Defender Trophy Cape 2019: Wild Addo

This year’s Cape edition of the Defender Trophy explores a SanParks reserve, giving us a unique chance to explore incredible private camps and unmapped trails.

- Andrew Middleton

Having received the invite, it didn’t take long for office battles to ensue as to who would attend the 2019 Cape edition of the Defender Trophy. Held at a new and spectacular location every year, the event brings together an eclectic mix of characters, terrains and Defenders of every description.

This year, organiser Johan Kriek brought the Trophy to Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape – a massive 1 600km SanParks reserve crisscrossed with trails, bush camps, high plateaus and steep, dark forests. We were lucky enough to get special access to some of the more remote areas closed off to the average tourist.

A great start at Schotia

Having driven to Knysna to collect my driving companion and buddy Rob, I introduced him to the trusty steed we’d be living out of for the next few days: a 1994 Defender 110 V8, completely bare of any luxuries bar my 20-year-old cooler box, and a glorious V8 tune. We settled on the name ‘Troll’ for our truck, due to its gargling drinking habits, and set off. This year’s start would be at a magnificent haunt just outside PE called Schotia Safaris Private Game Reserve. With free-roaming rhino, lion, buffalo and luxury accommodation (in addition to a fantastic collection of Series Land Rovers), Schoatia proved to be the perfect start to our trip. They have a massive boma and game-drive vehicles (Land Rovers, of course) which ferried us to a dinner spot akin to the voting table on the Survivor TV show. On arrival, we had set up camp in tents with rhino and elephant just metres beyond the fence and got to know some of the characters who’d driven from every corner of SA to be here.

Addo Day 1 – Into the wild

The wake-up call was before 05:00, facing wet shoes, wet tents and freezing wet grass – but it would be worth every icy minute. At least that’s how we tried to convince ourselves.