Sometimes you pick up on a message that wasn’t part of the original mission, and today was just one of those days. We kicked off our Isuzu South Africa #beyondlockdown2 expedition, with the friendly N7 unwinding all the way from #CapeTown to our first overnight stop at#Koiingnaas. And yes, this is pretty much the epicentre of nowhere in the #noordkaap, but offering a perfect opportunity for a quick hug en route with Monika De Jager at Letsatsi Lodge NC Famous in Vanrhynsdorp (and of course a chance to tuck into their famous skaapstertjies)

The cannonball run onto the #diamondcoast was to follow, BUT … I had happened upon the Red Bull documentary, ‘Once Upon a Town’, thanks to Eelco Meyjes and featuring the amazing #grafittiart by Falko One 1, and one of the dorps he painted was #Garies. So, we ducked off the highway and moseyed along a nondescript gravel road into the earthy heart of the town. Boom! Elephants. Gorillas. Colour. And a dozen kids milling around the #isuzuMUX in a dusty street, all doing their #carpediem thing. Just beautiful.

We made it onto the Hondeklipbaai coast eventually with Peter Van Kets and Dudley Bruce Wessels, and have an early surf lined up along an off-grid, pumping point tomorrow morning. Must say, the new Dunlop Tyres SA #GrandTrek #AT3G tyres are the bomb on these gravel roads! And yes, there are many more adventures to come as we dive deeper into the hearts of the rural people of #southafrica to bring you their stories. This is all about #satravel, with a thousand reasons to #StayLocal and #PlayLocal

Click here to view the pics