It’s always risky touring overland with people you don’t know, or have never travelled with before. This story happened in 1997, in South Africa.

Deep into research for our second trails book, I received a small stipend from Mitsubishi Motors and was loaned a two-door Pajero diesel for a trip to research the northernmost province in South Africa, a region called Soutpansberg. Our guide would be Johan Klopper — a name that stands in infamy. (This is his real name.)

No trip before or since has or was a disaster like this one, and from it I finally learnt: Always have an escape route ready to be actioned if needed.

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