating up the sand from the east. Breakfast and a cup of coffee soon followed and as the morning air started to heat up, we headed into the reserve for a game drive.
We soon found a spot where all the animal carcasses of the park get left for the vultures. Later on, we came across a magical scene of yellow fever trees next to a riverbed with the roots flowing in all directions and wildebeest standing in the shade. This vivid image will forever be etched in my memory…
In another section of the park, we got out of the vehicles and took an overgrown footpath heading towards the river. Some sort of animal was moving in the brush nearby and my mother freaked out thinking it might be a hippo ambushing her. We spent the rest of the day driving around and exploring along all the backroads and paths the park had to offer. One more point of particular interest was the long drop on the riverbank, about 12m high and facing north towards Mozambique. No doors, just a comfortable seat from which to take in the magnificent view.

We spotted plenty of wildebeest, giraffes and duikers for the day, as well as an abundance of birdlife. As the golden glow set to the west we headed back to camp, lit the campfire and listened to the beautiful African soundtrack of birds and critters announcing the end of another day. Ndumo is definitely a place worth visiting.
A close encounter
After a scrumptious breakfast we packed up and headed out to Kosi Bay for two nights of camping. With Ndume now at our backs the convey drove east to the coast in the clear morning sun. We refuelled at a small local petrol station, followed to by a quick detour into Thembe Elephant Park. After acquiring a map, we set of on a self-drive safari in this unique natural park laying on the border between KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique.
We suddenly found ourselves in white sand ruts, so deep that one could simply let go of the steering wheel and the vehicle would keep following the track. Of course, this led to some interesting driving moments.

Branches, sticks and leaves littered the tracks, and it was blatantly clear that this was indeed an elephant park. We saw a few small critters and many huge bugs and eventually an elephant. As we came around a corner in the soft sand there he was… one of the biggest bulls in the park, standing right in our path and flapping his ears aggressively. Clearly, he was not impressed by our arrival.
Now you must keep in mind that this soft white sand was very loose and as a result we had almost no traction. In front of me was a clearly agitated giant and behind me was my dad in his SUV, blissfully unaware of what was happening due to a bush obscuring his view. As I backed up, he moved closer to see what was going on and of course, the two-way radios picked this moment to stop working. Eventually they spotted the beast and backed up, which in turn gave me space to do one of my most impressive reversing manoeuvres ever.
The commotion clearly irritated the elephant, and it took almost 40 minutes for him to relax and walk off into the bush. This cleared the way for us to move forward but no more than 400m further Bosvark started to overheat. I had experienced some wiring issues at Ndumo which caused the electrical fan on the radiator to stop working, so knowing the cause, I bolted out of the little 4×4, yanked open the bonnet and quickly snapped in a new fuse before jumping back in the cab. It was time to get out of this park! That is one of the scariest moments I have ever experienced and for that reason only Thembe Elephant Park will never see me again.
Hooray for Kosi Bay
With the sun sitting high and proud we rolled along the narrow blacktop towards Kosi Bay. For me this was one of the most memorable moments ever… driving in convoy through the sand dunes and grasslands, with a small hut here and there.
Telephone poles started to appear, the houses got more, and vehicles started to pop up in front of us – we were approaching civilisation again. With the roads becoming hillier and huts everywhere we reached the outskirts of Kosi Bay. Yet again street markets with fresh produce were all over the place. Locals walking around and the fresh misty scent of the ocean in the air had us all hyped up for camp. We bought some supplies and refuelled as we would be completely off the grid for the next four days.
A local shepherd pointed us in the direction of the campsite, where we signed in. Picking a spot was a difficult decision as all the sites are fantastic and offer views you can only dream of. Once we’d set up camp, we hurried down to the lagoon to relax and recover from our encounter with the elephant.

If you have never camped in a tent or slept outside near a beach, I highly recommend you add it to your bucket list. You see, in the dead silent that night drags along with it you can clearly hear the magnificent power of the waves as they crash down on the sandy beaches.
Caught by the tide
After coffee and rusks, it was time to start another day. And considering it was a bright warm day with great weather, it was decided that we would head down to the lagoon mouth to do some sunbathing and snorkelling. A short drive through town brought us to the gate giving access to the lagoon, where a sign clearly stated that only 4×4 vehicles were allowed.
What a fun yet brutal little road that was! It rolls down some overgrown sand dunes and over several creeks and puddles. I was hanging out of the window admiring as much as my little human brain could absorb when I hit a rut and smacked my head on the B pillar. So much fun, not!
We stopped our vehicles at the bay parking. Lucky for us it was low tide as the only way to reach the beach was to cross over the mouth in the bay. The water was just about knee deep, and we soon reached the beach. We had a great lunch and had so much fun snorkelling in the shallow reefs that line the coast that we didn’t notice that the tide had been sneaking in…
We soon realised that we would be trapped on the beach in no time at all and quickly packed up. The crossing was now an additional 100m of water wide. Most of the flooded bay was about waist deep and in some spots, we had to swim, but we made it through safely.
Back in the vehicles I quickly checking the cameras and cell phones for water damage and then we headed back to camp. On the way back I stopped at a roadside market and bought some fresh vegetables from a local villager. Those street markets are so much fun. Please remember next time when you see one to stop and support the locals.
All things considered, it was a very enjoyable – and adventure-filled – day. What a remarkable place Kosi Bay is! It far exceeded our expectations and to this day it remains my favourite place to camp.
*In the next instalment, Armandt shares more on their first overlanding experience. Follow Ross Outdoor Adventures on social media. -Ed.