It was in year 2001 when my wife and I bought a “Bushwakka Shorti“. It was second-hand, but it was a starting point to travel and enjoy the outdoor life in SA. Camping was already in our veins as we had owned a caravan when our children were small and still living at home. What we wanted was some form of trailer that was capable of off-road camping, small enough for us to handle, but big enough to allow comfortable camping.
The trailer was reasonably well equipped for simple camping, and sufficient in all respects for us to enjoy the many trips that we enjoyed. During the time we had this trailer it was towed all over SA, off-road in rough terrain, and it never failed us!
We owned that trailer for five years, but after experiencing all the over-land trips that we did, the time had come for us to consider the possibility of upgrading to something that was going to give us a little more luxury. We sold this trailer, and purchased another. Incidentally, the value of the trailer had appreciated in value, which enabled us to increase the deposit on a brand new, more luxurious model of off-road trailer.
We looked at many other brands of trailers, but knowing the strength of the “Shorti“, its off-road ability, and what we had done with it, we decided to purchase the then, very current and latest in the Bushwakka range, a “Bushwakka Safari Off-road Trailer“. This was in May, 2006.
The “Safari” trailer was an ideal choice for us, as the full tent could be erected from on top of the trailer to the ground in 15 minutes. We had a canopy with side walls, fly-sheet, and many other accessories that made the living outdoor life much more comfortable. The kitchen unit was extremely well equipped, with a gas stove, partitioned safety storage facilities, drawer for knives, forks and spoons, and at a later stage an LED light.
There was ample storage space beneath and within the tent, and the kitchen facility, which incidentally, was easily available to get to, was just perfect! Other features included the 60 litre water tank, which proved very necessary when in the bush, the nose cone that stored many camping items, the easy access to dust-free clothing draws, sufficient side boxes to store all those extras needed for a comfortable camp! To set up camp took a leisurely one hour, and we had a “home on wheels”, capable of going anywhere the vehicle could go, which we towed with a Land Rover Discovery TD5. At no time did we feel unsafe with this trailer behind the vehicle, and from time to time, we did travel at high speed to enable us to pass through border posts! The handling of the trailer was fairly easy, once we had learnt how to reverse with it attached to the vehicle.
Travelling to Mozambique, Namibia, Kalaghadi, Richtersveld, Orange River, and many other camping spots was never a problem. The off-road ability of the trailer was exceptional! We used the trailer over sand, many a dirt road, through water, and over very rocky terrain. It never once failed us! We had it regularly serviced by the manufacturers at a minimal cost, who also, incidentally, added the little improvements to our trailer that Bushwakka had discovered with their experiences. This was always done free of charge, or at very lttle cost!
The trailer was very easy to keep clean, and on the return from a trip, a hose down, was normally more than sufficient. The body work never showed any signs of rust, the tent never leaked, the battery/electric system was very reliable and more than adequate. We did, however, regularly recharge the batteries when camping for long durations when electricity was not available, but the vehicle charging system could easily take care of that.
Regretfully, we sold our trailer this year. The reason being was that at our ages of 75+ and that my wife has had her third back operation, we decided that it was time for it to go whilst still in an excellent condition. In all the years we had used it, camping with the Bushwakka was really pleasurable, and we were often envied by other campers for our comfortable camping set-up!
Thank you “Bushwakka” for your wonderful products and your great service, which has made an impact on our camping career of over 14 enjoyable years.
Sincerely,
Dave Lock
