Oyster In Die Desert

[ Reader Travel ] Kgalagadi, Nc

- Hennie & Antonette Jordaan

My wife and I collected our Skipper Oyster from Robbie and Jenny Kerkhof at their factory in Park Rynie, KwaZulu-Natal, in December 2017.

It was just in time for our bi-annual family camp on a farm in Adelaide in the Eastern Cape. We spent the first night in Park Rynie, where it rained so much that it was impossible to pitch the tent.

During our stay on the farm, my brother-in-law, Frikkie Potgieter from Bloemfontein, asked whether we would like to join them in March for a trip to the Kgalagadi. I didn’t have to think twice − I decided then and there that we were in!

Frikkie and his wife, Elza, collected their Skipper Oyster in February.

To find out what lay in store for us, I spoke to my friend and former colleague, Sarel Marais, who had just returned from the Kgalagadi. He told me that there are parts of an Oyster lying on the other side of Twee Rivieren, and he had seen the chassis just past Nossob. Initially I was worried, but luckily realised just in time that he’d been joking, as usual.

Finally, the time for our Kgalagadi trip was upon us, and on 28 February we met up with Frikkie and Elza in Upington. The next morning, all we did was fuel up, and then it was on to the Kgalagadi!

At Twee Rivieren, we checked in at reception, where all the paperwork was done quickly; and then there was just one more stop at the fuel station to fill up the tank and deflate the tyres.