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Can anyone tell me what the legal/practical speed limit is on the roads from Twee Rivieren-Upington-Pretoria are? We will most likely have an automatic Toyota Corella rental car. I am trying to judge times to get to some places

Twee Rivieren-Upington is 265km.
Upington-Pretoria is 810km.

Ultimately, I am trying to squeeze in a visit to Magoebaskloof to see wild Cape Parrots before heading to Kruger's Punda Maria. I know it's a lot but when you are coming from Australia, you have to squeeze in what you can and do a few major long distance drives.

From Pretoria to Upington and up to Askham the legal limit varies from 100-120 with a few sections through towns going down to 60 km/h. From Askham you should slow down to about 80 km/h as the new road is unmarked, a bit bumpy and not very well designed on curves. Also there are several goats, donkeys and sheep on the roads.

Upington to Twee Riviern about 2.5 hours.

From Upington tp Pretoria about 8-9 hours depending on how many stops you have. We did TR to Krugersdorp in 12 hours, including a 1.5 hour break and a 10 minute break every 200 km (we have a young child).

Just keep your eyes open for owls, mongooses and bat eared foxes on the Upington - 2R road I was overtaken doing 120 by a SANP vehicle, and just after, a mongoose ran into the road and just made it back and missed the wheels by inches. You cannot swerve even a little at that sort of speed.
80 - 90 is practical for the new tarred bit to 2R, because of bends.

Thanks Senyetse! I had to Google Krugersdorp but it looks like it is right off the N14 not far from Pretoria. This is encouraging, I am a power driver when I have to be and we would only be stopping for petrol/fast food/WC.

Ouch, I just double checked and the gate doesn't open until 7am in April? So you can't exit the park before then?

Bush Baptist, we would probably spend the previous night at Molopo Lodge (if I can get them to answer their emails) and get up early enough to get to the gate right before it opens. So if we leave Molopo Lodge at 5:30, should get us to the gate by 7:00 am?

You got a donkey cart?

Hi tiki , molopo to 2 rivieren is less than an hour , so no worries about it..
besides , concerning the email : It seems that the email adress is not valid anymore. also tried to get in touch with them : undeliverable mail...

Worse, it will be a Toyota Corolla or similar.

That worries me, are they still open? They must have some means to take bookings (besides an expensive phone call from Australia). I don't think the Corolla would be very comfortable to sleep in. We are actually driving all the way from Oudtshoorn that day but I didn't think we could guarantee arrival to TR by 6pm so I figured we will have to get as close as we can.

One good thing, I reworked the itinerary so upon leaving, we only have to get as far as Brits that evening. I moved the Magoebaskloof visit to after Kruger instead of before.

Hello everybody , we booked a night in Bitterpan (end april), as it was the only available camp for that date. We know we need a 4X4 to get there. We're not experienced , unless a trip to kosi bay last year.
any advices for a safe way there? wic vehicule is best , which would you definitely not choose? Specific driving avices , experiences , etc.. glad to know the most possible
cheers

You could drive up a glass wall in a Hilux, so the dunes are no real challenge.

thanks for the advice ;o)
any goo deals to rent one ?

HI we've done it with our Nissan Hardbody and no problem. It's just 1 4x4 track. So you can't miss it. Keep on the tracks (sometimes it is deep sand and a little uphill...) , drive in low gear and don't hurry, just enjoy. It is not a challenge and when you get stuck.......and you're not in Bitterpan at the end of the day, they will come and look for you

Ruud

the route is lots of fun, and there are signs of lots of cat activity on it! Just got back, and stayed for 3 nights there, did game drives out every day, and really enjoyed it, its beautiful!

We used a discovery 3 and a freelander 2. the freelander got stuck once on the way to Craig Lockhart (the exit route) but it was more a wrong choice of gear thing. Never used low range once, and the discovery was a dream! Its very bumpy tho, and some thick sand. But you shouldn't get stuck, and if you do, just dig out wheels and reverse and try again keeping your rev's a bit higher!

( I had never driven 4x4 and I drove the one day and didnt get stuck-let's put it that way...)

Enjoy it!!

The 3rd or 4th dune from Nossob is a very long dune, just get enough speed and you wont have a problem.

When you leave bitterpan, turn left and you have a very easy road, carry on ahead from the camp and you complete the original 4x4 track.

You can hire a 4x4 from Upington Toyota - have the details if you need it

Enjoy

thanks a lot. interresting ! do they deliver and collect at the airport , too?
cheers

They collected us from the airport and delivered us back to the airport.

The vechicle used was a superb 4x4