Baviaanskloof adventure: the Navara Warrior takes on the toughest off-road trails

We had done the touristy thing in Nieu-Bethesda. Now it was time to point the Nissan Navara Pro 4X Warrior towards the Baviaanskloof over the Rus en Vrede track and use the bakkie as intended.

We had planned our route using maps and waypoints and created different files on the GPS to get to our various destinations, and although much of it was on regular roads, it was a good indication of our arrival times and distance remaining.

We filled up in a chaotic Graaff-Reinet as taxis and holidaymakers queued for a spot to put in unleaded and diesel.

Chatting to the owner, who had wandered over to take a look at our rig, he asked where we were heading and said it was a good thing that the Navara Warrior was a “proper” 4x4 because it would be tough.

Holiday vibes

Turning off the N9 and onto the R62, it started to feel more like a holiday with the narrower road and less traffic meandering through the Langkloof Valley with its thousands of hectares of apple and pear trees, with quaint community villages with names like Haarlem, Misgund, Louterwater and Krakeel River.

More diesel in Kareedouw followed by a left turn onto a gravel road, where we stopped to air down the tyres to 1.5 bar. The reason for this is to give the tyres a wider tread pattern, and also allows them to fold over the rocks to minimise the chance of a puncture, especially on the sidewalls.

Starting to get there

The Navara Warrior is fitted with 4 high, 4 low and a rear differential lock.

Now I was in my happy place with the bakkie in 4H gently easing up the slopes and corners on our way to Joubertskraal Farm.

Initially, 4H was enough, but as we progressed, the road became much more challenging, so rather than damage the car and the environment, I moved into 4L.

Joubertskraal Farm is a delightful destination if you’re in that area. There’s a stream running through it, the lawns are beautifully manicured, and the tastefully decorated cottage that used to be a stable/barn has been rebuilt, keeping as much of the original patina as possible.

When we started the bakkie, the GPS said our overnight stop at Dooringkloof 4x4 Bush Camp, 35 kilometres along the track, was two hours away.

Now it’s becoming hair-raising 

Almost five and a half hours later, we actually checked in, an indication of how tough the Rus en Vrede Trail is.

Loose rocks, shale, steep descents and even steeper ascents kept me focused as I turned the rear diff lock on and off to prevent as much wheel spin as possible.

Our biggest concern was oncoming traffic. 

On the steep contours, it’s just wide enough for a single vehicle and trying to reverse a trailer with a cliff face on one side and a nerve-wracking drop-off hundreds of meters down on the other wasn’t an option.

Luck was on our side, and the odds of someone else being foolhardy enough to tow were very low.

The forward camera allowed me to keep my lines correct around steep hairpins when the bonnet was the only thing I could see in front of me. 

It was also the first time that I had used downhill descent control extensively.

Often, the engine pressure in first gear low range is enough to idle down, but when you’re fully loaded and being pushed by a trailer, which makes driving and selecting your lines more difficult, it’s easier to let the electronics and ABS gently take you down safely.

Despite the tough driving conditions, the views from the top of the mountains are breathtaking, confirming my conviction that far from the madding crowd and in splendid isolation with a 4x4 is the place to be. 

On the long, difficult ascents, I would switch the gearlever into manual second gear so that the Warrior would hold the gear and not change up when the engine revs increased. It also prevented the bakkie from jerking into the next gear, possibly inducing wheel spin on the loose rocks, not something you want on the precipice of a mountain.  

At times like these, I considered our sanity and insistence on keeping the course, but we eventually trundled into camp tired, dusty and sore from holding on but with a grin from ear to ear. 

Heading back to normal

When we had set off the day before, the farm owner had asked which direction we were heading and said that our exit towards Patensie was prettier than if we had come in from Willowmore, but that the road was in a bad way.

He wasn’t joking.

The last 20 kilometres or so were almost a carbon copy of the day before, with stretches that had cement strips starting to crumble, deep washaways and sharp bends that kept the Land Cruiser 79 behind me constantly on our toes. 

It’s what I love, but when we stopped at Kudu Kaya just outside the kloof, I was a happy camper in a lovely glamping-style tent.

From there, things returned to normal on regular tar to Morgan Bay and the quirky yet delightful Yellowwood Forest camping and accommodation, where we would be like “normal people”, as my partner commented.

Would you want one?

On the drive back, we spoke about what the Nissan Navara Pro 4X brought to the party.

In short, pretty much everything you need for a lifestyle bakkie.

There’s enough power, it’s comfortable, it has the 4x4 credentials to tackle the toughest terrain, the suspension puts it into a higher category, the all terrain tyres performed brilliantly under difficult conditions, there’s climate control and the interior, although it’s showing its age, is put together solidly and has everything you need including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Minor gripes that certainly wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me are that there’s no left footrest in the footwell, the clarity of the camera and graphics on the seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system aren’t as sharp as I would like them, especially when reversing to hitch a trailer.

Try as I might, I could not disable the reverse park distance warning, so every time I would hitch or reverse back and forth with the trailer, it would drive me to distraction.  

That being said, though, it would certainly be in my top three if I had R924 000 and was in the market.

After 3 270 kilometres, fuel consumption stood at 13.6l/100km, which is perfectly acceptable, taking into consideration that we stuck to the speed limit, how heavily we were loaded, towing a trailer and long distances in 4H and 4L.

Before returning it, unloaded with normal highway and suburban driving, my average was 10.2l/100km.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Nissan Navara, and in Pro 4X guise I’m even more enamoured. It’s a no-nonsense, no frills, reliable bakkie that should be getting a lot more attention than it does.