Over Van Zyl's Pass, Trailers & All!

Some tour guides want nothing to do with you if you ask them to take you over Van Zyl’s Pass with an off-road trailer. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done, says Yvonne Erasmus.

- Yvonne Erasmus

Every memorable experience starts with a simple idea. So it was with our idea to tackle Van Zyl’s Pass with our off-road trailers. After a couple of hours around the braai fire our friends were also convinced – it had to be done.

But could we do it with off-road trailers? An article on Conqueror Off-Road Camper’s website mentioned another group that had done it, so we could tackle it too. There was a catch though: I had to find a tour guide that was prepared to take us through it.

Every guide I phoned stuck to their guns and said that a recovery on Van Zyl’s Pass was not an option, and things started looking bleak. But then I found Caesar Zandberg and his son Waylon, of Kunene Safari Tours. They were prepared to join us on the adventure and our tour finally started taking shape.

The team with the winning plan

In our group three vehicle and two off road trailer manufacturers were represented: Johan and Angie Bezuidenhout in a Jeep Wrangler and Bundu 4x4 trailer; Johan and Poppie Potgieter with a Land Rover Discovery and Conqueror Companion; Helgardt and Corné van Heerden, also in a Discovery, but with a Conqueror Compact hitched; myself and my husband Lourens in our Discovery with a Conqueror Commander, and lastly Dave and Marina de Jager in a Toyota Hilux that wasn’t towing.

The original plan only included Van Zyl’s Pass, but the men reckoned that we couldn’t go all that way and not make a stop at Etosha. Because Lourens is mad about the Kgalagadi, we also had to fit that in, and with my roots in Windhoek I had to go visit the family there too.

With our tour planned, it was time to hit the road. It was a long drive to Van Zylsrus and we enjoyed the hotel’s pub. Their “Kalahari Prawns” are a must!