Go! Drive & Camp

Return to the backroads

You’ve just been down to the South Coast and enjoyed every moment of whiling away the hours behind the grill, talking about World Cup trophies, while the kids frolic in the waves or slide down tubes.

Before you start packing up, sit down and consider these routes and trails with loose surfaces beneath the rubber and vistas that’ll take your breath away. It may take you eight days to get home (if you include the training at the last venue) but it will keep you away from annoying toll gates, and mostly away from thousands of tourists on their way back home.

STARTING IN KINGSBURGH, head in the direction of the Big Smoke by making your way through sugar-cane country via the R603 en route to Gwahumbe Game Lodge and Spa – a luxury treatment lodge that also offers a variety of trails for the off-road enthusiast. Turn left off the R603 toward Mid-Illovo at S29.911744, E30.583025, and once you pass the sole service station in the village, prepare to turn left towards Gwahumbe.

Call ahead and book yourself in at one of the catered accommodation rooms, or if you’re a group of adventurists, book the entire 10-sleeper bush camp.

The gate is unmanned, but reception will let you in when you ring the intercom. As you pass through the gate, you’ll see a trail following the fence on your left – that’s the route that takes you down to the river and to the picnic cave, but continue straight ahead for now, keep right at the fork and follow the road to reception where you’ll be welcomed with a refreshing warm towel to wipe away some of the KZN humidity.

After paying the

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