Tracbar Zulu 2004: southern Africa in Traction before Citroën (Part 1)

Après la traversée de l’Australie, nous vous proposons d’embarquer en direction de l’Afrique du Sud pour prendre part au Tracbar Zulu. L’homme derrière ce rallye est à nouveau Eric Massiet du Biest, fort de sa connaissance de ce coin du globe, il a su nous concocter un parcours à la hauteur des pays traversés, embarquez en deux épisodes !Tracbar Zulu 2004 : L’Afrique Australe en Traction Avant Citroën (partie 1) Tracbar Zulu 2004 : L’Afrique Australe en Traction Avant Citroën (partie 1)

Day 0: Paris - London - Johannesburg - Durban

After a good dozen hours by plane and a few steps, we arrived in South Africa in Durban, ready to start this Tracbar Zulu 2004.Durban is the second city in South Africa, with almost four million inhabitants, including one million illegal immigrants from neighboring countries. It is very popular for its quality of life, it is here that the climate is the best in all of South Africa and the industry is very developed there, in particular the automobile: Toyota, BMW and VW have been implanted since Several years. Our hotel, the tropicana, faces the Indian Ocean and, above all, is next to a parking lot, the third of which is full of strange European cars, Citroën before traction. They arrived a few days earlier, transported from the port of Durban, with the help of the local Citroën club.Eric gives us its first briefing, rich in important advice and details to facilitate our arrival. Everyone is given the official outfits: shirt and cap for crews, numbers and stickers for cars.

Day 1: Durban - Hluhluwe 372 km

After a small leg of fifty km, all the pulls are proudly found aligned in front of the Sun Zimbali hotel which marks the launch of the rally. This break -in day goes pretty well and allows the 31 tractions to get used toRolling on the left on a beautiful road that runs along the Indian Ocean coast.This is also an opportunity for crews to familiarize themselves with the road book that will guide us during this month.While the sugar cane fields gently replace the ocean, the convoy stretches to the small village of St Lucia, place of lunch.

The afternoon ends with a front track before the last 10 km that bring us to the Nyala Heritage complex in the middle of nature, where we will see a superb sunset at 5:20 p.m.!Yes here it is winter, the temperatures are quite cool: a dozen degrees in the morning, and just 25 during the day.

Day 2: Hluhluwe - Mkhana 284 km

This morning time is gray to lead us to our first border, that of Swaziland.This is indeed a first in the Tracbar rallies, we will change countries, and even several times, during the rally.The Pongola border post makes us return to Swaziland;This small enclave in South Africa, the last absolute monarchy in Africa, has just 925,000 inhabitants.

After some hesitation against the road book, we cross the city of Manzini, which by its extent and its relative modernity contrasts small villages encountered along the road.Another peculiarity of the country surprises us: the number of schools!We have seen an impressive number today, all largely populated by children in uniforms very happy to see us go. This evening we arrive at the Mkhana reserve where we will meet our first animals on the small track leading us to the camp.This first night under the tent will allow us to see what is the best option against the phaccora: a traditional tent or a tent on the roof of the car?

Day 3: Mkhana-Mopaya 436 km

This day sees our return to South Africa;In just more than a day we will have crossed Swaziland.The passage of customs is again a happy moment: between the buffers, the forms for people, the registers for cars, customs officers are somewhat overwhelmed by these 75 people among whom there are a majority of French but also Germans, Belgians, a Tunisian and a Russian! follows a beautiful road where the long coasts precede the big descents, yes it is hilly!

It is at nightfall that we arrive in the private reserve of Mopaya, held by Michel Laforet, a Frenchman, who gave us a sumptuous welcome: the dinner is taken in the middle of two large tables, the atmosphere is allIn fact in the tone of the film "Out of Africa". The animation continues around the piano, not far from the wood fire which made it possible to cook our food.The instructions for the night are strict: not to leave the tent before 6:30 am, time at which the surroundings of the camp will have been inspected, lions were there a few days earlier, at the very place where we plant our tents.When you wake up, it is only ostriches that visit the camp, phew!

Day 4: Mopaya-Shwingwedzi 280 km

We start the day with a 4 × 4 safari in the middle of a private reserve.These magical moments allow us to approach all the animals as close as possible that we do not imagine being able to see other than through our television screens.

Tracbar Zulu 2004 : L’Afrique Australe en Traction Avant Citroën (partie 1)

Yet the zebras, giraffes, lions, rhinos, elephants and hippopotamia are there, sometimes very close to us.

The highlight of the morning will still remain this scene of nature where we have been able to observe 3 cheetahs enjoying a freshly caught gazelle!

We then leave towards the northeast to enter the Kruger park.This magical name has resonated in our heads for a few months, this protected natural park extends over more than 22,000 km² and promises us several hundred animal species.The animal spectacle is now around us, everywhere in the middle of this superb and intimidating nature, they are the intruders in this wild environment.The instruction is strict, we have to stay on the road and the tracks, and a formal prohibition to get off the car!

Along this road, the eye on the lookout for the slightest animal movement, we pass the Tropic of Capricorn.This is the second time for us in traction since we had already encountered it in 2000 in Australia.

We arrive at the Shwingwedzi camp at nightfall, under a magnificent sunset, shortly before closing the doors to avoid any animal intrusion during the night.

Day 5: Shwingwedzi - Dongola 298 km

This morning a good number of crews leave early, not to say very early.Indeed with morning freshness we are more likely to meet animals, and we will be rewarded: accompanied by 4 other pull -ups, we suddenly stop because 2 elephants are in the middle of the road.They are even rather agitated and give each other defense, we understand a few minutes later that we have the rare privilege of attending a romantic parade!

Shortly after the north exit of the park, we take our lunch break under a giant baobab, the occasion for a happy picnic.These sometimes 3000 -year -old trees can reach a circumference of more than 20 meters at the foot of the trunk.Suffice to say that the 8 pull -ups parked wisely at his feet look very small.

We meet, after a few kilometers of beautiful hilly roads, our first track of the rally.It is rather brittle and test our valiant pull -ups in the middle of this somewhat invasive dust.

But it is ultimately a few kilometers of tar, facing the setting sun that we snake in the middle of the baobabs to arrive at the Dongola ranch.

Day 6: Dongola - Francistown 453 km

Today, heading for the west, head to the Zanzibar border post to return to Botswana.For a few days now the temperatures have been well reassembled, the nights are soft and the days hot. The road at the start of the day is quite monotonous, the long straight lines with little to see are linked.But as soon as we turn right to follow the Zanzibar panel, it is a beautiful red track that leads us to the border.We leave South Africa, to find it in a few thousand kilometers, but before returning to Botswana, we have to cross a "no man’s land" of 3-4 kilometers.This extent of land and water does not belong to anyone, it is simply located between South Africa and Botswana.

The formalities to return to this large country at the center of southern Africa, with a population of 1.6 million inhabitants over 600,000 km², are a little more complicated, and above all more expensive: we must pay 190 “chicken” local “chicken”, or the equivalent of € 45.

We quickly find the tar, direction full north this time towards Francistown where we will sleep this evening.Again the road is a bit monotonous, only the stop at the service station punctuates our progression.Some crews are experiencing carburetor problems, largely due to poor quality essence: petrol filters and carburetors are crashing very quickly!

The last judgment before the arrival is an imposed judgment: a man in uniform stands in the middle of the road to stop our column of a dozen pull -ups.The pattern is simple, the first traction of the queue was taken at 95 km/h in this area limited to 80.

Despite our discussions, the police remain intractable, and Bernard of Team 212 must pay 80 "chicken" for a nice memory!

Tonight in the hotel parking lot for a lot of hoods are lifted, we have two days left before the rest day by the Victoria Falls.

Day 7: Francistown - Kasane 509 km

The day could be summed up with two things: a first straight line of 200 kilometers, and a second of 300. Indeed the road was hot and monotonous, fortunately some elephants and giraffes distracted our advance towards the Zambezian river.

Tonight we celebrated around the fire the birthday of Christian Durand, Team 218, which will have been little spoiled today: he was forced to drain his reservoir because of a slopwater.

It is in the middle of the baboons and on the edge of the Zambezi, the 4th African river with its 2750 km long, that we fall asleep this evening, in a very wild area, frequently visited by hippopotams.Fortunately for us the night will be calm.

Day 8: Kasane - Livingstone 101 km

We can say that on the Tracbar Zulu the days follow each other but are not alike: today few kilometers and a lot of animations, quite the opposite of yesterday! This day, which promised to be quite peaceful, was tormented to say the least. We had to take a ferry, not necessarily of early youth, the second sank 3 months earlier, to cross the Zambeze a few kilometers from the campsite and thus arrive in Zambia on the other side of the river in Livingstone. But arriving at the point of boat, we discovered a very long queue, the reason was simple, the ferry did not work yesterday due to breakdown. Despite long and virulent negotiations, only a traction manages to sneak in the middle of the trucks to take Youpi, our cameraman, take his plane, the others turn around to attack plan B: go through the zimbabwe and take the bridge that Spread the Zambezi at the level of the border with Zambia.

Easier to say than to do because customs officers do not facilitate things again!

But at the end of the day, after having traveled 80 kilometers in Zimbabwe and having crossed a new border to return to Zambia, we arrive at the magnificent Zambezi Sun hotel where we are going to spend 2 nights, a stone's throw from the Victoria Falls.

Before being a city, Livingstone is of course a man, a great traveler, the one who discovered the Victoria falls in 1855 and made the world known to this part of southern Africa.The show offered by these falls is moving, impressive, majestic, breathtaking!Imagine a river that stretches 1700 meters wide before falling into the largest cataract in the world over almost 108 meters high.

Day 9: Rest Day in Livingstone 39 km

The day begins early for a few tracbars, which, after seeing the sun go to bed last night on the falls, want to see him get up on the other side.Their morning effort is rewarded with a spectacle of breathtaking beauty!

After a gargantuan breakfast, we leave in small groups for the local heliport, after seeing the falls below, we are flying over.This top view makes it possible to better understand and contemplate their existence, the enlargement of Zambezi, the cataract and then the canyon that follows.

Day 10: Livingstone - Popa Falls 564 km

The day could be summed up quickly: 564 km, a border and a campsite by the Okavango river.Despite the little varied road, the small hamlets made of huts and the few animals encountered on the side of the roads distracted us during this long connection stage.

The night accompanies the arrival of the last crews because this morning our entry into Namibia, a former German colony, was synonymous with the time change.We have advanced our an hour watches, it is dark at 6:00 p.m.!

Day 11: Popa Falls - La Rochelle 501 km

Today we discover Namibian crafts on the banks of the roads.The small shops have flowered everywhere, and the tracbars find their happiness with all kinds of wooden objects. Nos 120 kilometers are done on a beautiful white track, very rolling, until we turned left to followThe La Rochelle panel.Yes, tonight we plant our camp at the La Rochelle hunting farm.This place is so called because it was given by the government to French people who have rendered good and loyal service in the country, I let you guess where the first inhabitants of the place were from!

In addition to the comfort of the very green garden to plant our tents, we will take advantage of the welding station of the local workshop to reduce our exhaust pot tired by the stones, we are not the only crew to tinker our valiant traction.

Day 12: La Rochelle - Namutoni 216 km

This morning, we have an appointment with the small school very close to La Rochelle.This country school welcomes around 280 students, more or less assiduous because for some the parents are nomadic.We bring them school supplies, clothes or cans to transport drinking water.After visiting the classrooms, we are witnessing a show of very happy dances and songs, a moment full of exchanges appreciated by all!

We take over the track and then reach the entrance to Etosha Park by tar.This natural park created in 1907 is more than 22,000 km².This is the 4th world park due to its surface area but especially by the number of animal species that can be met.We advance cautiously to Namutoni where we lunch at noon, the speed is limited to 60 km/h in the park, but we see very few animals.They remain safe in the vegetation during the hottest hours of the day.As we sleep here tonight, after the meal we are going to plant the tent to go in search of animals.

With the crews 105 and 309, we are quite lucky: on the outskirts of a first point of water we surprise a dozen giraffes accompanied by a few wildebeest and gazelles, then going to a second in the middle of the herds of zebras and gazelles,We are exceeded by 2 ostriches launched at more than 70 km/h!The second water point also has a nice surprise in store for us: a herd of elephants is cooling off, the incredible show to discover through the 16/9th of our Citroën windshield!

The evening ride offers us magnificent colors and images, a beautiful moment, also rich in animals!

The rest, part 2.

Photo credit @ Ambroise Brosselin

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Tags2004 Australie Avant Citroen historique Tracbar Traction Zulu